Kreativ Blogger and I love Your Blog Awards

Today I have received this award from two very Kreativ Artist, Ati and Kerry. Thank you very much ladies. It is nice to know that my blog is appreciated by my readers. This award truly made me smile. Now it is my turn to choose 5 blogs. The rules of the award are:

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.2. Put a link to the person you got the award from. 3. Nominate 5 blogs 4. Put links to the blogs. 5.Leave a message for your nominees.

This weekend I also received this "l Love Your Blog Award" from Jane in the UK. I feel very honored to have received this award from my dear friend and also very creative person Jane. Thank you very much. The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

I am a bit behind due to our Labor Day Holiday and canning peaches soooo I will combine both these lovely award and nominate the following 7 blogs. I could of course nominate many many more but theses are "New Blogs" I have been following that I "Truly Think They Are Awesome". vbg I hope you all will enjoy reading them too.

(1) Annica from Sweden, A Mixed Media Artist, who does lovely wool felting pieces of art.

(2) Beate from Germany, A Mixed Media Artist, who also does beautiful wool felted pieces of art.

(3) Genie from the UK, A Mixed Media Artist, who also creates lovely wool felted creations.

(4) Heather From SK, Canada, Creatives lovely sewing and stitching pieces of art. Heather is also an excellent writer and wildlife recue person.

(5) Helen S. Hebart Is. UK. A Mixed Media Artist, who also creates lovely wool felted pieces of art and oil paintings.

(6) MargaretR, North Whales, UK. A Mixed Media Artist, who also creates lovely wool felted pieces of art and lovely quilts.

(7) Maureen, UK. A Mixed Media Artist, who creates lovely wool felted pieces of art and stitching.

Hugs Judy

Wool Felted Pumpkin: Tutorial

It soon will be Autumn ( if we like it or not vbg) so I thought I would try and wool felt a small pumpkin to display in the house. I thought maybe some of the folks that visit my blog might be interested in how I go about doing this. The first photo shows the supplies I gathered to start my wool felted pumpkin. In in the end, I did not used the two white balls seen in this photo. Instead I ended up buying a rubber ball approximately 6 inches round.

Then I started pulling apart the wool roving so it is thin lengthwise wisp of roving that I am wrapping. I wrap the rubber ball approximately 4 times, each time wrapping in a different direction until the ball is totally covered with a nice layer of yellow wool roving. The yellow roving will be the flesh of the pumpkin.

Then I do the same steps with the orange wool roving until I have all the yellow wool roving totally covered. I like to have the orange wool roving wrappings thicker than the yellow.

The above photo is of the completed orange wool roving covering over the yellow wool roving.

The next step is to cut a long piece of wool orange yarn approximately 2 or 2 1/2 yards long. Find the center of the length of yarn and place it under the south pole of your pumpkin. Bring the two ends up to the top of your pumpkin and cross them at the north pole so they are at a 90 degree angle to the first lines. Bring the two ends down to the bottom of your pumpkin, cross them at the south pole at a 90 degree angle and continue to wrap the yarn in this manner until the pumpkin is divided into 8 sections. At the top, tightly tie off the yarn ends in a square knot and snip off the excess. In the sink of warm soapy water wet your pumpkin and roll it around in your hands until you feel the wool fibers begin to lock together. Then roll it on a texture surface ( I used this brown rigged mat or you can used bubble wrap) adding more warm, soapy water as needed until the fibers are solidly felted together; this should take 5 to 10 minutes, depending upon the type of wool used.

Rinse the pumpkin in warm water until all the soap is gone, then squeeze out the excess water. Full the felt by bouncing your pumpkin on a hard surface ( I threw mind against the opposite side of my kitchen sink) Bounce for several minutes, then allow to dry.

I placed my felted pumpkin inside a nylon stocking and tie both ends tightly. then I place my pumpkin in a dryer which will tighten the wool fibers even further. While your pumpkin is drying, wet felt the piece of green roving into a stem shape, and rinse, and allow it to dry. I placed mind on a window sill where the bright sun of the day shines through.

The above photo is of my pumpkin after it has been felted in my cloth dryer. Notice what happens of the orange yarn you used to hold your wool roving in place. It gives it a neat added texture to your pumpkin.

When your pumpkin is totally dry, cut the lid off the top of your pumpkin with a pair of scissors and pop out the rubber ball. I used green wool embroidery floss to sew the stem onto the center of the lid. You can fill your pumpkin with chest nuts or perhaps Halloween candy. I think I will needle felt some acorn to put in my pumpkin.

I hope I have explain this tutorial so everyone can understand it and have fun creating one yourself. HAPPY AUTUMN EVERYONE!!! Hugs Judy

Wool Felted Post Card: "Edelweiss"

I enjoyed creating "Windswept Alpine Flowers" so much I decided to create another wool felted post card with a Bavaria theme. This one I will called "Edelweiss", my very favorite Alpine Flower made famous by the musical called, "The Sound Of Music". I started again with a 100% green wool felt bat for the post card foundation. Then I added the blue wool for the sky, gray for the Bavaria Alps, hand dyed green curls for the alpine slope. I also used white curls for the alpine glacier.

Then I started adding the "Edelweiss" flowers along the Bavarian Slope. I again embroidery around the Bavarian Alps.to define their grandeur with gray metallic thread. I added lots of beads along with Angelina fibers to give the glacier that wonderful sparkle to the snow.

In this view I added rocks to the Alpine slopes and added moss around their edges with clumps of leaves. I also added some purple Crocus that also dot the Mt. slopes. I also included a Alpine Mt. Bavaria house snugged in between the mountain and the green slopes. This button was made by local artists in the village of Garmisch. I brought home many of these lovely buttons.

For the finishing touch I framed the post card with 100% wool yard which I button hole stitched on with 100% wool thread. And this is the finished 100% wool felted post card called, "Edelweiss"!!

I can close my eyes and clearly picture a kaleidoscope of impressions of the Bavarian Alps that I will never forget. A few of these unforgettable impressions are, alpine villages nestled in the valley between the the mountains, shepherds minding their flocks of sheep on the green pastures, alpine lakes fed by the glaciers giving them the most awesome turquoise color, the sounds of bells ringing through the mountain valleys that are attached to the cows where they do not get lost, endless splendid views of the snow-capped mountains. There is just endless view of natural beauty that will always make me smile when I think of them.

Thanks for sharing my memories of the Bavarian Alps. I wish everyone could experience them. Hugs Judy

Windswept Alpine Flowers Post Card

I have been working on a wool felted post card for the last several weeks. I finally finished it today. I thought I would show you all the steps I took to get to the finished Wool felted Post Card which was embellished with Silk Ribbon Embroidery and Beading. The first step was to get out a wool felted bat for the base of the post card. Because the post card is only 4 inches by 6 inches I got out my clover wool felting tools instead of using my Embellisher. I then selected some lovely wool roving from my stash.
Then the fun began. I used white wool curls to create the glaciers coming down the Alpine Mt.


Then I used hand dyed green wool curls to create the grassy alpine slope. I added wee gold wool felted spots on the meadow slope that would represent some of the Alpine Flowers.
Then I started adding some beads on the glacier to make it sparkle. I also outline the Alpine Mt. with metallic threads and added some bead flowers to the meadow. I wanted the Alpine flowers to have a bit of dimension so I added a wee bit of wool batting before creating the hand dyed gold Silk ribbon Embroidery Alpine Flowers


This photos shows that I added more wool felted gold flowers. I decided to add beads to the center of them all. I also added a lot more beads to the Alpine Glacier because I really wanted it to sparkle more. I also used Angelina Crystal Amethyst to give a real look of snow sparkling on a sunny day in the Alps.

I used a wool yarn to button hole stitch around the post card. And here is my finished "Windswept Alpines Flowers" wool felted post card. I hope you all give wool felting a try. It is fun and easy. "Windswept Alpine Flowers" reminds me of the beautiful Austrian Alps I visited at Easter time while I was living in Germany. I think I will keep this post card for memory sakes. Hugs Judy

Michigan Fiber Festival

My DH took me to the Michigan Fiber Festival this past Saturday. The weather was perfect, sunny and not to Hot. There was many outside vendors and several barns filled with vendors too. I had a good look around before I started over and selected some wool roving in lovely blended colors. I also bought some Tussah Silks and hand dyed curls. Kris Miller of Spruce Ridge Studios had some lovely hand dyed wool fabrics and was selling a pretty neat Rug Hooked Sheep Pin which I could not resist buying.

Unfortunately, I was not able to take any classes. Hopefully next year. I have several braided rugs in my home that I have bought over the years. I always had a inner desire to create one myself. The teacher of the class I was unable to attend has a book called "The Shepherd's Rug" by Letty Klein and Ann Brown. You can buy this book from Ann Brown at eawbrown@hotmail.com or 859-498-1613. A photo of this book and a wee sample of the braided rug is in the second photo above. I bought this book and I will attempt to create a wool roving braided rug hopefully this winter.

DH and I had a super wonderful day spending precious time together. hugs Judy

Blogging Celebration: WINNERS

Hello Everyone, First I just want to say again a "Huge Thank You" to everyone who visited my blog over the last year. Also another "Huge Thank You" for those who particiated in "My Blogging Celebration" and left me such lovely and encouraging messages. They all were greatly appreciated.

One wee quote about "Friends" that I really like a lot is, "A True Friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are slightly cracked"!! LOL I feel so blessed to have met so many lovely people over the last year.

And now, for the"WINNERS"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dear Husband did the honors this AM and he drew out two names from the tea bag.

The "Winner" of "Provence" is Margaret in Spain.

The "Winner" of "Babushka Doll" is David and Pennie in Australia.

Would you two ladies please send along your snail mail address to me and I will send them off to you this coming week.

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend. Hugs Judy

Blogging Celebration: One Year, "Give Away"

After many months of encouragement from my dear friends at Crazy Quilt International, I started down this unknown path of blogging. I have enjoyed sharing photos of my creative projects, garden blooms, family, friends, and my travels near and far.

To me the very best part of blogging is the friendship connections. This new treasured network of friends that has developed is something I look forward to everyday. Peeking into their world, and they peeking into mind has become very gratifying. It is very rewarding and soul-filling to be able to relate to other "Kindred Spirits" with similar passions.

A very Sincere "Thank You" to "Everyone" for visiting My "CJ Stitching and Blooms" blog. I also want those who leave messages for me to read to know they are all "Heartwarming" and they always bring a Smile to My Face!

I have created two special gifts to "Give Away" to my visitors, "Provence" and "Babushka Cloth Doll". Please leave me a message mentioning my "Blogging Celebration" and I will place your name in a hat and two names will be drawn by My Dear Husband on August 16th. I will announce the "Two Winners" on August 17th 2008.

Everyone of my "Dear Visitors" that have "Already" left me comments on the two previous post, "Provence" and "Babushka Cloth Doll" will automatically be included in the drawing too. I planned to post this message on July 31st but unfortunately I experience a "Bogger's Glitch" so today was the first time I could get back onto my blog. My apology for not responding sooner to all your kind comments.

Happy Blogging. Hugs Judy