New Crafts for 2019

I was completely done with knitting for awhile after doing all the glove/mitts so I decided to work on something new.  I started doing cross stitch and was really into doing it.  It is time consuming, but I really enjoy doing it.  Then, I was introduced to a completely new craft.  A friend, Barbara, taught me how to make felted figurines.  I really like it and have made some really nice things with it.  I will explain them further as I show the pictures.

These are my cross stitch projects.  They range from very easy like the dolphin, to extremely complex like this dream catcher design.  It is amazing how easily it is to be just one tiny hole off in the count and the whole pattern changes and does not work.  There were not just a few take outs and do overs in this one and in the bicycle one above.  The final outcome is always very rewarding.  The butterfly one below was my first cross stitch project.  It was not a counted stitch because the pattern was printed on the material.  I just had to follow the color scheme that was suggested for the thread that was provided in the kit.

  Now I will do the felted projects.  My first projects while being taught were the bear and the sheep. 

   

I started by doing the bear which entails just poking the felting wool with a very sharp needle (which I stabbed myself with many times) until you shape the figure to the way you want it to look.  It is also a very fragile needle and before the night was over I had already broke two of the three needles that Barbara brought to give to me.  She also taught me to do the sheep because it is a little bit different process.  It is formed by making a wire frame first and then felting the wool over the frame to get the shape.  I looked at some of her sheep that she brought to show me.

Barbara left me a bunch of the felting wool because she says it is hard to find in stores around here and it is expensive when you can find it.  She buys it in bulk online and she has a lot so she just gave me some to get started. After she went home I decided to try something by myself with some of the wool she gave me.  I have a book that shows some felted figurines and I searched through it until I found this little adorable panda bear.  His legs are flexible and he can stand or sit, but I prefer him in the sitting pose.  When he stands his head is too low and he looks like he is eating something off the ground so I just show him sitting instead of standing.

I have a friend, Nancy, that we exchange gifts with for birthdays and Christmas.  We have often given each other things that are on the religious side because we are both of the same religion.  I decided to take the sheep that I had made and add the sign that says, "Feed My Sheep." which is similar to a cross stitch gift she sent to me a few years back.  I used the pillow she made for me a few years back as a background.  I had to use the back side of the pillow because the other side has embroidered messages over it and it would not look good as a backdrop. I gave this to her for her birthday.

After completing these projects I decided to really go all out and challenge myself.  I looked online for a picture of a moose and then I got busy.  The picture in the background was my model for the one that I felted.  The antlers was my biggest challenge with this figurine, but I finally got something that made me happy.

  

Now I was really getting into this new, fun craft.  Problem was, I was limited in the colors I had to use and I had now broken my last needle.  I went to Michael's to see what I could find.  They had quite a bit of the felting wool, but it was in small amounts and was expensive.  However, I did buy a bag of fun colors and some white and black.  With those colors and what I had left from what my friend had given me and my new needles, I was able to plan some new fun projects.  I had a pattern for this adorable elephant so he was soon on the table.

Once I had finished these, I went back to the cross stitch until I had finished my bicycle and dream catcher cross stitch projects.  When Barbara heard that I liked to do things on the religious side, she recommended that I do a nativity set.  She shared several projects that are shown on Etsy which is where she sells her projects.  That really sparked my interest, so once I finished the cross stitch projects I started on my own nativity.  It started out rather simple, but as I went along, I started getting more and more ideas of what I could do with such a project.   Some of my figurines are shown outside of the nativity, while others can be viewed only within.  Somehow, I thought I had shots of all of them, but I guess not.  When I looked back, I could not find all of them.  Here is my design. 

Sheep #1 in the standing pose.

Sheep #2 in the lying down pose.

My favorite figurine, the donkey.

Mary in her unpainted stable.

Shepherd and the 1st sheep

I really like my 3 kings (Wise Men) shown from the front and back.  These are some of the fun colors I got to add to the browns and grays that Barbara gave to me.

This shows my completed Nativity with all my characters.  I couldn't find pictures of Joseph, baby Jesus in the manger, and the camel.  I hadn't been pleased with the outcome of my camel until after I had glued him in place.  I realized that the reason was because I had not put anything on him.  Once I added the blanket and the halter and rope, that does not show in this angle but hangs down in front of him, I was much happier with his appearance.  I made the ground platform out of a piece of wood covered with the sand colored felt.  The backdrop is also from wood with the black felt.  The star is made from a pipe cleaner.  The smaller stars are pieces of stick-on rhinestones.

Now that the Nativity was complete, I needed something to store it in.  I found this trunk that was perfect. I painted
it the navy blue and added some of the stick-on rhinestones on the top to look like stars.

On the left side of the trunk I wrote
this portion of 'Oh Holy Night.'

The right side adds this part of the song
to indicate the event pictured
inside the trunk.

Nativity outside the trunk with the
trunk in the background.

Nativity inside the trunk.

Now that I have finished my felted Nativity, I will probably go back to doing some more cross stitch.  I have a number of things I want to do yet with that.  My son has a plant shop that will be opening soon.  I want to sell some of my things in his shop.  I told him that I would run his shop for a few hours each day once my school volunteering ends (and that will be in two weeks) so he mentioned that I sell my things there.  I liked the idea so I want to have some more things to display.