February 28, 2012

Good morning,
 Thought I'd start off by telling you a little about myself. I started hand needle felting about five years ago. Couldn't afford at that time ,because they were still so new a Embellisher, to do needle felting by machine. I really enjoy NF (needle felting) by hand, you can gain a little more control, and more detail work.  My first experience was while working in a sewing shop I had the chance to work with fiber artist Margo Duke, she was such an inspiration. If you havn't seen her work go to www.hermajestymargo.com to check it out. While helping her at an event sponsored by our store, I was able to do my fist NF project, it was very loose, delicate and I loved it! Of course it was done by machine, but I took it home, handworked it, and turned it into my first Clutch wallet. I still use it today on special occasions.

This is the front showing the flap.

 This is the back, notice the pieces starting to come off, where I didn't felt it down tight enough.

And lastly with it opened so you can see the handsewn inside, the best part is that I had used a magnetic snap as a closure.That is what has probably saved it in use and care.



Anyway, I now own a second hand Embellisher but still NF by hand more often then not.

if you have never NF before, and want to see more great items , follow this blog or join my NF group

Needle2Felt at yahoo groups.

-TNfrmgrl



February 26, 2012

Today was a fine day to be outside. Farm adventures abounded as we tried out our new brushhog.
If you have never seen someone operate this unit, let me say it was exciting and a little scary.
luckily, I wasn't the one operating it. Just seeing my husband move it up and down the valley on our farm made me dizzy. But once he got the hang of it, it seemed to go fairly smoothly.
Another fun  thing we did today was tap our maple trees and begin making maple syrup. By the time we left the farm and the boiling to other family members we had gathered about five gallons which came down to about a pint once boiled down. I'll post a picture once i down load it. all in all it took about seven hours to tap, gather and boil it. A lot of work and not m uch to show for it. I can't wait to try it out.

As for the Artsy clutch, i posted new pictures on my Etsy site a few days ago.
www.theartsyclutch,etsy.com

You can see them here too. I have a love of needle felting and making clutch purses.

Everyone should own at least one handmade item.
the first t\picture is called Royal Currents, if you look closely you can see movement through swirls quilted over the needle felted rovings. The second picture is after I made it into a clutch.
The third and fourth picture is my Fire & Ice clutch, flap and back. I needle felted it  then free motioned flames over the entire piece before sewing together to make a clutch.
thats all for today... more adventures coming soon.
-TNfrmgrl