Polar bear bauble

This is the little polar bear bear bauble I'll be teaching at a workshop at the lovely premises of Guthrie and Ghani, in Birmingham. 

It was the third design I tried; initially I attempted needle felting a polar bear Santa around a polystyrene ball, which I've always thought was a nasty idea and found it to be so. You may ask why then I decided to try it; because making an accurate sphere is harder than it looks, and I thought it may be an easier solution for anyone who was just starting out. The wool floated around on the surface, the head barely stuck to the wool (or the polystyrene) and although it was neat, I wasn't comfortable with that way of working.

I then ploughed my way through most of an elf fox, before realising, many hours later, that it was far too ambitious, even for an all day project.  

It's quite hard to design an appealing project, that is a bit different to everything else on offer, but which can be theoretically made in a five-six hour period by people of all abilities.

But in the end, I settled on this fairly simple little bear; there are five places left on the workshop, which runs from 10.30 until 4.30 on December 10th. You can book directly from the Guthrie and Ghani website here.

If you'd like to see the fabulous studio space and my last workshop there, please see this blogpost from November last year.

Guthrie and Ghani workshop

Another early start for last Sunday's workshop at Guthrie and Ghani, in Birmingham. Thankfully fairly 'local' and only a train ride away. The Christmas tree workshop is one that I always pack copious amounts of wool for, as  you never know what colours people are going to choose, though it is often green and red.

I also bring a large amount of  'treasure', as trees are usually decorated.

The workshop space at Guthrie and Ghani is simply gorgeous; lots of room, oodles of light and plenty of tables. Oh, and copious bunting with a beautiful chandelier.

I had the pleasure not only of meeting new people and a fabulous returning work-shopper, but also of finally hooking up with lovely Heather Ellis, who is an illustrator  I have known since the late 1990s, when we were both members of an illustration forum. Before the days of Facebook, IG and all the other social sites. After all these years, we got to say hello face to face and hug and it was one of the highlights of the day for me.

It was another great session, and the 'treasure' was eagerly rummaged through.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day I had to rush off for a scheduled train, so I didn't have time to take my usual photos of the end results, which were lovely and varied. Many thanks to the kind 'elves' who packed my wool bag, with all the colours neatly sorted - a huge help and very much appreciated. And big thanks to my friend Heather, who picked me up when I almost fell down the stairs in a rush, paid my bus fare to town (as the bus only took exact change) and then walked with me to point me in the right direction of the train station. A guardian angel indeed, as I was so tired by then I could barely walk straight.

My final workshop of the year is back at the Village Haberdashery in West Kensington, London, making Christmas trees again. You can expect a lot of wool and beads. Booking can be done via their website here. This is a much smaller workshop, with limited places but I hope it will be as much fun as this one. I also have a venue and rough date for a local Shrewsbury workshop, at the start of March 2017. if you'd like a little more information about this before I make it more public, do drop me an email.

 

Needle felt tinies and new workshops

Tiny Polar Bear (sold)

I  recently updated my website and for the first time (ever) catalogued all my designs by year and month. Nine years of almost non-stop needle felting.  It took many days of hunting on various camera cards and through this blog and Flickr, but eventually I got there.

 Tiny Squirrel doll for sale on Etsy

Looking through it was a bit of a wake up call and I was able to look at my work and realise not only that I've done a phenomenal amount of work, but also that I've not really moved on, stylistically. Although, to be fair, the last few years haven't exactly been the time for creative navel gazing.

Tiny Crow girl for sale on Etsy 

I think it has a lot to do with the last few years of creating commercial patterns, which have to be easy to make, and doing so many workshops, ditto. So I've not really stretched myself. 

 

Little King for sale on Etsy

 

I think making myriad cute toys has almost run it's course for me, after all, I've been doing them for nine years. So I've been finishing off several bits and pieces, including this set of tiny animals and bird dolls, which despite being small, take around six hours plus to make

Little Horse Girl for sale on Etsy

As usual, I've bunged them on dear old Etsy. I'll be starting a shiny new website soon, for my new work. 

 Petite Maison for sale on Etsy

I started a new and very 'grown up' line of work this summer, but it is under wraps until I have several pieces. Suffice to say, I am stretching myself at last. 

Olga the Russian dog for sale on Etsy

While I'm cheerfully shoving things for sale under your noses, I may as well add that I've got some fabulous new workshops in the UK, for later in the year. I have two winter workshops in Hampstead, London at the Village Haberdashery - my first time in London! It's going to be the red eye train at crack of dawn for those two.

I am also going to be in Witney, Oxfordshire at the Witney Sewing and Knitting Centre. And in Birmingham, at the lovely shop of Lauren Guthrie, who was a British Sewing Been finalist in 2013, at Guthrie and Ghani. 

All of these courses, with links to the relevant booking pages, can be found on my website, on the Needle felt workshops page.

In other news, I've finally started painting properly again. But I'll spare you that for the time being.