Woolnimals

Oh, the trouble with time! I wish I had more of it! I wish I had a hobby that didn't take so much time! I wish, I wish, I wish! But c'est la vie! I am diligently working on a shop update. So far I have a little owl, a bunny, a brown bear, a pig, a polar bear, and a few little surprises...and now I'm just waiting on a sunny day during which I can photograph all of them. *sigh* One of my major upcoming projects is building a suitable light box. Vermont winters are long and dark, and I can't rely on good light all the time. I have also been occupying myself with diet and exercise - something that takes a lot of effort to get going at first. Between a full time job, fitting in workouts, and felting, I'm sleeping like a rock! I hope to be better prepared next year for holiday orders and requests, but this is a learning process and needle felting is just a slow-moving craft. It's the snail of crafting. Ooh, snails! Much love to all! I'm hoping to update the shop t...

My husband and I went to the Women's Festival of Crafts in Burlington this weekend. It was an amazing collection of artists. I had a budget to spend on myself, and despite there being TONS of things I wanted, there was just one craft I absolutely had to have. Meet Peanut Butter the Jelly: This crocheted jelly fish is nearly 3 feet long with all of it's lovely twisty tentacle thingies...and is made of lovely wine-colored yarn. Peanut Butter the Jelly was made by the very kind and very talented Erinn Simon of Burlington. You can visit her website or Etsy shop for a ridiculous collection of adorable creatures. (Picture above courtesy of www.erinnsimon.com ). PB the J is now living above my desk in my art studio where he will no doubt attempt to ensnare my husband's puppet collection in his twisty tentacle thingies. He will also bring great joy to me as I create little creatures. I'm so happy. I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving! I'm going to hunker down now to ...

SheilaC! Sorry about the delay! I had some technical difficulties over the Thanksgiving weekend. Most of the difficulties involved turkey coma. Nevertheless, thank you TO ALL who commented with your lovely and inspiring words. I'm gearing up for another shop update and will be back with another giveaway in no time (hopefully!) To Sheila - I will send you a message via your blog, but please email me your shipping address at birdonwirestudio@gmail.com ! Congratulations!

Ooh, my fingers are sore. I have been doing a LOT of needle felting. One creature right after another in preparation for the holidays. I have so many ideas that they sometimes feel like a field of fireflies and I only have one small jar to with which to catch them. I'm trying! I have a delightful new sketchbook that my brother-in-law made in England. It's so lovingly made and well-done that I feel weird drawing in it, but on the other hand, it's also so inspiring and some of my best ideas are being recorded within its pages. I have a HUGE surprise for my shop - something I've never tried before and that I hope goes over well. I hope to be unveiling my new creations next weekend. For now, work work work. Busy busy busy. If you haven't yet signed up for my giveaway, it ends this Friday. See my last blog post for details!

I am so grateful to announce that my little Etsy shop has reached 100 sales!!! I originally opened my shop in 2006 to sell paintings of birds on wires, but reinvented myself this past year. I listed the first 20 needle felted items on March 2nd. Since then, I've received so much positive feedback, made so many friends, and have grown my art immensely (go take a look at the first few listings!) In celebration of the first 100 sales, I'm offering a giveaway! The giveaway prize is the Plumpie that started it all - featured on the Etsy Finds blog and the item that generated the first wave of real interest in my shop - the sitting fox . I will make you one of your own, but you can see an example below: To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment with your contact information. One entry per person. The giveaway ends November 26th at 8:00 pm EST , with the drawing on November 27th. I'll announce the winner on Saturday, November 27th.

This sleepy little Arctic fox is now available in my shop ! He took quite a while to felt and is actually several colors all layered together. I started with a deep brown base-layer. I then added tan, cream, and finally a soft white top layer to acheive the effect of a true Arctic fox's winter coat. I love the result and he's super soft. Next on my agenda: deer!

Two little sweeties in the shop today!

My little polar bear made it to Etsy's front page today! This is my first time on the front page and I'm thrilled with all of the positive responses. Hooray!

I hope to have him finished by tomorrow! I layered brown, light tan, and white wool all together for the soft fur effect. I think he's pretty cute.

I absolutely love hearing happy feedback from my customers. When I get emails, blog comments, and Etsy feedback it thrills me every single time. I love that other people are delighted by my creations, and I'm 100% serious when I say I actually miss the creatures I ship out. Between my husband's HUGE animal puppet collection, my various collections of cute creatures created by other Etsy artists, four curious and clumsy cats, and a small apartment, I could never keep all of my creations. The next best thing is seeing them off to a good home. I am motivated and inspired every day by the love and support of those who appreciate my art. Today I'm saying goodbye to one of my favorite creations - this fat little brown bear. I had so much fun imagining him and making him. I'm sad to see him go, but he's going to live with a bunny friend also from my shop. Goodbye! *SNIFF*

It seems like the dark days are a heavy blanket draping over us - and all I've wanted to do is snuggle and sleep. Fortunately, I've been pushing through my seasonal sleepiness and working on my felt creatures. Lately though, I've been wanting to do more sculptural (ie: lifelike) pieces - leaning away from whimsy and more towards elegance. ...speaking of elegance... I've been inspired lately by the artwork on the blogs I love. I adore the autumn/winter woodland aesthetic and want to branch out some of my designs. I will still be making cute and cuddly fuzzbombs, but will be introducing some new things soon as well. Also, I have some big news for my Etsy shop ! For anyone who's ever wanted to learn how to felt your own adorable creatures, keep an eye out around the new year for DIY kits in some of my more popular designs. I'm super excited to send out some test kits to fellow needle felters and newbies to the craft for their feedback. Their wisdom will help to ma...

It's cold outside, but he doesn't mind! This little cutie is available now in my shop!

Nine Poker Pigs for Jan! Here are their individual portraits!

Roly poly hedgehog and a wooly panda bear! Check them out in my Etsy shop!

Meet Sadie! My mom commissioned this Jack Russell Terrier for her friend. Sadie is her friend's dog, and she's just precious. You can see the real Sadie in the background photograph; and my rendition is made of 100% sheep's wool. Sadie took a total of about eight hours to make and has no internal armature. I'm really proud of how she turned out and I can't wait to hear if my mom's friend loved her!

I just love making treasuries on Etsy. It's been a while, but here's a lovely Wintry Mix!