Needle Felting Birds, Dolphins, Seascapes and Sheep

It has been a reasonably productive first week back in the work space and I have been enjoying playing around with a few new ideas.

In my last post I showed some step by step photos of how it's possible to use Transfer Paints and Pens to put an image onto fabric which can then be needle felted into.

The Transfer Pen is great for this as it leaves a clean black line that can be 'coloured in' with fibres. I used this method to transfer this bird motif onto some handmade felt. I got the motif from a book and enlarged it slightly then worked merino fibres into the design using a single needle felting needle.

It has been difficult to get decent photos this week with the dull winter light but hopefully you can get the idea.

I will probably frame the original piece and have bookmarks made using prints of it.

I used the same technique to make this dolphin.

The background is all dry felted using hand needle felting and the embellisher machine. A little bit of machine stitch adds detail. The dolphin is all needle felted by hand with a bead for his eye.

Dolphin £65

Sold

I love this piece below (am I allowed to say that I love my own work?) Well I do love this piece as it includes all my favourite colours and I really enjoy getting lots of texture into pieces like this using the embellisher machine.

The beauty of the machine is that you are not restricted to using fibres only. I have included all sorts in this piece including an old devore velvet blouse and a cheese cloth shirt. Some vintage lace makes nice frothy waves too. I'm planning a series of pieces in this style including various framed pieces, boxes, prints and cards.

I did have to tear myself away from my 'play time' to restock my Etsy shop with some Sheep Jewellery.

These brooches are now available and I plan to add more earrings and pendants next week as well.

See the Sheep Jewellery Section of my Shop here to see what is available.

Brooches £18

Earrings £18

In other news I bought my first Smart Phone along with a Chip and Pin Card Reader last weekend so that I can take Card Payments at Craft Fairs and Events.

It has been fun getting to grips with a fancy phone (thank goodness for a teenage son!)

I took this photo with it the other morning walking back along our track. I find the interconnectedness of it all via the wifi at home a bit mind blowing. I'm so used to just using my laptop for all my online business and it's interesting to see how my blog, Facebook page and shop look on a phone. It's amazing really how much technology has come on in the past few years and how quickly we have all embraced it and take it for granted already.

I'm still at the stage of enjoying all the wee noises my phone makes when I get notifications from all the apps. I'm sure the novelty of that will wear off quite soon but did you know that the Etsy Apps goes 

Cha-Ching! when someone makes a purchase? How cool is that! It sounds like an old fashioned shop till/cash register. I love that. 

❤

May Makes

I had a lovely time with the ladies of the AWA (American Women's Association of Aberdeen) on Monday. I might be going back later in the year so I'll keep you all informed about that.

My next event is the Makers Market at The Steeple in Newburgh on Saturday June 8th

This week sees me getting all my available work photographed and listed

 in my Etsy Shop as well as working on commission pieces and other bits and pieces.

This Textile Trinket Box with Sea Shells is now available here

£32

I made quite a few little Harris tweed and felt boxes for Open Studios and only have two left!

Thankfully I have plenty of Tweed though so more of these coming soon.

Boxes £30

My Ivy Leaf Brooch Pins are proving to be very popular with all the purple ones sold out already. These gorgeous greens are still available though at £12 each.

More brooch pins. All of these brooches have an extra long brooch pin on them to allow them to be used as shawl pins or to keep draped cardigans closed at the front. They also look lovely on a lapel or hand bag and some of my customers tell me they wear them on their hat!

Harris Tweed and Felt Bird Brooch Pin

£12

All brooches available here

I have a few new Textile Jewellery pieces available as well.

I get asked a lot what these pendant and earring pieces are made from because people sometimes think they are fused glass.

When I used to make a lot of textile art cards and pictures, I loved the effect of the layered shimmery fabrics together and set about finding a way to make them wearable but durable. I came up with this idea to set the fabrics into pendant trays behind either resin or glass.

Pendants £22

These heart shaped earrings feature solid silver handmade ear wires by local jeweller 

Anne Miller.

 Heart Shaped Earrings with Handmade Ear Wires 

£18

Circle and Square Earrings from £15

For Open Studios this year I had a lot of my original felt pictures professionally framed.

This is 'Island Cottage and Boat' in it's beautiful frame from Robertson Fine Art in Glenrothes.

Island Cottage and Boat 

£195

Available here

I'm planning to make more pictures this size over the coming months and to make them available to be shipped worldwide in their lovely frames.

I also have one unframed piece available at the moment.

Harris Beach

£85

More of these coming soon as well.

So although we have had an extended winter and are still waiting for the warmer weather to arrive, I have been finding the temperatures soaring out in my wee shed!

It got up to 24 degrees in here the other day! SUN TRAP! So that's where I have been doing all my needle felting and hand sewing.

My new business cards also arrived last week. These grape hyacinth and primula have the sweetest scent an are so cheerful in my Lochbroom Pottery jug.

I will be continuing to list new items online this week and will hopefully get some more felt pictures finished really soon.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog.

Aileen.

Such a Busy Time!

April has been such a busy month what with the school holidays, craft fairs, Glenfarg Folk Festival and preparations for Open Studios which is in two weeks time!

We had some lovely sunshine during the first week of the holidays and headed over to the East Neuk of Fife for a nice day out and to distribute some Open Studios brochures to caravan sites and other businesses.

This is Ruby Cove, our favourite little beach for a picnic and a bit of beach combing.

Although it was sunny, it was still cold. You can see the snow on the hills to the south across the Forth estuary around Edinburgh.

We had great fun all piled into the camper van. It belongs to my Mum and her husband but we got to stay in it for a couple of nights for Glenfarg Folk Festival. 

I have always had a day dream about having a camper van but I have to say the reality of a family of four staying in a camper van doesn't appeal so much when your 15 year old son is suddenly 

6'1"! Here he is with an amazing piece of drift wood we found on the beach.

I think we'd need a bigger van or a Winnebago to accommodate us all comfortably! 

I do love finding interesting things on the beach to take home. 

When I discovered this lobster creel all tangled up in seaweed, at first I fancied it for the nice wood that was half worn away. But after wrestling it free, I realised it would actually make quite a nice shelf as it was! Here it is hung up in my wee shed with a few beach finds and little Louis Mulcahy pots displayed on it.

My daughter who is nearly 8 now is an avid little artist and I just had to share this picture she drew last week.

She uses one of my Highland Cow notebooks to draw in and took it upon herself to copy the front cover.

Here is the original.

And here is her imitation of it.

How cute is that! I love the fringe.

I have been making like a mad woman but haven't got around to photographing everything yet. I suppose I am hoarding my stock a little bit for Open Studios! I have a lot of wall space  and shelves to fill!

I have made some Sheep Jewellery available in my Etsy shop though.

Rings £18

Pendants £22

Brooches £18

I've had a great response to my new mugs. 

Here is one all wrapped up that I sent directly to the recipient as a gift from her daughter.

I'm enjoying using my own mug here at home. Being porcelain and not stone ware or china, it makes a great cup of tea as well as a good coffee.

You can find my Online Shop here

We are finally seeing some signs of Spring here which is such a relief after all that snow we had up to the beginning of April. 

The daffodils are still not in full bloom but are showing more signs of opening.

I really hope we get a good weekend for Open Studios.

I will be having a preview evening on Friday the 3rd May from 6pm.

Come along for some wine and nibbles and a sneak peek at all my new work.

I'm hoping to have lots of new pictures made and have a couple professionally framed already.

You can see the reflection of the hedge in the glass here but it gives you an idea of how they are looking. I have another couple of smaller pieces going off to Robertson's today.

Here are some snap shots from other artists participating in the 2013 Open Studios event. 

Remember you can download your free brochure and browse all the artists and areas from our website here.

From top left Audrey Reid Jewellery,Chloe Brown Illustrations, Moyra Stewart Ceramics, Helen Glassford Fine Artist, Ann Leitch Collection, Sharon Black Art, Beth Pollard Designs and Glass by Kathryn

 From left to right, top to bottom- Ian Ledward venue 36, Aileen Clarke Crafts Venue 32, Jean Ashcroft venue 31, Dianne King venue 50, Siv MacArthur venue 42, Michael Robson venue 4, Poppy Cyster venue 26, Sarah Honeyman Stained Glass venue 1, Jane Duckfield venue 45, Jan Wightman venue 36,Derek Robertson venue 69, Pvalentega - Graphic Artist venue 16, Morag Muir venue 63, Kate Murray venue 40, John Smith venue 8,Perfectly Formed venue 10, Kirsty Lorenz venue 34, Laura Appere venue 18, Mhairi Lafferty venue 13, George Young venue 53, Marianna Lines venue38, Lindy Knowles venue 20, Lynsey Ewan venue 33, John Bonington venue 24, Lindsay Mathers venue 75

So the next two weeks are going to be pretty mad for me. I have so many things I would still like to make!