Experiments with Nuno felting

I have been using my range of Tibetan colours - as I think of them - to combine with silky fabrics in a technique new to me where you end up with a lovely quilted effect.

Even though the merino colours I have used are realy vibrant it acheives quite a subtle effect. I just used it to make a gently curved scarf....

Sari silk needlecases finished

So at last I have finished the three wet felted needlecases...

It, of course, involved yet another trip to my favourite haberdashers for exactly the right coloured pre-felt leaves for the insides and some fine wine coloured ribbon as ties. Needless to say I left the shop with a whole load more stuff for a couple new ideas. One of them will require some sewing with my recently refurbished Featherweight Singer - not my strong point - so we'll have to see how that goes!

Sari silks and Buddhist Landscapes

I recently stumbled across some little paintings I did years ago which reminded me of the deep blues, purples and golds of the landscape and Buddhist temples of Ladakh.I was thinking of trying to use these colour combinations in some work.

One of my New Year's resolutions is not to get distracted, fall in love with and buy extra unnecessary materials but then recently I saw this basket of beautiful sari silk threads in rich ochres, reds and blues last week they looked so perfect...

...so now I am working on a series of felted pieces with the most heavenly coloured silks incorporated with the wool. I want to keep them quite raw with ragged edges. Just hoping I can do the silk justice.

Museum of Craftology Blog!

Delighted to find my cactus brooch being featured in a really fun blog I just discovered called The Museum of Craftology
The blog is full of references to hand crafted work inspired by the natural world. The writer, Amanda, also writes a piece about an artist Shauna Richardson who makes the most amazing `crochetdermy` pieces, similar in feel to the work by Chloe Harrison which I mentioned recently but this time the amazingly realistic and life-like animal trophys are fashioned in incredibly skillful crochet!

Love these faux trophy heads...

Seen at Anthroplologie on Regents Street I was bowled over by these beautifully crafted animal heads by Chloe Harrison of Studio gnu

They are hand constructed from locally sorced or recycled materials and manage to retain the lovely texture and feel of the fabric whilst completely capturing the essence of the animal. Really brilliant!

Felt Typewriter...

I came across this brilliant felt typewriter by Blythe Church recently. She makes the most amazing stuff including a hand sewn Guggenheim Museum which you can see on her blog.There's a link there to her Etsy shop too so you can buy your own soft sculpture.

Funky advent calender

I was blown away by the gorgeous advent calender my daughter made for me this christmas - I am going to try to develope the idea for next year as I just love it! The one disadvantage as it stands is that the forest must be destroyed to access each day's treat....