Needle felting inspiration from the countryside & WOYWW

Morning troops! Welcome to my weekly blog about my journey as a textile artist.

Let's begin by showing you my work desk...

This time last week I was rushing off to get cracking with some wet felted background pieces. Once these had dried I needle felted strands of wool, silk and chiffon using my embellishing machine to create the background greenery for my pictures.

As you can see, I've started to needle felt some flowers and today's job is to free-machine embroider on top and finish with beading and hand embroidery.

Ive also been out and about the Shire this week, peddling my wares and getting inspiration from the wonderful landscape. This time of year the Shropshire countryside is incredibly diverse - from the lush greens I use in my needle-felted sheepy landscapes to softer shades of heather and corn yellow. On my way up to drop more pictures at The Bog Visitor Centre the other day I noticed these lovely soft hay meadow shades and thought I'd have a dabble at incorporating them into my work...

Here's the result...

In amongst all my needle felting I've still made time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life - such as seeing my little man don his swimsuit and frolic about in Shrewsbury's brand new splash park!

Well I've got another busy Wednesday ahead of me today finishing off pieces to sell at Quatt Open Village on Saturday. Thanks for stopping by my blog and do pop across to check out other WOYWWers sharing their desks on What's on your Workdesk Wednesday.

Happy crafting

Max x

Workshop fun & WOYWW

Morning all! Thanks for dropping by to catch up on this week's activities from my work desk.

So here's the work desk this morning...

The 'works in progress' from last week are closer to completion. My stockists are asking for more pictures and I have a craft fair a week this Saturday so there'll be a flurry of felting for the rest of the week!

I'm working on a development of my sheep felties using brightly dyed pre-felt.

If I ever get chance to work more on these sheepy ideas I'll share them on the blog!

On Saturday I ran a workshop - Magical Gardens in Needle Felting & Embroidery - so spent the back end of last week preparing for that. The workshop went really well - another great bunch of participants who produced some really lovely pieces of work. Here's a snapshot of some of their masterpieces...

One of the participants, Stephanie, wrote a really lovely review of my workshop. Whilst the best proof of a successful workshop is always the work produced by the end, it's great to get positive feedback and I'm touched that someone took the time to write such a detailed review!

On Sunday Ben had his friend's birthday party - the first in a series of 2nd birthday parties which will occupy every other weekend between now and the end of September! We went to a local farm for a picnic and a visit to the animals. Much fun was had feeding piglets, calves, sheep and even a peacock!

Right, I've got to dash as I need to do some wet felted backgrounds to work on this week. Thanks for stopping by. If you're new to my blog and you'd like to meet other craft bloggers like me, What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) is the perfect place.

Happy crafting,

Max x

WOYWW - "There's needle felting Jim, but not as we know it"

Hello there folks, welcome to my weekly blog about all things textile art - part of What's on your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW). The keen eyed regulars will have noted my absence last week - the inmates of Tilly Tea Dance Towers all came down with a bug.

I'm back on form now though so here's my workdesk for you this morning...

I'm trialling some new ideas again and this time I've moved away from my usual garden / hedgerow scenes to try something a little different.

It's needle felting, but not as I know it (ok, the Star Trek script robbing ends there!)

These have been assembled using cream and grey pre-felt, vintage lace, lilac wool roving and pale pink chiffon. These have been layered and felted down then hand embroidery, beads and buttons have been added on top.

Not sure what they'll be - either tiny pictures or brooches.

I guess I'm channeling inspiration from my newly redecorated sitting room, which is grey and lilac (and totally lovely - big thanks to Twiglet for shortening curtains and making blinds!). You can get an idea of the new decor in this photo of Benjamin's workdesk, a new addition to the sitting room. Perhaps he'll be joining in WOYWW one day soon!

Also on my workdesk are three fabulous ATCs I have received from the WOYWW anniversary swap. Thank you very much Kyla, Sandra Dee and Sylvia - your work is beautiful and each so different.

Kyla also sent me some lovely crafty goodies which I will endeavour to use to create something pretty to share with you at a later date.

I've really enjoyed the ATC swap this year and I'm determined to make a few more to swap next year (that's 358 days I've got to get my act together!)

Right that's all for today folks! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you've enjoyed reading.

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 - Woolfest!

Hello all! Welcome to my blog, where I share a sneak peek of my desk to mark 'Whats on your Workdesk Wednesday'.

So here's my workdesk this morning...

It's a busy old desk this week as I'm trying to fulfil a growing order book while also trying to fit in a dabble with the fabulous new fibres I picked up at Woolfest this weekend.

"What's Woolfest?" I hear you say. Well, it's the nickname for Wonderwool Wales, a festival of Welsh wool and fibres held annually in Builth Wells. Mum and I took Ben along on Sunday and a brilliant day was had indeed. Three halls full of wool, silk, felt and fuzz provided a great opportunity to spend my birthday pennies and was a feast for a textile artist's eyes! Benjamin enjoyed his first encounter with rare breed sheep - Black Wensleydale and Blue Leicester I'm reliably informed - and some lovely angora rabbits.

Here are all the goodies I brought back...

I'm very pleased with my haul and am looking forward to being able to find time to try out some new designs to incorporate some of it.

Also this week I squeezed in another photography session, this time to turn some of my latest work into prints. Here are the ones I chose...

Well that's all for today folks, hope you've enjoyed hearing all about my week.

Happy crafting,

Max x

WOYWW - wet felted backgrounds

Hello lovely reader! It's Wednesday once again, so time to share with you what's on my workdesk today.

Yesterday I was a very busy bee and wet felted several pieces of background felt for my larger 'dumflings' (that's needlefelted pictures for the uninitiated!)

This supply of wet felted backgrounds should be enough for ten pictures, which I'll probably free-machine embroider.

You can also see a peek of my large sheepy picture which I've been working on for several weeks now. Yesterday I free-machined the foreground and lightly felted some pinky purple detail to suggest foxgloves. I'm now at that dangerous stage where I may be tempted to add too much detail so I'm going to leave it for a while.

Here are some of the fabulous pieces of work that the lovely ladies of Teme Valley Embroidery Guild produced on my workshop at the weekend.

The Guild members gave me such a warm welcome and, with all their enthusiasm and skill, made the workshop a joy to run.

I've got a bit of a breather now until my next workshop on 25 June so I'm working on some new pieces. I'm stocking four shops now so I am totally out of stock! On Monday I set up my pitch at the latest outlet - The Bog Visitors Centre by the Stiperstones - a beautiful rugged landscape in south Shropshire.

Well that's all for today, I have a sleeping toddler so must make the most of the time and get cracking with these new background pieces.

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy crafting

Max x

WOYWW - Felting sheep...again!

Afternoon all! I'm afraid if you're a regular visitor to my page you're in for yet another instalment of needle-felted sheep! New visitors - welcome,  hope you like my felted sheep!

This week I'm mounting some of my small sheepy pics and also working on a much larger picture combining the sheepy landscape with my flowery fields.

It's a work in progress but you get where I'm going with it, right?

It's been a week of sheep for us this week. Monday's weather was fab so the boy and I went on a little walk with our mum and toddler friends. Ben thoroughly enjoyed seeing the sheep and lambs in the field as we followed the path down to a little stream.

As I type, Ben is down for a little nap, but once His Lordship wakes we're off to our nearest National Trust property, Attingham Park, where you can see deer grazing. Maybe next time you drop by I might have been inspired to move on from felty sheep to felty deer pictures!

That's all for me - got a workshop this weekend with TWELVE members of an Embroiderers Guild group (12...gulp!). They sound like a lovely bunch so I'm really looking forward to it but I've got lots to prepare to make sure they have a fab day!

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy crafting

Max x

WOYWW

Hello all and welcome to my regular 'What's on your Workdesk Wednesday' blog post.

The desk is a little sparse today - I'm having one of those finishing off days where I try to finish some of the work I've been sidelining for other things.

I've got some more little dumflings to mount onto cards and a pansy picture to frame.

At the back of the desk you might be able to see Ben's first attempt with gel crayons. These are a much easier crayon for little fingers to draw with but unfortunately it has the consistency of lipstick so he's only allowed them when he's sat at the desk (I fear for my magnolia walls). I think his first attempt looks a little like a flower, but maybe that's just the artist in me hoping I've passed on some arty genes!

Anyway, last week I promised I'd share with you some photos from Saturday's workshop.

I had a fab time helping eight lovely ladies to create their own pieces of needle-felted and hand-embroidered work. They all said they enjoyed themselves and, even with the same basic materials, all created entirely different pieces of work. 

Then, of course, it was Mothers Day on Sunday. Here's the card I rustled up for mum (Twiglet) from my lovely bag of fabric and lace scraps. The colours coordinate well with the flowers I gave her to say thanks for being such a fab mum.

And I wasn't disappointed this Mothers Day either. I had chocs and bubbly, a lovely walk in the Quarry (Shrewsbury's town park) and a delicious tapas lunch at Casa Naranjo.

I think the waitresses were in shock as Ben worked his way through olives, garlic prawns, meatballs, croquettas, chicken skewers, patatas bravas and pork tenderloin.

There's not much my boy doesn't eat and he always makes me proud in restaurants - though I need to have a word with him about the number of kisses he was blowing at the waitresses!!

That's all for today - rather a long post with all the events of the past week! Thanks for stopping by. If this is your first visit to me, hop on over to Julia's Stamping Ground where you'll find loads of other artists and crafters sharing their workdesk activities.

See you again soon!

Happy crafting,
Max x

WOYWW - keeping warm!

Hello all! It's a wild, wet and windy 'What's on your Workdesk Wednesday' today at Tilly Tea Dance Towers so we're keeping cosy in our living room. So today's workdesk photo is actually not the workdesk at all but my footstool!

So on my workdesk today you can see a small herd of 'dumflings', my little needle-felted and embroidered squares. I've had an order for a set of four so I've been busy making a good selection for my customer to choose from.

It's been a hectic week already and it's only Wednesday. I've been putting together the last bits and bobs for my workshop on Saturday where I'll get to share my love of needle felting and embroidery with eight lovely ladies. Will let you know how we all got on next WOYWW.

In between this I've been over to Connections in Pontesbury to set up my new display of my work. Connections has a lovely Local Artists department and I'm chuffed they wanted me to be part of it!

So that's it from me for this week. Thanks for stopping by my workdesk.

Happy crafting

Max x

WOYWW - Question: What's on my workdesk? Answer: Me!

What's on my workdesk today you ask? Well, actually I am!

This week I needed some good photos to sent out with the press release about my forthcoming workshop. With a photographer for a Dad what else does a girl do but jump up on the workdesk and pose for a few pics!

Today I'm playing around with some new ideas. With Mother's day and World Book Day both round the corner I felt like making some book marks. Here's a quick peek at the trial run I'm part way through felting. When completed it will probably have a sheep or two on it and a little hand embroidery in the foreground...

That's all the needle-felting action from my desk today as I've spent most of the week editing the photos I've taken for my shop. I was permitted to use Dad's photography studio and given a bit of a tutorial so these look a bit more professional than most of my snaps!

 

Thanks for stopping by. If you're new here, you might like to know that I blog most Wednesday's as part of an international blog group called - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW). Meet more WOYWW artists and crafters by clicking here.

Happy crafting!

Max x