A Feltival!

I have crafting attention deficit disorder.  I discover one medium or idea that I'm passionate about and go crazy obsessive for a month or more and then pause, letting humdrum work and other parts of life take over for awhile.  Then some random spark lands in the craft kindling of my soul and a new passion flares up.  It can come from anywhere.  My latest crafting fire was an offshoot of October's felted pumpkin.

Around mid-November I pulled out the box of roving and tiny barbed needles used for dry felting and started to try bunching and shaping the fluffs of wool into things.  Wrap, fold, bunch, poke, poke, flip, poke.  I was instantly hooked and ran off for more roving and updated tools. 

With the holidays fast approaching it was the perfect time to pump out a variety of felt oddities to give as gifts.

And so it came to be that xmas/solstice/chanukah 2010 came to be Robin's Feltival!

I have one short book of 3d felting which I briefly consulted and picked up a few extra ideas and pointers.  For inspiration and possibilities I used my friend google images, and looked at what the felters of etsy have made.  Mostly I stuck to simple shapes with small additions. 

The silky white wool worked great for a snowcreature, one speciall Hello Kitty, and a whale just for my sister. 

The grittier red was easier to work with and some extra effort produced the Cardinal. 

I made a few smaller birds, and of course one Robin in honour of, well, myself.

The most natural undyed wool made for a great sheep.  Or, well, a sheep ball.

For a special woman I wanted to make a fairy, and some curly red yarn provided the perfect hair. 

A little embroidery thread added details to some, including the cactus.

Finally, I had to try some felt sushi (having seen one picture of same) by making the roll and cutting it with scissors.  The result had loose wool and so it had to be glued to something to be stable but I was pleased and amused with the look of it.

Happy Feltival to all!  Now on to 2011.