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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Hedgehog Pincushion Workshop

The 5th season of felting came to a close today. I lead a class on making felted hedgehogs. If made compact enough, the little critter could even be used as a pincushion. I got this idea out of a book we sell entitled "Wool Toys and Friends" by Lauren Sharp. I made my first one in March. I was leading a tutorial at an employee meeting to teach some of the others how to felt and thought that it would be a good beginning piece. Since then I have made several as presents for family members and friends, which were all well received.

I eagerly requested to teach this workshop and was so excited to see how the different hedgehogs would turn out. Since this is a great introduction to felting, a couple of younger students were able to join. They were very patient and excited to learn and give character to their creatures with lots of color. As Carol has mentioned, one of the best parts of teaching the classes is seeing all the different variations that the participants will take from what you show them. Several of the adult students decided that instead of using the curly roving that takes the place of quills, they would keep the smooth, brown surface and just add the decorative head bow. They turned so well, that I want to try one for myself!

Classes will start back up in the Fall. Check back in on our website for a schedule.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Puppy Workshop




We're getting down to our last two workshops of the season. There is a little break at the end of May for summer, but don't worry, we start up again near the end of September. We all know there are dog people and then there are cat people and for those who didn't come to last week's kitten workshop, Carol taught today's students how to make a felted puppy.


I wasn't in the store during the workshop, but I got to talk to Carol about how it went. She said, "Everyone loves puppies. This seemed to be true as our workshop this time was full with people on the waiting list. Participants brought photos of favorite canine friends. There was a nice mix of children and adults and as we got into the project I heard a lot of sharing of tips about how to create an ear or a collar. A few had to leave early and not everyone finished, but the photo shows the range and creativity of this project."


Not only were there lots of different breeds created, but oodles of color not usually seen on dogs. Employee, Robi, commented, "There were blue dogs, there were green dogs, it was like Go Dog Go!" It sounds like quite a bit of imagination

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Kitten Workshop

Every Saturday from late November until the end of May, we have felting workshops in the store from 11:00-1:00. This week local artist, Carol Hewitt led the class is making a felted kitten. The ages ranged from 91/2 to adult, but all students had high energy. Everyone was equally ecstatic to learn how to turn a pipe-cleaner feline skeleton into a cuddly kitten.

When asked how the work shop went, Carol replied, "I am impressed by the variety of colors used. We have orange & black, lavender striped, orange, blue & gray cats as well as black & white. Participants had time to make sparkley collars and even several cat beds and play balls". Next week is a puppy. I can't wait to see what colors and breeds are created!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Dirty Dan Days


I was recently told that this is the coldest Spring on record since....forever! And I believe it. We've had so much rain and and freezing temperatures that it is hard to believe that it's closer to Summer than Winter (technically of course). In Fairhaven, there have been a lot of fun events to attempt to usher in the sun. Accompanied by Robin and Carol, I worked at the Fairhaven Toy Garden booth at Dirty Dan Days. We were teaching children (and anyone who wanted to learn) how to make wet felted balls. In order to do this, you put wool roving into a nylon, dip it in warm soapy water and then alternate pounding it on the bricks or rolling it between your palms. By far the best part was watching the children smacking their balls onto the ground, sending sprays of sudsy water every which way. Over 150 balls were made and we had a great time helping the kids and listening to the live music.

Spring is in the Air

We had two Kids' Club events in the last 30 days. We did egg games and window painting in April for in anticipation of Easter. And this month, for Mother's Day, the club members made glass bead necklaces. Both of these activities were really fun. During this last one, it was really interesting to see all the different designs and patterns that kids came up. All of the necklaces turned out beautifully. You can see all of them and their creators on our Facebook! Our next activity will be a picture frame for Father's Day. Check out Fairhaven.com for complete details.