All Wooled Up

Review of Latest Custom Orders

I had fun wrapping up 2021 with some different custom orders. Once again, thank you to all of my customers who ordered from me last year!

(Counterclockwise: My first attempt at a sheep being shown for a wonderful young lady who is quite the showman. My first attempt at pigs for a young lady who loves her piggies–I must say these were fun and I might do more pigs in the future. A young goat fan received a portrait of one of her favorite goats at the farm. This adorable pup bounced out of a tree stump for this photo, and I just loved getting to recreate it!)

I’m taking custom orders all year round! Here’s how you can order your own custom needle felted piece of art: Ordering Tips for Custom Portraits

Make a Fashion Statement with Turquoise

Turquoise is perhaps the oldest stone in man’s history: the talisman of kings, shamans and warriors. It is a stone of protection, strong and opaque, yet soothing to the touch, healing to the eye, as if carved from an azure heaven and slipped to earth.

A collection of my latest turquoise necklaces.

I love working with turquoise. When I’m not knitting a new shawl or creating a new piece of fiber art, I am in my studio working on a new precious stone necklace. Lately, many of those have featured real turquoise stones because I just feel drawn to the stone for so many reason, including the ones above.

I’ve always had an attachment to the American Indian heritage and lifestyle, and a lot of their beadwork features turquoise amongst other stones. Indian priests wore it in ceremonies when calling upon the great spirit of the sky.

The International Gem Society says of turquoise:

People everywhere have cherished turquoise, whether used as a decorative or protective amulet, a horse protector, or rain bringer. The blue stone with the cheeriness of the sunny sky has always been foremost a symbol of hope.

All of my precious stone necklaces are perfect for quick and easy shipping, ready for the perfect git.

Artwork Celebrating the Fox

When I’m freely working on a new piece of needle felted artwork, I just let my mind take me wherever. Most times, that artwork features a favorite animal of mine: a horse, a bird, sheep and the occasional fox or two. The fox might seem like an odd one–I’ll admit, I haven’t seen a fox on our farm in years. But, it’s an animal that I find absolutely fascinating and one that I love to capture in fiber.

I love learning about foxes: their behaviors, the way they live and their meaning. I discovered this interesting tidbit of information regarding the spiritual meaning of the fox:

Foxes represent quiet observation, listening, patience, and calculated risk-taking. They have mastermind energy, which allows them to achieve success at anything they put their mind too with their intelligence, creativity, and flexibility. They are cunning creatures, making them expert manipulators, and can sometimes represent lies and deceit.
These beautiful animals are found all over the world and have been part of ancient folklore and traditions for thousands of years. If you see a fox and are curious about its spiritual meaning in your life, there is likely a message that is being sent to you from this creature.
CrystalClearIntuition.com

Also, as a student of Native American heritage, I love the symbolism of the fox within their culture: In some Native American Indian traditions, foxes represented protection, healing, and a gateway to access spiritual sight. Fox fur was highly sought after, for both its utility as well as for its spiritual significance.

And, to be honest, I just think they’re adorable and beautiful.

But it’s intriguing to know that perhaps having some foxy artwork in your home can help to bring you more insight, test your intelligence and provide protection.

If you’re interested in the featured images, or something similar in a more custom fashion, please reach out to me!

Scenes from the 2021 Fall Festival Tour

Our Fall Festival season isn’t over, yet, but I wanted to share some scenes from the wonderful places we’ve visited so far in October. While outdoor events aren’t always easy to host, they’re particular difficult during an Indiana Autumn, so I just want to extend my appreciation for the volunteers who run the events to help small businesses, such as myself!

Maplelawn Harvest Market (Zionsville, Indiana)

Prancing Ponies Pumpkin Fest (Sheridan, Indiana)

Heaven Too, LLC, Vintage & Antiques Fall Harvest Fest (Southport, Indiana)

Still to come:

October 30 — Mooresville Arts-A-Palooza (Mooresville, Indiana)

November 7 – Westfield Artisan Market Finale (Westfield, Indiana)

November 20 – Boone County Holiday Bazaar (Lebanon, Indiana)

Fall/Harvest Festival Line Up

October is right around the corner and our festival/market calendar is filling up quickly!! Here are three places you’ll be able to find All Wooled Up to start your comfy fall shopping and even your holiday shopping:

At the Maplelawn Harvest Market in Zionsville, I will have a full assortment of my fiber artwork, new handknitted shawls and beautiful repurposes accent pillows! Same with the Mooresville Arts-A-Palooza.

More dates are being added, and of course we’ll be at many holiday markets starting November! If you have a favorite, or will be attending one of these events and are interested in something specific, please feel free to reach out to me!

A Little Bit of Yellowstone, A Little Bit of Chic

There’s a chill in the air. You’re sitting on a rocking chair, holding a steaming cup of coffee between your hands as you look out of your cabin’s porch and towards the mountains. You stay warm because of that coffee, but also because of this beautiful shawl we call “The Pendleton.”

Orrr …. perhaps Beth Dutton comes strutting out of Rip’s cabin, wrapped up in this shawl, ready to kick some tail on “Yellowstone”? Either way, you need this warm, colorful and stylish shawl!!

I love this shawl. It’s warm, it’s colorful, yet it’s chic! I’ve combined a couple different yard textures to really set it off, but I think it’s all the perfect combination.

Perfect for the Yellowstone fan, or someone just looking for something beautiful to wrap up in. This will be listed on the website soon, you can contact me for any additional specs if interested.

The Westfield Artisan Market

If there’s one thing that the 2020 pandemic has taught us, it’s that we should support each other, especially small business owners. This was the premise that a local refurbishing furniture company, The Scrap Yard, used to organize the Westfield Artisan Market.

The Westfield Artisan Market was designed to encourage, develop and support entrepreneurs and small businesses in the area. It is held every Sunday, starting in May and closing October 24. They have offered the ability to have a booth there every week, every two weeks or every month.

What I have loved about their mission with the Westfield Artisan Market is that they are encouraging a community within a community. From their website: “We are looking for vendors who understand that we can all grow our businesses together and we encourage vendors to learn about each other to better cross-promote available goods and services available at the market.”

Each week, a local charitable organization is presented center stage at the market. The organization is able to educate attendees about their mission over the microphone, as well as have a booth set up for free. The organizers are definitely more about their community and their potential new friends than making money.

All Wooled Up has chosen to be part of the market every third Sunday of the month. We are able to offer a variety of items at the market, from our lightweight summer coverups to some handknitted shawls to my newest fiber art and my new Bling Pillows. It’s been fun to change up our booth every month, thanks to the outdoor setting!

So far, I have enjoyed scrumptious pizza from one of Westfield’s oldest pizza restaurants, Jan’s Village Pizza and delectable treats from Savage Cake Artistry. My granddaughter has fallen in love with succulents and hand-knotted hangers from Uptown Common. I also chose my newest purse from another vendor.

It’s been a lot of fun to support our local businesses, and to know that I’m not the only one struggling to get back to normal after the hellish year I, and we all, had last year.

If you’re in the area, we invite you to check out the collection of local artisans and small businesses in Hamilton County. You can find the Westfield Artisan Market at The Scrap Yard:

17379 Little Eagle Creek
Westfield, IN 46074
http://scrapyardsurplus.com/westfield-artisan-market

New Product: Bling Pillows

As much as I love working with wool, I also love a little bling. Sometimes, I’ll be walking through the aisles of Goodwill and a little flash will catch my eye. I had to come up with something fun to do these fabrics.

Enter: BLING PILLOWS

While they have plenty of flair, these pillows really are soft and cozy, so they are the perfect way to add a little style to your home–throw them on your couch, love seat or even recliner.

Each pillow measures approximately 2 feet by 2 feet and are available for sale for $22.

We have more styles that are finished almost weekly! We’ll have our Bling Pillows at the Westfield Artisan Market every third Sunday of the month. You can always email us for more details: fiberartist74(at)gmail(dot)com.

I Love Sheep

Fact: I love sheep. But, I don’t own sheep.

I would like to think it’s obvious, if you see my adorable sheep logo and the fact that I love using products from sheep.

I love the uniqueness of the different curls and textures of sheep’s wool, and I love to use it in my needle felting.

And while I love the idea of using their wool to create images far from sheep, I love using their wool to create sheep-related artwork. I love to recreate their personalities with their own product and share that with my customers.

11×14, framed in red wooden frame (no glass), $45

But however much I love sheep, I do not own any. That’s right, I have a farm in Central Indiana, but it’s a horse farm. Instead, I’d rather support small farms in Indiana and surrounding states who breed and raise these marvelous animals and are the real professional sheep lovers.

That’s why I love attending fiber festivals, because it shows the lifecycle of the sheep: from breeding and raising, to shearing and spinning. Attendees can learn about raising sheep and see why this animal is so important to the lifecycle of clothing.

And, I have been known to trade wares with fiber shops–a piece of art for a bag of fiber. It’s a fun gig!

8×10, hunter green wooden frame under glass, $40

Here are some Sheep Facts, courtesy of The Modern Farmer:

One pound of wool can make up to 10 miles of yarn.
Sheep’s wool will grow forever.
The groove in their upper lip is called a philtrum.
Sheep cannot right themselves if they’re on their back.
The United States’ Founding Fathers (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) owned and raised sheep.

11×14, framed with a gray barn wood frame (no glass), $45

Custom Order: Simba from The Lion King

As much as I love to create needle felted artwork from my own imagination, I love to take on custom creations to bring a customer’s vision to life! This holiday season I have had a good handful of custom orders that I’m busily working on, but I wanted to share some orders that I have enjoyed this year:

Simba

This was a first for me: needle felt a portrait of a cartoon character. My customer said that her adorable little boy loves The Lion King and loves Simba, and she had a vision to decorate his room related to the movie and the iconic lion. She requested a Simba portrait on a blue background, and then she’ll frame it in a shadowbox.

Blue Wool Background — The chosen blue background for Simba.

I started by choosing a selection of blue backgrounds (the requested color by the customer) and asking her which she would prefer.

2. I searched for images of Simba that I think would look good transformed in fibers. At this point, I may or may not consult with the customer, it just depends on the subject of the artwork.

Work in progress…or Trump’s hair? We may never know!

3. Then I dig through my inventory of natural fibers to find the right colors. I use variances of colors to help with shading and adding depth to the image. While I know the needle felting adds a more three-dimensional affect to a typically two-dimensional portrait, shading really brings out the subject.

4. The beautiful thing with needle felting and working with fibers is that I can easily move lines, remove colors, change shapes with the pull of a needle. So while I may think a piece is complete, I’ll let it sit for a couple of days and then come back to compare the portrait with the original image and edit as needed.

5. The artwork is complete! With most pieces, it will be put in a frame, made into a pillow or the edges finished for a wall hanging. This piece, however, will be finished by the customer because she will put it in a shadowbox to hang in her little boy’s room. I can’t wait to see how it looks!

Simba Needle Felt — The finished product!

Thank you for your order, Chelle! It was a fun experiment (I’ve never done a cartoon character before). You’ve taken beautiful photos of my granddaughter, so I was proud to be able to share my art with you for your family!

If you’re interested in a custom piece of art, please email me and let’s discuss: fiberartist74@gmail.com