Hi Everyone!
Wow, The Felting Lounge has only been live for a few days & already received a lot of love from all you needle felters out there! A huge shout out in particular to all of you from the Needle Felting & Needle Felting UK groups on Facebook, who have given so much encouragement & support. I love you all!
So what's new?
Well, This Blog is all about providing a platform for artists to share their work, in order to reach a wider audience. Of course the most powerful tools at our disposal are Social Media sites. You will therefore (hopefully!) be pleased to know that you can now connect with The Felting Lounge on Twitter. To get your work re-tweeted, simply tag your post with @feltinglounge.
You can also add your pins to The Felting Lounge board on Pinterest. To request permission to add pins please send me a message with your email address via my Facebook page.
Last but not least, you can also find us on Facebook
I hope to see you all there!
Until next time,
- Lisa.
Friday, 15 January 2016
Wednesday, 13 January 2016
My Needle Felting Journey
The story of Heartfelt Creations by Lisa.
I have some very exciting stuff lined up for you here at The Felting Lounge, but for my first article I would like to introduce myself properly, and tell you a little bit about my own needle felting background. I also want to talk a little bit about the artists I admire the most and who have had the biggest influences over my own work.
I first began needle felting in 2013, using a kit that I purchase from a friend. Like many needle felting starter kits, mine came with a variety of coloured Merino wool tops. I threw myself in at the deep end and decided that I wanted to make the Gruffalo. I was astounded at how easy it was to make a 3D sculpture simply by stabbing at a bit of wool with a barbed needle! This was my Gruffalo (be kind, he was my first attempt!)
Needless to say, from that moment I was completely hooked. I spent hours trawling the internet for ideas & inspiration, and I was in awe of what I found. I was mostly drawn to whimsical, fantasy art, such as toadstools and fairy houses and wool fairies. I was amazed yet slightly intimidated by some of these artists - I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be able to create beautiful works of art & be able to fully indulge my childhood fantasies of elves and fairies and enchanted forests. During my time ogling images on Google & Pinterest, one of the first artists to catch my attention was Castle of Costa Mesa.
I absolutely adore the whimsical, fairy tale themes of these beautiful 3D wool paintings. The appeal to me on so many levels. I love the use of different fibres to create different effects, and the how the pictures tell stories. They are such a joy to look at and I found that they encouraged me to embrace my own whimsical 'style'.
Images from Heartfelt Creations by Lisa
The next outstanding artist to grab my attention was Sarafina Fibre Art
I found a tutorial on YouTube for a mouse by Sarafina and followed it step by step. It was the first time I used a proper wire armature (I had previously used pipe cleaners) and the first real attempt at tiny mousey fingers! This is the mouse that I made..
As you can see in the pictures, I was following the tutorial on my tablet. I later used what I learned in the tutorial to make some Squirrels.
I have also followed the Forest Folk Tutorial from Sarafina, and I have to say that it was a huge turning point for me. Faces were something that I always shied away from simply because I was absolutely rubbish at them! I could never get them to turn out like I imagined and so I avoided them wherever possible.
This was a fairy that I made a few weeks before watching this tutorial. Her face turned out....horrifically! Things were not going well & so I completely re-did the face, which at the time I was really happy with, but it still wasn't great & I knew that I could do better. First Attempt...
I know, scary stuff! Anyway, I ripped off her hair & started again.
Here is my the final result...
Much better, but still not very 'skilful' with the facial details. Anyway, I watched the Forest folk tutorial and immediately felt excited! These were so 'Me', these were the sort of thing I had been really wanting to make, but had never dared to. And now I had a secret weapon (actual follow along instructions!).The first one I made was a Wizard/Forest man. I was so thrilled with how he turned out that I immediately started on a Witch, closely followed by the Troll, Winter King and Pan.
I am thrilled with how these guys turned out & I hope to make many more like them in future.
The next artist I'm going to talk about is Felted Art to Wear. From time to time I dabble in wet felting, but as I am self taught I like to think that most of my wet felted creations are a happy accident, as opposed to well thought out & skilfully made! I saw these felt fairy lamps on Pinterest & I absolutely fell in love with them.
I love everything about them, the vibrant colours & quality craftsmanship and I am so envious of her talent! I took so much inspiration from these & they are always in the back of my mind whenever I make fairy houses or lanterns. These are some lanterns that I have made by wet felting & then needle felting details onto them.
They were so much fun to make & I love the results.
So, now you know a little bit more about me & what I do (and who has influenced me the most). I would also like to share with you some things I've learned along the way.
- Merino Tops are difficult to needle felt! Carded wool is much better for 3D sculptures (Merino is great for hair & Beards).
- Use core wool to build the basic shape of your creation! It's cheaper than dyed/carded wool which means that you can buy in bulk & you will only use your coloured wool where it is needed.
- Maybe it's the type of core wool that I use, but I find anything lower than a 38 gauge needle is just too coarse to work with. I love my 38 gauge star needles & use them for most of my work, I also use 40 gauge triangular needle for finer details. Fine crown needles are great for extra fine details (they are meant for attaching fur/hair, with the barb right on the tip of the needle).
- It's ok to start over. This one has been hard for me to accept & it has been a steep learning curve, but if something really isn't working, no amount of poking/shaping can make it better. It is better to take bits off & re-do them completely.
- When building a shape (without an armature) start small & felt it well. Then add more wool & continue to felt solidly. That way your creation won't be squishy in the middle.
- The internet is your friend! Look for online tutorials or local classes.
- Join an online group - Facebook has some wonderful needle felting groups, for people of all skill ranges, beginners & experts alike. Very friendly groups where you can ask for advice & make new felty friends.
So there you have it, a little introduction to me, my work and my favourite artists. If you would like to know more about me or see more of my work from when I first started out to the present day, you can head over to my Blog; Heartfelt Creations By Lisa. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and you can also check out my for sale items in my Etsy Shop.
I hope you have enjoyed this little peek into my world, and I really hope that you will stick around to see what I have got lined up for you. I am absolutely thrilled to tell you that in my upcoming articles I shall be INTERVIEWING all three of my favourite artists!!! So if you are a fan of Castle of Costa Mesa, Sarafina Fibre Art or Felted Art to Wear, or you would love to find out more about what they do, then stick around because I shall be poking around inside their brilliant minds & finding out more about what makes them 'tick'. I will also be finding out what felting hints and tips the masters have learned along the way.
To make sure you don't miss out on new articles from The Felting Lounge, you can subscribe with your email address at the top of the page & get them hot off the press straight to your inbox.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you again very soon.
- Lisa.
I have some very exciting stuff lined up for you here at The Felting Lounge, but for my first article I would like to introduce myself properly, and tell you a little bit about my own needle felting background. I also want to talk a little bit about the artists I admire the most and who have had the biggest influences over my own work.
I first began needle felting in 2013, using a kit that I purchase from a friend. Like many needle felting starter kits, mine came with a variety of coloured Merino wool tops. I threw myself in at the deep end and decided that I wanted to make the Gruffalo. I was astounded at how easy it was to make a 3D sculpture simply by stabbing at a bit of wool with a barbed needle! This was my Gruffalo (be kind, he was my first attempt!)
Needless to say, from that moment I was completely hooked. I spent hours trawling the internet for ideas & inspiration, and I was in awe of what I found. I was mostly drawn to whimsical, fantasy art, such as toadstools and fairy houses and wool fairies. I was amazed yet slightly intimidated by some of these artists - I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be able to create beautiful works of art & be able to fully indulge my childhood fantasies of elves and fairies and enchanted forests. During my time ogling images on Google & Pinterest, one of the first artists to catch my attention was Castle of Costa Mesa.
I absolutely adore the whimsical, fairy tale themes of these beautiful 3D wool paintings. The appeal to me on so many levels. I love the use of different fibres to create different effects, and the how the pictures tell stories. They are such a joy to look at and I found that they encouraged me to embrace my own whimsical 'style'.
Images from Heartfelt Creations by Lisa
The next outstanding artist to grab my attention was Sarafina Fibre Art
I found a tutorial on YouTube for a mouse by Sarafina and followed it step by step. It was the first time I used a proper wire armature (I had previously used pipe cleaners) and the first real attempt at tiny mousey fingers! This is the mouse that I made..
As you can see in the pictures, I was following the tutorial on my tablet. I later used what I learned in the tutorial to make some Squirrels.
I have also followed the Forest Folk Tutorial from Sarafina, and I have to say that it was a huge turning point for me. Faces were something that I always shied away from simply because I was absolutely rubbish at them! I could never get them to turn out like I imagined and so I avoided them wherever possible.
This was a fairy that I made a few weeks before watching this tutorial. Her face turned out....horrifically! Things were not going well & so I completely re-did the face, which at the time I was really happy with, but it still wasn't great & I knew that I could do better. First Attempt...
I know, scary stuff! Anyway, I ripped off her hair & started again.
Here is my the final result...
Much better, but still not very 'skilful' with the facial details. Anyway, I watched the Forest folk tutorial and immediately felt excited! These were so 'Me', these were the sort of thing I had been really wanting to make, but had never dared to. And now I had a secret weapon (actual follow along instructions!).The first one I made was a Wizard/Forest man. I was so thrilled with how he turned out that I immediately started on a Witch, closely followed by the Troll, Winter King and Pan.
I am thrilled with how these guys turned out & I hope to make many more like them in future.
The next artist I'm going to talk about is Felted Art to Wear. From time to time I dabble in wet felting, but as I am self taught I like to think that most of my wet felted creations are a happy accident, as opposed to well thought out & skilfully made! I saw these felt fairy lamps on Pinterest & I absolutely fell in love with them.
I love everything about them, the vibrant colours & quality craftsmanship and I am so envious of her talent! I took so much inspiration from these & they are always in the back of my mind whenever I make fairy houses or lanterns. These are some lanterns that I have made by wet felting & then needle felting details onto them.
They were so much fun to make & I love the results.
So, now you know a little bit more about me & what I do (and who has influenced me the most). I would also like to share with you some things I've learned along the way.
- Merino Tops are difficult to needle felt! Carded wool is much better for 3D sculptures (Merino is great for hair & Beards).
- Use core wool to build the basic shape of your creation! It's cheaper than dyed/carded wool which means that you can buy in bulk & you will only use your coloured wool where it is needed.
- Maybe it's the type of core wool that I use, but I find anything lower than a 38 gauge needle is just too coarse to work with. I love my 38 gauge star needles & use them for most of my work, I also use 40 gauge triangular needle for finer details. Fine crown needles are great for extra fine details (they are meant for attaching fur/hair, with the barb right on the tip of the needle).
- It's ok to start over. This one has been hard for me to accept & it has been a steep learning curve, but if something really isn't working, no amount of poking/shaping can make it better. It is better to take bits off & re-do them completely.
- When building a shape (without an armature) start small & felt it well. Then add more wool & continue to felt solidly. That way your creation won't be squishy in the middle.
- The internet is your friend! Look for online tutorials or local classes.
- Join an online group - Facebook has some wonderful needle felting groups, for people of all skill ranges, beginners & experts alike. Very friendly groups where you can ask for advice & make new felty friends.
So there you have it, a little introduction to me, my work and my favourite artists. If you would like to know more about me or see more of my work from when I first started out to the present day, you can head over to my Blog; Heartfelt Creations By Lisa. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and you can also check out my for sale items in my Etsy Shop.
I hope you have enjoyed this little peek into my world, and I really hope that you will stick around to see what I have got lined up for you. I am absolutely thrilled to tell you that in my upcoming articles I shall be INTERVIEWING all three of my favourite artists!!! So if you are a fan of Castle of Costa Mesa, Sarafina Fibre Art or Felted Art to Wear, or you would love to find out more about what they do, then stick around because I shall be poking around inside their brilliant minds & finding out more about what makes them 'tick'. I will also be finding out what felting hints and tips the masters have learned along the way.
To make sure you don't miss out on new articles from The Felting Lounge, you can subscribe with your email address at the top of the page & get them hot off the press straight to your inbox.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you again very soon.
- Lisa.
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