WOYWW - Needle felted daisies, sheep and mixed media explorations

Hello there! Welcome to my round up of my fabric art activities. Firstly, can I say Happy 7th What's on your Workdesk Wednesday!! For those who don't knnow, WOYWW is a weekly round up of artist's workdesks and has been running now for seven years!

Here's my workdesk this morning...

You can see a needle felted card I've just finished for a customer who wanted something a bit special for her daughter's wedding anniversary.

Also on the desk is a handful of sheepy sunset needle felted pictures, some sheep poppy fields and some bluebell and daisy pictures all ready to mount.

If you visited me last week you'd have seen I was preparing for a fair. Well it went brilliantly! The event had been organised to raise funds for the Harry Johnson Trust, a local children's cancer charity set up in memory of Harry, who died aged seven in 2014. The event included a Boden party and lots of lovely craft and gift stalls. Hopefully the brilliant turnout meant lots of funds were raised for the charity. Here was my stall...

After a busy week, what better way to relax than by participating in a workshop. On Saturday I spent a brilliant day on a mixed media course run by Tina Gilmore, mixed media artist at her studio in Montgomery. I learnt lots of new techniques and loved pouring over Tina's marvelous stash of vintage and antique papers and ephemera. I decided to make some pieces of artwork for Ben's bedroom. Here are the results...

Here's a snapshot of the process...

Ben certainly appreciated them and took no time at all in deciding where they should be displayed!

That's all this week folks! Thanks for stopping by. Catch up with other WOYWWers at Lunch Lady Jan's blog.

Happy crafting!

Max x

WOYWW - Felting video star

Hello dear reader! Welcome to my weekly blog, a whistle-stop tour of my workdesk and my week's work.

So here's my workdesk this morning...

Ok, so it's actually the sofa today. I've got a stall at a local fair tomorrow so I'm frantically finishing off a few last bits and bobs. The workdesk is covered in boxes and bags to take with me.Today I'll be working on mounting these daisies which incorporate all my favourite processes - wet felting, needle felting, machine embroidery and hand embroidery.

On that note - this week I completed a project I've been planning for a while. I often get asked about the various processes that go into my work so I decided to take a series of photos while I produced a piece. Click here to see how I take a pile of wool, fibres, silk and thread and turn it into this...

When I wasn't preparing for the fair I was card making. A friend of mine is expecting twins so I made a quick little card for her baby shower at the weekend...

Meanwhile, my not-so-little baby has been busy this week too, supervising his Grandad in the building of a garden step.

Right, that's me for this week, thanks for stopping by! You can read about the work of many other artists and craftspeople by visiting WOYWW (What's on your Workdesk Wednesday) this week hosted by the lovely Lunch Lady Jan!

Happy crafting,

Max x

WOYWW - It's raining felt...hallelujah!

Hello there, dear reader!

Welcome to my regular ramble about the life of a textile artist. Here's a snap of my workdesk to mark 'What's on your Workdesk Wednesday' (WOYWW) a weekly global gathering of fab craftsfolk.

Here's my workdesk today...

I'm mounting and finishing some pieces of embroidery which I initially envisaged as bookmarks but having finished them I've decided they're destined for more than being tucked between the pages of a book.

I've had a busy and productive week of needle felting to replenish my stocks at the three outlets selling my work in Shropshire. I started the week with a load of part-finished work and (thanks to lots of help from mum) finished the week with 35 framed pieces of work.

Yesterday I drove round the county dropping work off so now I'm starting from scratch again!

My little sheepy collages are proving popular so I made sure I made several of those.

I made a few tiny sheep landscapes too, then found some great little frames in Ikea which fit them perfectly.

When I dropped off my work yesterday I was told a touching story which I'd love to share with you.

Two of my needle-felted poppy pictures sold at The Bog Visitors Centre, Stiperstones, last week. The lady who sold them was also there yesterday when I dropped of new stock and she told me this...

A lady and her husband came into the Visitors Centre a few weeks ago and she really loved the needle-felted poppies. This weekend her husband returned to the Visitors Centre. Sadly, the lady had passed away. As she'd loved the picture so much, he bought it to remind him of her love of poppies. Later, her daughter had visited the centre to buy a different needle-felted poppy picture I had there.

It's always great to here that people appreciate my work, but touching stories like this mean the world to me! I really hope those two pictures bring comfort at a time of sadness.

On a cheerful note, it hasn't just been 'all work no play' this week. We've had lovely sunny weather in Shrewsbury so Ben and I got out and about in the local park. Every parent worries about shading their little ones from the sun so it was with great relief I discovered Ben wanted to be a 'cool dude' in both sunglasses and hat!

Here's to many more sunny days!

That's all folks, thanks for stopping by.

Happy crafting,

Max x