Bears and hares

At last, I've finalised the project for my Oxford workshop at Hill End Nature Centre which I visited recently. As it's an all day workshop, I decided to go for something a little larger than normal, so the project is to be stumpy bears.

 

It's not a difficult pattern, but it will need the whole day and there is a choice of making a brown bear or a polar bear. As with all my workshops, the price per person is all inclusive of materials and use of tools. Details can be found on my workshops page. As I'm organising this all on my own (which feels a bit scary) I'm the contact for everything.

My new running hare design from my line of 'Flights of Fancy' range went to a new home last month.

 And now I've finished another - a white hare with violet grey Siamese points.

This one is adorned with twisted silver wire, natural pearls and smoky quartz teardrop beads and is on sale in my Etsy shop.

My Manchester Spring Bunnies workshop is at the end of the month, and we are almost full - just two places left! If you'd like to come to this one, please book directly through the Make It shop site here. They may look small and simple, but each one takes me about four - five hours to make. All that smoothing.

Now I've got to crack on with my April newsletter - if you'd like to see any of my previous newsletters, without subscribing, they can be found archived here. 

Yet another hare

Nothing going on, except a lot of planning, designing and unfinished work - here's a little something I have actually completed, with amber chips on a bronze wire. Yes, it's yet another hare. Well, it is nearly Spring!

Hares, foxes and a little dog

I have a big list of custom orders to get stuck into, but have managed to update my Etsy shop with some new designs, including the foxes which have had such great feedback.

 Large fox - SOLD

 Medium fox - available to buy

 BAR - available to buy

My new line of hares - for some random reason I fancied giving them Anglo Saxon names, despite the circus theme. So  this is 'Bar' (meaning 'from the birch wood')

 SILVIA - available to buy

'Silivia' (meaning 'of the wood')

 WOODROW - available to buy

 And Woodrow (meaning 'of the birch wood) and my favourite.

 GOLDY - reserved

And little Goldy, who is reserved for a Very Special visitor coming to see me all the way from America!

Latest needle felting news

Off to do two workshops in Oxfordshire -  one at The Fibreworks Oxford and another all day session at the dear old Queen's Head in Eynsham. Just managed to get a pattern finished for 'Crafty' magazine (coming out soon) and finish a couple of custom orders.

The elephant is very big (for needle felting) - 8 x 5½ inches. This sweetie is only a couple of inches tall, by comparison.

Not only that - I have some foxes and new style hares to sell, when I return - here's a little preview of one.

Little ballerina

Jetting off already to her new home, this is my latest hare - somewhat more feminine than Harris and Bracken.

She is named after Gelsey Kirkland, the American prima ballerina. I'm not a ballet buff and I'd already mostly made her when my lovely customer asked for this name. Would she resemble her namesake?

When I did some Google image searching, I was pleased to see that they share the same poise and haughty nose-in-airness - true divas of their art.

Her shoes are worn out from too much dancing and...

...instead of putting my usual needle felt heart motif on her, I simply incorporated a 'gold' heart charm into her pearl bracelet. I seem to be veering towards making little clothes now, rather than needle felting them, something I've not been keen on in the past, but this tutu worked so well (simple as it is) that I'll be trying it again.

I have another workshop locally, on April 7th at Chipping Norton, at the hugely popular Fibreworks, details on their classes page here. Starting off with something nice and quick we will be making little birds, as featured in my Puddletown books. Limited spaces!

Bracken hare

December's hare is called Bracken and he is going to my very first male customer. In nearly four years of needle felting, all my customers (apart from the odd one buying for his lady love) have been women.




Bracken is definitely a 'chap'; he is heavier in build than Willow and has big paws to 'box' with. There is a great little home video of boxing hares here.




I read somewhere that hares take on the colour of the earth where they live. Last Sunday we were over the border in Gloucestershire on a cold winter walk. There were three orangey tinted hares grazing - this is a terrible photo, but they are actually a long way from us, and my zoom was struggling.

This is the field next door, beautifully ploughed and glowing copper orange in the weak sunlight, not unlike Bracken himself. So maybe it is true; all the hares I have ever seen have matched the earth of their area.

Little Hare

Several weeks ago one of my collectors asked if I would consider a hare commision. Oh dear. I have been trying to design a hare ever since I took up needle felting over three years ago and have failed.

As shy and hard to catch as the real creature itself, I have been unable to visualise a satisfactory toy version, despite it being one of my favourite animals.

But I've broken the hare curse at last! Maybe it was because someone actually requested one, but I finally saw how it would be done. He has glass eyes, a waxed cotton nose and thread jointed arms -

Even underneath, where it won't be seen, attention to detail is paramount.

At my client's request, he was named Harris. Of course, now I've cracked the hare code, I have all manner of similar characters in mind, but they will have to wait until my present orders are fulfilled.

I get many enquiries about when I am going to update my Etsy shop with more needle felt things; I seem to work mostly to order now, but I have two little toadstools looking for homes and who knows when I'll have time to make more...

I am having another 'Puddletown Tales' book signing, this time in central Oxford, at Waterstones bookstore on the corner of Broad Street - very soon! In fact, this Saturday the 27th of August, 1.30 - 4.30. If it's possible for you to make it (and help me break the last record of one book sale) I'd love to see you there and put names to faces.