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.

 

Brown Bear

inspired by craft shows to try more 3d felting, I made a blue bird for a special boy's birthday present this morning, and tonight I made this little brown bear.

check out this hilarious site!

Half a dozen friends recently posted http://butchesholdinganimals.tumblr.com/archive yes that's Butches Holding Animals, on facebook so I not only had a look but added a little picture of my own, from this past summer with my mom's orange tabby Teddy.

happy samhain, all hallow's eve, dia de los muertes, harvest!

butch haiku #1

ah barbershop buzz
he says "make you beautiful";
clippers my eyebrows

October Craftorama

Coming off a brutal few weeks of work, I suddenly had a four day weekend and some breathing space ahead.  Relaxation was definitely in order, but it occured to me I didn't want to just fritter the time away completely, but focus myself onto something fun and creative.  And so October Craftorama was born, a self-imposed project of ten days - ten crafts.  I decided each day to make something and photograph it, starting on a friday and running to the next sunday.

Day 1 - small needlefelted pumpkin.  This turned out gorgeous and has given me a renewed itch for trying 3d felted projects.  Thanks to Alison for starting me on dry needlefelting a few years ago.  This involves using roving (wool before it's yarn), and poking it with barbed needles so the wool fibres bind together.  Holding and poking it into shapes is the real trick.  Off to a brilliant start if I do say so myself.

Day 2 - 'quilling' autumn tree.  So glad I thought of this craft, though I've only tried it once before, and that was years and years ago.  Rolling thin strips of paper, pinching them into shapes, and gluing them to form a picture.  The tree was a simple and effective choice.  This one garnered great reviews from friends and I ended up gifting it to Jackie.  Again, I'm thinking I'll do more of this later.

Day 3 - paper mache skulls. Ugly plastic skulls from the dollar store, flour and water paste, torn up newspaper, paint.  I love mexican day of the dead (dia de los muertes) designs and tried for that look.  Remembered too late that I hate the goopy feel of the paste.  Memories of elementary school and making friends do that part in exchange for artistic design and painting.  Still, paper mache does look cool and really transforms an object.  The flour and water paste which becomes cement is lovely magic.  Wish I had taken more time and care to do more detailed painting, but overall they are fun and have the right spirit.

Day 4 - stencilled butch hankies.  Used mylar (clear plastic) to try and make a stencil and it was too thick.  In the absence of thinner plastic I used paper, which worked ok but only works once.  Forgot to protect inside layers against paint seepage.  Sigh.  I was most pleased with the designs, and hope to do something like this with silkscreen in the future.

Day 5 - recycled paper rolls pot.  I've seen this done beautifully with smaller strips of recycled magazines made into bowls and other objects.  I made too many folds so it was a bit clunky but a good first try and fun way to use up magazines, definitely a good watching tv craft.  As always, more patience would produce a better result. 

Day 6 - halloween lights.  Simple and fun, sheets of mylar with faces and tissue paper glued in, rolled up, set over lights.  Good for a day with less time for the challenge.  These made their way to my honourary nieces and nephew at the Mamberlains family friday before halloween.

Day 7 - simple origami paper wallets.  Another butch craft, I used a transit guide, a map, and a star chart.  Covered one side of the paper with packing tape for durability.  The tape crinkled up but otherwise I like these and when I further reduce what I carry around I would use them.  Picking the papers was the most fun.

Day 8 - robot stitchery.  Ok, no skill on display here, my first attempt at embroidery/stitchery ever, looks like it was done by a clever 5 year old.  Still, I love the robot and I liked trying this.  Bought a book of with a playful approach to stitching for inspiration and future projects.  In the end, this was my personal favourite, it's not beautiful but it is full of joy and is so very very me.
Day 9 - decorative mirrors.  Needed an excuse to go to the hardware store and break out the serious glue.  The one with metal miscellany turned out great, the others so so.  Although confetti of tiny beads is super bright and fun, taking more care with the glue would have been wise.
Butch make craft with hardware and silicone glue!

Day 10 - monprints. For the big finale I broke out my long neglected monoprint supplies.  Paint with watercolours onto sanded plexiglass, let dry, layer paint, dry, soak paper in water, pat paper dry, press onto plate, (cover with plastic and rub with the back of a wooden spoon for a good press by hand), lift paper and voila!  These didn't photograph well but look nice in person and the skull made of splattered colours was a nice return to dios de los muertes.  The crow is painted on the print afterwards.

I did it!  It was hard to think up all new mediums, and to do each project start to finish in one day.  I had many other craft ideas (making soap for example, yarn art, linocut, and many more).  Some required more time to research and learn, others would have taken more time to complete, or more space than I have.  Basically I do everything on my coffee table.
Craftorama was definitely fun and had the desired result of making me feel creative and productive and getting me to experiment.  Revved up and inspired for more craft projects ahead.  Well, after a week or two off :)

good sports and a new name

Sometime past midnight I went to say thanks and goodnight to one of my friends hosting the 'renovated kitchen party' and ended up capitulating to staying a bit longer because a tiny fierce woman I didn't know insisted I owed it to her.  Her name is Foxy, and when I say fierce I don't just mean that she crackles with energy like lightning in a jar, but she does, I also mean fierce in the ring.  Foxy is her boxing name and she is one of the many amazing women currently jumping and jabbing at the Newsgirls Boxing Club in Toronto.  http://www.torontonewsgirls.com/tng_main/index.php 

Savoy Howe founded the Newsgirls in 1996, starting with one night a week in a boys club and claiming a permanent fulltime home of their own in 2006.  Her infectious passion, dedication and positivity have made her a real hero to just about everyone who has come in contact with the club.  The mission of the Newsgirls is to provide a safe and positive space for women and trans people to explore the sport of boxing, and perhaps the most amazing part of the gym is the Shape Your Life program.

"Shape Your Life (SYL) provides women and trans survivors of violence with an opportunity to participate in a recreational boxing program. Physical exercise, reducing social isolation, exploring healthy aggression and expressing anger in a safe place can help survivors heal from violence and regain control over their lives. Shape Your Life aims to empower survivors by building self esteem and community through the sport of boxing." http://shapeyourlifeboxing.com/

Now I don't box, I'm not even a real fan of watching boxing, but I do love and admire the spirit of Savoy and my friends and the other women and trans boxers at the Newsgirls.  They are nothing short of amazing, and pretty fun to party with truth be told.  So back to Foxy.  "What's your boxing name?" she asks me.  "Oh, I don't box."  I reply.  "That's ok, what's your name?" she settles for and so I tell her it's Robin.  She tilts her head, thinks for a half second and says triumphantly "Hood! Your name is Hood!"  I laugh and say again "but I don't box."  Undeterred she beams and tells me "that doesn't matter, your name is Hood."  And so maybe it is.  I like it.