Adding to the menagerie

 

A new needle-felting project is underway.  I've mentioned how addictive this hobby is for me.  While I'm working on one project I'm thinking ahead to what I'll make next.  It's a little like obsessing about the ice cream in the freezer while eating the last of the Christmas cookies.

I made some good progress on this kitty to the point of having him almost completely covered in gray fiber with a few white patches, but I wasn't happy with the result.  The gray fiber was in strands and difficult to work with on such a small project.  I'm now covering him with black--a shorter fiber and easier to manipulate around his creases and curves.  I'm still very much a novice in the realm of needle felting.

As most of you have come to learn, I always have many more project ideas than time to do them.  I've been contemplating taking on a bigger project--a standing figure, maybe a foot high, of someone I know.  This will require an armature, but I've done those before with cloth and clay dolls.  

On another subject, remember the Treehouse cleaning-by-the-clock idea I mentioned in a previous post?  I actually traveled back in time and straightened up the left side of my computer desk--the 11 o'clock to noon time slot. And no sooner had I done that than the noon to 3 o'clock slot got littered up again.  I can see now that I need a better system.  Maybe I'll just call those folks at 1-800 Junk.

Feeling sheepish

There's nothing quite like needle felting to relieve the stress of the holidays.  It's also a great activity when you're sitting in front of the TV and you only kinda like football.

We had a very nice Christmas with Big City Girl and her boyfriend visiting.  I decided I didn't want to spend most of Christmas day in the kitchen this year, so I scaled back the food plan.  We had a delicious marinated salmon dinner on Christmas Eve with all of the side dishes prepared the day before.  And late Christmas morning we had scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes (leftovers from the night before) and scones--made from a mix I got at a local English store.  I even planned ahead and made plenty of brussel sprouts so I'd have lots to see me through a few more meals.

I'm feeling a little sheepish though.  Mr. Gadget and I had agreed, I thought, not to get anything for each other this holiday.  We're each hard to buy for, plus we do lots of fun things during the year.  But he decided to surprise me with a nice big gift card to knitters' heaven.  Perhaps I should get him a New Years gift.  Maybe a gift card from gadget heaven...

So now I'm trying to clean up the Treehouse.  It's an overwhelming task, so I came up with a plan.  Think of a clock.  My computer desk is noon.  Moving clockwise I'm now at 3 o'clock.  And you know what?  Time only flies when you're having fun.

Merry Christmas!

Just popping in quickly to say Merry Christmas, and to show you my first attempt at a little felted sheep....still in process.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!  We will be leaving shortly to fetch Big City Girl from the train station.  I'll be so glad when the Christmas cookies are gone. 

Getting an early start

 

The needle-felting bug still has a hold on me so I decided to start another Santa.  The off-white fiber is called core wool and it's used to build up 3-dimensional figures.  It's less expensive and a bit lower in quality than the colored fiber, but it works well for the building process.

I've applied the white fiber trim for Santa's outfit, and some of the flesh color for his face.  I'm out of red at the moment, so he'll have to wait till I order more.  I might sew some small clear beads on the white to make it sparkle a little.

A year ago I made a couple of paper-mache Santa ornaments, but I didn't try to sell them because I wasn't totally satisfied with the result.

I do think they have possibilities.  I'll do a little fine tuning.  I like the rustic look.  I have so many ideas for things I'd like to make--including some pretty crepe paper flowers like ones I saw in a store a few weeks ago.  I did manage to come home and draw a quick sketch before I had time to forget what they looked like. 

I wonder if Mr. Gadget would be annoyed if one of these days I locked myself in the Treehouse for a week or so? Of course I wouldn't just leave him to totally fend for himself. I'd make sure he had plenty of Cheez-its and beer.

Look what landed in the Treehouse

I thought it would be fun to make some whimsical felted birds and this is my first attempt.  I'm going to embellish him a little more, but for now I'm just happy he's standing on his own two feet.  

Today Mr. Gadget chauffeured me to the old hotel to fetch my check and my unsolds from the Christmas show.  The temp was under 20 this morning and the snow was falling steadily, so he decided it might be a good idea to keep me off the roads.

I'm happy to report that my Santa-with-stick-appendages sold.  I have to admit, he was one of those yes-no-yes-no-maybe items that I'm often on the fence about right up till the last minute.  I did very well this year, and as I was about to leave with my loot the ladies told me they're thinking of making it a two-weekend show next year and they're hoping I'll make more stuff.  That could mean I'd have to cancel the cruise I have planned for next fall so I'd have time to work overtime in the Treehouse, but that's not gonna happen. So I'd better wrap up this blog post right now.  Time's a-wastin'. 

Pick-up sticks

I have fond memories of visiting my grandmother's house long ago.  This was the same grandmother who wired tin cans full of bird treats to the fence. She was quite a seamstress in her day, which was, sadly, before I was born.  After she passed away I inherited a big spool of her tatting which I treasure and use very sparingly to embellish my dolls.

Grandma also made beautiful hooked wool rugs, and one in particular was my favorite.  It had a deep pile in which I could stab a whole set of pick-up sticks.  It didn't take much to amuse me.  It still doesn't.

I've never lost my fondness for pick-up sticks.  It's just that now I play in the park. I walk among the trees (we have lots of those in Connecticut) and pick up sticks to use as arms and legs for my dolls.  They can't be too wet, too buggy, too barky, or too knobby....although once in a while a little knob makes a good elbow or knee.

This Santa made his way...a little bit late....to the old hotel Christmas fair last weekend.  I don't know yet if he sold.  If not, he'll come back home with me and I'll find a spot for him to sit with the other unsolds.  I'll give him a little pep talk and tell him not to get down on himself, that not every Santa doll gets adopted every year.  I may have to fatten him up a bit and make him look a little more jolly.  And a pair of pants probably wouldn't hurt.

 







A few cruise photos

The luggage

Smooth seas

Rough seas

Storm at sea

Maui

Halloween

Halloween (she made the costumes!)

My traveling companion Jane and I.

  "The Girls"

The backwards man

One of the ship's waiters

(he's 6'10")

 

 

 

 

 





The latest flap

I seem to have birds on the brain.  I'm not sure what caused it.  It could have been the turkey, or my brother-in-law's Thanksgiving visit.  He's a college ornithology professor. My condition may have been exacerbated by a trip to Costco this morning where I found two small birds walking around in the baking-supplies aisle. 

I've always been a big fan of birds.  I think it started during visits to my grandmother's house as a child.  She was also a fan of birds and fed them all kinds of treats in small aluminum cans she wired to the back fence.  My mother continued the bird-feeding tradition by putting peanuts out on our front wall for the bluejays.  But this came to a halt when they started showing up earlier and earlier in the morning and pecking on the wood siding.

The other day I looked at my stash of fiber (so generously offered by my friend other Marcia) and thought, "I could make some really wild birds out of these bright colors!"  A couple of great thing about needle-felted birds is that they eat hardly anything at all and they're not likely to make annoying banging noises on the side of the house.

So Thanksgiving was nice, and you'll never guess what I did....well, after all that cooking stuff was done.  I taught the family how to needle-felt.  This included Big City Girl, my brother-in-law (sometimes referred to as Uncle Birdie), and my nephew (College Guy).  Mr. Gadget opted out.

BCG made a Christmas ornament with a heart design, Uncle Birdie made an ornament with a raven (the subject of one of his many theses), and College Guy made a holder for his cell phone.

The Friday after Thanksgiving was a beautiful day here, so we all piled in the car and took a ride up to the old hotel.  We knew it wouldn't be open, but it's interesting to see anyway, and it's a pleasant ride.  As we were walking all around and peeking in the windows, a woman from the renovation group drove up with a friend and she opened the place up so we could have a short, private look-see.  It was almost all decked out for the craft show (coming up this weekend).

On our way back to the house we stopped off at the local indoor go-kart track.  Mr. Gadget had decided to treat everyone as a surprise.  So they all suited up and drove some laps.  I decided not to partake.  Instead, I served as the designated coat-and-cell-phone watcher.  I've had lots of practice doing that and I thought it best that they not trust their stuff with anyone else.  Besides, I knew they'd all be really sore losers.