Felting Leaves

The leaf that I am felting began life

as a flat piece of beautiful variegated felt from Nancy Bruce.

Here it is after I had cut the

pattern from a tracing of a cookie cutter.
I say why use the cookie cutter to cut cookies

when you can just eat the dough

and use the cutter for much more interesting things...?!

After cutting this, I began adding layers

of boldly colored roving (hand dyed by Nancy), felting them after each layer.

I found this to be such a soothing, rhythmic activity...

a mindless type of thing...

great for people like me

that can't seem to even sit in front of the TV without

DOING SOMETHING...

anyone out there like that?

I like to have something in my hands, like knitting, crochet, drawing...

just SOMETHING to DO.

Here is a scan of the type of roving and fiber

that I used on top of my felt leaf.

After some nice soothing felting activity,

I decided to add a yarn outline and some veins to the leaf.

I liked this better, the way that it defined the edges...

while adding more Autumn colors to the mix.

I'll add some beads and baubles...

what is a felted leaf

without a few beads and baubles anyway?

I'll try to see if Nancy has a blog or a website

(you should Nancy!)

(You need an Etsy site or something...

your work is much too beautiful to keep hidden at your home!)

Does everyone that has seen her work agree with me?

Right, Patsy?

Well, I think that this new art form that I have learned will really add a lot to upcoming fiber pieces...

So thanks Nancy for giving me a good foundation to start on!

I'm looking forward to adding to my felting skills.