looks like a lotus tree

Are you on Instagram? Do you love needle felt? If the answers are yes and yes, then here are 5 fabulous felters to follow right now! Check out some of my

Making felt flowers is one thing. Making felt flowers look realistic is another thing entirely! We are so fortunate to have Maker Team member Astrid of @treehousefeltflowers at the ready with her many tips and tricks for making gorgeous, realistic felt flowers. You can find several of her tutorials on our blog. Now Astrid is going in depth with a two part series about adding color and dimension to your felt blooms and we are bursting with excitement! “How do I make felt flowers look less two-dimensional? How do I make felt flowers look more realistic?” These are two questions I often see on online felting forums. I think the answers to these questions lie in adding color and dimension to the felt. There are a number of ways to add color to felt. If you try using one or more of the techniques in this tutorial, you will see your felt flowers start to come to life! Skill Level: Beginner to Advanced Time: Varies Additional Supplies: Alcohol MarkersAcrylic PaintWatercolor PaintPaint Brushes, smallEye Make-upPaper Towel Color Placement Where do you place the color on the flower? To start, look at examples of real flowers. At first glance this Day Lily from my garden appears simply yellow, but upon closer inspection, you see subtle color differences and shading that give the flower depth. The petals are a beautiful soft yellow - perhaps Benzie wool blend felt color Butter or Lemonade. I often find myself guessing comparable felt colors to flowers in nature. Look closer at the tips of the three largest petals. They have a soft blush of pink along the ruffled edges. Now follow one petal from the tip to the center. Notice how the yellow intensifies as you get closer to the center, where the darker yellow starts to turn subtly green. Below are three felt versions of the Day Lily. All 18 pieces of felt used to make these three flowers are the same size and shape. The flower on the left has no added color or dimension. The center flower looks a bit better and has some coloring. The flower on the right is a combination of adding color and dimension. Let’s look at some methods to color felt. All methods are done on individual petals before gluing the flowers together. Be sure to practice on a scrap of felt before trying any coloring method on your petals. Finding the right look takes some experimentation and practice, so have fun with it! Color Techniques Pastels - One of the most common methods to add color to felt is to use pastels. Pastels are made by mixing dry pigment with a binder and some filler to form a thick paste, which is pressed into sticks and dried. Pan pastels are a form of soft pastels, but instead of being molded into sticks, they are set into pans or jars. Both forms of pastels have a tendency to rub off. To be sure your color stays on the felt, lightly spray the petals with an aerosol fixative or use hairspray. NOTE: When spraying fixative, work in a well-ventilated area. Stick pastels are applied directly to the felt. Be gentle because they are very chalky and a little goes a long way. Place a piece of paper towel down on your work surface before starting. Use a second piece of paper towel to blot excess pastel from the felt. For pan pastels, a blending sponge can be used to dip into the pan then dabbed gently on the felt. For more examples of using pastels on felt flowers, see my tutorials for Coneflowers, Protea and California Poppies. Eye Make-up - When adding light colors to dark felt, you need a very concentrated pigment. Eye make-up works well on darker colored felts! When making a Columbia Lily, I add yellow color to red felt to achieve the true look of the petals. The yellow pastel was not intense enough but a fellow felt flower maker in the Netherlands tipped me off to using eye make-up! Use the same method of application as pan pastels. If you look closely at the Columbia Lily (right), you will notice small dots on the yellow portion of the petals. Most lilies have these spots. I used a fine tip marker to make them. There are several types of markers you can use to add shading and detail. Alcohol Markers - Alcohol markers are great for coloring felt if you need a bright, bold border. If you purchase alcohol markers with a fine tip, you can also use them to make lines on your petals. The Narcissus (left), has its’ center yellow petal circle rimmed with red using an alcohol marker. Even though the color dries very quickly, some bleeding of the color into the felt will happen. In this case it was the exact look I wanted. The center photo shows a detail from some of my Stargazer Lilies. The center dark rib down each petal and the dots were made with alcohol markers. Other Markers - I use Sharpies, fabric markers, and other permanent markers to draw accents on petals and add color to stamen stems. The flower stamens are from Benzie Design. Watercolors - If you want to achieve a soft color wash, watercolor may be applied to your felt in a diluted solution. The water can affect the texture of the felt, so experiment on some scraps of felt first. Acrylic Paint - I use acrylic paint for a few flowers. The white lines on the edges of the Forget-Me-Nots (left) are done with acrylic paint. The red line on the outside of the green succulent in the right photo is made with acrylic paint and a thin brush. The down side of acrylic paint is that it leaves the felt very stiff when dry. Airbrush - I have seen examples of using an airbrush painting tool to color petals. I think this looks really wonderful and hope to give it a try at some point. Embroidery - A time consuming but wonderful way to add color or accent to your flowers is embroidery. I love the way this looks! The photo on the left is of a blueberry branch. The contrasting embroidery not only gives a punch of color to the berries, it also adds texture. The center photo shows a succulent with an embroidered edge and stitching on its’ thick petals. The photo on the right shows embroidered details on an iris. Felt - The last method I want to discuss is using felt to achieve a color gradient or to make a bright color block effect. The flowers below each needed a bold color on top of or next to another dark or bold color. The other techniques we’ve discussed did not give the high-contrast outcome I desired, so I used additional felt. The flowers on the left and right have two layers of felt on each petal. I tried many techniques to allow me to have a bright white accent on the dark blue petals of the Texas Bluebonnet (right) but nothing worked as well as a second color layer of felt. For the flower in the center photo, two colors of felt were carefully glued edge to edge to achieve the desired effect. You can also use different shades of a single color to add depth. The bluebonnet is made from two Benzie Design wool blend felt colors: Blue and Oxford Blue. The Blue felt petals are above the darker Oxford Blue petals. The change in color is subtle, but really adds depth to the flower. Combining Methods - You will find the best way to get the most realistic felt flowers is to combine several of the methods mentioned. The photos below all show flowers with at least two techniques used on their petals. The photo on the left shows hydrangea blossom construction with a combination of gluing two colors of felt together and pastel coloring. The pansy in the center actually uses three techniques: acrylic paint, marker and pastels. The small lily in the right photo combines pastels and marker methods. In part two of this series, I will demonstrate how to add dimension to your flowers. Combined with the coloring techniques outlined above, adding wire, folding and pleats to your flower construction will enable you to create almost any felt flower in a realistic way! Thanks to Astrid for designing and writing this tutorial! You can follow her on Instagram @treehousefeltflowers or visit her website. Stay tuned for more tutorials from the Benzie Design Maker Team!

Spring has burst forth in full regalia here in Southern California. the trees are so pretty in their pinks and whites and magentas. And the birds have started to busy themselves building nests. Spring is full of crafting inspiration and we have been making pretty needle felted spring nests too. One of the things […]

Maker Team member Felicia of @felicia_murray creates exquisite needle felted wool sculptures. Her trademark has become organic seascapes, which are other worldly! We are so happy to have her share some of her techniques with us in the first of a two part tutorial series. Let's dive in! Needle felting may seem intimidating at first, but there is so much that you can do with this technique. I am inspired by nature and the ocean, so I am constantly looking for textures and plant life around me that I can capture in beautiful bright colors. I like to think that needle felting is like sculpting with wool! These underwater elements can be added to any accessory, fiber art piece, or décor. Next month we will be continuing this tutorial to create felted seascapes that include these felted corals and more! If this is your first time needle felting, I recommend reading over Get Started: Needle Felting Basics. Skill Level: Intermediate Time: 2-4 hours Supplies: Needle Felting FoamFelting NeedleNeedle Felting Pen - optional for faster feltingCorriedale Roving (Orchid, Sky, Midnight and Purple shown) Directions: Barnacles 1. Let’s start with what I like to call “barnacles”. Start by pulling out a small section of wool. Roll the roving into a semi-tight ball with your fingers, tucking the ends of the wool into the center of the ball. 2. Once you have the ball secure with your hands, begin to felt. Jab your needle into the sphere several times. The sphere will become more secure, to where you will be able to flip it over. Try not to poke your fingers! Continue felting until you have a squishy but not-too-fuzzy circle. 3. Find the best side of your sphere. This will be the top. Felt directly into the center of the sphere several times to create the barnacle impression. Tubular Corals 1. Start by pulling out a section of wool. Make sure it is not too thin - you can always pull out two layers and put them together. 2. Lay out the wool on your felting cube. It should be a rectangular shape. The wool should be thinner on the ends, as this is where we will overlap and connect later. 3. Begin felting all over the surface of the wool. I recommend using the Benzie Needle Felting Pen for faster felting! 4. Gently pull up the wool from the cube, flip, and repeat steps 3-4 until your wool is tightly felted. 5. Wrap wool around your fingers or an object. You can use 1-4 fingers, depending on how wide you want your coral. I am using 2. 6. Gently pull the wool off your fingers, keeping its shape in place. Lay down the edge that you overlapped onto the felting cube and secure by felting. 7. Continue to felt on both sides of the coral, as well as the top and bottom until the shape is tightly felted. Brain/Branch Corals 1. Pull out a long but thin section of wool. 2. Tuck in the thin ends of both sides into the center. Felt all over the surface, with a singular needle, or the Benzie Needle Felting Pen for faster felting. 3. Slowly but gently peel away the wool from the cube. Roll the wool in your hands to continue felting. Alternate felting and rolling until you have a tight, long tube. The tubes can now be left as is to create a “brain coral” texture. We will go over how to apply these to our designs in next month’s tutorial. 4. To turn these tubes into branch coral, all you need to do is leave one side of the tube unfelted. This is where you will connect it to another “branch”. 5. Connect by felting the fuzzy part into an already felted branch. Felt all different length branches to create dynamic corals! With these felted underwater sculptures, the possibilities are endless! If you want to learn how to felt more underwater textures, as well as experiment with creating a unique colorful finished piece, stay tuned for next month’s continued tutorial! Keep practicing till then! Thanks to Felicia for designing and writing this tutorial! You can follow her on Instagram @felicia_murray or visit her website. Stay tuned for more tutorials from Felicia and the Benzie Design Maker Team!

It's time for needle felting! If you haven't tried this before, needle felting lets you take beautiful soft wool and use a felting needle to 'stab' it into shape. We've taken inspiration from the colours of heather and bluebell covered woods for this kit.

A golden dawn to the month of September in Scotland and I thought I would send out into the day, the hugs of Manooni created by two sisters Hanna Dovhan and Olga Dovhan they are a joy.

Perfect for small storage around the house or for holding your favorite plant, this versatile wool f

photo source Salix discolor (aka: American Willow or catkin) Note: for the sake of this post I am going to refer to these branches at "catkins". I can only imagine what kind of spam I would receive if I called them by their more common name! I absolutely adore catkin branches but was getting a bit tired of the disappointment that I felt when the catkin's buds eventually fell off. :o( Enter needlefelting....! I now have year round branches that look so realistic that most of the people that I have shown (or given them to, they make a perfect gift!) thought they were real! Here's how to make some of your own... First, head outside to your nearest cedar tree to pick up some fallen branches/sticks. I find these look the closest to the willow and they have "bumps" to attach the catkins to. They are usually fairly straight as well. You will also need grey and brown roving, a needle felting needle (I used a 40 gauge fine), a foam mat to work on and a hot glue gun. To needlefelt a catkin pull of a small bit of grey roving and wrap it into a small cocoon shaped oval ball. Place the ball on the foam and poke with the needle repeatedly until it firms up and doesn't come unraveled. It helps to roll the ball around as you are poking it with the needle so that all sides are felted and the ball doesn't become stuck to the foam pad. Occasionally roll the ball in your fingers to flatten down the fibres. Shape it further by poking one end more and compressing the fibres until it is roughly egg shaped. Then take a tiny wisp of brown roving and roll it between your fingers until it resembles a grain of rice. Place it on the rounder end and poke with the needle to attach to the grey catkin. (this only takes a few pokes) Make as many catkins as you have "bumps" on your branch in a variety of sizes. (1/2" - 3/4" in length) Glue the first catkin on the top of the branch as shown with a TINY drop of hot glue. Glue on the remaining catkins with the brown bit facing in towards the branch. Continue gluing catkins all the way down the branch. I usually leave the last few bumps bare as they are not seen when placed in a vase. These branches are perfect to add to a nature table or a small bouquet tied with a wide ribbon makes a cherished gift! Please let me know if you try making some! xoxo ~ joey ~

eclektic: Paris based, Italian artist Lorenzo Nanni

Hey guys! I sent a poll to my Art Letters mailing list asking what types of tutorials I should make. Needle felting acorns was mentioned in the comments, so I jumped right in to making a quick video for you! You can do this with any size acorn, but the cap can't be too shallow, otherwise the wool won't stay in. The acorn cap needs to resemble a deeper bowl. Let me know if you have any questions. PS: If you have a suggestion for a tutorial or course--if there's something you'd really like to learn how to felt--leave a comment and tell me about it!

Sew yourself a wonderful Cath Kidston needlecase & pincushion.

Deep in the woods of southern France, artist Spencer Byles transformed the forest into a mysterious wonderland through a series of spectacular, organic

Handmade needle felted brown bat Item is handmade and may include slight variations  Your new friends favorite spot to hang out would be by indoor plants or on a shelf by your favorite books. Although this art doll is cute and may incite some play time please remember that he can be fragile at connection points like the feet, tail or mouth Careful and light play would be ok but be gentle with your new friend.  If your new friend becomes dirty please only gently spot clean with a damp cloth.

AN THINH YARN L.S JOINT STOCK COMPANY

I really like the shape of 50' furniture: slim design, slanted table legs ( Ercol style). Unfortunately I have no space for new large furniture so I was delighted when I discovered a super cute miniature option: an Eames planter. Recently discovered on Ebay I have been in pursue ever since! Problem is....everybody else seems to share the same passion, as usually happens.....so prices rocket so quickly that I am outbid in a dash! Yesterday a cute red one went for £ 270.oo, some reach £ 380.00 so I was very disappointed. Imagine my happiness when I managed to grab my very own mini table ...from a seller next to my work place and very reasonable price ! Seller was so kind to deliver it to me this afternoon so it sits now proud next to me....this is it: It is really small and fits anywhere: great for a cup of tea, a book or the phone...I LOVE it! And there are so many versions, different formica top and shapes! Then I found a single level mini table for £ 12.00 in a Vintage Emporium... I screamed and grabbed it before anybody else! Now both mini tables sit next to my sofa...and I smile! ( I made the pretty patchwork tissue box cover with vintage fabric....have a look a my tutorial posted a while ago!) My next job is to find the perfect Vintage sewing box! I remember my own Grandma sewing box, full of intriguing bits and bobs, buttons and ribbons....Paradise! So these shapes have cought my eye on the market...we shall see if I am lucky! This one is very elegant and almost " Shaker style" I like the red woven top of this one! This one is almost identical to my grandmas' one! Memories...... xx

Here is a small window into my final week at the Fiber craft studio A wonderfully full week! Thank you Three Fold learning center, Green Meadow Waldorf School,. Sunbridge and the Fiber craft Studio for such a wonderful four years of training! we displayed a very small amount of our work for the graduation. I was the student speaker in the graduation. Imagine that!

気付いたら桜も散ってしまいましたね～🌸今年は桜の見頃とお天気が合わずに残念～💦曇り空の下、お弁当持って花見に出てはみたけれど、お弁当平らげると共にそそくさと帰ってきてしもーた(。-∀-)花より団子🍡な私でございますどーもどーも💦ベラドンナ・アート展の準備もひと息ついた事だし、何か新たに作り始めましょうかねとチクチクしたのがこちらでございます～(*ﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ✨最初はこんな綿団子…(。-∀-)いつもながら不安なスタートですな。。今回はペアで作りたかったので、ベースから並行して作っておりますよ。植毛でだいぶサイズが変わるから、そうした方が最終的に大きさが揃いやすいのでございます～✨お目目が付くと何と…

Explore Kit Lane’s 2,928 photos on Flickr!

These beginner-friendly needle felting kits are a great way to learn the art of needle felting. You'll love these cute felting projects.

This 21 mic Merino wool is lovely and soft, ideal for wet felting and spinning. I wouldn't recommend any Merino wool for needle felting, please look for coarser wool. Ie. bheda, plant dyed or stonesheep merino. However, if you are determined, Merino wool is also good for needle felting, it just takes longer. All our roving are suitable for giant arm knitting too. Please contact me if you like less or more or need some help in choosing the right fiber for your project. Thank you! 21mic Merino 3 colours in one museling free

Explore EcoutureStudio's 3859 photos on Flickr!

Belgian artist Élodie Antoine understands the behavior of fibers, controlling them in ways to produce textile designs that are organic, fungal, and oftentimes anatomical in nature. Her anatomies emerge from taut lycra, dense felt structures, and an impressive number of zippers. The pieces are as much a reflection of the numerous tissue types in the human body as the textiles themselves. Antoine shares with Colossal her view on the connection between textiles and anatomy. More

Miniature felt forget me not flower. This tiny little needle felted forget me knot is made with pure merino sheep’s wool and comes in its own little glass jar. The flower is 7cm in height and 4cm width. Forget me knot needle felted details and mounted on wire. You can choose to have the twine or not, no extra cost. Perfect teacher gift or for someone you miss and thinking about. Not suitable for under 3’s Also check out the rest of my store where I have many other ecological sound and felted products: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LucyAntwisGifts