Monday, December 14, 2009

Creating fleece roving angels!

Hi there party go-ers (and everyone else)!

Here is the promised instructional video on turning your little kits into fleece angels!
I am happy to sell the angel kits for $4 each, they make a wonderful little craft for groups and families, stocking stuffer or gift.

You can adjust the season the angels are appropriate for just by the colours you make their attire out of.
These lovely little sylphs are very easy for small hands to manipulate and don't worry about being too perfect with the knots and ties. They really favor a bit of an organic look.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave a comment!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles...

Or maybe it's one of these?

Here are a few examples of what we make at children's workshops!
There is one this coming Saturday, the 12th, from 10am-Noon in our home in Plano.
It's $20 for one child and adult, and $10 additional for each sibling/friend.

I have a couple of open spots, so sign up!
These make a great little gift for a teacher, babysitter, Grandparent, neighbour...
We will be making two items.

Comment or email me at amba.whatley@gmail.com if you'd like to attend!





Sunday, December 6, 2009

Live your life, do your work, then take your hat...





Hats!! I have hats! These are so much fun to make. I find myself being a bit too perfectionistic over them.
But I love them.

This white cloche is a mix of superfine merino and wild harvested silk. It has a removable, adjustable rope embellishment, and will fit most heads as fine wool felt generally has a gentle give to it. My head circumference at it's widest part is 22 inches and this hat is quite perfect with nice room so as not to totally flatten my hair. hehe






This next hat is a little larger but still wouldn't blow off my head. It fits well up to 23.5 inches.
It has a customizable brim and a really chic felted button feature.



These hats sell for $40 each.
I can make custom ones, just email me! amba.whatley@gmail.com

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Peek-a-boo!


This is just a tiny introduction to the myriad felted creatures who will be coming to life and looking for homes in the next week or two!

She needs a name! Leave a comment with what you think her name should be and if I choose your name I'll send you bar of felted soap as a thank you!

They are felted with beautiful soft merino wool, alpaca, and silk. They are stuffed with organic cotton. Embellished with a variety of found pieces, such as buttons, bells, yarn etc.

Stay tuned for the rest, I'll be finishing them as my baby allows it!!

She is 12 inches tall, and sells for $45


Sunday, November 22, 2009

Mini Gift Workshops!



I am opening up two nights of mini felting workshops!
Perfect for holiday gifts, we will be making felt covered soap bars!
These are genius little products, the fleece is wrapped around the bar of soap and felted right onto it. You can attach a thread under the fleece to make it soap on a rope, too!
When you're in the shower, you just lather up the soft bar and wash yourself with the soap and washcloth all in one.
Wool is anti-microbial so it resists mold and smells, so it stays clean and healthy for you.
Wrap the cord around your wrist, hang it to dry, or set on a soap rack until the next use.
As the soap inside is used, the wool will continue felting and shrink around the bar. When the soap is all gone, you're left with a wadded up ball of felt which you can then give to your cat, use as a dryer ball, hang on your tree! haha!

In this workshop you will make 3 felted bars of soap, with or without rope, learn the basics of felting, and walk away with a perfect handmade gift.
I have a selection of beautiful soaps, some organic, some scented with essential oils, some fragrance-free and pure enough for a newborn baby.
You choose.
When we're done, I will also supply squares of gorgeous Moda designer fabrics and raffia in which to gift wrap your soap once it is dry!


This is a perfect workshop for those who aren't sure about committing to a full-length felting workshop but are interested in learning the art.


The dates are as follows:
Saturday 5th December 7-9pm
Friday 11th December 7-9pm

Each class is $25, which includes all supplies. If you would like to bring your own three bars of soap, you may drop the price to $20.

To sign up, please comment or email me at amba.whatley@gmail.com

Here are some more pictures of some bars I have made:




For inspiration, check out some of these soaps selling at Anthropologie for $14 each!
www.anthropologie.com

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Announcements!

A few things I'd like to make known!

I can take orders for GIFT CERTIFICATES as holiday gifts! I will print a nice card, mount it to a piece of lovely felt and you can gift personally or I can send direct to your recipient. They may choose to attend any workshop at any time. Or, if they decide they do not want to attend a workshop, they can purchase an already completed item, or request a custom item to be made for them! This is a fantastic gift for teachers, a crafty or wannabe crafty friend or family member, or just that really eccentric person who has it all and needs nothing!
There is no extra cost for one of these unique gift certificates being made and mailed for you.


Workshops!
The remainder of the year looks like so:

December:
Saturday 5th - Nuno wool-on-silk scarves 9am-2pm $50
Saturday 12th - Child-friendly Holiday/Winter themed Decorations. 10am-Noon $20 - This workshop is full!

2010

January:
Saturday 30th - Handbags! 9am-2pm $50

February:
Saturday 13th - Child-friendly Valentine's! We will be making felt and recycled paper cards. 10am-Noon $20
Saturday 27th - Nuno wool-on-silk scarves 9am-2pm $50

March:
Saturday 20th - Child-friendly Easter/Spring themed workshop. We will be making felt chicks hatching from felt eggs. 10am-Noon $20

April:
Saturday 10th - Handbags! 9am-2pm $50

More will be announced as the year rolls on by.

Latest workshop

Last Saturday we made handbags!
It was some really fun ladies, so the day got away from us a bit but it was a blast nonetheless.

7 bags were made, I only got pictures of 4 of them so far!

They were all really gorgeous. I want to keep all of them. haha
There was a real variety of creative skill level participants from complete self-confessed beginners with no artistic vision, to old hands in the fiber arts.

Here they are, all handle-less as they were still wet at this point and we made separate detachable handles for these.



Then I decided not to put handles on my bag at all, and to instead create a nice clutch handle.
it's so comfy, soft, and strong. I love how it turned out!

This bag is for sale for $45




The colour is most accurate in this picture. It's a beautiful port wine colour with carbon grey accents:

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

These are a few of my favourite things!

I have felted a LOT of things over the years. More of late than ever before. Two very recent items are some of my very favourite of all I have created. One of them is a scarf I was oh so lukewarm to as I was laying it down to be felted and was NOT feeling inspired in the least! I had a rushed morning, and was tired and a little flustered in the beginning of the workshop I hosted on Saturday.

By the end of the day, I was relaxed, a LOT more inspired (by the lovely creative ladies who joined me in a day of bringing art to life!) and fell in love with the piece I ended up with.

Thanks for attending ladies! Here are the scarves you worked so hard on!
Mine is the purple one. I was gently suggesting a stormy sky and when I took it to a pot luck the next day, I was greeted with comments on the lightening my scarf was echoing! I was tickled that my vision was noticed!


And here is my other favourite piece. I made this for my mother-in-law for her birthday in August. It's a clutch purse and really very striking.



Creating Creating Creating!

"Bottom of the Garden" felted play scene.




My baby girl Juniper Shalom celebrated her first trip around the sun at the end of September, and I wanted to have something memorable, handmade, and special for her. Nothing store bought, nothing that could be exactly replicated.

So this is what I came up with. The rocks underneath the little cluster of Amanita Muscaria are real pebbles felted over with grey wool. The ladybug, mushroom caps, purple flowers and rocks along the stream are all needle felted. The rest was wet felted and sculpted with resists.

It's sturdy, soft, long-lasting, and I'm very happy with it. It now resides in the top of Juniper's closet until she is a bit older and can appreciate it and use it for imaginary play with some itty bitty figures I have made.
Each year I will make something else to go with it or add to it as a birthday tradition.

I am happy to take custom orders for play scenes! Something like this would sell for about $130 but I can make them a little less grand starting at around $60.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Goods for sale!

I have lots of ready to go wool felt goods for sale. I am also able to take custom orders for pretty much anything! Stay tuned as I have a lovely line of fantasy creatures and dolls in the making and will be ready to post them for sale very shortly!!

All items can be mailed to you or if you're in the DFW area, come stop by the studio! hehe. By that I mean my lovely home where I happen to create these woolly wonders.

For a limited time, I will ship for free!


Bags!

Purple bag with a gorgeous spray of fresh strawberries and a fun yellow handle. The bag itself is 12.2 x 12.2 inches. $45



Branchy woodsy bag with double handles. 11.8 x 12 inches. $45


Scarves:

Trellis inspired nuno felted wool on white silk gauze. Lots of pretty fringe and a few delicate flowers.
$35

SOLD! Nuno felted on white silk gauze, bold autumnal orange border and a beautiful multicoloured mix within. $35

The "Mendelssohn" scarf. Nuno Merino wool and Silk on soft gauzy Cotton. $40



Black silk nuno lotus blossom inspired. Perfect holiday colours. $40



A Christmas stocking fit for the cutest little elf in your life. $45