Meet Rocko

Sometimes an idea gets stuck in my head and I have to sit down right then and get it out. This little guy was getting really persistant so I took a few hours and let him come to life.

I call him Rocko! And he just might be my new favorite. Every time I look at him I can't help smiling. :-)

He is the only one of my felted friends that has moved onto my work desk to keep me company. I think he just likes to be in the middle of things. lol
What is kind of maddening is how, when you photograph these little guys, they appear a million times fuzzier than they look in person....of course, blowing up a little guy from 2" up to maybe 10-12" might have something to do with it lol

Here is a close up of his face. Hubby says he looks stern. I think he just looks very intent. lol

He has a merino wool base with merino wool face, hands and chest. And alpaca for his fur. The alpaca is very soft so he feels very nice sitting in my hand while we watch tv. :-)

A Baby is Born

I can't even begin to describe how happy needle felting makes me. I have been an artist my whole life and will admit that '3D' mediums always left me feeling..well...lacking.

I had issues with proportion and the front might look fine but the back would look like a disaster!

To finally, after all these many years, to find a medium where I have no problems creating in a totally 3D format just makes me giggly lol

Here is my first new friend of 2012. He is a little "chubby' bunny. The core is made of merino wool then covered with gray alpaca (I love how soft the alpaca fleece feels!)

I gave him oversized eyes and nose to increase the cute factor. :-)

He stands about 3" tall to the tip of his ears.

And now for the baby. This took me 2 weeks to complete, not because he was difficult but because my neck issues have decided to flare up in a huge way so looking down for long periods of time sends me into horrible neck muscle spasms (trust me, it is not as fun as it sounds!)

I would like to introduce Seymore. He is a baby monster. He seems to have lost his mama (which I think is probably a good thing for me) but managed to keep a grip on his trusty teddy.

He also has a merino wool core and was then covered with a varigated baby blue. I am not sure what type of wool because I got this HUGE ball (at least 8-10 ounces) of it for free because an online vendor messed up my order and tossed in the blue as a thank you because I was patient and didn't complain. It is super soft! (some times it pays to be a patient customer) :-)

As you can see, he has a tight grip on teddy and is also sucking his thumb.

And, of course, a pic from 'behind'.

Seymore is about 3 1/2" tall.

He definitely strays from my normal bunnies and sheep but he came to me one day while I was day dreaming so I had to bring him to life. Now I have a gorilla floating in my head! We'll see if he appears any time soon lol

I think I am addicted!

I am totally hooked on needle felting!!! I find I can be creative while sitting in my recliner catching up on my favorite shows! :-)

And, I completely lose track of time.....for someone with stress issues and chronic back pain, this is amazing!

I tried my hand at using a pattern today. I want to make some birds so I tried out the goldfinch pattern in the book Wool Pets. If you want some cute ideas with good instructions and tons of photos, you should check out this book.

Maybe because I was trying to match up the dimensions and such so closely...or maybe I just can't follow directions....but my proportions are bit off. But she is still cute (and only 2 inches long).
I love teddy bears! I have been making them and collecting them for most of my life. So, I am not sure why a teddy wasn't the first thing I tried to make lol

This little guy has a tiny pot belly and seed bead eyes. AND he is made from alpaca. Boy it that stuff slick and slippery!!! Way more difficult to work with than the merino I have been using. But I love the color! He is much darker than in the photo, almost like a burnt umber with blond and gray strands. He only sits (no more standing guys until I figure out what to put in their legs for support). He is 2 inches tall.

I think he may have to come sit on my work desk and keep me company all day. :-)