Getting Ready for Canada Day

     And so a new week begins. I'm nearly ready for Canada Day. Watching the long term weather report and hoping the rain is going to move off by then. In the meantime, we're in for a wet week. They're still calling for showers on Thursday morning, which will force the event to be inside. I was hoping we'd be outside, but that might have drawbacks as well, such as wind, in which case all my things would have to be pinned down to the table, and sunburn, which would be inevitable with my fair skin. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. This is a photo of one of the new hair combs I have to offer. The flowers are really pretty, and I've already had gaping jaws of disbelief that they are really made of wool. They're very fun to make and I never really know how they'll turn out until I have them finished. 


     I enjoyed another nice gathering with friends on the weekend. We went for a boat ride, a swim, a great barbeque and a bonfire.  It was really fun and the weather held up for us. Can't ask for more than that. Today I'm packing up items to sell on Canada Day at the Alderney Landing waterfront Boardwalk Artists event. I'll be there selling from 10 am until 6 pm if anyone is interested in coming. There will be lots of artists there talking about their work. I'm told there is a small cover charge to get in.  I hope to see you there. 

Finished Wet Felted Handbag

     I had some doubts about this design, but it actually worked better than I expected. The lobster is rather cute, if I do say so myself, even though it's pretty much anatomically correct. There is even a difference between the pincher and the crusher claws. I really had to do quite a bit of hand rubbing through the mesh in order to secure all the parts of the prefelt design, but eventually it stuck enough that I felt it would stay in place while rolling it. I'm pleased with the result but I doubt I'll make another unless it's a commission. It's just too fiddly and I still had to do some needle felting of finer details at the end. 


     I did a good job felting this one. The felt is very firm and tough. One thing about these bags is that they are durable. I also noticed that water will pool on the surface of a dried bag. That's just cool. 

     This is probably the last of the new stuff before the big Canada Day Boardwalk Artists event. I mailed my entry fee in the other day and hope to get confirmation this week. My plans for this coming week include a large round felt to cover the top of my ratty old ottoman. I'd love to just chuck it in the garbage, but my husband brought it home from Cyprus and it's so comfortable to sit on that I suppose I can't get rid of it. It needs to be covered though, so that will be this week's project. I saw a picture taken by Andrea Graham of the work of one of her students that inspires me to try to replicate a very stormy sky, so that will be the theme of the felt. I will also give me a chance to use some of the new curly locks I bought. The kind people at Gaspereau Valley Fibers gave me a free package of white locks because they didn't feel the quality was up to par. They're wonderful to do business with and I can get the Louet fiber through them, quickly and at a better price than ordering directly from Louet, thanks to the drop shipping feature. I think the yellowed tips will look great in a moody sky scene. Wish me luck, because I really have no idea how to put them on the felt ..  this is going to be an experiment as well. I think my felting needles will be coming into play again very soon.