Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Wow!  Time flies!  I had no idea today was my Blogoversary.  Ah, well.  Been busy trying my best to get well & be creative at the same time.  So no gifts this time...but maybe you can use the tutorial below, in a previous post, to get some inspiration!
I will be taking an online class in June.  You can see the artist at her blog: http://joannezsharpe.blogspot.com/  I'm hoping to loosen up my art some.  After June hopefully I'll have some new artwork to share with you!
Until then, have a wonderful summer!
And don't forget our veterans this Memorial Day!

And the winner is...

Marvin K!!!  

My DH & I put all the names of people who posted or emailed about the Shabby Heart in one of our Tibetan singing bowls.  Then he did the drawing!  He hopes no one gets mad at him.  LOL!  Thanks to everyone for their Blogoversary wishes.  Good luck next year!

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Hi everyone!

It's Happy Blogoversary to me today!  Yahoo!  I've been so busy with an online workshop I hardly even realized it!  But I do have a small offering.  Above is a Shabby Heart Sachet that has a bit of lavender in it.  Smells really nice & relaxing!  So the deal is if you make a comment on this post before Monday, the 28th, my DH & I will draw the name of the winner on Memorial Day.  Then once I get the snail mail of the person who won, I will send it off to you!  

So comment away 

and best wishes for a Happy Memorial Day!

AND...as soon as I can, I'll start putting up some more posts!  

Needlefelted egg off to Matilda!

Used my first new business card to send the needlefelted egg

off to Matilda who won the Blogoversary draw.

Hope she likes it!

And the winner is...

Matilda!!!  We drew names out of a basket and Matilda won the egg.  So if you will send your regular mail address to me at my email you can find on the left of my blog, I will send you the egg!  Congratulations!  I hope you enjoy it and will do your own felting someday!
Ciao!
CC

Matilda!!! Abbiamo disegnato i nomi da un cestino e Matilda ha vinto l'uovo. Così se trasmettiate il vostro indirizzo della posta normale me al mio email che potete trovare a sinistra del mio blog, gli trasmetterò l'uovo! Congratulazioni! Spero che lo godiate e facciate la vostra propria feltratura qualche giorno! Ciao! CC

 

Happy Blogoversary to me!!!

Yea!  Someone actually reminded me it was my Blogoversary today!  Yahoo! 

I obviously didn't give very specific directions

as I have been getting emails,

as well as blog comments, on my hand felted egg give away! 

So what I'll do is wait until tomorrow

& pull a name from the hat to see who gets the egg!

Hope the rest of you enjoy both tutorials! 

Sorry for any confusion.  Here's that egg again:

I'll let you know tomorrow who gets it!

2nd Blogoversary Tutorial - Needle Felted Egg

I was trying to figure out what to give away for my Blogoversary.  I decide to give everyone 2 tutorials.  I had to do this early in case anyone wanted to make this Needle Felted Egg for Easter, or any spring holiday.  You have time!  It only took a few hours.  (And fellow bloggers, this is the tutorial to comment on if you want to win this finished egg!)  Here we go!

1.  First I gathered my supplies, tools and a sketched egg shape.  You can barely see it!

2.  Next I cut out the inside of the egg shape to make a template.  You could also use a cookie cutter if you have one.  Place it on your foam pad.

3.  Next I started to pull out pieces of the wool roving.

4.  Then I crisscrossed the wool over the template.

5.  Next I folded the wool roving on itself to an approximate shape of the template.

6.  Now start tacking the wool down with your needle felting tool.

7.  Be sure to check and make sure the wool isn't sticking to the foam pad.  You can turn it over and do the back also.

8.  This picture is hard to see, but I am checking for holes or weak spots that need more wool.

9.  Don't forget to felt the sides.  And watch your fingers!!!  The barbs on the needle are sharp!!!

10.  Continue felting until the background is done.  It should be solid.  Mine felted down to about 3/8 inches deep.

11.  Add Lincoln curls to make wiggly stripes.  (Lincoln curls are what I used.  You can use whatever kind of wool you want.)

12.  If the curls don't seem to be attaching well, you can place a "cobweb" over the background & felt it over the curls.  Don't worry about the curls going off the edge.  You can trim them later.

13.  Pull wisps of other colors to make some dots.

14.  Fold and roll wisps into dots.

15.  Start felting dots between the curly lines.  Smaller dots need just a teeny bit of wool.

 16.  Now it's all felted & ready to hang.  Add a floss hanger...or you could use the egg on a gift, or you could back it with regular craft felt so you could sign it.  Wherever your imagination takes you!  For the tutorial, I left the back plain & just added a hanger.

17.  And there you have your hand needle felted egg.

Now if you want a chance on receiving this egg for my Blogoversary, be sure to comment on this post!  I will inform whoever I draw that day.  Then I can get your snail mail to get your spring egg to you!  Happy felting.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

1st Blogoversary Tutorial - Sunflower Study

This is a quick tutorial on how I did a study of a sunflower.

1.  First I sketched a sunflower from a reference photo & then I inked it.  The most important thing to remember is to really SEE what you are drawing!  Not what you think it looks like, but what it really looks like.  Take time to really look at your reference, even before you start sketching.

2.  Next I used watercolor pencils to add the local colors of the flower & background.

3.  Next I wet down the water color pencil with my water brushes.  Let dry.



4.  Then I used the watercolor pencils to add shadows and darken the background.

5.  Last I wet down the added colors, & here you have the finished study.  Let dry.

Here is a pic of the only tools I used.

If I were to go from the finished study to a full size painting, there may be some changes I'd make, but it gives me a great start.

Blogoversary Coming Up!

OK...I know it's 33 days away, but I decided I better get to it now.  Especially since I've made you 2 tutorials, & one can be made in time for Easter, or whatever spring holiday you want to celebrate.  On my actual Blogoversary I will draw a name from anyone who comments on my blog post about the 2nd tutorial between now and then. The person I draw will get the egg from the 2nd tutorial!  So get ready for the tutorials.  Hope you enjoy them!