Mini Snowman

by Meredith 12. December 2019 05:46

I made a little felted snowman for Ari's Christmas village that she's building in her room (penny for scale).

In a Holi-daze: Baby Krampus

by Meredith 11. December 2019 17:00

A figure from folklore and all the best holiday cards, Baby Krampus is half-goat, half-demon and full baby cuteness. I ended up making two of this guy, one for a gift exchange and one to keep for myself (because I fell in love with him).

Basics: Felting Ornaments

by Meredith 7. December 2019 17:48

Not a step-by-step photo, but here are the key pieces I've used for starting the felted holiday ornaments. 

Bead with String - To make a secure string, tie some embroidery floss around a large bead. Then, wrap the wool around the bead to start your felted object.

Glass Bead - I sometimes add a glass bead to the bottom of the felted object to create a little weight there if the figure needs to stand up.

Felt Roving - Layers of wool roving get wrapped around into a general shape and then compacted with the felting needle.

My New Friend Needs a Name

by Meredith 10. October 2019 15:42

This little guy is a Puckmarin (from the movie Flight of the Navigator). He is from the planet Binpuka Minor, which was destroyed by a comet, and he is the last surviving member of his kind. I plan to take very good care of him.

Felted Alien Friend

by Meredith 13. March 2019 14:41

Nerd bliss is sitting in a bar with at least 100 Hamilton fans belting out the soundtrack while you needle felt an alien critter (Puckmarin from the movie Flight of the Navigator).

In a Holi-daze: Where's The Dr?

by Meredith 28. November 2017 15:15

I signed up for a Xmas craft exchange and have made six of these felted wool ornaments.

In a Holi-daze: Totoro Friends

by Meredith 28. November 2017 13:11

I signed up for a Xmas craft exchange and have made six of these felted wool ornaments.

In a Holi-daze: Winged Friends

by Meredith 28. November 2017 12:28


I signed up for a Xmas craft exchange and have made six of these felted wool ornaments.

Felted Totoro

by Meredith 14. December 2014 08:54

Friends of mine experienced a house fire and lost all of their holiday ornaments and have asked for replacements as gifts this year. My Neighbor Totoro is one of their favorite movies so these forest spirits seem like a perfect gift. They are made out of needle felted wool. Some of the wool is even dyed by me.

“Do you like spirits, mommy? Even fuzzy ones?”
-My Neighbor Totoro

Burn Up and Burn Out

by Meredith 26. December 2008 14:03

I've made two more felt sculptures (a while ago) and have finally taken some pictures. 

Dying wool is really fun and pretty easy to do. Check out this website for some simple instructions: [link]

The website is describing how to dye yarn but the same principles work for dying wool roving. What is so cool about the process is that you use cake icing dye (available at Micheal's) so the process is non-toxic and can be done with your kitchen dishes. Also there is virtually no mess because when the dying is done, nearly all color has been absorbed by the wool. 

It takes about 1hr per batch and involves very little monitoring. I didn't bother with using a thermometer, I just kept an eye on it to make sure it didn't boil. Because I planned on using the wool for felting it didn't matter to me if the wool felted a little in the dying process. If I wanted to use the wool for spinning into yarn I would need to be a bit more careful. But even with being not-so-careful, the wool still remained fairly fluffy.

I also bought a pair of hand carders so that I could do some blending of the colors. The phoenix colors are blends of the red, orange, yellow, and brown dye batches. (I'll have to take some pictures of my dyed wool collection). 

Construction was off of a wire frame and I wet and needle felted the basic form. Then I wet felted sheets of wool (~4"x8") that laid the colors out in a gradient from white to brown/black. Once the sheets were dry, I folded and needle felted the sheets onto the form. 

They are a little top heavy and there isn't really any place to pick them up besides by the beak without crushing the felt. So I picked up some decorative wood blocks from Home Depot today to make them some stands. I think that will look pretty nice. Over all I am really happy with how they turned out.

Next project I want to try to make some little fairy dragons. I've started 4 frames this time so that I will have more to play with. (I was only going to do one phoenix at first but half way through I decided I wanted to do a second... it was a PITA to make a new frame for the second that was just like the first).

Anyway, I am open to more ideas of sculptures to try out. If you think of anything I am eager to hear. 

 

About Meredith Cook

Welcome to my repository of creative expression. I'm not a happy camper unless I am making something and over the years I have dabbled in quite a few different kinds of art projects. Some projects come from taking art classes, others are completely hobby driven, and projects like home decor come from a need to customize an item and make it better or unique. The overall theme behind what I do is to learn how to manipulate objects and practice what I know about visual aesthetic and good design. Oh yeah, and to have fun.

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