Saturday, November 29, 2008

Let the Holidays Begin!

I spent the last week in the mountains, and I was inspired. 

It wasn't Arctic cold, but it did snow.

When I think Thanksgiving, I think polar bear.

Nice.

And now for a change of pace...

Did you see that??!!

Who needle felts a yeti?


Stay tuned for more needle felting, holiday cards, and other crafts. Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Gocco

For our one year wedding anniversary my husband got me a most excellent gift...


A GOCCO!!!

For those of you who don't already know, a Gocco is a personal printing device from Japan. They used to import them, but now you have to find an individual (or small company) that imports them directly. Read more to find out about the magic.

Above you will see the supplies: A Gocco, flashbulbs, ink, cleaner, masters and directions (mostly in Japanese).

Step One: You make an image. This has to be done with a pen that uses carbon (Gocco makes one). You can also use photocopies! I drew this nice deer. I will use it for a holiday card.

Here is the image in the Gocco before I make the master.

Push down and FLASH. The carbon based image is "burned" into the master. The one downside is that the bulbs are only single use (and apparently are toxic). Minor details!

The next step is to ink the image using the Gocco inks. The kit came with gold, black and red. There are tons of colors you can get.

Squissshhh, you press down on the Gocco and the ink seeps through the burned through image.

Tada! The image is transferred! Not so impressive in pictures, but it is pretty cool. In retrospect, I should have filled in the whole body with ink. Live and learn!

Workin' hard. 

The instructions said you could get between 50-100 prints depending on how much ink you used. Maybe it was because my image was so fine, but I gave up printing somewhere around 75 prints. Judging from clean-up I probably could have gotten 200+ prints!

They Multiplied!!!

The next step is to buy some more masters, bulbs and ink colors. The Gocco is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, and I cannot wait to create more great prints. It is perfect for stationary/invitations, art prints, and so much more. I am a convert.

Don't Be So Sheepish!

Yet another felt friend for you...


The Guy in the Middle

He May be a Criminal

Casey preferred the moustache over the finished nose


Stay tuned for my next post! I promise good and amazing things!

Friday, October 31, 2008

More Halloween

My lazy person Halloween craft this year was a painted pumpkin. All it took was: one mini pumpkin, one small paintbrush, black craft paint and a Sharpie. 

Simply outline the stripes on the pumpkin using the marker. If the pumpkin is small you can do this by hand. It is easiest to just follow the natural grooves. If you are painting a larger pumpkin, I would recommend breaking out the painter's tape.

Next, full in the lines with black paint. This may take a few coats. Any mistakes can easily be scrapped off with a fingernail. If your lines are messy you touch them up using the marker.


TADA!


The above picture has nothing to do with crafts, but I thought our costumes were neat so I thought I would share. Dare I say Christmas card?!

p.s. 

We are fancy show horses-  just in case you couldn't tell.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!






Monday, October 27, 2008

Blog Name Change?

Perhaps it is called for. Other name to consider: Damn Enough with the Needle Felting!  Just a thought..



p.s.  Click on the images to see HUGE detailed pictures courtesy of the Canon.
p.s.s. There are more crafts on the way, and yes, some of them may be needle felted.

Monday, October 20, 2008

More Felt Friends!

I haven't blogged in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Last week I completed a felted dog, and this week I finished a felted bear as a gift for my husband. Check them out below: