Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair

Hi all!

I just got back a little while ago from vending at the first annual Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair held at the Hallockville Museum Farm in Riverhead, NY! In addition to having fiber artists sell their wares, there were also many demonstrations and workshops, including sheep herding, sheep and alpaca shearing, carding, dyeing, spinning, felting, knitting, and weaving! There were also angora rabbits, sheep and lambs, and llamas and alpacas that you could pet. Below are some pictures I took throughout the day of some of the beautiful work I saw as well as some of the lovely creatures without whom none of these fiber arts would be possible! Enjoy!


My table


My favorite item of the day, a lovely felted handbag from the Hallockville Knitters




Beautiful table decor and pin cushion from Mojo's Place


Gorgeous hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns from Hampton Artistic Yarns


Brilliant hand-dyed rovings from Color Craze Fiber


Beautiful hand-spun yarns from Temptress Yarn


Me meeting my first darling llama!!!


Amazing art from award-winning needle felter Irene Heckel


Freshly sheared llamas and alpacas


Me petting some baby Romney sheep! "Baaaah!!!"


Mommy angora bunny and baby angora bunnies (2.5 weeks old!) :)


Another angora bunny -- I challenge you to find its face!! (Hint: only the nose and mouth are visible)


Adorable retractable tape measures I bought from Mojo's Place


"Weave-it" miniature handmade loom I bought from Bumblebee Primitives


Finished woven square!

It was great meeting everyone and I look forward to seeing some of you again at the next fair!

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

So I went to the felt exhibit on Sunday, and it was pretty cool. Don't know that I would bother traveling very far to see it, though... there's not all that much there. I also was not allowed to take pictures (I snuck in a couple anyway, though, until I realized I was on camera and they could see me with my camera...):

felted costume jewelry

entrance to the "yurt"

Anyway, you can see the pictures of everything there online:
http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/

Or buy the book with all of the photos and TONS more info than is offered online OR at the exhibit here:
http://www.cooperhewittshop.org/?path=item&topid=1&itemid=453

AND, they mentioned nothing about needle felting!!! :(

Oh well... you win some, you lose some. Luckily, we also had a visit to the Met planned, where -- interestingly enough, you ARE allowed to take pictures:







And then on a walk through Central Park on our way to get dinner, we saw at least 12 American Robins, a surefire sign of spring!!! :D




All in all, a very nice day!!! :)

Little Lambie #2

O.K. so here he is: the other lamb vision I came up with:








...and I don't think I like it. I think he's cute, but he didn't come out exactly like I was hoping he would. At least this one has legs, a tail, and isn't balding though, lol. But his legs are too short... note to self for next time.

And as for the face and ears, well, I don't know. Which one do you prefer? Lambie 2, or Lambie 1 (posted below)?:


Please let me know which one you prefer, and why, if you don't mind!!! I really appreciate your input!!! :) Thanks!

First Robin of the Year!!!

Just wanted to stop in quick to mention what a lovely day I had outside today! It was in the 60s, the sun was out even though it wasn't supposed to be, I saw 24 different species of birds today, and the most important one was the American Robin, a symbol of the arrival of springtime weather!

Little Lambie

Okay, so last post for tonight: an update on my needle felted lamb. I'm having problems with this little guy:



He needs more wool and he also needs legs; but these are not the problems. The problems are his ears and his nose/mouth. Do you think his ears are too long? And is his nose/mouth messed-up-looking (for lack of a better adjective)? PLEASE give me your honest opinion. I am thinking of lopping off his ears and making them shorter, and I'm also thinking of giving him a nose job... should I?? Or should I leave him as is and try out my new ideas on lambie #2??

Painting and Needle Felting! :)

Here's a preview of some of the wood products that I am currently working on to put up for sale in my shop (link in upper right corner):

This mess of stuff includes future plant stakes, bookmarks, magnets, ornaments, dollhouse decorations, and a gift box. Coming soon!

And here's some paper mache/decoupage projects that I just finished up and have for sale in my shop (with the exception of the photo frame on the bottom in the middle -- after looking at the photo, I realized the trim wasn't aligned right.... which sucks...):

For some reason, I love to paint on wood and paper mache and ceramic and resin. I love painting objects . I just can't paint pictures; my hands are too shaky! :(

And here's an update on some of the needle felting projects I posted a couple of weeks back (and also an unfinished knitted and needle felted clutch purse):

There are now two ducks, both with faces, and the bear has a face now as well... although I am not happy with it. The eyes just seem too vacuous to me... and therefore, scary. The pic also shows all of the needle felted flowers I made and have for sale in my shop. I also have been obsessed with knitting lately, and in the upper-right you can see an almost-finished purse that I came up with on a whim. It just needs another tie, and perhaps a strap. The yarn I used is "SWS" yarn -- I LOVE it! It is 70% wool and 30% soy, and it is SOOO soft and the colors are so gorgeous!!! The needle felted flowers aren't attached, I just put them there to see what they looked like.

So what do you all think? See anything you like? See anything you DON'T like (be honest!)? See anything that you'd like to see more of??

Okay so I am lazy when it comes to updating this blog! Oh well. I feel motivated now, so I'll post a couple things!

Firstly (is that a word?), I have some new springtime needle felted creations available in my Etsy shop (link is in the upper right)! The yellow "chick" (now a duck... couldn't get the beak pointy enough) now has eyes and also a little meadow with flowers and actually already sold! But I do have another one up for sale.


"Bobblehead Bunny" is my newest creation and is also for sale:


And I also made some 3D flowers using applique molds! Here is the large rose (my favorite):


One thing I'm finding about needle felting is that it's nearly impossible to make an exact replica of something you've made before (unless you're using a mold). This can be both frustrating and exciting. I've heard this before: that each critter or piece you make will end up having it's own "personality". For example, I'm not as happy with Bobblehead Bunny 2 as I am with the bunny head that is shown in my avatar. Also, the tinier the piece you are creating, the harder it is to add detail, and therefore the harder it is to reproduce it. Oh well! There are bigger things in life to worry about!