Tuesday 31 March 2009

More about the"Fashioning Felt" Exhibit

I found this video on the Martha Stewart web site.  She takes viewers behind the scenes of the Cooper-Hewitt exhibit, "Fashioning Felt".  It's a great video!  You see how the large Yurt in the exhibit is made, and other felt making processes, as well as a good look inside the exhibit itself.
Have a look, and enjoy!   
Arlene

Saturday 28 March 2009

I Am The FeltedChicken...

HI EVERYBODY!! I've been meaning to make my introduction, so here I am.

My name is Chrissy P. I live in Hollywood California, and yes, I work in the movie business. My day job is working as a scenic sculptor where I carve styro-foam Movie sets & Theme Park rides. It's pretty awesome....

BUT... Because of a bad ecomony & possible actor's strike, I haven't worked in about 10 months. So I kinda fell into felting to satisfy my artistic needs. I started by sewing felt gingerbread houses as cheap Christmas presents. This got me interested in working with felt as a medium, and the rest was history!!!!

I enjoy making 2 different types of things-

omg (re)GIFT BAG 2vanilla cupcake (re)GIFT BAG 2
abc 3octopus 1

I have an unnatural love for reusable tote bags & love to gift wrap stuff, so I combined these 2 into making reusable gift bags. I like to call them (re)GIFT BAGS (get it... cause you can regift them!!!) It's a waste to see those tacky paper gift bags get all trashed & then you can't regift them, but they still cost you like $5.


ChocoVanCupcake 3 3pastel 3
newblackwidow2tuna1

And been a sculptor by trade, I also enjoy needle-felting. Finding this technique was amazing, because I love to make stuffed animals, but am really bad at creating 3-d sewing patterns. It's like heaven!!! I get to sculpt stuffed animals out of fiber!!! Dream come true!!! I have also just recently been experimenting more with wet-felting & it is also super fun!

So that's about it, oh, except that I love to drink boxed wine & my favorite food is toast. I'm fairly new to the whole crafty community, so please check out my Etsy Shop & Crafty Blog.

I recently posted a really detailed Tutorial on How-To Felt Easter Eggs!!! It's a great project for big & small kids alike! Learn to wet-felt wool over traditional plastic Easter eggs!!!

Thanx Felting Team!!!

Saturday 21 March 2009

"Fashioning Felt" Exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you know that I just put up a new post in my blog about my trip to the felting exhibit:

http://notsoshabbychicshop.blogspot.com/2009/03/fashioning-felt-exhibit-at-cooper.html

:)

Saturday 14 March 2009

Your input, please?

Hi all,

I just posted a new entry to my crafting/needle felting blog re: a needle felted lamb that I am having difficulty making. I have posted pics of the two I've made so far, and I would LOVE some input from you all on which one you prefer, and why! Please don't be afraid to be brutally honest; that's what I'm looking for! Thanks in advance! :)

You can just click on the title of this post to get there, or you can go to:
http://notsoshabbychicshop.blogspot.com/2009/03/little-lambie-2.html

Friday 13 March 2009

NotSoShabbyChic: Introducing Myself (Finally!)

Hi!

I am very new to felting as well as to blogging and to Etsy. This is a whole new world that has opened up to me in the last month and a half or so.

I got into felting as soon as I saw other Etsy sellers' felted items -- I just fell in love with it all: the toys, the handbags, the home decor, all of it.

My favorite technique so far is needle felting. It is the only one to which I have devoted much time. Below are a couple pics of some of my completed items as well as works in progress:




My favorite materials are wool in any form. I especially love the silkiness of mohair:


My favorite colors/color mixes are usually pink and green, but with felting I'm also enjoying using lots of different colors together, and bright ones too:


My biggest challenge when it comes to running my shop is sales. I am still fairly new and therefore not that many people know I exist yet. I do tend to do better with sales when I'm actively promoting, but lately I've been slacking. The lack of sales also tends to do a number on my self-esteem. :(

There are SO many other shops that I love!!! It will be hard to narrow them down! But I will try: raewadolly.etsy.com (amigurumi, kawaii), TotusMel.etsy.com (tatted accessories), michaelarras.etsy.com (woodworking), gotcrowcreations.etsy.com (needle felted birds), feltmeupdesigns.etsy.com (needle felted birds), thedryingrack.etsy.com (needle felted houses), and mincingmockingbird.etsy.com (sarcasm + bird paintings!!!!... best combo ever lol...).

The item in my shop that I would most like to receive as a gift if someone were shopping for me would be either my needle felted duckling or my needle felted rabbit:




My future plans concerning felting include doing more of it, getting better at it, and trying new things -- not just in needle felting, but also with other methods. My future plans with my shop include trying to promote it more and to also include more felted items.

Thanks for taking the time to read this! :)

--Rebecca (NotSoShabbyChic)

Thursday 12 March 2009

Felting Exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt


I live in California, but my cousin who lives in New York City sent me an article from the New York Times, dated March 5, about a felt exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum titled, "Fashioning Felt". It offers both traditional and contemporary felt. The exhibit is on until Sept 7 so I may get there yet!     Be sure to explore the link "Process" for some wonderful pictures from Turkmenistan of women making a felt rug.  There is also a video on "Blog"


Enjoy!
 Arlene

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Introducing myself






Hi everyone!






Since I was invited to contribute to the felting team blog, here I am!
I would like to show everyone my work. I started making felt stuff when I moved to a different town. I always loved crafting, but just found about etsy a couple of months ago, and it actually changed my life! So I craft every spare time I have, just love making things, and seeing how lovely they look afterwards.

New Treasury: In the Limelight


Hello everyone! I made a treasury that includes a lot of felt work by our team members. I'm sure they would appreciate your support and comments :)

Sunday 8 March 2009

New team treasury



Dear all,
I've managed to do a new treasury with some works of our memebers.
I kindly ask all of you to follow the link and give your 12 clicks there.
You'll help to promote the team.
Thanks a lot for cooperation,
Olga

Monday 2 March 2009

feltwilde's recommended reading

Hi Guys, Thought it might be interesting to find out what your favourite feltmaking books are. I've just spent the morning doing a top 10 recommended reading list for my website. It got me wondering whether there's other gems out there that I've never heard of. Surely that's a good resource for us all to have. So....what's your favourite feltmaking book of the moment. I've included my top 3, and would really love to know your opinion, views, favourites.

1. Uniquely Felt. Dozens of techniques from fulling and shaping to nuno and cobweb. Includes 46 creative projects. Christine White. Extremely comprehensive. Great for beginners to more experinced.

2. Feltmaking and Wool Magic. Contemporary Techniques and Beautiful Projects. Jorie Johnson.
My favourite feltmaker with exquisite techniques and designs. Extremely professional.

3. How We Felt. Designs and techniques from Contemporary Felt Artists. Carol Huber Cypher.
Interesting techniques and an inspiring gallery of felt works.