“I love snowy owls. I live in Northern Michigan and it is always a treat to see them in the winter where I live, as they migrate down from the Arctic. Their beauty inspires me!”
– Karin Fish, Michigan
Did you know? All pics shared on our fb and sent to us are automatically entered into our weekly drawings to win fun felting prizes!
What a perfect Snoopy in every way!
“I just want to say how much I love Living Felt’s wonderful CX-2 BRIGHT White Felting Wool: WINTER WHITE! I’ve been yearning for a true white roving and they delivered not only a beautiful white color, but also a great texture that felts like a dream! I couldn’t have made Snoopy like this without it! Thank you Living Felt!”
– Melanie Noord Monsees
etsy: MelaniesMenagerie
Considering the addiQuick? Watch this little video to learn more!
>Click on the VIDEO link below the product image.
Grazing the High Pasture
We really enjoyed our time meeting with Tracey and getting to know her better. She is as sweet and humble as she is talented, and her distinct South Eastern accent is just delightful to listen to as she tells her story. Tracey says she has painted and drawn her entire life, and while she discovered felting after taking a needle felting class several years ago, she did not begin exploring the medium right away.
Fly Me to The Moon
“I planned to invest in some wool and try it at home, but I was mainly painting in acrylic then and just never got around to it. Then in June of 2013, I saw Moy MacKay’s work on Facebook, and was completely blown away by her felted landscapes. She had just published her first book so I got it and learned her method of layering wool and wet felting landscapes.
Since then, while I’ve used her method of felting, I’ve also developed my own techniques to create my own style. She uses machine stitching and embroidery floss for much of her detail work and since I don’t sew, I needle felt all my details in with wool. Also her work is a bit more abstract, while I’m a detail freak and try to make it look as close to the real thing as possible. I wouldn’t want to copy her style anyway, but I am so thankful to have found her work, and the medium that I’ve been looking for my whole life – I just never knew what it was until now!”
Tracey McCracken Palmer gives demo on felting landscapes at Leaves and Twigs gallery
TRACEY SHARES HER METHOD FOR “HOW TO FELT LANDSCAPES”
“My process begins by layering different colors of dyed wool over a double layer of un-dyed wool to create a scene. Next, I wet the piece with hot soapy water and work it, pressing with my hands, turning and rolling it repeatedly in a bamboo or bubblewrap mat for over two hours until the friction of the rolling process binds the fibers together, creating felt. I then rinse the soap out of the felt and mat, and roll it again several times before letting it air dry.
After it is completely dry, I use needle felting to add more details to the landscape, using special needles which have notches along the shaft. The notches on the needles grab the layer of wool fibers which I have added, and tangle them with the inner layers as the needle enters the felt. Since the notches face down toward the tip of the needle, they do not pull the fibers back out as the needle exits the wool.
Each felted landscape is totally unique and made entirely by hand, using pure wool from Merino and Corriedale sheep, with silk and other natural fibers sometimes added as well.”
Borve Beach
“…my favorite thing from LF [Living Felt] is your merino cross batts, and by golly those batts are where it’s at!!! Truly they are my most valued wools, because they make such great textures in leaves, and even rocks, and grasses, I can even card them a bit to make other color variations if I need to.”
Sycamore
Painting on canvas is quite a different medium, but Tracey really enjoys everything about the felting process of creating felted landscapes. “I love smelling and feeling the textures of different types of wool, and even picking out wee bits of burrs from some of the batts. I also love seeing the changes that occur each time I wet felt a piece, and I learn something from each one about how to best layer the colors and even the different types of wools to achieve what I’m wanting. But I think I enjoy adding the details with needle felting best, because I love the way one tiny wee bit of wool, either added or taken away can make such a huge difference! Living Felt’s cross batts are so wonderful with bits of different colors, and I use them for all my trees, whether summer or autumn leaves.”
“I’m just so thrilled to have finally found the medium that truly fuels my creativity!”
Tanglewood Magic
For Tracey’s felted landscapes, she says inspiration is everywhere around her.
“The texture of the wool makes my landscapes almost 3-D, and I’m inspired by everything it seems! As I drive to work and back I see so many beautiful skies and farmland in the mountains here in western NC, and I keep my camera handy to capture it if I can, so I can add it to the list of scenes I want to felt. Skies, trees, water and misty mountains are my biggest inspirations.”
Tracey McCracken Palmer and Grazing the High Pasture Felt Painting
Tracey was kind of enough to share specifics of the fibers used in her work, and says the greatest majority of her fibers come from Living Felt. See below for colors in her felting palette
Tracey also creates in other mediums including graphite wash, acrylic,watercolor, and pastels. “I’ve dabbled with art my whole life, but let everyday life get in the way of really being serious about it until I found felting. I am now the driven artist I’ve always wanted to be, and I love my palette of wool!”
Roaring Fork Falls
Her Most Challenging Project to Date?
“…creating waterfalls, but the tussah silk I use from Living Felt makes wonderful water. I push the limits of felting with my landscapes all the time, to make them as realistic as I can, and learn a bit more from every one.”
Moondance
We asked Tracey about her “next big challenge” … or the project she is dreaming to do:
“Oh, I want to do so many things, and just wish I had more time to felt !! I plan to do a close up of an owl, and a sheep, and other creatures, and I hope to create even more detailed landscapes and dramatic skies. I just keep adding things to my list of ‘Must Try To Felt That’ !!!”
Misty Highland Glen
Just by following her passion, Tracey is helping to bring felt and fiber art to the fine arts & crafts scene.
In 2014 Tracey was invited to hang a solo exhibit of her work in one of the branches of her local Public Library , which ran from January through March.
In June 2014 she was featured as the “Artist of the Month” at Twigs & Leaves Gallery, where she sells her work. She has given several demonstrations of her felting technique over the past year at the gallery, and also at a “Quick Draw” event in Haywood County where she lives. Tracey was on the Haywood Art Studio Tour.
At time of our interview Tracey was hoping to pass the second jury to become a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild; and we are so happy to announce that she has been accepted! As a member, Tracey hopes to show her work and demonstrate at some of their galleries also. And she exclaims, “I’m just getting started!!”
Quick Draw demo
We asked Tracey what she might offer to those just getting into felting.
“I would encourage beginning felters to just go for it and give it a try. The best part of wet felting is that you can fix things that don’t come out just as you thought they would by adding a bit of needle felting after it dries. And, you can always pull the wool back off after you’ve needled it in, if it doesn’t suit you. It’s a very user friendly medium, and there are so many things one can make with felt.”
A Warm Welcome Awaits
We sincerely wish Tracey all the best, and don’t be surprised if you see a book of her own coming out one day…just remember, you heard it here first, oh, and buy it! 🙂
More work from Tracey on the Living Felt Blog
Tracey uses a combination of Living Felt MC-1 Felting Batts, Merino Top, Merino Silk Blends, New Zealand Corriedale and other fibers. For the paintings in this post:
Living Felt MC-1 Merino Cross Batts: bamboo, bluegrass, buttercup, true olive, spruce, honeysuckle, foliage, meadow green, shire, birch, vintage brown, winter grey.
Merino Top: yellow, apricot, plum, chocolate, white, black, fir, bottle green, garden ivy, lima bean, olive, mint.
New Zealand Corriedale: cherub, lima, cocoa, candy, apricot, butterscotch, natural white, ice, sky, lagoon, royal, natural light.
Merino silk blends in Woodland for the sky in Moondance, and the water in Borve Beach.
For the tree in Misty Highland Glen, I used your Premium Mohair Locks in Emerald Forest, and of course tussah silk in both waterfalls and Moondance.
POLAR PEEKABOO FELTED SLIPPERS!
These felted slippers by Kristen Gagnon were a really big hit!
She learned how to make these from the Living Felt Wet Felting Slippers kit,
but her creative brilliance turns them into a truly unique work of art!
She writes, “Polar bears and seals are just part of life in the Northern communities of the Northwest
and Nunavut Territories. Here a curious bear pokes his head out of the water putting the lounging seal population
on edge (I call it ‘Polar Peekaboo’ ). I used [MC-1] cross-batts: driftwood and cobalt
and a mix of wool from my Living Felt stash!” Her last pair can be seen here, as a model for our kit.
For a long while I looked for pictures and inspiration at how others were organizing their fibers for felting, spinning or weaving. I also looked for pictures at how other were organizing their yarns for knitting or crochet and at craft room pics. I gathered various layouts and considered how I like to work.
I like my wool, fibers, yarns and other main craft supplies out where I can see them. Previously, all of my wool was on bookshelves, but wanting a wide variety of small amounts of colors meant they always looked messy. If you have a wool stash – you understand!
So often we tuck them into plastic bins or tubs, or even bags to keep them all together, but I had the space and wanted them organized and out in the open.
A little while ago on our facebook page, we had a great string going about how to organize our wool. Some folks were using plastic tote bins, others were using hanging shoe organizers, and various other methods. I recently moved my home studio to a new space – so here is where I have started with my new fiber organization.
This is my color …palette wall, I started it with our MC – 1 STUDIO BUILDER which includes 36 colors in 6 different color families. Then I added more of some favorite colors in MC-1 Felting Batts, Merino Top and Merino-Silk Blends. I have a closet of equal length where I can keep larger amounts of fiber, felting tools, felting machines, bigger craft supplies (like pillow forms and large amount of fabrics) etc. My core wool, flesh tone, white and some other faves are on the left.
I really thought about how I wanted my table to face — I am not a fan of facing the wall and attaching a lot of things to the wall, but I know lots of people like to work that way. I like having my supplies within close proximity. I like to walk around the table which I can mostly do now, but I can also I can pull it out – add a leaf to make it 81″ long (61″ now), plus I can raise it for wet felting. For day to day dry work, I have one end adjacent to a wall so I can have a lamp plugged in and a pencil sharpener, sewing machine, felting machine, or scale plugged in without worrying about the cords and me or my pups getting tangled in them.
The bookshelves are all Ikea…end units and double wide are Hemnes, the middle are Billy with doors to hide the scrappy stuff and stow away locks, silk fabrics, etc. I have tall and a medium sized Alex Drawer units – I love those. I am seriously considering putting more in the closet because they are great for separating different kinds of tools and supplies. I also have a Hemnes dresser in there which currently holds paper supplies, fabrics and felting foams (one drawer for each type of thing.)
The cubbies where the wool is are shoe organizers from The Container Store. They were on sale and are not the same quality as the book shelves, but ooohhhh I LOVE THE CUBBIES! I seriously considered starting with stacks on the floor and making it really tall! But then, I wanted to be a bit more modest in my color palette and add to it by the project, otherwise, the whole wall would be wool and fiber – and I need room for lots of other stuff 🙂
Well, this is just one wall, and the room also has a tapestry loom, sitting area where I like to work on my laptop and knit, large open space and room to breathe – which I like and need. Thanks for sharing – and we’d love to see how your organize your felting supplies and craft room / studio!
Felted Easter!!!! If you haven’t needle felted any Easter Eggs yet, this bright and colorful collection
by Holly Bollier of Connecticut may inspire you!
Holly writes,
“I used a combination of materials in making these eggs, felting the base egg shape with wool,
and then adding yarns, beads, or felted embellishments on top.
When working in my kitchen making meals for my family, I depend on well made utensils to help me get the job done.
Whether it’s a nicely made wooden spoon, or well balanced chef’s knife, great tools are vital to preparing foods quickly and efficiently.
I bring that same mentality to my studio when felting. That is, great tools are instrumental to making my felting projects
work up quickly and easily. In making these eggs, I found the Living Felt Spiral 38 needle to be a very fast needle,
and the Living Felt Triangle 42 needle to be excellent in helping me to refine details. Thanks for these great tools!”
Sincerely,
Holly Bollier Guilford, CT
