WOYWW

She's finished!!  My copycat goosie...... with tips and advice and even the wool !! from my friend Gretel... a world class felter, artist and now... published author of a children's book... Mrs. Mouse's Cupcakes... for which she felted all the characters and even the cupcakes for the photos in the book!
If you live in the UK... ... you could even get in on one of her in person felting workshops!!  And, I'll be green with envy!

If you want to see progression photos from the balls of wool stage to this..... ... just backtrack a few posts... cover your eyes at the bloody one.... hehehe........ ...it happens..... occasionally, if not often ...
Gretel's goose in the background photo ...mine in front.  Think I will name her Gracie.
She is seven inches tall at the top most part of her neck/head area.  How tall is yours Gretel? .

My little guys were impressed by her sheer height..oh, and also her feet.......

Tuffy was hoping she didn't decide to get up and go anywhere........

From Ruggles' perspective .... view of the situation.... and little Buttercup just looks on in awe of the long, lean model on the runway....

Here is how a needle felt begins....  a bag of wool... and there are many types along with a huge array of colours (or you can dye your own ... I've even used Kool-Aid to do that) .... from various breeds of sheep....
Here is the wool Gretel sent me back when I began my project.  She declared that the stuff I was using was never going to work.  hahah....thanks Gretel... for taking pity on me.  I love it.  It's like having a second sister...

You also need some barbed needles to stab, gather and shape the wool into various parts before assembly.  A pen holder like this one is a good idea instead of trying to hold the tiny ends of a needle...just too hard on hands and wrist.  This particular one will hold up to 3 needles... you can also use only two for the smaller pieces or even go down to just one for tiny things or for the finishing ...

This 'copycat' mentality is what got me started on needle felting in the first place several years ago.  Could I make a little bear as cute as Norm was making? the first ones I'd seen .. .. and that I just had to buy on e-bay?... because after the first two I bought  .. the third one got into a bidding war and I paid waaay too much for him.  When he arrived in the mail, I carried him around for a day just looking at him... totally in awe... he was so cute and so tiny ... well, ...that was it.  I was hooked before I even found some wool and needles and tried to make one for myself.  Hahaha... and the first was pretty funny ... looked more like a monkey than a bear..but I finally got him to look sort of okay and was pretty thrilled that I had made my very own little guy.  However, I have to say.....I still want to own at least one of Gretel's creations... yep...I do.

For the WOYWW we are supposed to keep our posting short...but, eh..... just wanted to also tell you about my doll making start.  Almost the same thing.  For months I had wondered if perhaps I could make a doll.  One just like "youknowwho"....  and.....  had to give it a try.  Turned out I could.  I did.  She worked out beyond my wildest dreams for a first....and from an online course actually.  How I loved the little personal challenge of the attempt.   I don't think I have much imagination of my own really ...but, I love to try making some of the things I see others doing.

Here's my first doll .... Echlin... from a Sherry Goshen pattern.  Wow... back in '07 already  .... hmmm...time sure flies....

The painting of the faces was the most intriguing part to me.  I'd never tried anything like it in my life.  But, there were about 18 pages of pics and instructions... you just follow along and all of a sudden...a face appears... absolutely amazing to me!  We also made the little chair.  It was supposed to be made by cutting and cleaning a big dirty old gourd.... I just couldn't bring myself to use one.  Instead I just made a paper clay shape over a shallow bowl and went from there. ... lined it with silk and made some flowers from paperclay as well... and voila.  My first doll!  Pretty darn thrilling to me.

If you want to check out blogs of others participating in WOYWW....go to Julia's blog and see our list of bloggers...wow...it gets longer each week....

Frilly dilly...

I got the feet attached...and then did the frilly dilly little thingmebob on one of her upper legs....sheesh.... what a tricky spot to needle felt.  Had to spread her poor little legs a bit to get in there .. poor baby...

Maybe my mentor did her goosie somewhat differently ... maybe she put the frill on the upper leg and then attached the leg? ...I know not.  I am just playing copycat here ... and trying to figure it out for myself without asking too many questions.  That's part of the game, see? .......... I want to know if I can accomplish anything near the original by doing that ... although... as soon as Gretel sees this...she will then let me know if I did it all bass ackward...! Which is a distinct possibility........

Then... took some time out to bake some scones...because strawberries were on sale ...and I had to have some.  Soooo sweet they are too.

And... found a great recipe for Hot Cross Buns....yes, I know ...I'm several days late now.  I was busy.  But...I'm still going to give them a go one day this week to test and taste.

Oh,....and speaking of late.... my doll and bear making buddy, Maggi, came to play on Friday .... and brought me a car.  Well, brought a car for one of the little guys cuz I'm way to big to fit in this little roadster ....

Perfect fit for Scooter...

Time for tea!!

Especially when this happens.   It was a total through and through ....in one spot and straight out the other.  I was sort of going sideways with one good stick .... and all I can say is thank goodness I didn't get any on Ms. Goosie!

If it happens... you have to lick the wool ...hahaha...yeh...your saliva works wonders.  But... hhaakkkk!!  it feels like a cat trying to get rid of a hairball for a minute or two after that .... ptoooey .....

You just have to walk away ...and wait it out til the bleeding stops .. especially with white wool.  And...hopefully you don't leak any of the red stuff before you snatch away the poor aching finger.  It hurts to stab a finger or thumb... almost feels bruised as well as stuck ... it hurts.  Please be careful if you try some felting.

Think it's time to stop for tea and a cookie now.....oh, I forgot to bake any.  Just for that ...maybe I'll bake something next then.....

But, before I did that ...I finished up both wings....and began to add a bit of wool for the leg tops...oh, and... stuck some wire into the feet...

WOYWW

Today I'm "winging it" ...

Hi everybody doing the WOYWW blog hopping.  My desk today is, once again, the kitchen table ..and the dining room table and the...well yehh...as usual at my place ... I've got stuff everywhere as you can see.  But.....who cares?  I'm having some fun.  And, who really cares except me anyway?  Mr. BV seems to enjoy seeing the little creations and appears genuinely interested in what my wools and fluffs are becoming. ...he knows more about dolls and bears than is prudent for a guy to admit most times ..but, it's all good.   He usually has to clear a space for his supper if a bear and bear fur is spread all over the table and he just does it with a grin...  ... this is not quite as messy....hahahha...it's his lucky week.

If you want to check the progress... check out the previous postings.... if you just want to see today's happenings... that's fine too.

Got one wing on the go .... and dug out some wire for my lovely big feet after Gretel mentioned it will be helpful in maintaining some balance with the height of Ms. Goosie.  She's long and lean, like a runway model.
She will be a bit top heavy though, even if she doesn't have a big head... it's just her height don'tcha know? ...  more ungainly than heavy really.  Oh, and that beezer .... I forgot, she does have a pretty big beak doesn't she? ........

If you want to see what other WOYWW participants are up to...hop on over to Julia's blog and check out the dozens...well, it's actually up to over 150 already today....  ...

... and after clearing spaces for grub.....we had a lovely, healthy soup I simmered all day.... with some home made toast.  Trying to make sure I am eating right to speed along the healing process .... I don't think it's working really, but I love making soup and definitely enjoy the eating part... ...

And, hey!! lookie there.... Blogger put back the little golden pencil edit tool.... thanks blogger!  It was difficult as all get out to find my way back to change a letter or two after publishing and re-reading my post and discovering my boo boos... .....

Feet first ...

I don't know what happened... I just picked up the coloured wool instead of white I guess.  Funny how it goes.  Yesterday, I do remember thinking I was going to make arms next ..er ...wings, ... then, all of a sudden...feet were in my hands.

Looking at them next to the photo.... perhaps I might make them a bit larger...but, I will determine if they look a good size next to my own goosie.

Happily...that sharp edge happened quite easily.  Much easier than I thought it could.  So.... I'm happy with them thus far... maybe add some wisps and make them a tad larger...but, other than that, some final tidying up .... figure out how to attach them .... with a bit more white upper leg it looks like from my photo...hard to see behind the wing there.... make a green scalloped bit to represent some frilly knickers... and then...on to the arms.... er ...wings.......

... and while goosie and I were playing in the kitchen.... my wordesk is my table most days...I did manage to bake some bread as well....

mmmmm...nothing better than home baked bread.   Haven't been doing any for weeks with the stupid ribs ... hurts to knead, even with just my left hand, and really, one hand is not enough to do a decent job of it. .... besides... my head just hasn't been in the game.  I'd probably forget yeast or something equally silly.  Today I feel almost human again though ... ....wheeeeee.... if this keeps up.....I'll be DANGEROUS!!!   Oh, please!!

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Giveaway !!! Not on this blog...yet....but, sometime in the near future..... when I hit a round number of comments or something....

Mary Ann, a fellow maker of cute things..... is offering a chance to win one of her sweet little mousies!  Hop over to her blog for your opportunity.   I know...it lessens my own chances...and I reeeeelly want one of those little mousies...but, sometimes good karma does happen.  I guess.  Well, not often, but, ...sometimes it must......

Sunny Monday..

Didn't have too much opportunity to work on little goosie over the weekend.... and just got kind of tired of stabbing away on her beak and not getting it quite perfect.  It has to be pretty darn perfect to even come close to a Gretel goose... so, for a change of pace, I made her a little collar instead, and stitched on some pearls that she sent me.  Hard to tell in the photo...but, they are different colours... pastel greens, one almost pinkish and some white... I liked that they had big enough holes to accept a needle.

Now... she is definitely a she....

The eye is just a test eye at the moment (they are various sized beads on pins and I love them ..use them all the time with the bears)  to give me an idea of placement ... and later in the day...I did get around to more stabbing on her beak....and got it a better shape and looking more how I want it....

She's coming right along.  Guess I'll move on to wings next....  and then ...those big feet.  They will definitely be a challenge.  Can you see the absolute sharp edge on them?  Not easy on wool.

Stay tuned.....

Now what?

Totally new pages for composing posts??? ...arrgghhh!  I hate change.  I like constancy and the ease with which I am used to doing things. Give me my old stuff back blogger.  Including that little golden pencil so that I can click on it to edit old postings.  I'm not all modern like I pretend.

Gee, thanks so much everybody for your good wishes and the commiseration.... it felt pretty darn good.  I do think I am on the road to recovery now.... I managed to stay vertical all day yesterday ... didn't feel the need to get horizontal til bed time ..which I think is a good thing.  I even went along with Mr. BV to check out the cabinet shop ... we are trying to get organized for a pretty big renovation.  Yes I know ...  those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile will be groaning...  because you know that we have been renovating for oooh..... uh.... OMGoodness is it 25 years?! aacckkk!!.... ourselves and also with contractors ... so... this, hopefully, will be the last big push and it will be done.  Once and for all the rest of my time.  Please.
I absolutely love the names of paint colours... Willow, Silver  Moss, Grey Slate.  Eventually it may not be one of these ...but, perhaps something similar... or I may do cream and go with greenish walls.... who knows?  It's all still up in the air....

We've had lovely snow white cabinets (for 15 years now) that we built ourselves...well, Mr. BV did most of it...I was the gopher, second pair of hands, hold this, hand me that  ..etc... hey sounds like more assisting ..hahah...always handy to have an ex dental assistant around the house.  So, this time we are going for some colour on them.  Then, more colour decisions...walls..... and if we change the kitchen...what about the rest of the house? ...see how it goes?  No such thing as a simple reno.  There just isn't.

Hey they still look great in a photo...ignore the backsplash... no tiles and crappy glue all over the drywall... but, it's time for a change for a few reasons.

So, with real interfering from various angles ... there was not much time to work on any stabbing of fluff for my "goosie" ...but, I did decide after stab number 4,952...that the beak just wasn't going to get any smaller ...and that it was about 2 sizes too large for her dainty little head.  So... back to grabbing some more beak fluff...a smaller hunk this time... don'tcha just love the scientific terminology? ... sounds like the old days at the dental office...   "Hand me a little blob of cement will ya Veronica?"  .... and now I have a beak that I think is a better size.  We'll see when I finish working on the end of the head where the beak will attach.  Want to get it just right.

And...I did stab a bit of the dark green stuff in order to get a collar started.  Actually just stabbed a bit to see if I could get a long flat thin bit sort of made up... then I guess I will attach it to the neck and try to figure out how Gretel makes it look like it is not actually attached... but, just put on like a collar would attach.  She has a great knack... have you checked out her felting?  Get over there and do so.  Immediately.   Oh, and...prepare to be blown away.

WOYWW

I'm just barely getting back to the land of the living... after weeks of bronchitis and serious sinus infection and coughing so hard I've damaged tissue in the breast and rib areas.  I feel hard done by (what a whine hey?) as I never even usually get colds....ever !!..... but, finally I've given up fighting it on my own and am taking antibiotics on the insistence of my doctor.

Two days of that and my gut hates it... nausea....but, I persevere ... as I must.  A big sinus infection has lodged itself and won't be shaken without them it seems.

Today ...I am trying to also get back to WOYWW...(check it out here) and this is the bit of fluff that I did some half hearted playing with yesterday and today.

I began the actual shape weeks ago...before we went off to Portugal....but, am refining it and almost have it where I want it now.  (I hope to get some more Portugal photos on here soon too....) I'm trying to only play for a short time each day to ease my wonky elbow back into things.  Man, what a wreck I am for somebody who bragged how healthy she was and who seemed to think she was pretty amazing....sigh ..... right now I feel crappy.  Yep...that's all I can say about all of it.

Anyway... back to fun and fluff ....

My attempt to make a Gretel Goosie.... with fluff that she actually sent me so that I would have the real stuff instead of the rather stiff and fuzzy stuff I was trying to use.  It just wasn't going to make the same goose at all! This wool is soooo soft.  Thanks again Gretel... hope I can do a good one and make you proud.  I know at the moment it looks a bit more like the Lochness Monster...but, trust me...it'll be better later...... honest......

This is more the size of tiny guys I am used to making ...  hahha... only as big as a beak..... and how do I get that beak smaller...?  I'm stabbing away and it isn't happening... maybe I'll have to try again with a smaller piece of fluff.  Or, maybe I'll try squeezing it a bit and stabbing more and even some on the long angle of the thing...yeh...maybe that'll work.

I've only ever tried tiny bears, hippos and one mouse and erm....what else..? ...... well, that's it really.  Kind of got stuck on bears I guess.  It seems because I am used to making them of fabric...I can get a pretty good little face on a needle felted one too.  Well, I think that's the reason.  I can actually almost 'see' a little head shape taking form before I get too far along at all with the stabbing of the wool puffs.... and I like how they turn out for me.   This is Scruffy.  He actually won an award at a pretty big local fair .... at our Stampede...which is world famous...

They all begin the same though....huge puffs of varying types of wools.... stabbed thousands of times with a barbed needle til they become the desired shapes.  My pen tool will hold up to 3 needles ...or as few as one.... and gives something better than the skinny tip of the needle to hold onto while working on a piece.

If you'd like to try your hand at needle felting, there is lots of stuff online to check out.. and if you'd like to play WOYWW ... come on... do it.

A Valentine's Day gift

It was an amazing day.  I opened the door to the postal guy who was delivering a package....along with special encouragement and generosity from a fellow blogger, needle felter, artist extraordinaire and friend.

Remember me saying I wanted to make my own Snowdrop?  Just like Gretel makes..?  Well, of course, it would be pretty well impossible to make a twin of anything she makes because she has a special knack and plenty of talent and ... hahaha.... a much healthier, working arm/hand..etc.... .... ...but I so wanted to try one.  Beginning slowly due to this silly arm business.... I did make a start ... but, then had some questions....especially about the type of wool...

This is mine that I was using and I have used it for several little bears of course..but, the finished surface will never be very smooth when the wool is kind of rough textured like this, and  ...well, ...almost kinky by comparison ....  but mostly I put on some extra 'fur' after making the little shapes for my bears anyway...so it doesn't really matter with them, does it?











However, her Snowdrop looked so smooth to me...I was sure I needed something different for wools...so I asked.... and she explained how different her wool is compared to my rough stuff.  And, then...she sent me some lovely soft Snowdrop wool ... (I could hardly stop caressing it) and a close up picture .. so I have a better chance at playing copycat.  How lucky am I to have a friend like that?
Look at the difference in the texture of the two wools.

And, this says it all.... one of her amazing whimsical art cards. A special fantasy boat.. swan figurehead and all ...  an intrepid passenger aboard... . Guess what it is called?

 The Hopeful Quest...

It's me sitting there I'm sure .....  .... the intrepid traveller ..  ..on my quest to make my own little Snowdrop.... thanks so much Gretel.....