what emerges

When I'm teaching a class of 10 or more it's common for the students to each work at a slightly different pace. When I'm asked to demonstrate a technique, like how to blend color, or how to make an eye, I'll end up doing so a couple of times. When class is over, I end up with something like this wonder from my latest bird class.

A 3-eyed, 1-legged, purple whatsit. Who, I'll admit, I find kind of endearing.

The "owl" from my recent owl class ended up with one eye and three beaks. I'd show you, but the cat thought he was irresistible.  I have a sheep class coming up on Feb. 5th. We'll see what emerges from that one.

Happy Tuesday, all.

fabulous fairies

I taught a fairy class to 10 talented ladies last night.  It was a lot of fun and everyone left with a beautiful and unique fairy.

Some had beehive hairdos.

Some wore pantaloons under their dresses.

Some were pretty in pink.

Some had dragonfly wings.

Some had more personality than their hair could contain.

Some were daintily delicate.

Great things happen when you get a group of women around a table full of color.

Thank you, ladies, for a wonderful evening.

Next class to be announced soon!

good fun at the felting workshop

I taught a felting class last night.  A group of really receptive and fun women sat together and needled wool into bird shapes for a good long time.

It's a cool thing to witness a group of mostly strangers sit, each working on their project, bonding through the shared experience.  Chatting, laughing, learning, occasionally "ouch!"ing.  We snacked on rhubarb curd in graham cracker crusts and discussed ducks in the bathtub and what peculiar creatures cats are.  It was a good night.

And just look how cute their birds turned out.  I love the worm in the mouth.

These are just a few of the fantastic wee birds made last night. 

Thank you, ladies, for the fun night and for allowing me to share the craft with you.  It was good fun.

a nuno scarf for Molly

Yesterday my friend Molly had a crash course in nuno felting and natural dyeing.

She came over with that Starbuck's pumpkin spice latte in her hand and an eagerness to learn, and though I thought the PSL was only so-so, I think her scarf turned out wonderfully.

Wanting to make a shade of grey, we looked for tannin-rich materials that we could afterdip with iron.  A walk in the woods yielded oak leaves, acorns, twigs, barks, and a smattering of different leaves that went in the dye pot to simmer.  We dyed her scarf at the pre-felt stage, that is the fibers started to hold together but weren't completely felted yet.  That allowed her to add a few little undyed locks and some lines of fiber I had previously dyed before finishing the felting process.  The leaf-like shapes were small pieces of silk that had been felted in.  I love how they took up a different color than the scarf itself.

And I especially love how happy she was with the end result.

Didn't she do a great job?