Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New Found Loves: Kay Petal from Felt Alive

Last week I was poking around the Internet while watching tv and saw some cute needle-felted bowls on ETSY. I have heard so much about needle felting and finally I was like, okay so what exactly IS needle-felting...and is it something I could do because those bowls were way cute.


Needle Felted Wool Ring Bowl by juliepersons


Well, the answer to my questions were:

1.) Needle-felting is a dry felting technique that uses special barbed needles to join the fibers of wool together. So basically, you take a clump of wool and poke it with a special needle to create a shape.

2.) Yes, I could do needle-felting, but it would require buying some supplies and my New Year's resolution is to stop collecting hobbies. Isn't that a horrible resolution? Maybe I should change it to I can start new hobbies, but have to get rid of some old stuff.

I am especially gung-ho on needle felting because I learned the basic of needle-felting via a video on Youtube made by Kay Petal from Felt Alive.

Let me just say that Kay's work BLEW my mind. Seriously, she is a genius and a magical artist. I haven't been this inspired since I was a child and into Jim Henson and the Muppets.

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Below are some of the magical felted creatures & people Kay Petal has crafted:









Please visit the Felt Alive blog to see more: http://www.feltnalaska.blogspot.com/

And visit the Felt Alive website to access tutorials, instructions and more information.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow,Ryan,Thanks for that! Since I discovered needle felting, I haven't purchased any other crafting supplies. It's the most inexpensive craft I've ever attempted and far and away the most addictive and creative. But like anything, one gets carried away - I had to remodel to find a place to keep my wool and my husband would argue that it is inexpensive! But really, a doll costs under $10 in supplies to make. I just have enough wool to make hundreds of dolls!

I highly encourage you to jump in - I started about 2 years ago with no real known artistic ability - needle felting has drawn that out of me. Sculpting with wool is magical and I say it all the time; the possibilities are endless.

Thanks again Ryan! Happy Felting
Kay Petal
Felt Alive Wool Sculptures