I'm trying to relax this afternoon after a brisk walk with a friend this morning. It's hard to switch off totally so now I'm in front of the stove planning a big new raw fleece cushion to put in the chair beside my range. ...
[caption id="attachment_3264" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Orange and yellow felt flower"][/caption] SIMPLE FELT FLOWERS Materials list Approx 2 to 3g (.07 to .105oz) merino or Icelandic wool (batts or roving) in complimentary or contrasting colours, a spot of clashing colour often works well! A little silk fibre, tencel, firestar...
Alan and I had a lovely day yesterday, thanks for all the best wishes for his birthday! This morning has been spent making all the last purchases for Christmas (as opposed to last minute purchases!) and driving into Bagenalstown to hand deliver a present. Now...
It's Alan's birthday today so I won't get to blog, reply to comments, check email or update FB properly until tomorrow at the earliest. We're meeting friends for lunch, celebrating the Winter Solstice with more friends in the afternoon and then walking through the fields...
I'm not quite ready yet but I've been writing a simple felt flower tutorial for the 15 minute lesson I have to give as part of the Train the Trainer workshop I'm participating in. I'm not going to have a lot of time to blog...
Well I'm home, fed and watered now, so is Rex! It was a beautiful but icy day when I headed in to Borris this morning to set up my stand, luckily the heaters were working overtime in the hall so it was nice and warm...
Yesterday I had a marathon sewing session, stitching little purses and/or phone/camera covers, Kindle covers (or large clutches!) and a handful of needle cases too. Don't be mislead into thinking that I enjoyed the process, it was very satisfying however to see the ever increasing...
I'm SO EXCITED that the wonderful Dawn Edwards has actually booked her flights to Ireland this morning, she will be arriving in Dublin early on Tuesday 17th and staying here at Clasheen from then until the end of the month!!! We are going to have...
I'm totally addled now having spent the last number of hours adding finishing touches to some raw fleece and merino bags in preparation for the farmer's market in Borris tomorrow morning. [caption id="attachment_3227" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Raw wool and merino bag with adjustable shoulder strap"][/caption] If it wasn't...
It's been another busy weekend for me! On Friday morning I set up my stand for the first time at Borris Farmer's Market, it's always easier to repeat a display so I wanted to get in early and have time to decide exactly how best...
Well, I can almost not speak or write today I am so excited, drumroll please! The biggest news I am sharing with you today is that super friend and felt hat maker extraordinaire, the wonderful Dawn Edwards will be coming to stay at Clasheen during...
Yesterday I finished felting a series of felt landscapes which I am hoping will be selected for inclusion in the Blueprint Christmas Exhibition, fingers crossed please! It was one of those days when everything seems to go right on the felting side of things, the...
Thanks so much to all of you who have left comments, sent emails and rung me to wish my mother the best. Yesterday it was confirmed that she has a very rare disease primarily affecting the muscles, only 9 in every 1,000,000 people suffer from...
I'm felting like crazy now in order to have a nice supply of stock for the craft fair on December 4th. Taking the descision to limit my range of products has been beneficial I think, I've decided to concentrate on flowers, a series of bags/accessories...
You may remember that I promised to post (especially for Fiona!) a felt brooch tutotial, these were was what all of us in Feltmakers Ireland were teaching during the 'Learning Curve' sessions at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin last week. Thanks Holly for...
I finally took the plunge and have booked a stand for the 'Taste of Carlow' event happening in Carlow town on Sunday 4th December. This artisan craft fair will be restricted so that ALL the artists and producers present are guaranteed to come from Carlow...
I've spent an action packed, satisfying but tiring long weekend in Dublin and am going to jot down some of the highlights here for you to peruse. Things kicked off on Thursday morning when I delivered a workshop titled 'Using Social Media to Promote/Sell your Craft'...
Loads to update you on from the Knitting and Stitching Show, book launch, felt brooches etc, but no time until tomorrow, sorry!...
I've been felting a lot, working on a comission and trying to finish some pieces over the last few days. Today I have also had to finalise my presentation for the Crafts Council (promoting a craft business through social media, to be delivered at the...
As part of the Feltmakers Ireland team at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin this week I will be facilitating a mini workshop titled 'Fun Felt Brooches'. Holly emailed me the instructions for what we will be sharing with newbies (and maybe some experienced...
As mentioned in my last brief post I do tend to get drawn back to the same inspiration time after time. [caption id="attachment_3145" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Stones on the shoreline near Enniscrone, Co. Sligo"][/caption] The beauty of the sea-washed stones near Enniscrone on the west coast of Ireland...
It's wild, windy and extremely wet outside, the Internet connection is down so thank goodness for phones!!! I didn't get to take many pictures at the weekend but those I did were mainly of wet stones and fossils again, it's interesting how I get...
Thanks Dawn, Nancy, Elizabeth, Lois, Annie and Lyn for responding to my last post! I like the idea of making my own lables so I am going to look into designing one clearly giving the message I want to portray but in the interim I...
I started this morning by free machine embroidering a couple of abstract felt landscapes. It's difficult for me to decide when enough is enough with this sort of work, my personal preference has always been for NO stitching or embellishing but I do realise that...
On Saturday Mairead and Sharon really knuckled down to create beautiful pieces of flat felt in the morning and both felted wonderful vessels in the afternoon. It's always interesting sharing techniques with other artists because once I demonstrate the basic skills I love watching how...
Because of all my computer problems yesterday and the fact that I am really trying to knuckle down and get some felting done this week I didn't fully appreciate what Chrissie was up to until I got an email saying that 'From Felt to Friendship'...
This afternoon has been a REALLY bad one internet wise (must be some sort of connectivity problem but I really am not sure) so forgive me if I am going to be brief for now! [caption id="attachment_3107" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Detail of the stitching"][/caption] Here is a picture...
Back home last night, teaching this afternoon, felting in earnest from first thing tomorrow morning!...
It's official, felt masters Istvan Vidak and Trees Coussement have arrived in Ireland! Carmen and I returned from collecting them at the airport last night at 11pm and then I spent until 2.40am cooking at Clasheen, whew, I will sleep well tonight. This morning I...
It's been a very busy week so far and I am just grabbing the chance to write an ultra quick update on the run. The ladies I felt with in Borris Active Retirement Group completed outstanding pieces in our session on Monday afternoon and if...
