Friday, December 22, 2006

Vale Kerry

I closed the shop today for 2 hours to go to the funeral of a friend of mine. The church was literally overflowing with people - there were over 300 inside and at least another 50 sitting outside. His wife Kerry Ann gave a wonderful eulogy and his 5 boys spoke with such love and affection for their dad. It was funny and sad and moving all at the same time and there wasn't a dry eye in the place.

One of my favourite Christmas movies is 'It's a Wonderful Life" because it asks the question about what impact one man can have on the world by just living his seemingly insignificant life. My friend Kerry certainly had a massive impact on the world he lived in - so many people there from so many different strands of his life - all brought together to support the family and to say farewell. He was brave and courageous in his battle with cancer and travelled the journey with great peace of mind - knowing his eternal destiny was secure. Vale Kerry - we'll miss you Big Guy.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

More Needlefelting

I was browsing through Birgitte's book and saw a little white goose. I thought - I can make one of those. Voila! Here it is with the Goose Boy. He looks a little worried that he's about to be goosed.

The Troll

Needlefelting rocks!

Here is a little troll man that I made over the last two days. This is the first time I've tried the mottled skin effect - the tonality isn't as harsh as it comes up in a photograph with the flash. The skin tone is a result of "cutting" the wool together - there were four different colours used - yellow, peach, green and lime.


Friday, December 15, 2006

Stargaze Tome Page


In case you haven't realised it yet - I am on a bit of a needlefelting gig. I have decided to try to replicate the felting pattern from Patti Culea's Tome series - except using needlefelting instead of the technique she actually describes in the pattern. I love this picture - it is a little Chagall-esque in style but whenever I see it for some reason it reminds me of the Little Prince by Antoine de St Exupery. Here is a picture of Patti's cover and here is the beginning of the project.

My Kids

When you have a teenage boy, a daughter who has just turned 11 and a 6 year old scamp with no teeth - it's hard to get a decent picture of them all together. Didn't quite make it in the all together department - but I love this one of Chris and Emily - they actually look like they like each other (well it was her birthday after all). Claire refused to actually smile in any of the pictures except this one where her the $7500 worth of future orthodontics was on full display. Ahh kids!

Needlefelting Class

Well I mentioned the great wool challenge in the last post and the fact that I taught a class. I decided to do an evening class and thought I might get a couple of people - I ended up with nine (and had to knock about three more back as there wasn't the room). Who'd a thunk it?

It seemed to go very well with all the ladies who came asking to come back for more - so I guess I did ok! Anyway enough about me - here's a picture of the little guys who appeared as a result of the class.

All the Fun of The Fair

In preparation for the first ever class I have taught (ahem) I ordered in 40 kgs of Corriedale Wool from Ashfords. It arrived the day before the class - I then proceeded to divide each 1kg into 50gm bags. My shoulder and hand are suffering from RSI as a result and I particularly enjoyed watching "Day of The Triffids" until 2am as I sat winding up wool. Despite the never ending quality of the aforementioned task it wasn't all bad as the colours are divine and the tactile/textile nature of the wool is soothing. Here is a picture of my favourite - it looks like big rolls of Fairy Floss - not suprisingly the name of the colour is Candy Floss.

Lisa Walton's Quilts

I am really happy that Lisa Walton (Dyed and Gone To Heaven) is going to be teaching three different classes at the shop in 2007. She hand dyes her own fabrics which are just beautiful and teaches beading techniques as well. Here are the three projects she will be teaching - they are called Creative Beading, Power of Three and Fabrications. For those who are interested in dates and costs you can see all the details at www.idyllpleasures.com