Christmas gifts so far!!

Hi guys :o))
Thought I'd show you some of the things I've been doing lately... a few I can't show as they are for an Advent swap with the CRAFT group... we at Christmas time buy or make 24 small gifts for our partners to open each day before Christmas and one main that's bigger... well I can't show those as they need to be a secret for a bit longer LOL

I can show you these though...

Inside and outside of a reversible toy bag and matching slippers for our new nephew Harper whom is only a couple of months old now...



Next is a bag same pattern as the above one but done in suede and has a lattice worked pockets... this is for my Auntie...


Lastly for now here's a table runner that I'm very proud of ... First time for stippling and it's not to bad if I do say so my self LOL
The blocks aren't done by me they are the work of someone in our CRAFT group she did them for me in payment for one of my dolls...and boy are they fantastic blocks so neat... I'm hoping to do some as neat soon :o))


Hugs,
Sharon

AWOL

Well guys I'm so sorry I've not finished the Caterpillar... my only excuse is Christmas!! I've been flat out trying to get all those things made... I will update and add some pics of what I've done very soon :o))

Hugs,
Sharon

Tutorial 5

Just when you thought No more Balls LOL ..
Here we go again... This time we are going to make 2 sets of 2 larger balls (this larger ball would be about the size of a normal marble), a med ball, a small ball and 8 tiny balls...one set for each arm and hand.... they will be strung like in this picture... Note each ball will still be movable so the hand can be posed..


Here's how it looks when strung together...


Note here I've strung the 2 fingers so they look like they are bent...


Look how tightly I've sewn it to the body....


Here he is so far with both arms attached...Note positioning of the jointed arms...


Just another view for reference...also note I have felted a wee ball on the end of his tail to cover the knot of stringing him together...


Lets attach the head now... you will have this indentation at the top of the neck where there is the knot from stringing the balls together... use this as the entrance of your needle when attaching his head...


Thread the needle with the threads that you used to attach the eyes...
Insert the needle as above and exit between the neck ball and the next one... this is to hide the knot...


Tie the ends very well... I knot them twice just to make sure nothing undoes...


Now I just had to play with poses a bit... LOL
Mmm what do you think...


I wonder...


I surrender!!


Who me??? I'm innocent honest ...


Right I'm off...


Well hope your enjoying this so far... we are nearly finished :o))

Hugs,
Sharon

Tutorial Pt 4

Well girls I'm sorry this is later than I said... My only excuse is I decided to do some more to it before I uploaded LOL

Okay to finish off the head he needs some antenna ...to do this I felted 8 very small balls a little bigger than his nose... Sharon time to get those forceps out LOL
Once you've done the balls string them together ...remember create character by making one or both not straight!! Then using the same method as attaching his hair needle felt a tuft on each of them.

That ends the head for now... Lets get cracking on the body...

String the balls of the body together knotting the thread on each side of the balls... When you've done that make another 6-8 balls..half felt these and then felt to the bottom of body for legs... Use the muzzle attachment method to felt them on... once you have them in place felt the bottoms flat so he can stand unassisted..


That's it for this part ... next one is about to follow!!

Hugs,
Sharon

Tutorial Pt 3

The Head..
Lets do some more work on the head...
Use a finer needle for this part...I used a 38 gauge needle. This needle is a great all rounder needle and one you should have plenty of !

Using this needle needle felt the eye sockets in as I have in below pic...


Using normal black beads..I used 4mm Onyx ones as that's what I have ...but any black bead in whatever size takes your fancy will do.. Thread with very strong upholstery cotton or waxed sinew ..do not use dental floss as it breaks down over time and also turns a nasty yellow!!

Attach both eyes by going trough eye socket and out through the neck area...pull firmly and knot securely ...

Lets add some whites to under the eyes and I think I'm going to do something here I've not done to any bear in a few years and that's add a black edging all around the outside of the eye!!
In this picture you can see the amount of wool or fiber you'll need for this part ..note the black has been twisted into what could look like a thread... to do this place wool between thumb and forefinger and roll it... this is important as it will be easier to attach neatly...


Needle felt the white wool only around the lower half of the bead..refer to below picture..


Then add the black outline around the whole eye... first felt one end in place and gently felt the rest down following the line of the eye...refer to below pic as guide...


Here's what we should have at this point... just remember in needle felting no 2 characters can ever be identical so yours will look different from mine!!


Now for the nose... use any colour you like here ..I'm using just plain old black as this guy will have red/yellow hair and any other colour may dissapear so think about the colour of your guy's hair and decide what will look best for your one...
Below is a pic of the amount of wool I'm using to create his nose..


Felt tha bit of wool into a ball ...this is a tiny ball so be very careful with your fingers and as my firnd Sharon says don't look up while your felting esp. on the downward thrusts LOL
Attach that tiny ball to the top of the nose using the smae method as I showed you in attaching the muzzle ... refer to that video if your unsure..



How to attach hair... Take small pieces of wool or fiber and place accross area you want to apply it to... needle felt it to the area using your 38 gauge needle only in the center part as here in this picture...


This is how it will look...This may take practice so use a spare ball and practice first!!


Well here's the head after I've attached his hair...I did a Mohawk but you could do any other kind of hair do you want... try a whole head of rainbow hair if you wish to :o))

Next part will come in a couple of hours....



















Any questions? Dont be shy post to me and I'll answer :o))


Caterpillar Tutorial pt 2

For those that are going quickly here's part 2
Sorry for some of the foggy bits, I was in a zone and forgot to keep what I was doing on the sponge Andrew did a fantastic job of trying to follow me around :o)) What it is to have a partner with patience LOL

There are some added pictures below of the head at different angles to help you out... You don't have to add a mouth as I have if you don't wish to... but give it a go on a spare head just to get a feel for it :o))






Note I did add a little more shape on the sides of the mouth to add a smile..

I haven't used a smaller needle as yet...at this point I really don't think I'm going to need to... But that could change.. If your using real wool I would strongly suggest that you do to remove some of the bigger holes made by the courser needle.









Next part will be adding eyes, nose, hair and whatever else I may think he needs LOL

Hugs,
Sharon




Day 2

Well guys it was a busy day yesterday not only did I get the first and second parts to the tutorial done (second part coming) but I also got these done.. Toothbrush needles for toothbrush rugs.

One of the girls on our CRAFT yahoo group posted a link to making these rugs and well I had to make the needles since our toothbrushes no longer come with holes in them!! So I made them from Polymer clay, painted them with Genesis heat set paints then covered them in liquid clay to seal all the paint .. I really like how they turned out though they didn't photograph as well as they should ... Link to see what and how to make toothbrush rugs http://whimfield.com/?p=4

Front view.


Back view.

Hugs,
Sharon

Caterpillar Tutoral Part 1

Okay :o)) Finally have it sorted and here's the first lesson for making your own Caterpillar!! I tell you it was a learning curve getting the right format and size to upload.. I edited plenty of pictures but this is the very first video LOL

Firstly here's a picture of the tools needed... I'm using a 34 gauge needle, it's great for those courser wools such as corriedale or as I'm using some craft fiber that not even real wool!! Thought I'd give it a go and see if it felts well and I'm pleased to say yes it does :o)) Right going off a bit so back to tools... needle for felting, good thick sponge to work on, your wool of choice and some plasters just in case :o))



Next Step is below in Video format so you can see exactly how I form a felted ball... I hope you can see it clearly and understand my ramblings... Just about the whole caterpillar will be made from ball so you want to make a good number of them...I've done 12 balls in various sizes 3 small ones, 3 medium, 6 larger and the biggest of the larger ones I used for the head. Don't make them all the same size ...it will be boring if you do.. different sizes will give him/her more Character.





Okay when you have all the balls felted lay them out and rearrange them until you like what you see... make sure to have a small ball for the neck and a couple for his tail..you can have him/her either with an arched back or a straight back...




Hope you enjoy and any questions just shout... LOL

Next will be the Head and Face... :o))

Hugs,
Sharon

Day 1

Well after much procrastination I've finally done something about getting my blog up and running LOL

I'm Sharon Hawkes formally of Mystical Bears ... I decided a while back that I needed a change in name as I was doing more and more Dolls and other crafty stuff so Mystical Bears didn't fit any more...so born was House of Pugish...slightly pompous but also fun I thought LMAO

I'm hoping this blog will be a fun place for everybody and maybe have a spot of learning as well! If you have other techniques you use don't be shy and comment... Goodness knows we never stop learning:o))


I will be adding a tutorial for needle felting a very cute caterpillar this week (hopefully tomorrow) it will be step by step as I make him/her, so visit regularly so you don't miss out...I will also have some auctions from time to time of what ever I happen to make ... I don't use ebay anylonger as the fee's have just gotten to be astronomical and quite frankly I want my customers to get the best bargin they can!!


If you have any requests be sure to ask me :o))


Hugs,

Sharon