DIY: Intro to Sculptural Felting!

Hey, y'all! I'm sad to say that last Wednesday was our last #creatingwithcassie Facebook LIVE craft night for felting. I chatted about Fashion Felting and will share a blog post about that super soon (I'm a pinch behind...as per usual). The previous week, we ventured into Sculptural Felting and I shared the basics on how to needle felt little creations...while creating this penguin whom I've named Pepe le Paint...or something. Here's the video from our live creating session:

I've done a ton of needle felting but I've never taken it to the third dimension. Sue sent me a bunch of samples to share with y'all to serve as both ideas and examples of what can be created by needle felting. 

Sue created the cardinal, the penguin and the cat. I'm currently working on a ton of felted cacti which I'll share with you real soon (if you follow me here, you can catch some one-minute how-to videos). By the way, Sue has a great YouTube channel with a ton of felting videos. Check it out here! 

Now, I mentioned that this past Wednesday was our last craft night for felting. For the month of May, we are moving on to CLAY! We'll spend the first half of our craft nights as we used to do: sharing tips and tricks. So come prepared to talk shop about clay, both kiln and no kiln fire. Then...we'll create! You can use ANY clay you have on hand or you can purchase your clay kit right here. You can also find out more details on what we'll be up to right here. 

Now, let's check out this gallery of awesome folks who have been felting along with me. Seeing the work of other folks has really made this experience the best for me...it's one thing to share your love of a craft with someone via a blog post or a video. But it's entirely something else to create live along with people...and see what variety of creatives there are out there. THANK YOU AND HUGS to everyone who participated either live or after the fact, shared their creations and their enthusiasm. Y'all are the best. 

And a BIG shout out to Sue at Back to Back Fiber for helping to make this possible. She's still selling felting kits if you are interested! 

This van Gogh makes me so happy! Love this creation by Heather @the_doodle_birds.

Who doesn't love a purple penguin? This one is by Sepi @sepi.gol.

This Frida was made by Mariana @parkesphoto 8 year old daughter! Isn't it incredible? I love how the flowers in the crown are three dimensional. 

Deborah @visualpraisestudio has been felting the cutest hats. I see an etsy shop in her future. I love these! 

I am loving Jen @jtheen palette hat complete with three dimensional paint brush. So adorable! 

And who doesn't love a needle felted pet?! I love everything about this creation and photo by @swells17! 

Merrill @merrillguinn made a happy little penguin...I love how the beak looks like he's chatting up a storm. 

Heather's sweet unicorn...I love this so much! That mane is perfection.

Growing up in the '80's, I have a soft spot for Gremlins! I can't get enough of this one created by @art.teach.at.the.beach.

Love this tie-dye penguin, it's so groovy, baby. This one is by Emily @emily_clonts.

Check out how PERFECT Dana's @daynahbaynah felted beads are...that is no small feat. Kudos, gurl! 

Alison's @alison.m.klein colorful creature makes me so happy. I think the big eyes are my favorite. 

Angela's @nachtule felted succulents are so pretty. I'm totally diggin the purple one. 

Look at how productive Mary @mary5409 has been. I am loving the owl. 

Angela's narwhal is so much fabulous. The horn is just the best.

Check out this precious little dude! This one is by Desiree @mrsmillsartfromtheheart. 

I love two things: the color pink and otters. So when I saw Chapin's @chapin.schnick creation, I was so excited. The cuteness!

Rachel's @mrsp_art penguin with it's little waving flipper is so fun. What a great idea! 

This rainbow bird by @echopaitsel looks so cute on display in this Easter grass. 

Y'all. Heather's felting game is STRONG. I think this would be a fabulous project for kids! 

BB8 for the win, kids! How is this our first Star Wars felted creation? Ima need more where this came from. Megan @mrs.dunstan you get a slow clap and a hats off from me, sister! 

Amber @amberakes created the next two felted pieces. I really love how she blends the roving. It gives her pieces a painterly effect. 

I could see this on the back of a clutch, couldn't you? So pretty. 

Stay tuned for one more needle felting wrap up from our craft nights. If you'd like to be featured here, just use #creatingwithcassie on your preferred social media outlet. Now, go stab something, y'all! 

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DIY: Felted Matroyshka and Pysanky Eggs

If you've been hanging around this here blog for a bit, then you know I've been hosting a weekly craft night right here with the focus being on felting. In order to lead the craft nights the best that I can, I've been pushing myself to explore the one area of felting that I'm not super comfortable with: wet felting. Y'all know I'm all about the needle felting...but this wet felting stuff is a bit of a learning curve. 

So far, I've wet felted a beaded necklace, a clutch and now this matroyshka doll. Here's how: 

One thing that you have to commit yourself to when it comes to wet felting is that it is time consuming and requires patience. This is not something you can rush. The felting process takes time...in fact, it took me probably 45 minutes to an hour from start to finish to complete the wet felting process. After drying out over night, I was able to start needle felting. 

This also proved to be pretty time consuming...but I do love needle felting. That being said, I had originally planned to make another doll to fit inside this one...but I don't know if I'm ready to make that kind of time commitment! 

Like I said in the video, when I started needle felting, I didn't go into it with much of a plan. I really wanted to focus on the patterns on the clothing: dots, stripes, flowers. 

The beauty of needle felting is that it really helped to form, shape and stabilize the doll. I was concerned that when I removed the wooden form, the entire doll would collapse but it remained relatively solid...but the needle felting really proved to make it solid. 

Now, getting the diameter of the opening of both the top and bottom of the doll did prove to be a little tricky. To make them the same, I did have to do a lot of needle felting around the rim of both to get them to be the same width. 

 Creating the flowers and patterns was really my favorite part.

I thought the doll should be wearing an apron which is why there is a blue tie in the back. 

After felting the doll, I realized that I could felt around any number of objects floating around...so when I spotted Easer eggs at the grocery, I decided to give them a go! I know y'all probably have a ton around your house too. This is a much quicker wet felting project then the doll, that's for sure. Here's a quick video on how I did it:

I've got a lot of felting videos currently up on my YouTube channel that you might want to check out. I've also been posting one minute felting videos on my Instagram if you are interested. 

I totally had intentions of needle felting the other egg as well...but that went out the window with the second matroyshka doll. On to the next best thing!

Looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday at 8pm CST for our next craft night right here! 

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DIY: Intro to Wet Felting!

 During our Intro to Wet Felting session, we learned how to do a little ziplock baggie felting. This one was created by artteacher. Once the wet felted piece dried, she cut it into a heart. I love her colors!

In case you missed the wet felting fun last Wednesday night over here, it is archived both on my Facebook page and on my YouTube channel. We had a whole lotta wet and sudsy fun all the while creating a wet felted piece, felted beads, a felted container and buttons! We managed to pack in a lot...an hour just isn't long enough. But I do love that those participating keep on creating long after we say goodnight. In case you missed it, here is our Wednesday night session:

Of course, it's never too late to join the fun. Sue told me that orders for felting kits are still rolling in which has me so happy! Here's a link to where you can purchase, if you are interested. Again, all previous craft nights are archived both here (subscribe!) and here (follow!). 

And don't forget that we'll be continuing this crafting fun in May with Clay! 

Supplies for that workshop can be picked up here. You can still join the fun without the supplies, of course. 

Now, on to everyone's fiber creations! 

 Don't you love this needle felted Friday by the_doodle_birds? It would make a great pin or even an image on the back of a sweater! LOVE the flowers.

 Look how productive echopaitsel was that night? Love the beads. I think everyone's take-away that night was that wet felting is pretty labor intensive!

 How sweet is this colorful needle felted number by mrsdow_artroom? 

 Can you even believe this? It's so beautiful, I think it needs framing. You should be proud, parkesphoto!

 So, um, I just might have to track down mmmelllodyyy, raid her closet and steal this sweater. I am IN LOVE! 

 Last week, visualpraisestudio covered a hat in needle felted birds...and this week, she's covered even more. I love the talent in our craft night group!

 There is a definite learning curve when it comes to wet felting. Work to fast, and the fibers felt at different speeds and might result in something unexpected (read: not what you'd hoped for). Working slowly is the best bet. That being said, never ever just throw away your felted creations. They can always be recreated into something far more interesting than you'd ever imagined. I love these earrings by alison.m.klein!

 I love that the fam is getting in on the felting action! Check out this sweet cat being needle felted by kmmckinney's daughter. 

 Artroomblog has taken to needle felting...and entire coat! I know how taxing that is, kudos to you, Lee!

Jtheen is a week ahead of us, she's already started creating needle felted sculptures! How fun is this sweet and colorful bird?

 Me being a sucker for bright colors, y'all know I love this dog by mrsdow_artroom! I see an art project based on this one, don't you?

 This Bob Ross by the_doodle_birds made me so happy when I saw it. Adorable!

 This masterpiece looks like it should be in a gallery. I can see mommaplouff creating a whole series of these beauties, don't you?

 Another stunner by parkesphoto. I love the three dimensional look of this piece.

 Check out these artist-inspired pieces created by Jan Marie...can you guess the inspo behind each one? 

 If you didn't believe that we got a lotta work done on Wednesday, Ashley Bruce has done a bang up job breaking it down for you! 

 Gemma has something so beautiful here. I love the organic nature of her piece. 

 When jtheen shared this needle felted cat, I was super stoked since it looks so much like my cat Asha. In other news, there is a book called Crafting with Cat Hair that my mama picked up for me. My cat leaves behind a lotta hair...but I don't know how I feel creating with it!

 I want this on the back of a super hero cape! Love this, the_doodle_birds!

Everything about these needle felted numbers by mommaplouff make me so happy. All done with a single needle too!

 Amandakaiser211 needle felted this adorable French bulldog. I am loving the color choices.

 Tell me this isn't the baddest thing you've ever seen? Meganhallenbwck this is the best!

 My buddy Earl Delong snapped step by step photos of his street-art inspired design. I know his students are gonna love this!

 Check out this busy bee! Sarah Shumaker, you are killin it! 

 And this by Ms. Schmidt cracked me up! I mean, what else do you do with a wet felted piece besides make it into a crazy hair day portrait? I think students would LOVE this idea!

As you can see, we are having a whole lot of fun on this felting adventure of ours. Thank you so much to all of you who have been joining the fun! Remember, you can still join in anytime. If you'd like me to share your work here, just remember to use #creatingwithcassie. Have fun stabbing stuff!

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