If you've been hanging around this here blog for a bit, then you know I've been hosting a weekly craft night right here with the focus being on felting. In order to lead the craft nights the best that I can, I've been pushing myself to explore the one area of felting that I'm not super comfortable with: wet felting. Y'all know I'm all about the needle felting...but this wet felting stuff is a bit of a learning curve. So far, I've wet felted a beaded necklace, a clutch and now this matroyshka doll. Here's how:
One thing that you have to commit yourself to when it comes to wet felting is that it is time consuming and requires patience. This is not something you can rush. The felting process takes time...in fact, it took me probably 45 minutes to an hour from start to finish to complete the wet felting process. After drying out over night, I was able to start needle felting.
This also proved to be pretty time consuming...but I do love needle felting. That being said, I had originally planned to make another doll to fit inside this one...but I don't know if I'm ready to make that kind of time commitment!
Like I said in the video, when I started needle felting, I didn't go into it with much of a plan. I really wanted to focus on the patterns on the clothing: dots, stripes, flowers.
The beauty of needle felting is that it really helped to form, shape and stabilize the doll. I was concerned that when I removed the wooden form, the entire doll would collapse but it remained relatively solid...but the needle felting really proved to make it solid.
Now, getting the diameter of the opening of both the top and bottom of the doll did prove to be a little tricky. To make them the same, I did have to do a lot of needle felting around the rim of both to get them to be the same width.
Creating the flowers and patterns was really my favorite part.
I thought the doll should be wearing an apron which is why there is a blue tie in the back.
After felting the doll, I realized that I could felt around any number of objects floating around...so when I spotted Easer eggs at the grocery, I decided to give them a go! I know y'all probably have a ton around your house too. This is a much quicker wet felting project then the doll, that's for sure. Here's a quick video on how I did it:
I've got a lot of felting videos currently up on my YouTube channel that you might want to check out. I've also been posting one minute felting videos on my Instagram if you are interested.
I totally had intentions of needle felting the other egg as well...but that went out the window with the second matroyshka doll. On to the next best thing!
Looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday at 8pm CST for our next craft night right here!
During our Intro to Wet Felting session, we learned how to do a little ziplock baggie felting. This one was created by artteacher. Once the wet felted piece dried, she cut it into a heart. I love her colors!
In case you missed the wet felting fun last Wednesday night over here, it is archived both on my Facebook page and on my YouTube channel. We had a whole lotta wet and sudsy fun all the while creating a wet felted piece, felted beads, a felted container and buttons! We managed to pack in a lot...an hour just isn't long enough. But I do love that those participating keep on creating long after we say goodnight. In case you missed it, here is our Wednesday night session:
Of course, it's never too late to join the fun. Sue told me that orders for felting kits are still rolling in which has me so happy! Here's a link to where you can purchase, if you are interested. Again, all previous craft nights are archived both here (subscribe!) and here (follow!).
And don't forget that we'll be continuing this crafting fun in May with Clay!
Supplies for that workshop can be picked up here. You can still join the fun without the supplies, of course.
Now, on to everyone's fiber creations!
Don't you love this needle felted Friday by the_doodle_birds? It would make a great pin or even an image on the back of a sweater! LOVE the flowers.
Look how productive echopaitsel was that night? Love the beads. I think everyone's take-away that night was that wet felting is pretty labor intensive!
How sweet is this colorful needle felted number by mrsdow_artroom?
Can you even believe this? It's so beautiful, I think it needs framing. You should be proud, parkesphoto!
So, um, I just might have to track down mmmelllodyyy, raid her closet and steal this sweater. I am IN LOVE!
Last week, visualpraisestudio covered a hat in needle felted birds...and this week, she's covered even more. I love the talent in our craft night group!
There is a definite learning curve when it comes to wet felting. Work to fast, and the fibers felt at different speeds and might result in something unexpected (read: not what you'd hoped for). Working slowly is the best bet. That being said, never ever just throw away your felted creations. They can always be recreated into something far more interesting than you'd ever imagined. I love these earrings by alison.m.klein!
I love that the fam is getting in on the felting action! Check out this sweet cat being needle felted by kmmckinney's daughter.
Artroomblog has taken to needle felting...and entire coat! I know how taxing that is, kudos to you, Lee!
Jtheen is a week ahead of us, she's already started creating needle felted sculptures! How fun is this sweet and colorful bird?
Me being a sucker for bright colors, y'all know I love this dog by mrsdow_artroom! I see an art project based on this one, don't you?
This Bob Ross by the_doodle_birds made me so happy when I saw it. Adorable!
This masterpiece looks like it should be in a gallery. I can see mommaplouff creating a whole series of these beauties, don't you?
Another stunner by parkesphoto. I love the three dimensional look of this piece.
Check out these artist-inspired pieces created by Jan Marie...can you guess the inspo behind each one?
If you didn't believe that we got a lotta work done on Wednesday, Ashley Bruce has done a bang up job breaking it down for you!
Gemma has something so beautiful here. I love the organic nature of her piece.
When jtheen shared this needle felted cat, I was super stoked since it looks so much like my cat Asha. In other news, there is a book called Crafting with Cat Hair that my mama picked up for me. My cat leaves behind a lotta hair...but I don't know how I feel creating with it!
I want this on the back of a super hero cape! Love this, the_doodle_birds!
Everything about these needle felted numbers by mommaplouff make me so happy. All done with a single needle too!
Amandakaiser211 needle felted this adorable French bulldog. I am loving the color choices.
Tell me this isn't the baddest thing you've ever seen? Meganhallenbwck this is the best!
My buddy Earl Delong snapped step by step photos of his street-art inspired design. I know his students are gonna love this!
Check out this busy bee! Sarah Shumaker, you are killin it!
And this by Ms. Schmidt cracked me up! I mean, what else do you do with a wet felted piece besides make it into a crazy hair day portrait? I think students would LOVE this idea!
As you can see, we are having a whole lot of fun on this felting adventure of ours. Thank you so much to all of you who have been joining the fun! Remember, you can still join in anytime. If you'd like me to share your work here, just remember to use #creatingwithcassie. Have fun stabbing stuff!
Need a happy and colorful project for your kiddos that reviews the elements of art, introduces the artist Sandra Silberzweig and allows them to explore the messy and fun medium of chalk? Well have I got a project for you! Here's the lesson video...
Please forgive the quality. I filmed this video at school using my iPad (I normally use my camera) and the iMovie app. I really love filming short clips this way as it's lightning fast! However, when I watched the video back on my laptop, I noticed the quality was not what I had hoped.
I get asked often about making a video for the art room. I created this video last year at about this time when I was just starting to get my feet wet with filming. I use almost all of these techniques still so if you are interested in creating filmed content for your kids, you might find this helpful!
Back to the lesson: I'm doing this project with my second grade kiddos. This will probably be the last project for the year as they still have a couple of their clay projects, hot outta the kiln, to paint. We are going with a Pet Shop theme and my students created these birds:
They have all come out of the kiln so cute! I purchased some florescent paint, feathers, beads and wire for us to embellish them. I noticed on the bottle of paint I purchased that it says it works in black light...so now I'm on the hunt for a black light for the art show. How fun would that be?
All that to say, since we are going with a Pet Shop theme, any final projects created will feature animals or fish! My students are using 12" X 18" paper (I used half that in the video) because I wanted big, bold and colorful art. On the first day, we traced the template and did the glue drawing, all in 30 minutes.
I am going to rethink my black glue recipe for next year. I use tempera paint and Elmer's Glue All...but I think the paint is too thick as the bottles sometimes get clogged. Next year, I'm going to try using India ink as my buddy Ginger uses. That being said, I do kind of like the variety of thick and think lines that the glue produces.
Y'all know I've caught the Black Glue Bug this year. Check out what third grade created:
And fourth grade:
What I love about chalk work is how vibrant it is.
We have a couple more days of work left on these lovelies so I'll keep you posted on what happens next. Until then, enjoy your long weekend!
I have got to be honest with y'all: I am LOVING our Wednesday night craft nights! If you aren't familiar, I've been hosting a free felting workshop over on my Facebook page each Wednesday at 8pm CST during the month of April (in fact, if you are joining in the fun tomorrow night, I'll have a list of supplies needed below). You are ALWAYS welcome to join, even if you do not have the felting kit. That was simply created with the help of Sue at Back to Back Fiber. And, if you decide you do want to join, you can still pick up your kit from Sue. All of my LIVE chats are archived both on my Facebook page and on my YouTube channel. Remember: I would LOVE to share what you create right here. Just use the hashtag #creatingwithcassie when you share your work on your preferred social media outlet. So now on to the exciting news: I'm going to continue the craft night fun with Clay in the month of May! I've partnered up with Activa Products to create a kit just for you and our creative evenings. Here's what your kit will include:
A 1lbs. box of Celluclay, a 1lbs. box of ActivClay and 4" X 180" of Rigid Wrap which can all be purchased here. Knowing that we art teachers love a bargain, Activa is offering us a very special rate. I want to throw a big shout out to them for working with me! I know I've shared this before...I am not making a profit from these craft nights. I am doing them simply because I find creating, teaching and spending time with y'all so much fun. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. Remember, you do not have to make a purchase to participate in this free Clay in the month of May workshop. These are simply the supplies I will be using if you want to create along with me. You might have heard me mention both Celluclay and Rigid Wrap before. Here's a peak at some projects I've done with both materials:
Obviously, I'm a fan of the Halloween. This Book of Spells was big fun!
I also introduced my second graders to Celluclay with this project.
I shared Rigid Wrap with my fourth graders when they created these Candy Heart Sculptures. This is the perfect opportunity for you to explore new sculpture materials before introducing them to your students. If you are without a kiln, these materials are just the thing as they don't require kiln fire. I became very familiar with Activa Products when writing this here clay book of mine!
My book is currently available for preorder here and slated to come out early June (I previously said mid-May but that release date has changed). In this book, I work with a variety of air dry, polymer and handmade clays. Once you are done with our 5 Wednesdays of clay exploration, you'll be ready to dive into this book and bring the fun to your art room next fall. As for this Wednesday, we'll be Wet Felting. So bring a zip lock bag (whatever size you have handy), a bowl of warm water, a bar or pump soap and scissors. Can't wait to create with you!
