How to needle felt a bird from the super cute book: Wool Pets by Laurie Sharp

Are you craving a bit of spring cuteness? I bring you some today from the adorable:

Wool Pets
Making 20 Figures with Wool Roving and a Barbed Needle
By
Laurie Sharp, Kevin Sharp

Anyone can make cute and cuddly creatures from a handful of fluff and a barbed needle!

Needle felting is a new craft and is gaining in popularity. There are only a few books written on the subject and most of those focus on 'flat' needle felting on a surface. This book is about sculptural needle felting--creating 3-D animals and figures using the felting needle to sculpt wool.

This book shows the techniques and describes how the felting needle works with wool fiber to create felt, while explaining the differences between this art form and other forms of felting. You will learn how to hold the needle, what sort of materials to use, and why.

There are 20 complete projects including various birds, bugs, four-legged animals, and people--each one unique and irresistible! Laurie also shows the reader ways to display their felted creations as mobiles, ornaments, or arranged in shadow boxes.

Laurie Sharp is a full time artist and has been needle felting for over 5 years. She raises her own sheep, shears and processes the wool for most of her projects. She has been featured on HGTV’s 'That’s Clever'. View her web site: www.woolpets.com. Her work has been shown in a number of galleries in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her husband and business partner, Kevin Sharp. Kevin is a professional photographer, and provides both beauty and how-to photography for this book. His work can be viewed on www.sharpphotography.com.

The birds are chirping away, not these, but they are so cute!

Click on the images to enlarge and read how to needle felt a bird with roving.

 

Here are some variations you can make simply by changing the color of the roving.

OK, so you got some birds, you want some needle felted eggs. Pop on over to Laurie's Blog for another complete tutorial on how to needle and wet felt an egg. The photos are so cute, she shoots them with this little guy demoing for you!

 

Today's question:

What tool or "thing" do you wish you had in your crafting arsenal?

I am afraid my answer to that question is, space. I do just about every craft there is. I wish I had a space to devote to each one so that I didn't have to clean up after each project. Although I must admit often times the random stuff that is pushed aside from the previous project often get incorporated into the next. There is a happy kind of collaborating and "cross breading" in my crafting that I really like. So I am rolling with it.

Leave your answer and you'll be entered to win a free book!

Comments

[Janet]

The one things I wish I had is 'time'. Never enough of it to do all of the ideas that are rambling around in my head.

[MonkeyGurrl]

Oh, man. I agree with both you and Janet - Space and Time. I have neither. But I do have a needle felting kit that cost me a pretty penny that's been shoved unceremoniously to the back of my cabinet... For the last 2 years!

[MARY]

What I would like to have is my own sheep so I would have lots of ready available wool for my needle felting projects . It would be like hitting oil LOL

[Hilde]

As everyone a way to needle felt some extra time and all the wool (colors and types) you can imagine so that as soon as an idea pops into my head I just have to take out the correct wool and start felting.

[Barbara Vanselow]

Time is what I am always wishing for and right now I wish I had a dapping block. Stones make a poor substituts.

[Lynda Taylor]

I am with you all here, it seems I never have enough time or space. And to have your stash of wool would also be fun but I would love a needle felting machine. THAT would be great.

[Suella]

I need more discipline and focus to clear up some space and then to take the time to be creative.I'm sure if I allocated a period of time everyday that was sacrosanct I could do a lot more. I know this, but then I allow other things and othere people get between me and my creative work.

[Tammy]

Love those birds, they're so cute - maybe it's springtime, but I've been working on sewing birds lately, too!

As far as tool or "thing" - I think storage space would be my first answer - a nice huge closet where everything could be organized & in clear view would be the most helpful thing to me.
For a tool - I would love a long arm quilting machine to finish off a quilt I've been working on for years, but honestly, probably wouldn't use it again after that one is done.

[sherri s.]

Have to second (third, fourth, etc.) the need for SPACE! I'm making some things for a charity fundraiser and every surface (dining room table, floor, ironing board) is filled with fabric, buttons, etc. Ack! I have a sweet and understanding husband, thank goodness! I drool over the pix of craft rooms I see on other blogs. Sigh.

[Jen]

Those birdies are adorable! I have a friend who needle felts and it amazes me!

Right now I wish I had an electric or side winding skein winder to reskein all my dyed yarn. However, once I get that done, it'll be something else I wish I had . Time and space are always wishes, but I like to be challenged ;)