A New Year

Lets see how this new year pans out!! I have loads of ideas and plans for new articles.
It seems that each time a new idea for a tut. pops into my head, it's followed by a couple more. So I have now started to write them all down, so that I don't keep repeating myself over and over in different posts.
Backing material will be one of my first posts, talking about what, and why!
Felting and embellishment materials will be another and yet another will be detail work- how to execute, what to use, etc.
So as you can see, there will be plenty to go at!
For now, I am going to have to concentrate on a few projects which are started and for one reason or another, have been shelved for a while.
I need to concentrate on putting more pieces on Etsy.
I have spent this morning, tidying and cleaning, washing and putting the house back to normal -
( what laughingly goes for normal in my house!!:)
I had my daughter,son-in-law and grand-daughters here for a couple of days, so begrudgingly, you crafters know exactly what I mean, I had to move most of my crafting stuff that was in the living area, into more secure places. The girls love doing stuff with Granddad, and I love showing them how to do things but it can get a bit frought at times , keeping your eyes on them and not having any damage done to children or things!!
I absolutely love having them here but boy! does it make you realise  how old you're getting! I seem to ache in places, I didn't know I had .
But we all survived and everything is pretty much back to normal, it won't be completely normal 'til Christmas is a pleasant memory, funny how you forget the dramas!
  I may not be posting everyday, so, if I don't get chance to post before it, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and that all goes well for you in the days and months to come.
Cheers!

It Never Rains.....

And when it started it poured!! It only stopped about an hour ago and now it's started to freeeze!
This blog is sounding more like a weather dialogue than one about fiber stuff.http
If you would like to see what I have made and  posted on Etsy recently, please follow this link
://etsy.me/dY1vjn

Etsy Shop Items

http://www.etsy.com/shop/tecsjack

Quick thoughts

The freezer conditions in my part of the world have finally started to ease  and instead of snow, we now have rain !!!Still at least you can get around better in rain than sheet ice, covered in snow.
I thought I'd give you a quick thought on What do I needle felt into??? Well......anything really is the answer.
Lets think about the needle.
Its pretty tough and very sharp, so it will PUSH fibres into all sorts of material, I'm not going to make a never-ending list now but ; foam, obviously, pre-felt(felted wool) , woollen garments, almost all fabrics,poyester wadding, etc.
So next we have to establish if the fibre , when pushed into ...whatever, is going to stay there and produce a stable enough article.
Well, lots of times the answer will probably be yes, stable enough anyway for the intended purpose but oft-times the article will be handled alot and then you find fibres coming out and the thing looks , just awful!!!
So the answer is to have some sort of material behind your surface material, into which your fibres poke and thus get all snagged up, fixing them much more securely.
I like to use Polyester Wadding which is manufactured in loads of different weights(thicknesses) and so its possible to choose the right one for the job. Most places that sell it on , say, ebay, have a chart giving weight and thickness.

I'll probably wake in the morning to find a load more snow, Hey, Ho!!!

fiber talk: Two Lost Days

fiber talk: Two Lost Days: "I havn't a clue why but wednesday and thursday have gone without trace and not alot to show for their passing! I have at least got a full ta..."

Two Lost Days

I havn't a clue why but wednesday and thursday have gone without trace and not alot to show for their passing!
I have at least got a full tank of oil for the heating, which at the moment is an absolute Godsend, it is sooo cold here!! I put a plastic dish of water out for the wildbirds that visit my garden for food and within thirty minutes it had frozen over! Crazy.
I'll tell you something also got done, fabric necklaces and bracelets!
Oh! and I laid out the American iconography piece I'm planning.
I put a couple more items up on Etsy, a black and white butterfly on a purple background and an oil painting I did a while back, of a polar bear and cub, looks really cute!

So actually I did get a few things done didn't  I ??

Ok, back to needle felting chit chat, one thing I would like to point out is, that if it works for you and the piece you are making, go for it!!
There are those purists out there that would tie your hands behind your back with all the do's and  don'ts, just do what feels right in the circumstances.

One example is scissors!! 

It may be that there is only enough room in the area you are working on, for only a few needle strokes, so cut.!! And carry on. Few strokes, cut, and carry on. I liken it to using the crown needle when Re-Borning, or wig making.  As long as the fibre/s are secure enough- thats good enough! I tend to use a polyester fibre wadding as a back-up piece, when I know there are going to be area's like that, just 'belt and braces'- you feel happier knowing that there is a more substantial hold on the fibre but when those little scales get tucked in somewhere they can have quite a tenacious grip!! Have you ever tried pulling those stray fibres from the foam backing pad?? see what I mean??

Got some stuff done at last

Took some upholstery vinyl I had floating around, as you do, well I do!!, and glued it to some 300gsm white coated card and turned out a few Luggage Tags which I will be posting  in a bit on etsy , so next time you are there pop in to see me  and I'll show you around.
I was going to tell you about following the wool when you are needle felting, well basically it means needle felting the wool, whether Tops , Knitting wool or any other fibre, from ROOT to TIP, with your needle laying at about 30 degrees and using fast , short jabs, that helps to give  a more compact finish and the fibres run in the same direction , which looks a lot neater!!
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Talk about MAD!!!

Today was one of those days you just want to get through, get home and sit in front of the fire!!
Did some of my christmas shopping, food stuff and some bits for the kids stockings etc., but it was amazing looking at how much stuff some people are buying!!! Maybe they have mega families but I'm sure, as with mine , there will be loads left-over and probably alot of waste. It's nuts isn't it?? We all say the same things earlier in the year, "I'm not getting so much stuff this year, we only wasted it last year" , then we do it all over again!!
I have drawn up a plan for a head wrap, which I will post over the next couple of days and also I will be giving a few guidelines on Needle Felting Techniques, so don't go away :)

Getting colder

It was minus seventeen (17) degrees celcius here in Wales overnight !! Brrrr! and getting colder we're told, not that we can do much about it, just keep on keeping on I suppose, I feel sorry for the wild life, birds especially, there is just no food available for them, I put out seed and peanuts plus some bread in the garden but that's only for the few birds that visit my garden, there are so many others that wont be getting anything!!
The Red Dragon is coming along nicely! I have to see a lady about some wool she has, surplus to requirement at lunchtime, not looking forward to going out in the cold.

Minus 2 and falling

I struggled to get the car de-iced this morning so I could get to the shops, it needed doing badly as there was a thick layer of frozen snow on the windshield, de-icer wouldn't touch it, so I used washer fluid, diluted a bit with warm water, that eventually worked, I was a bit worried about the wipers though, seemed to be dragging ice!!!
The road was bad to get back up, 'cos I live up a slight incline, but just having the engine ticking over and not using the accelerator seemed to be the answer.
The car computer kept telling me the road was slippery...as if I needed telling!!
 I'll make inroads with the Welsh Red Dragon wall hanging I'm working on today, unsing knitting wool to needle felt over the edges is working well and as the colour is identical, you can't see the change of medium. from fleece fabric to wool!! works for me!

I'll stick a couple of pics up later... if I get time! Where does it go to??

Time out

Sorry I didn't post for a while but I been really busy getting stuff sorted for my Etsy shop 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/tecsjack
so , whats new in your world??  We got the first snow of winter , very early and very cold, theres talk up and down the U.K. that cars are getting stuck already!!! it's usually New Year before all that stuff happens!! Hey Ho! get used it I guess, what with global warming thingy , no evidence of warming here.........

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This is a view of my back yard , it has to be said, it does look a whole lot better when there's a covering of snow!!

Over the next few days I'm going to try and put up a couple of pics of some work and some of work in progress.

As its weekend tomorrow, I should get more time to play, so be good 'til then.

Getting there!!

Hi to you and thanks for keeping up!
The treacle seems to be thinning somewhat and this whole arena is becoming a little more familiar as I stumble around!
I Put in a gadget today apparently !! It's a list of some of the things I like. Not a comprehensive list, 'cos that would take forever, no just things that come to mind immediately.

While I remember , can I tell you I have a shop on Etsy. the link is ; 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/tecsjack
Thanks,
 As I become a little more comfortable with this blogging lark, I intend to do a few HOW TO'S and add in some pics of stuff I've done in the past and stuff that is in the process of being made, some you may find interesting, while all will be informative to some degree, to some people I hope :). I'll even include a couple of pics of my dog Jack.
Weather getting decidedly colder here in Wales and as I live 1500 ft up a mountain, it gets even colder here, averaging 2-4 degrees colder than a couple of hundred feet up from sea level.

breakthrough

Whooa!! That was like walking through treacle!! Just signed up and found out how to post on my blog, a minor miracle. Does anybody else have these issues? 
I suppose if you've dealt with blogs bfor, you have some idea...not me.. thick as the proverbial..
HE HE :)
My name is Phill by the way and I'm an artist who loves working with fibers and material. Not a sewer.. that has to be said, it just happens that a lot of my works which can be seen on Etsy, require the use of fabric.
Gotta go for a rest now, that was a major breathrough. see you in a bit.