Wet Felting and Going to the Birds

Last week my fibre arts group - Out of the Box - had a playdate.   One of our members, Wendo Van Essen, taught us how to wet felt.   I always thought that wet felting was pretty messy but it really was not.   It was really fun to create first a 2 dimensional piece then a small vessel.   Afterwards, I brought them home and started stitching.  Here is my first piece - all stitched up.  I plan to add some beads for embellishment.   It started out to be a sky but I think you could call it an abstract....

I added a piece of organza to the back partway through the stitching

close up of stitching

There is a variety of threads, yarns and ribbons - some of Lorraine Stobie's lovely threads as well as heavier silk yarns from Canada Beading Supply.  And of course, some floss.   The bits of ribbon and organza were needle felted on to the piece. I haven't photographed the felted vessel yet because I plan to add beads to it first.  I am also working away at my hand stitched piece and the occasional order for jewelry.

That is about it for my creativity of late.   It is because I am spending my time cleaning out a room and setting it up for a studio.  I purchased inexpensive resin shelving and soft bins for fabric, an adjustable leg table that I can use for standing work (at Canadian Tire), lots of transparent boxes etc.  I had planned to use Ikea cubby shelving and table tops but I really wanted something I could carry and move around by myself and shelving can be so heavy.   I brought everything in myself and set it up with no problem.   I already have a heavier table in that room which I will use for my sewing machine and I plan to make a wall rack for my large spools of thread using pegboard.     I have a small computer table/stand which is not entirely perfect ergonomically but I plan to either purchase a laptop stand to give it more height or hook up a separate keyboard to my laptop (once I figure out how to do that).

I have gone through zillions of file boxes and discarded stuff that I really don't need.  Each new file box has a label indicating contents.    I am so tired of looking for things.  I just hope I am disciplined enough to put things where they belong (don't laugh:)  It is a small room and not perfect for my needs but at least it is a private space.  It's not pretty but it's mine!

I got a bit of a lift yesterday!   I made my first sale on Etsy!!  I was beginning to wonder if it was all worthwhile.   They do make it very simple to complete the transaction and today I shipped off the item (jewelry) to its new owner.

I also found out that my SAQA trunk show piece in Trunk C will be travelling in Connecticut through 2015.  It is neat how all those pieces of work will find themselves all around the world.

Maybe in my next post I will have photos of my new studio area to show you.  I love seeing posts with photos of people's work spaces even though I may feel a little envious but I realize that not everyone has a dream space to work in and it just needs to be functional.   That is my goal now.

Here are some photos I took recently at Mud Lake in Ottawa - birds, trees and turtle - oh my!

A pair of Canada Geese were out with their new goslings

Loved the way this mallard was screened by the colourful dogwood

Lots of orioles around too

A bit of display - for us or for the approaching mallard?

Black Crowned Night Heron

Peering into the water

I'm linking up to Off the Wall Friday   Check it out to see some interesting posts from other fibre artists.