Needle Felting – a hippie with a minivan

Needle Felted Giraffe

I get a lot of suggestions when people see my needle felting, and one animal that often comes up is a Giraffe.

I thought about it a lot, and an image kept on coming into mind and finally I had to get it out and I started. When I finished her head last weekend, I realized that she was going to be a lot larger than I originally thought, but I have wanted to make a larger piece, so I kept going.

At first she was yellowish with brown spots and she looked a bit cartoonish and not what I was going for but she had a great body shape.

So I started really looking at images of giraffes even more and found the perfect colours for her in my stash. I covered her with white making the yellow become the core, changed her face, and then started to add her spots… So many spots…

The camera on my iMac is great for getting in action pics…

I finally finished her this morning…

I did not start with a frame, but she does have a bit of wire in her to help her stand and be posed. She is just shy of 2 feet tall and weighs 9oz and is made of 100% Merino wool and is so soft. This is one of my favourite creations to date….

A ctually, I think she is my absolute favourite…

Second Craft Fair…

I had my second craft fair this weekend and wow, what a difference! This fair (Old Skool Crafts) was much bigger than the other though it was not that big according to some of the vendors that I talked to. I really do think that for the crowd, my needle felts stood out. I didn’t stop for a minute. There were always people at the table and they stayed and talked and many bought. I was so busy that I barely was able to stop and talk to friends that came to see me and it was impossible to get even a small conversation in.

Colin came and spend the day with me on Saturday. He was a great help to get things brought in and set up in the morning and then he found a friend and spent the day mostly with her. When he wasn’t with her he was at my side reading, snacking or just watching. When I went to the bathroom at one point I came back and saw that not only was he keeping an eye on the table but he was actually showing people at the table how needle felting works. It was a really good day for both of us and it was fun having a mom/son day like that.

On Sunday the whole family came and spent the day which was also great. The kids got used to being in the hall and found new friends, went out for lunch and tried the homemade treats at the little café. This was in a church basement and they were selling these large portions of baked goods for .75. The kids all got one in the morning and then in the afternoon, one by one they came and got a bit of money for another.

At one point I was talking with someone at my table and Willa came up to me and kept on asking me to look. She was holding a piece of cake in a plate with a napkin and looked so proud. I said “Oh Lucky you, go sit down and eat it”… so she did.

Then Simon came to see me. “Did you give her money for the cake?” he asked…
“um no?… I thought you did”…
then he said… “She had a bit of money in her pocket… I think some is missing and she said she paid for it”
He then took a dollar and went to the counter. She had indeed went to the counter on her own, gave .20 and got a piece of cake. The ladies refused for us to pay the difference…
When he got back to her… she said her catch phrase….. “I Told You” in her sing-song voice.

I think that moment was the highlight of my day 🙂

So here is a little tally….

The pieces most talked about and which brought people to the table.

Definitely my Cat, the Mushroom House and Cthulhu. I was on the corner of an isle and the Mushroom house was on the top of the display I had and it really brought people to my table. My cat was another that caught the eye, even though he was right in the middle of my table. There were even some that saw his bum from browsing the tables behind me and came to see him.

A Cthulhu fan can always be spotted when they saw Cthulhu first. He was also a hit among some of the vendors also and even starred in a few pics and travelled around the room a couple of times.

What I thought would sell better but didn’t at this fair…

My earrings and my cards. I really wish they would have done better but I think it was just not the right crowd for them.

What did really well… Ornaments were the biggest hit. Especially the 5-15$ range ones though a couple higher priced ones went also, especially the baby penguins.

A couple of my bigger pieces and animals have also made their way out. My brown bear, my first pig, one of my foxes, my hedgehogs, the polar bear I made recently and I think the hardest to let go of and the biggest piece that I have sold to date is my mushroom girl. It had a little twinge in my heart when she got picked but it was also a great feeling and I know that she will be loved.

In the last week or so my orders on Etsy have also picked up. With the craft fair and the Etsy orders it feels like this has really started. That my creations not only mean something to me but to others and with this I am contibulting not only to the family financially but I am also putting money towards our bus and future.

My first craft fair…

After weeks of getting ready and making an inventory, I had my first craft fair this weekend. Though I would have loved for it to be a lot better than it turned out to be, I am not too disappointed.

I was really happy with my display and I think that it was a great start. I might have a few things that I might tweak but I felt really good about the way my things were presented.

I set it up the night before on my kitchen table and then took pictures so that it would be easy to set up in the morning…

Once I got to the craft fair, it was easy to set up which was great because my mom was supposed to be with me but not only did she go to the wrong place, she also ran out of gas, so having everything well packed and easy to set up was great!
So what did I have?

The green three shelf box on the right was a Winners find, and though I paid a bit more than I would have liked to, I really like the box and it will be great for other uses. It has a chalk board on the side (or in my case the top as I have it standing up)

The little staircase/shelf is something I found a local Facebook selling group and it was only 3 houses away and 10$. I found some cheap paint in the error paints at Rona for 6$ and gave it a touch up of light blue instead of the dark brown that it used to be.

The three wooden boxes were Dollarama finds and cost 5$ for all three.

The little bench in the middle was my Mother-in-Law’s bench from when she was a little girl and was passed used by Simon and then my children.

The various baskets and bowls were items that I had around the house.

The table-cloth and curtains were cheap table cloths that I sewed and the sign is a Vinyl sign from Vistaprint.

Here is what it finally looked like once set up with my sign and everything…

That glass bowl in the middle was a last-minute addition. My grandmothers punch bowl which has now come to me. I used it to hold my wool so show people and to hold the wool I was using to needle felt on scene.

When there were people, I had really great comments and feedback about my creations and my display. Not only did people see my table when they walked in, but they came to my table, and listened while I explained the needle felting technique and I was able to engage them and get them interested. I loved every minute of that part. I gave out a lot of cards and people were even asking if I gave workshops (I am seriously considering it) and some came to my table 3-4 times during their stay.

The disappointing part though was the lack of people in general which of course meant a lack of sales and lots of time just talking with my mom, other vendors or needle felting. However, I was able to cover my table and make a bit more which was more than some over the weekend. I think it being black friday weekend, a small village, other fairs close by and a lack of advertising all had their factors.

Next weekend I am having another craft fair and this time it is in Montreal so hopefully there will be more people and more of “my people”.

http://www.oldskoolcrafts.webs.com/

If you are in or around Montreal, come check it out and stop in to say Hi! I would love to meet you!

Busy Crafting

I have been keeping quite busy crafting these last few weeks. I have a craft fair coming up and I might send in an application for another craft fair the week after.

I love doing big creations but with the time that is put into them, they are much more expensive than most people are willing to pay, and it seems to be a very niche market.

So I decided to make creations that would take less time to make and not be too expensive for gifts. So in the last few weeks I have made penguin, snowmen and gnome ornaments. Felted acorns and Sceneries in acorn tops that have been made into ornaments and earrings. Keychains, Dryer Balls and jingle balls for cats. I have also made a line of Greeting cards made from needle felted winter scenery paintings.

All of these things will be under 50$ and most under 30$ or even 20$.

I will of course also have big creations on hand, and hopefully I will be able to sell as much as I can to fund our bus project.

Needle Felted Earrings made from acorn tops

Needle Felted Earrings

Needle Felted fairy ornament

Needle Felted Dryer Balls

Needle Felted jingle bell cat balls

Needle Felted gnomes

Needle Felted penguins

Needle Felted Scenery Earrings

Needle Felted Acorn earrings

Needle Felted Cthulhu

This is my latest Needle felt. If you do not know Cthulhu he comes from the imagination and stories of H.P. Lovecraft. It was Simon that gave me the idea a while back but it was before I knew that I was actually pretty good at felting. He seemed a bit daunting at first.

After I made the mushroom house and the other sets though I knew that I could make him. So I started him in June before going to the “We Shine” gathering and then put him on hold while a I made things for the gathering. I brought him to the Shine gathering and worked on him a bit there which drew some interest but then with the bus, and summer, he stayed uncompleted.

I finally came around to taking the time to finish him last week shaping his head more, giving him eyes and wings and completing the details that make him seem to come to life. He stands about 6 inches high and has a bit of wire in his wings to help keep shape…

*Note: Cthulhu is for sale on my Etsy page