First Felting 2.... and 2 BIG Thank yous!

When I first expressed an interest in needlefelting I was really lucky to be shown how to do it  by Sarah Hazell. Sarah is a really creative and multi-talented wonder with wool! Not only did she give encouragement but she gave me a bundle of fluff and short ends of yarns to play with. This gave me the opportunity to experiment and work out what else I would like to try.

...an early autumn leaf...

Sarah leads varied workshops around the country including some  successful crochet sessions at Fibre and Clay, attended by  Tracey, a friend of mine...small world!

Tracey is another woolly wonder...knitting and crocheting are amongst her many talents.

She often sends me squidgy parcels of her colourful, soft and woolly short ends:

I have used some on in my mug cosies, and the case for my cup cake...

I have some more ideas up my sleeve for some of  those lovely colours and textures.

I would like to say one BIG thank you to Sarah for starting me off  

(perhaps Tracey you could pass it on when you next see her!)

and my second BIG thank you to Tracey for keeping me going...

As Tracey has commented twice now about her interest in having a stab at needlefelting herself ....

there's a parcel of fluff in the post! x

Bird..boxes!

Two of the blackbirds have begun their journey to new homes as presents. I had been pondering how they would travel as their beaks were too prominent for padded envelopes! I had a quick scout around for commercial products to no avail...... but remembered the packaging for these amazing soaps from the little bird soap company:

They smelled absolutely fantastic...but as they were a present they only briefly perfumed our dwelling!

This is how they arrived - unwrapping in reverse order!!

This box was cleverly made from a larger one... it got me thinking and rifling through our recycling box...

What better way for a bird to travel than in (half) an egg box ?!

Having wound a protective ring of tissue paper round the beak the blackbirds were wrapped in more tissue paper, the ring keeping the outer wrapping away from the beak.

So that the top didn't get squashed I added a card topping:

....and a birthday card topping on this one:

I hope they arrive safely!...I enjoyed recycling...and will do it more often...its good to hoard (a little)!

On the subject of  how things are packaged... I received a lovely letter on beautifully thick  handmade paper the other day...it smelled amazing and inside was this tiny perfumed leaf:

...I'm not sure what it is, but it is still fragrancing my mail!

Brilliant idea....thanks L x