Wet Felting Experiment

This isn't just about experiment with wet felting, it is also about recycling!  It has been so unseasonably warm that I just wanted to be outside and doing something that I thought would have to wait until early summer!

I saw somewhere else on the internet that someone re-used dry lint and used it like wool roving.  Of course, I don't know where that little tidbit is and I can't remember exactly what she did.  However....I thought I would just "try" it anyway and see what happened.  It is an experiment anyway so if it failed I would just try another method, or process.

I bought a wood reed placemat from the dollar store.  I purchased the least colourful one in case the colour rubbed off.  I'm not so sure it would matter since the lint is so dark anyway

I got my tub of soapy water - just ordinary dish detergent and sprinkled it all over the lint.  After I had tried my first bit of rolling, I then realized that I had forgotten something!  I had forgotten the plastic wrap!  Oh no, it turned into an icky blob!!!!!!!

I had to start over from scratch.  Don't forget to pour some soapy water over the sandwich and rub with your hands to get all of the lint inside the sandwich nice and wet.  Pour the soapy water overtop as well, the soapy water helps to make your fingers slide over the plastic a bit easier.

As you can see in the picture above adding the plastic wrap and making the lint sandwich was better but not quite right either.

I really to do wish that I had kept a link to the website or blog where using lint in felting was used!  If anyone finds one please add it to comments! 

So, I started over and added a layer of lint, added the netting, then another layer of lint overtop.

Lots of rolling action and voila!

Netting added

 Rolling, rolling, rolling on the placemat sandwich and......

more rolling to get the friction needed to get the lint material felted to the netting.  I then turned the "sandwich" upside down and rolled it as well and again turned the sandwich piece clockwise to get the movement and friction at a different angle. 

It seems to be working!!!  It looks like the lint is fusing to the netting.

Okay, so here is my "felted sheet" waiting to dry on the placemat.  Not sure when I will get back to it but I will report back on how this experiment has gone.  I am wondering if it will be strong enough to add embellishments without  falling apart!

If I do this again I will add threads and other miscellaneous fibres to the mix as I think it would help stabilize and strengthen this new "fabric" sheet.   No, I think I will change that "if" to "when" I try this again.  I will have to collect more lint though, it certainly does use up quite a bit.  I just re-used a plastic freezer bag and left it beside the dryer.  Unfortunately, the ways things are going there won't be as much opportunity to put stuff in the dryer, I will likely be hanging my clothes out on the line with the recent arrival of weird but wonderful warm weather!

There is a give-a-way at a blog that I follow so I am trying to figure out how to link to her blog so that you can see it and enter too.. so go and see Shannon to enter


http://musingsonrealities.blogspot.ca/2012/03/have-you-entered-giveaway-yet.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Leftover Necklace

I love making these "leftover" glass bead necklaces!  I had to make this one up quickly so that it would be ready to wear tomorrow night!

It will be St. Paddy's Day and I have to make sure that I wear some green under my ugly blue uniform.  I married the blue and the green glass beads in this necklace so that it will read green but have enough blue in it to "match" the boring uniform.

I like to re-purpose things as well and used a button as my toggle for the lasso clasp.  

If it isn't clear, I am working nights once again and this is my first night and the day is getting late.  Must be off and get ready for the last Friday night in the March break and a warm one it is!  Me thinks it will be very bus! 

Postcards-Added Embellishments

Here are two more photo's of some changes that I made to two of my cards.  Although I was bound and bent not to make any changes, I broke down on these two.

The brown needle-felted card was only slightly embellished using some glitter glue to accent between the dark "frame" and the paper background.  I think that it is a definite improvement!

When I posted this one, I didn't really like the way I had applied the interference paint on the one side.  It made my eyes go to the spot right away.  I had to change that!  (because I can).   Since these two were done with acrylic it was fairly easy to make some changes that I think improved them both.

I'll be looking forward to doing this swap again.  In fact, I am going to be making up some more now (or rather as time permits!).

Postcard #10 - Pink and Blue

Okay so it has been a few days and I haven't been on line due to a really horrid Rogers tech who didn't know what he was talking about and got me to trash some vital applications from my dock on my MAC.  Luckily, I called Apple and they showed me how to retrieve the app and put it back on my dock from Time Machine.  I have never had to do that before and since I didn't have the internet I couldn't google how to do it either.  I can't understand Rogers not keeping up with the new technology that is not PC related.  Apple is not going anywhere soon so there is no reason that their product development division should keep their heads in the sand by not making their products MAC compatible.  I was told that their product was not compatible with Lion.  I know that they advertise that the new Rocket Stick system requirements is OSX 10.4 or better.  The "or better" is a bunch of hogwash!!!  I mean really, the new Mountain Lion operating system is coming out this summer!  Get with it Rogers!!  Love my time machine and love my Apple Care protection plan!!!

Here are some photo's of my final postcard:

I used a recycled paint product from Tri-Art paints called SLUDGE in a blue shade.  It is the left over paint from their processing plant.  I like to use it under anything that I need a dark base.  I use it on things like picture frames and such like when I want to cover over what was and make something black.  You get the idea! 

I dyed the fancy ribbon pink the same as the left side.  I used screen printing paint since it was the only thing I could find that was the right colour.  I liked how it didn't make the fabric ribbon stiff and I didn't have to apply fabric medium to the paint. 

I think that I like the fact that I decided to leave the painted cheesecloth loose on the card.  In addition, I didn't paint the metal foil either!  This time I like the shininess since there is only a little bit of sparkly stuff on this card so the shiny factor isn't overpowering. 

I think that I might have added more bead and sequin embellishments but I have finalized it and am relatively satisfied with the results.

Here is a close up of detail

I think that these photo's show the progress sufficiently!

For this card I used:

-Strathmore watercolour postcard
-screen printing paint
-recycled paint
-organza and netting
-cheesecloth
-beads
-sequins
-metal foil

Now, I just need to get the cards stuffed in the envelopes and the addresses completed; then the final walk to the post office!!!

Postcard #9 - Painted Lace & Twigs

OMG! Is it just me or is time ticking away a lot quicker than usual.  I had hoped to get all of my postcards mailed out by now but I'm not quite finished.

I can't believe how late I woke up this afternoon!  Why is it that when I am working and need to sleep I can't?  Why is it that when I don't need or want to sleep in, I do??!!  I think I got to get off the sleep deprivation shift work roller coaster sooner rather than later.

Okay....this picture shows how I was "thinking" I might put this postcard together.  I had painted two different types of lace ribbon that I found at a charity shop.  I had "made" quite a few thread wrapped twig "buttons" and had arranged them on the card.

As you can see this is not what actually ended up happening.  I thread wrapped another twig (yup debris from the maple trees that fell on my deck) in a variegated thread.  I had ironed some pleats in the transparent turquoise coloured organza and then beaded that down with monochromatic coloured glass beads.  I finally did use the embroidery floss above but not until the end.

I like leaving the frayed salvage edge on the fabric piece and I didn't finish off the edges of the pleated piece either.  The thing I had difficulty with is applying the twig button embellishments.  They were not as easy as I had originally thought.  I'm just glad that I was able to save this postcard from the garbage but at first I had thought that I had really made a dud.

I applied the fabric to the postcard using matte gel medium.

As you can see my "design" was not well planned in advance....I had a notion of what I wanted but the final design just sort of happened.  I wanted the embroidery floss to be in the card and had not really factored that in.  

I hadn't really thought about it much other than I wanted turquoise and orange and it took me a while to see the boat and sky with clouds that this card finally became.  I had wanted to keep everything in balance; the "sky" is one third and the water is 2 thirds of the card.  My "boat" takes up half the card and it meets edge to edge so I think there is a balance there as well.   If I was to do this again, I think I would add more turquoise beads to depict the ripples in the water.  Of course, I didn't think of that until I had already finished off the card. 

I think now that I might like to make another one but use a creamier orange colour and just dull it down a bit.  I think I have some lighter coloured orange thread around is my old sewing box that might be the ticket.

Again I applied acrylic paint to the metal foil finishing tape to dull down the shiny gold surface.  I do quite like the abstract nature of this postcard and was happy to see that it "finished up" quite well.

For this card I used:

- Strathmore watercolour postcard
- acrylic paint
- paint dyed lace ribbon
- organza
-glass beads
- embroidery floss
- thread
- wood twig "button" embellishments
- metal foil

I think that is it!  Very pleased