Category Archives: Needlefelt

Flowers and Needlefelt

What a soggy weekend this has been! We seem to be alternating between having so much rain that the water butt overflows and the road floods, and then having to run around watering the vegetable garden because it’s so hot and sunny.

My garden is now in it’s July slump, all the prettiness of the Spring flowers are just a distant memory and I’m confronted with all the things which should have been thinned out or consigned to the compost heap back at the end of the Winter. Does anyone like Golden Rod? I find it sad and funereal.

The roadsides however have been a delight. This is a typical sight as you travel round the lanes in Norfolk…

I’ll just have to sow more poppies in my garden!

But talking of flowers, I’ve been working on a new needlefelt project having had a request for a different kind of workshop, making covered notebooks.

As you know, I like to use needlefelt as a sculptural medium as I love working in 3D, so flat needlefelt is a new departure for me. However I have really enjoyed creating a woolly garden of flowers to make up for the ones I am lacking outside!

I started off by just using the fibres like paint…

…but found that adding in simple embroidery stitches gave it more detail and interest. And it was really fun to do!

I’ve been using lovely 100% wool felt squares from Blooming Felt to practice on, I’ve got a gorgeous selection of colours. These are the next two in the collection…

But the challenge now is finding sheets large enough to cover a notebook. In an ideal world of course I would wet felt each piece individually but alas, M.E. has rather put paid to something as energetic as that.

But while that particular project is coming together, the workshops I have had for Beginners Needlefelting have gone really well, both the group session at Arts Desire, and a one-to-one session in my studio. If you live in the area and would like to know more, follow this link.

The next Needlefelt Workshop at Arts Desire is next weekend, and there’s a place or two left, it would be lovely to see you.

And in case you are wondering whether my crochet hooks are rusting in the corner, no, they’re not! I’ve just completed a commission, and I’ll be back soon to show you just what else I have been making, so watch this space…

See you soon…x

Needlefelt Workshops and a Present for Higgins

You’ll remember I’m sure, that last year I went to Art’s Desire in Norwich to teach some Needlefelt Workshops. I fell in love with the shop then, and the whole idea of the Craft Lounge being a venue for people to come to learn to knit, crochet, felt and more.

The exciting news is that it’s re-locating in a lovely old cobblers shop just out of Norwich City Centre and will be opening in a few weeks. I love a renovation project and when I called in a few weeks ago it was just at the point when you see what a great space it will be for the shop, it’s tempting goodies and the crafting area.

Kay, the owner, came to tea last week for a catch up and planning session and being a dog lover arrived with a special present for Higgins. (Tongue firmly in cheek, I may say!)

This is it, in the ‘bosses’ chair…And this is what happened…

It didn’t work…

However, we had more success sorting out a workshop date, thank goodness!

And it is on…

June 14th 2014, from 10.30 – 1pm and price is £25.00 which will include materials,

and the venue is 82, Park Lane, Norwich, NR2 3EL

Please contact Kay via the Arts Desire website or me via the Planet Penny contact page if you are interested, it would be lovely to see you.

And talking of needlefelt, I am finishing off the Green Man, just in time. He goes off to the Forum next week for the Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios Taster Exhibition. I can’t believe it’s come round so quickly! I’ll post a picture when I’ve added the finishing touches.

Be back soon…x

Filling the Box of Delights

It’s just a little bit scary how the time gallops away, isn’t it? I’ve got a camera full of photos and so much to say, and yet every day this week I’ve failed to get the necessary time at the keyboard to write a post.

Never mind, I shall tackle one thing at a time and this is very overdue news about the Box of Delights that I have been putting together for the 500 posts giveaway which I wrote about here. I have felt overwhelmed by the lovely comments which have been left, I do thank you so much. And I have been particularly touched by people who say that they haven’t been following for long but have read their way all the way back to the beginning. Whenever I have a blogging lack of confidence I shall go back and read those posts to motivate myself to keep going!

Because I have readers from all over the world I wanted to make the Box of Delights of a size which would make it possible to post it to anywhere with a reliable postal service so I have customised a box especially. It’s been so long since I exercised these particular crafting muscles that I was a little unsure of myself, but I have painted and lined and glued and created a little repository for all manner of small things.

The inside looks like this.

I’ve lined it with may favourite of the Planet Penny Cotton fabrics.

And in it I’ve put a butterfly…

…crocheted with the PP cotton yarn. A mini needlefelt sheep…

…because sheep are a bit special on Planet Penny! There’s a reminder of the Dolly Peg Dolls with this length of vintage lace…

…A fat quarter of the cotton fabric…

… a string of the beads I love to use…

…and some vintage Mother of Pearl buttons…I’ve had a fascination over the last couple of weeks for covering match boxes (more of that in another post) so here’s one with some covered thumb tacks for your pin board…

…and this one which I had a lovely time painting. If you are wondering what’s inside, I’m not saying! It’s a secret…

…and finally there’s a crochet heart, as a reminder of the Hearts and Flowers Mobile…

…and if you would like some flowers there’s a length of Planet Penny Cotton in every one of the rainbow shades so you can crochet your own!

So everything fits in perfectly…..and it just requires a lid…

All it needs is a home. Would you like it? There is still time to enter the Giveaway by leaving a comment on this post, it’s running till next weekend.

I’m off now to do some cooking. I have my chum Kit coming round for supper and I’ve been delving through my cook books to find something delicious and fuss free, Nigella has come up trumps with a roasting tin filled with chicken, chorizo and other yummy things. I’ll let you know if I manage to channel my inner ‘domestic goddess’!

See you soon…x

Come to the Christmas Fair!

There’s a lot scurrying around going on in this part of the world this week, and it’s not just the mice! We have our very first Christmas Fair this coming weekend, which is exciting and scary in equal measures.

So who is this ‘we’ I hear you ask…

Well, if you’ve been visiting Planet Penny for a while you will know that for the last few years I, along with my print maker pal, Kit, have taken part of Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios. It turned out to be a wonderful way of meeting up with kindred spirits living very close by, so this year we got together as the Two Rivers Trail to create an Art Trail for Open Studios in May of this year.

It all worked so well we decided a year was too long to wait to get together again and so the idea of a Christmas Fair and Exhibition was born. It’s been a great excuse for meeting up over coffee and/or wine for planning meetings!

For various reasons this year the Planet Penny Etsy shop has been my only selling point so it’s going to be fun to step out of cyberspace and into reality and meet real people. I hope that any Planet Penny readers who live in the area will come to say hello. My fellow ‘Trailers’ are varied and very talented, so we’ve got a great mix of things to see, and to buy. If you call over to the Two Rivers Trail website you can find out more about us all.

It’s hard to decide what to sell alongside the pieces I will be exhibiting, as needlefelting is such a time consuming craft and it’s hard to fit it in alongside the pattern writing, crochet, yarn processing, blog writing, knitting and everything else. This is why it makes more sense to teach it so that others have the fun of making their own creations. Nevertheless, I decided to make a collection of ‘One Off’ creations, totally exclusive, no two the same. Collectors items for the Christmas tree!

I started with a basket of hearts, needlefelted with fleece from my massive bag of colours, another rainbow collection…

I was quite tempted just to leave them just as they are, and heap them up on my dresser but no, that is not the plan.

I sat in the corner of my studio with the hearts and gradually disappeared beneath a heap of ribbons and trimmings, buttons, beads and threads while I had a happy few hours making tree decorations…

And they do look really pretty on the Christmas tree…

Now I’ve just got to persuade myself to part with them!

I’ll be back soon with more pretty things, but for now I’d better get back to the preparations. I have a red tablecloth to hem!

If you are in the area, put the date in the diary and come and see us, we’d love to meet you, and there will be CAKE!

See you soon…x

Planet Penny Bakery

Just a little post to tell you about the Planet Penny Bakery which is happening next weekend at Arts Desire in Norwich. The Craft Lounge at Arts Desire is hosting a workshop next Saturday morning between 10.30 and 1pm where I will teaching how to create these low calorie, high fibre cupcakes. A plateful of these little fancies would look so cute on a dresser full of eclectic vintage china, and they make great pincushions!

There are still a few places on the course. It would be lovely to have you along to learn a fascinating skill which once mastered will open the door on all sorts of projects. The only limit is your imagination! If you don’t live near enough but have friends in the area, please spread the word…

Don’t forget to come back and visit very soon because I have such a great giveaway coming up!

I’ve always enjoyed finding gadgets, books, patterns etc I can recommend via the blog. These days I get approached to write and host reviews. This is very flattering, but I value my relationship with all of you far too much to want to turn my personal space on Planet Penny into advertising space for random ‘Stuff’. (Believe me, some of the ‘Stuff’ I’ve been approached about is extremely random! )

So I’ve got something fab to tell you about, and then I’ll be giving you a chance to win one of your very own…Can’t wait? Well, come back tomorrow to find out…

See you then…x

P.S. This week I’m linking up with Handmade Monday so do call over and catch up with all the crafty goings on!

Turf, Surf and Needlefelt Birds

A mixed bag post today, I’ve been lurking inside a lot consoling myself with needlefelt because of the unseasonably cold weather, but then rejoicing in sunshine and warmth when at last we get a brief indication that it’s actually summertime! I’m only wearing TWO layers today, and no thermal fleece!

The wind seems to have blown constantly for months in this part of the UK and we live in the windiest corner of the village, near the remains of the old mill. Wind always seems to make everything worse, doesn’t it? Colder, and so noisy with it whistling around the chimney. Yesterday’s walk was a bit scary, with small branches being blown off the trees. I wasn’t sorry to see some rain for the garden though, and Higgins was relieved that the thunderstorm which hit Norwich skirted around us. Despite all this Mother Nature is flourishing in the hedgerows…

The grass is long enough now to ripple in the wind like water, and is such a lush green…

But, in true English fashion today the weather is completely different. The sunshine in the garden brought the bees to the chive flowers…

I know you are supposed to snip the flowers off if you want nice chives for kitchen use, but how can I deprive the poor bees?

Such a beautiful morning was too good to waste, so Higgins and I headed to the beach before breakfast. What could be better than a deserted Norfolk beach in the sunshine?

The sand is gradually returning after being scoured by the winter gales. Only a couple of weeks ago this stretch was down to red clay.

Higgins was very happy..

And quite intrepid too in the shallows…

…and the pools…

Back home I’m getting ready for the first Needlefelt Workshop next weekend at Art’s Desire Craft Lounge in Norwich. The first one is all booked up and the second one is filling but fear not, further dates have been added to the calendar! The Birds on a Branch piece I created for Open Studios last year is in the shop window because we’ll be making birds, of all descriptions…

This is my latest flight of fancy….

Happy, not Angry Birds!

And, in case you were wondering, there is a winner for last week’s giveaway of a copy of Caroline Zoob’s gorgeous book, The Hand-Stitched Home. Thank you, to everyone who entered with wonderful stitching memories, I really enjoyed reading them. It seems for every school day horror there was also a wonderful teacher or relative who passed on their own love of the subject.

It was so hard to choose, I wanted everyone to win, but there’s only one copy of the book!

Please imagine the drum roll, or the pregnant pause beloved of TV Games shows so that I can announce…the winner is… Nikki Pierce who writes her own blog Tales from Swallow Barn.

Congratulations Nikki, I hope you enjoy your copy of the book and that we see some of your creations on your blog before too long (No pressure or anything!)

I’m off now to put the kettle on. I hope you’ve got your feet up with a cuppa too!

Have a great week and I’ll be back soon…