Dog Eat Dog Kinda Day

It’s a good thing our Giant Schnauzer, Nimbus has a soft mouth more like a retriever than that of a K-9 Police Dog that Giant Schnauzers are usually known for. Because before I knew it Nimbus had half a Boston Terrier in his mouth! My felted Boston that is. Today was the Needle Felted Dog Class with artists K.C. Wilson and Elise Strauss. What fun! Growing up we had a Boston named "Bomo"

and I thought it would be funnier (easier!) to felt a little Boston rather than a large breed dog.

All materials were provided and proceeds were to benefit the Alyeska Canine Trainers with the class being held at their Anchorage facility. Elise had warned the class that pets really LOVE the wool used

in the needle-felting sculptures and she was right! As soon as I came home Nimbus followed me everywhere sticking his nose in my bag and couldn’t get enough of my little dog-in-process. When I went to finally let him have a smell and see what was in the bag, WAUMPHH!! In his mouth it went! I was able to slowly back the Boston out with no real damage. It was really pretty funny and such a surprise causing both Gus and I to laugh so hard that Nimbus retreated to his doggie bed to pout in shame. I posted about the felted goats I fell in love with last year and even have some beautiful wool that my friend Margie sent me. Now I have the needles and some felting basics to felt some critters. Not sure you’ll ever see my animals for sale because I think I’d have to charge thousands of dollars due to just how long my little dog (which isn’t even finished) is taking me. There are several exceptional Needle Felting Artists on ETSY

that Elise gave us info on including Kay’s K9s, Motley Mutton, Morning Glory Workshop and Gfelted Designs by Gerry (here is a link to her Blog). If you do get the felting bug, some of the best and innovative supplies are offered by Dream Felt right here in Alaska! Thanks again to K.C. and Elise who both were very patient and even provided band aids and wrap for poked fingers. Here are some additional links for supplies and instructions: New England Felting Supply, Kay Petal Felt Alive, Felting Forum and Brigette Krag Hansen -the woman who is know for starting it all.

Below are some of the samples Elise and K.C. had on display at class.

Share and Tell

This year, I have made an effort to buy thoughtful holiday gifts that are either handmade or support good causes. Blogging has been a wonderful benefit to connect with artisans I might not have otherwise known about. Two, really fun packages arrived last week. First, my friend Marjorie of Cowgirl Goods helped me to purchase these beautiful felted sculptures I Blogged about this weekend. Aren’t they wonderful?! When I first saw felted goats on Marjorie’s Blog I knew immediately who I wanted to give them to for Christmas (I can't say who because she reads my Blog)! I actually had them wrapped up but UNwrapped them because so many of the fiber artists from Art Coffee wanted to see them. The artist who makes them is Marilyn Pratt from Maine and she is 80 years old. Marjorie told me that Marilyn’s booth at this weekend's Women’s Holiday Art Sale in Berwick Maine, was swamped with customers clamoring for her felted sculptures. Lucky for me Marjorie was my long distance personal shopper. The coolest part of all this is that the wool on the sculptures comes mainly from one of Marjorie’s Navajo Churo Sheep named Vera!

The second special package that arrived was from Julia at Henhouse Pottery. I knew from following her Blog that Julia and her family lived on an acre and a half in a cool 100-year old house with a bunch of animals, including thousands of bees. What I also learned was that Julia harvests and sells their All Natural honey they collect from their hives under the name Wilkins Honey. My golden gifts arrived with a beautiful, full color card describing their love of bees and how they get their honey. “We are small, non-commercial beekeepers who keep bees because we love them and care about preserving the honey bee population in Utah. Our bee’s artisan honey is a wonderful by-product of our symbiotic and respectful relationship with our insects, and we are delighted to be able to share it with you.” Thank you Julia for sharing your lifestyle, your process and your harvest, because now I have 5 (well, actually 4, because we opened a honey bear up in Girdwood to have on our fresh, hot biscuits!) more wonderful gifts to give and share!

And speaking of sharing… Sophia’s Dad is one smart cookie! Jim suggested that I Google the names of the mystery glazes and see if any of them pop up. And guess what?! They ALL did, exactly as they are named on the buckets! I found them listed on Sheffield Pottery’s web site. So far it appears that this group of glazes are “Cone 6 Opulence Glazes.” I don’t think I can use my test tiles (?) on this cone 6 glaze because they were only bisque fired at only ^ 04. Probably just as well because I’m also going to take Meredith and Ang’s advice and switch to a ^6, higher firing clay for my sculpture work. Thanks potters for all your sound and expert advice!