 Hello again Needle felters ! A very belated happy New Year for 2025 ! I hope you are all fit and well and that you are enjoying your needle felting and any other hobbies and crafts you may be involved with . As well as fitting in family time and making some time to get out and walk the local fells . I have been very busy lately working on a new needle felting kit which is almost ready to go in the Etsy shop . The small hare kit has been very popular , which was inspired by the large versions so many people enjoyed making at the workshops over the years . I have had a lot of very positive feedback about the video tutorials which accompany the hare kit over the last year or two and about the other kits too . People have commented that they were straight forward to follow which is what I am so pleased about . I try to present them as if I was taking a class at the workshops which I enjoyed over so many years . I also thought it easier to split the tutorials into separate video parts for easier access , as , unlike at a workshop , the point of the kits is that you can pick the project up at your leisure when you have time and you only have to choose one of the chapters where you left off , which I try to keep to 15 or 20 minutes maximum and find where you were rather than have to scroll through one long video . (I know that those more tech savvy than us can insert markers for each section on a long video ) . I have finished filming the videos and Richard has them all edited and ready to go . He's put a taster video on the video page if you want to take a look here it is Needle felt a fox kit . I am now just waiting for my supply of materials to make up the kits, if the Fox kit is something you would like to make then keep an eye on the shop and on this website, I hope to have them in stock for early April. I'll say cheerio for now , and wish you all the best as the days get longer heading into the Spring and Summer !   Hello again ! I just wanted to take the opportunity to wish you all the season's greetings as we approach the end of yet another year , and look forwards to the next , which for myself will be very different , as it will be the first one in about a decade that I will not have any workshops to prepare for , which feels quite strange . As you can see from the photo here, I have been busy with the wool and needles . This is a project I have been trying to get round to for a year or two and finally got round to it ( the Father Christmas hat is a seasonal accessory option ) It is actually the only piece of work I have made for our own home. To give an idea of scale that's the sofa arm above the hat so it's quite substantial .  On a seasonal theme we sent a cushion to Viridian Gallery in Keswick a week or two ago , which was actually Dianne Gainey's (owner/artist Viridian Gallery) suggestion for the subject. A robin perched on a spade handle design , a classic pose .
I have closed the Etsy shop now until January 3rd , and we are getting ready to head down and collect our Grandson to stay for a week over Christmas, joined later by our daughter so an exciting week! which has now become an annual event we look forward to . Hopefully we will have some reasonable weather and be able to get out in the fresh air , as our grandson loves the sea shore , something we take for granted living on the coast where as they live about as far inland as you can get in the East midlands . I'm not sure what 2025 holds, I needed more time at home not only for family but to create, I am enjoying this and have plenty of ideas like the sheep stool pictured above. I would also like to bring out some new kits with tutorials for the Etsy shop. I am enjoying crochet at the moment, I barely dabbled in it 40 years ago but recently picked it up again and find it very relaxing -it usually accompanies me up the fells in the finer weather, whilst my husband chatters and does his thing on his amateur radio, I crochet! Thank you to all at the workshops, felters and my Etsy customers, I appreciate all your support, have a wonderful creative Christmas and I wish you all a healthy happy new year! Annis. Hello everyone ! I hope you have all had a good Summer despite the mixed weather up and down the land . The conkers we could not resist picking up off the ground beneath the chestnut trees the other day , even though our Grandson was not with us , tells us that this Autumn is here yet again just like the 59 previous ones Richard and I have experienced . First of all , Looking back , I have had some wonderful years since discovering needle felting and have been fortunate to have been asked to hold workshops at some lovely venues across the North of England . Like so many things in life things just happen and holding workshops was not something I'd have considered or thought I'd have the confidence to do . I remember my first one, I was asked by Susan who was running a local gallery where I sold my first needle felted creations , we made mice, my Daughter came along to join in and support me. I was invited to do a talk for a local women's institute group assisted by my Father in Law who set up a laptop and his screen for me to illustrate proceedings . I do remember I was very nervous at the time and didn't do much talking! It was when I made the first Herdwick doorstop and put it in the gallery that the workshops really started. Then there was Annie, at Quirky Workshops , again suggested by Susan and there the workshop calendar became quite busy doing Herdwicks , followed by the hare which became just as popular and other characters were introduced along the way . As well as being a lovely venue at which to work, the trips to Artison enabled us to extend our stay some times at Masham as a half way point to visit our family including Grandson of course . These were my regular venues , but I also did some nice one off bookings and not forgetting Shirley over in Fangfoss in the East Riding , who attended a couple of my classes at Greystoke . She actually has a lovely venue herself , and I was invited to do several workshops over there in the famous Rocking horse yard studio. My next talk went so much better at a meeting near Skipton, my confidence was much better by then. Which brings us to the present . In my news letter last year "Looking Ahead " I outlined the reasons why this year could see the last workshops , and I have just returned home having completed the last two , which were also the only ones of the year and were held at Artison Thursday and Friday last. It was great to get to see Sue and Gaynor who called in on Friday before we left , to see the ducks made in the class and say goodbye . It's all change for them too as they move on and hand over the reins to the new team . Thank you to Joe and Elise who were the new hosts for my last two classes . I was pleased to get to meet them , and can see that Artison has been left in safe hands , We wish them well going forward . The future ? We felt on ! I intend to continue with the Etsy shop and making things myself for the gallery occasionally with Richard . I do like putting kits together and may do more with the video tutorials . It is a little like doing the workshops, as I still get lots of feedback from customers and fellow needle felters to let me know how they got on with their projects which is much appreciated. It won't be the same without the interaction and friendly banter of the workshops though, I can still be contacted via the website or email of course, I have plans to meet up with some ladies at a future date and look forward to a catch up. We also intend to try and fit in with our Daughter and family's busy life when we can and spend time with our Grandson who is growing each time we see him and also keep fit with our fell walking whilst enjoying the wonderful views from the summits. It has been such a pleasure to have met everyone over the workshop years and I'm sure our interest in the craft will keep us in touch in future. I will continue to post this news letter occasionally with any updates. I will say goodbye for now , and leave you with some photos . Very best wishes .  Hello again ! We last had a catch up in March , and here we are in mid "Summer" already . Well the seasons may have changed since March but the weather certainly has not . Apart from a couple of days last week when the sun came out and the temperature managed to get up into the low 20s C here In the North and West , we managed to get a couple of walks on the fells and then it was back to grey skies , wind, rain and temperatures hardly into double figures . The vegetable garden , is doing quite well under the circumstances , and I now have the benefit of a greenhouse which is is something I've always wanted and helps a lot .     As the weather is so inclement , we've been been getting on with indoor felting projects. I wanted to introduce another kit to the current ones available and red squirrels are something I've made in the past , and Richard has done several cushions .These delightful animals are popular subjects, and can be seen , if you are lucky, in just a few parts of the UK and Ireland now, and we are lucky enough to have some around our town . I'm working on a kit with video instructions like the hare and others , and Richard has been working on another A4 size picture kit which should be available on Etsy soon using a hessian template as with the other picture kits . The squirrel is in a pose on top of a fence post or if you like a log , with a backdrop of , mountains ,trees , a Cumbrian lake , or it could be a Scottish loch , Welsh lake or Irish Lough? As with all the pictures you can use your creativity and imagination to add your own details to the basic scene with the wool provided.  The squirrel kit I am working on will take a little longer and will be available when I've worked out the method and put together the wools and a video. This should be ready for the Autumn and the shorter days which will be here before we know it , I'll have to be thinking about the nativity kits again too as another year seems to be flying past ! I will of course let everyone know when the kits are ready and when the nativity figures are back in the shop . Until next time, best wishes and enjoy your crafting !   Hello once again Everyone ! It's been a while and here we are in the middle of March , with Easter fast approaching , and by which time for so many years , I would have had a workshop or two completed already , and be preparing for the upcoming ones . As many of you may know if you've read my previous updates towards the end of last year this year had to be different ( Looking ahead ) . We have been mainly busy keeping the Etsy store stocked up with all the popular items , and I introduced a new kit with video tutorial , namely the chicks pictured in the photo above . Of course chicks are cute and are a nice little project all year round , but as they are traditionally associated with Spring time , I wanted to get them ready for Easter . If you fancy making them they are still available at Woollysfelting on Etsy . I've also been making up some of the blended coloured wool batts on my drum carder , these always seem popular , and I really enjoy making them and choosing the shades to blend which people can use in their varied projects .I have also been sending a good percentage of orders out to The USA lately too.  The weather so far this year needs no mentioning , as it seems to have been equally dismal for most parts of the UK , our garden has been waterlogged much of the time , but I have managed to get some vegetables going in the conservatory ready for planting out , I am just hoping and waiting for some drier weather to do so . Despite the weather and other commitments , we have managed to take the occasional walk up the fells here in the Lake District on the rare fine days, which always makes you feel better after the fresh air and exercise  This has just been a short update to let people know that I am still here and keeping busy ,despite not having a full workshop calendar to prepare for this year, and this has freed up the time I may need. My Mother has for the last year or so had mobility and health issues and it means not having to try to fit in my commitments with various hospital appointments which often seem to get cancelled and rearranged . Though these updates may not be quite as frequent as in previous years If I have anything to report , and if I've been crating anything I think you might be interested in I will of course be posting it here . So best wishes to all , and keep having fun needle felting !  Hello once again . I hope you are all well and have enjoyed a good year , and are now prepared for Christmas . We completed the year's workshop calendar for this year at Artison on November 19th in which we saw some splendid foxes made ! Take a look at the photos on the workshop page , these are just a few of them . We had a lovely day as per usual and it was great fun and a pleasure to see everyone as I had met many of you in previous workshops from the past . We always enjoy our stay over in Masham , and it was strange as we said farewell and drove away from Artison this time not to have a fixed date marked in the calendar for a return visit , for reasons which I covered in September's news letter under the paragraph Looking Ahead I enjoyed all the workshops this year at Greystoke, Masham , and of course over in the beautiful East Riding of Yorkshire, at Shirley's in Fangfoss . Thank you so much to all of the venues . I have a few ideas for projects, and kits which I would like to make available in my Etsy shop and the nativity kit I introduced last year has been well received and some have gone out with the optional animals , the donkey and sheep which are to the same scale and can be added to the nativity scene. The small hare kit has been going out as fast as we can put them together on the run up to Christmas as well as the felting pads in both sizes . Quite a few of the metal multi needle holders went out also, in the last few weeks and I still have a couple left from the batch I had made if anyone would like one before they are gone , as I'm not sure when I will be able to get any more done ? We have been continuing to enjoy getting out walking in the fresh air when time and weather allow . Whilst over in Masham , although the weather was quite foggy and damp we still managed what has become our regular walk down to the Marfield Wetland nature reserve , while back here in Cumbria we've had a couple of nice walks up the fells on a lovely Autumn day up Latrigg overlooking Keswick and a very Wintry one up one up Grisedale Pike last Sunday . Sadly the cloud came down before we reached the top of Grisedale and what should have been spectacular views did not materialise with visibility down to just a few yards . I'd just like to say thank you all once again, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas ,and best wishes for 2024 !   The sun was shining as we approached Skipton yesterday. I had my ticket for Yarndale and Richard had a walk planned to fill in his time. There was already a queue of eager crafters waiting outside the Auction mart, at this event you are allocated a time of entry, mine was 11am. Walking in you were greeted with crocheted buntings and the famous Yarndale knitted sheep. Click on pictures to enlarge I was on the hunt for anything needle felting but was distracted many times by the lovely stalls, there was so much colour but also the chance to feel the wool, like another lady commented to me it's very tactile and so nice to touch. There was so much yarn for knitting and crochet, needle felting - I did find a couple of my favourite suppliers and a few new (for me that is) Adelaide Walker who supplies everything for the felter and spinner, they have so much choice, I stopped to say hi. Also The Threshing Barn, I cannot pass their stall without a purchasing wool. The Makers were also there, I find are very handy for supplies including wire and tools. I stopped at Annie Brown Needle Felting ,drawn in by her beautiful work on display and very cute felted characters, after chatting to Annie I learned that she also teaches workshops as well has having her own sheep, I couldn't resist her handmade cards pictured below. Amy Collin Farm to Fibre had some lovely locks, she is based in the Peak district, I bought Leicester Longwool and Jacob, very soft ! I like these for my Nativity kits and Owls. I also purchased a hand felted broach on a card (gift for friend) from Felt by Bridget her felted hats are quite amazing! A fab day out, a bonus is the Farm shop literally next door so I was able to visit that too before heading home.  It is starting to feel Autumnal, the beautiful scent of sweet peas have gone from the garden, the beans are in full production and the young winter veg seedlings have been planted out. It is also time to prepare the autumn classes, I am looking forward to visiting Masham again. The first workshop is hares taking place later this month, followed by another hare and Herdwick in October, the last one is foxes in November. Next year sees a big change for me, I haven't any pre arranged workshops for 2024, it wasn't an easy decision , but it will be difficult to plan too far in advance due to more family commitments which have arisen in recent months, and to cancel a workshop , possibly at short notice is something I'd not like to happen .Classes that have to be rearranged create problems for the venues and also the inconvenience to the people attending , who I know on occasions have fitted the class into their break/holiday or have booked over night accommodation locally. I am of course continuing to run the Etsy shop and hoping I have time to create some more felted sculptures myself , which is exciting, and possibly start putting the occasional pieces of work in the Gallery more often . I've had a planned workshop schedule for so many years now and it will be strange next year, because I always really look forward to and enjoy the visits to Greysoke , Masham , and for the last couple of years at Shirley's near York in the village of Fangfoss. There have of course , been the other lovely venues both locally and not so local where I've been invited in the past , but above all I've enjoyed the company of all the wonderful people who have made the days so enjoyable and fun! Thank you all so much for your support . However ! There may be a chance of a "pop up" workshop at short notice , if possible , and if it fits into schedules, in which case you will be duly informed . As we all know when we get older, the most precious commodity is time, which is finite , and has to be wisely spent and shared when you can . We have been trying to spend as much time with our family which includes elderly parents, daughter and Grandson who lives about four hours drive away and we try to see as often as we can, they grow up so quickly which we are discovering as Grandparents. Richard and I still like to get out walking in the local fells as Autumn is nearly upon us it's a wonderful time to be outdoors, we have recently made the effort to get out more often and are feeling the benefits. Back to the needle felting . It does not seem to matter how many years you spend at the craft , there are always some new ideas . Whether it be kits or other projects , I have endless ideas I'd like to put into practice , and this Winter should be an ideal time to get stuck in . I will of course keep you informed of what I've been up to . Richard is still doing his fantastic cushions , but his time has been a little curtailed recently too , we haven't even had chance to drop into Viridian Gallery at Keswick lately either , but we'd like to get something in there soon . The Etsy shop has a new addition which is the complete Nativity scene so that you may if you wish buy the figures and animals in one box set which will save a few pounds , they are of course also available separately. I am looking forward to the pictures of nativity building I can hopefully share again on the run up to Christmas. Yarndale takes place this month, I have my ticket! it will be a fab day out to Skipton, I believe the event gets busy, I was advised to buy the ticket in advance as there are time slots to enter, there still seems to be slots available on both days. Maybe I shall see you this autumn at one of the upcoming workshops, if not I do hope you can make time to enjoy your needle felting at home, sat beside a cosy fire, what will you create this Autumn and winter? All the Very best,   June 24th I visited Cumbrian Wool Gathering just south of Kendal. I had a fantastic morning/through lunchtime and obviously spent too much! 😄 well maybe not, the lovely wool will get used in the kits and projects coming up.
Adelaide Walker (it was lovely to meet Simon and Angela) they had plenty to offer and I did make a bee line to stock up on their lovely wools, also a new one for me was Hill Radnor which I believe is a welsh mountain sheep a rare breed so I am keen to see how it felts, it is a top so a lovely feel to the wool. They were also able to provide me with my Southdown top, Swaledale and some colours I needed. I also visited Threshing Barn's stand, they have some beautiful blends and I topped up on some humbug -the colours do remind you of the humbug sweets, along with some Corridale roving, and shades of green. I also met Trish and her daughter at Artisan (formerly Norwegian wool) who had many samples which were useful when searching for a particular colour, they were kept very busy when as I popped by. I also met the lady who has Ullswater Felt Art and could not resist her new addition of coasters, there were Herdwick and Red squirrel designs, these were her own art on the coasters and are fab, I'm very happy with this purchase! Other stands I purchased from were Coastal colours, wonderful blends and Velvet Sixpence, also blends for top coats. I didn't get any photos as I was too busy taking in all the fibres and wonderful items on display. When I was outside with my new wool stash I sat for a while and enjoyed the sunshine, I got talking to a lovely couple up from Manchester who had also enjoyed their day and were packing their car boot with fleece (that was my one disappointment, I didn't find a Herdwick fleece) the lady said it was a much better event than the one held near them as you could browse easily and plenty to see with many choices, I hadn't much to compare with as the last one I went to was Woolfest which is sadly no longer running. So, the next one will be Yarndale, in Skipton, very excited about this one in September, if you are going then you may need to pre book a arrival time. I'm sure there will be plenty more fibres needed by September. Happy felting !  Hi Again ! Just a brief update as we head into the Summer, I expect that you are all enjoying the warm weather which seems to have been a long time coming this year . It has been quite dry and pleasant where we live, but a cool Easterly breeze has often kept the temperature quite low , which is nice when out walking or busying in the garden . and we have had a couple of nice walks up the local fells recently the last one was Dale Head which we ascended from the Honister Pass . On to the workshops, we have recently completed two at Quirky Workshops in May , the Herdwick doorstop , and hares , thank you to all who attended , it was lovely to see everyone for another couple of enjoyable days . This week there are two more , Herdwick on the 15th of June , and the ever popular hares again on the 17th . I look forward to seeing you if you are attending . We have also added a new picture kit to the range available on the Etsy shop , it's a while since we did so , and Richard came up with the Barley Field , ( no doubt inspired by the current Summer sunshine ) .Just click the picture at the bottom for more information . Unless I have something to report , I'll be back with a newsletter as we enter the season of Autumn as another year rolls on , so enjoy the Summer , and have fun being creative ! Bye for now !   Hello everyone.
I hope you are all enjoying your needle felting and the weather as it hopefully continues to improve as we are well into the Spring . It has been a bit chilly in these parts with the North and Easterly breezes taking the edge off the temperatures , we usually have a pair of blackbirds nesting in our garden and they are busily tending it in the clematis which festoons our wall. The workshops began in March with an enjoyable trip over to Shirley's in Fangfoss where a great time was had, and some lovely hares and Herdwicks were produced . Please take a look at the workshop photos page . Our first workshop of 2023 at Artison near, Masham , to which I was looking forward and which I was all prepared for had , unfortunately to be cancelled due to me being quite ill . I was very disappointed to have to do that , so apologies Sue and Gaynor and to all affected , but we have rescheduled some dates. I am back there in the Thursday and Friday of next week , as I write this when we will be making the ever popular Herdwicks again . The Etsy shop is still ticking over with the wool felting pads still being a top seller , and the small hare kit , owls , and the felted pictures as well . Still debating whether to start shipping overseas again . I put this on hold due to the Royal Mail Chaos earlier in the year , and could do without chasing stuff up that may go missing or be delayed , because it's virtually impossible to talk to a human on the phone these days to sort things out with these big organisations. Looking ahead , the events of the last few days will mean I shall have to attempt to work around the fact that my Mother, who is in her 80s and was quite independent became immobile in a painful manner quite unexpectedly, and what seemed literally overnight due to an issue with the bones of her spine, and the initial opinion seems to be that it is not temporary , but we shall see. On a happy note , we spent a wonderful week with our Grandson at Easter, when he came to stay , a week in which he climbed his first mountain , in fact he ran up half of it ! He also loves playing on the beach and probing the rock pools for all the interesting flora and fauna therein. Being from Derbyshire , where you couldn't get much farther from the coast, the seaside is still a big novelty and makes us appreciate the natural features of our locality, which we so often take for granted . Enjoy the rest of the Spring and the Summer and above all have fun with your craft, and of course every thing else ! Best wishes . Annis. 🐑 "March the month of many weathers, which comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" and it's already, a busy month in the gardening calendar, well as far as seed sowing goes, my first peas and beans along with onions, tomatoes aubergines, peppers, marigolds, cornflower, potatoes well yes there is no more room in my porch area or sunny windowsill ! A busy month also for workshops, all roads lead east, starting off in Fangfoss near York this week for hares and Herdwicks followed by hares and foxes later in the month at Masham. I am very much looking forward to our trips away and needle felting along with the class. We can't seem to stay away from this area, we visited York last month with our little grandson, telling tales of arrows flying, battles long ago as we walked the old city walls, and round Clifford's Tower, Jesse is at the age where medieval battles are magical stories. The Shop
There has been quite a bit of disruption with shipping overseas since "computers were hacked" at Royal Mail, and we have customers in the U.S. mainly who have been so patient but now with back logs the last parcel took 2 weeks longer to travel so we have halted overseas shipping until things improve. Our own handmade wool pads are always most popular in the Etsy shop along with the new gift and starter kits. Also, I'm pleased to say at last, that I can bring along to the workshops the new metal handled ones which people have been enquiring about . They are a limited supply which I had made , there isn't much room in the car it's filled with the materials for the workshops! Needle Felting advice I often get asked about where to learn a little about needle felting. You tube is pretty good for advice, I particularly like Phillippa's Felts, she has built up quite a good channel now and has a very practical and honest approach, another channel in the U.S. this time is Living Felt, she has an absolute wealth of knowledge and will give live tutorials on varied projects, just two I can think of of the top of my head, there are many more out there. Books, I don't have a lot on needle felting in my library, the ones I really like The Natural world of Needle felting by Fi Oberon, I would recommend if starting out , the pictures are good and clear and helpful when making larger items in contrast ie smaller items is Needle Felting Workshops by Jenny Barnett, her beautifully presented book also with clear instruction to create her lovey animals. I'd add to that my most recent purchase British Sheep & Wool, published by the British wool marketing board. A page on each sheep and it's wool properties with pictures of our lovely woolly friends and loads of info. Oh and for our little grandson, Sheep in the field introducing sheep (got to start them young ) and the lovely story of Mr Puddlebrush in the Lake district with the Herdwick, pictured above. Wool Festivals I'd really like to visit at least one Wool festival this year, sadly we no longer have Woolfest here in Cumbria but I have spotted this ! Cumbrian Wool Gathering 24th/25th June, in Skipton N.Yorkshire there is Yarndale 23rd/24th September, Bakewell Wool Gathering 14th/15th October in Derbyshire, these are strong possibilities so maybe planning ahead and reserving dates and buying tickets in advance is a good idea, in my case if there is a river nearby for fishing or a mountain to climb then hubby will be happy too. Annis. Hello everyone ! I hope everyone has managed to stay warm enough during the cold snap, which at least brought us some sunny dry days on which you could wrap up and get out and about, which now seems to be giving way to what in recent years, seems to be business as usual for Christmas by way of mild wet and windy weather . Talking of Christmas time , the nativity kits which I put together for my Etsy shop this year have been well received , and I've had some smashing photos sent to me of ones that people have completed . I will put a couple of examples below which Amanda , and Julie sent to me . Look at that splendid stable too . It is fantastic to know that the videos which we put together with the project have been helpful too, as I try to present them as if I were at one of my workshops . I intend to keep this kit seasonal but may offer them a little earlier next year , the videos are in place now and it took a while longer than we thought to film and edit this year . There is also a sheep kit which makes two figures, and the donkey which are available separately and will be available all year , they can be added to the nativity scene as I made them to that scale . I also have to include a picture we took of the small flock Ryeland sheep which appeared in a field close to where we live they were so cute and very friendly too .  I would also like to take the opportunity as we approach the end of another year to thank everyone who has supported my Etsy shop , and attended the workshops this year not forgetting the venues which have hosted them , and inviting us back again in 2023 . Keep an eye on the relevant page on this website for the 2023 workshops if you would like to attend any of the classes. I look forward to seeing you . Have fun , a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the coming New Year 🎅   Hello there ! I hope you have all enjoyed the Summer and are now looking forward to to getting out and about during the new season now upon us and enjoying some of the lovely scenery nature has on display at this time of year . I shall be at Masham next month, where the picture on the right was taken for another workshop at ArtisOn , where we'll be making a fox at the first workshop , followed a couple of days later by the ever popular Herdwick doorstop class.I look forward to seeing everyone . We've had some enjoyable days at Quirky Workshops , Greystoke , since the last news letter , see the workshop photo page to see some pictures of what we made .  Metal Needle Tools ... During the last year or so , quite a few people have been asking me for the metal multi needle tools which many of you will have used in my workshops . Well I'm pleased to be able to let you know that I have now had some made locally and have a limited number available if anyone who would like one . Thank you for your patience to anyone that's been waiting . I had to get enough made to make it worth while and keep the cost reasonable , so I left it until now , due mostly to the uncertainty and general chaos of the last couple of years . I'm very pleased with the new batch and they can be found by clicking the photo above which will take you to the listing in my Etsy shop  Felted picture kit . Masham Market Place. I mentioned my upcoming workshops at ArtisOn which is of course located at High Burton just outside Masham. I was asked by the Mashamshire Community Office based in the Market Place if we could come up with a felting kit for them with a Masham theme ? We thought immediately about a picture kit , as these are ideal for beginners too. We also thought that the market place and the Church of St Mary's , would make an ideal subject with the entrance to the church yard flanked by two magnificent trees one of which is I think , a distinctively coloured copper beech and there's the buildings either side which are also typical of the area. Just like my other picture kits you are provided with a template on a piece of A4 hessian material and the wool required , you will however , need a felting surface to work on , an inexpensive foam pad is fine if you are just starting out . At present these particular picture kits are only available from the community office in Masham , so if you would like one , or as a gift for someone new to felting call in or get in touch with them . My next update will probably be on the run up to Christmas , and that will be another year which has just flown by ! Enjoy being creative, and most of all , have fun ! Best wishes.  Hello once again , and where has this year gone ? The Summer Solstice has passed, but if you are up in the North West of England you could be forgiven for thinking that the calendar had got stuck some time in March ! Looking out of the window now it's raining (again) the wind is blowing hard (again) and the temperature is about 12C . Despite this my vegetable garden has done quite well and I've had some good harvests , the carrots and garlic has done particularly well , as well as my aubergines, but it's hard to believe that people farther South are complaining about the heat and lack of rain as I watch tending their gardens wearing shorts and vests on their videos ! As for the needle felting , we have now completed several workshops since the last news letter, as you'd expect, since that was in January , I see ! We've just had the first one of the year at Quirky Workshops , which was also the first one in which we made a new character , "the fox " which was great fun , and there's another one this Thursday June 30th , you can see the pictures on the workshop photo page . During the Spring and Early Summer , we've also been at Artison , in North Yorkshire , and done a couple over in the East Riding , at Shirley's art studio in the beautiful village of Fangfoss where I visited for the first time this year. I've enjoyed them all so much and would like to thank everyone who attended and the venues for their hospitality , I'm looking forward to the rest of the workshops on the calendar , details of which can be found on this page . I look forward to seeing all of you who've booked . When the weather has relented my Husband and I have been getting out for some nice walks on the local fells , and even some of the hills over the Eastern side of the Pennines along the Cleveland way . Richard got his amateur radio licence last Autumn and gets involved with something called "Summits on the air" which for those who don't know, basically involves going to the top of hills and mountains erecting an aerial and talking to as many other radio operators as he can for half an hour or so . We had neglected our fell walking over the last few years and it was something we enjoyed, so this has at least got is back into it , and as you can imagine from the photos below , it generates a lot of curiosity from other walkers ! Have fun !   Hello once again ! I thought I should update the news letter page as it's been a while and wish you all a happy New Year while it's at least still January ,(probably February by the time you read this ). I expect that you are all looking forward to to the longer warmer days of Spring and that you have been keeping busy during the Winter with some needle felting projects.. My 2022 workshop calendar is on the relevant page of this website . The first two of the year are at Artison toward the end of March and early April. The first of which is the "bunnies" class which was originally one of the classes postponed from 2020 , yes that was two years ago ! What a carry on it must have been for the venues which host our workshops during this time , having to sort all this out. The new for 2022 fox workshop seems to have been well received , one class has fully booked at Quirky workshops, there is possibly a space or two left for the other both in June , with another one at Artison due to take place in October along with a herdy. These classes will both be bookable form February 7th . I have also been booked for a couple classes which are taking place in York, this will be nice as York is a place we know well and have visited many times , over many years for holidays and short breaks . We were pleased to get a small amount work into Viridian Gallery at Keswick prior to Christmas . We have as I have mentioned in recent news letters, missed our once regular trips to the galleries , but because of all the upheaval of the last two years , we've not actually been needle felting much at all ourselves as we've been involved with preparation for the rescheduled workshops and also , the Etsy shop has been very busy , so we have been making up kits and of course making the wool pads , Also some materials have become harder to source on a regular basis than they used to be , which is just another sign of the times . It's satisfying to know however, that each time a kit or some equipment goes in the post there are people out there enjoying their crafting and whiling away the short cold days of Winter being creative . It's also great when I occasionally receive a photo of a finished project with which it's creator is justifiably proud , particularly if they are new to needle felting which they often are . Since the last update we have spent some enjoyable time with our Grandson who is now three , and his parents . I am also preparing for this years vegetable growing in the garden , which I got back into last year and thoroughly enjoyed, this year seems even more exciting as I am eager to grow more this season. My Daughter and Son in Law have also managed to acquire an allotment opposite their home in Derbyshire complete with chickens so they should be well supplied with eggs and veg' too. Their rooster would be a fine subject for a needle felting project I think , do you ?  Hello again! Here we are in Autumn once more and the last of this year's workshops was completed on the 23rd of November. This was at Quirky Workshops Greystoke and we made the ever popular hares . Thank you to everyone who came along and contributed to a great day out , and I have to say that the finished hares at the end of the day were fantastic . I was impressed particularly as the whole class were completely new to needle felting and not only were the results amazing , but we completed them in very good time . Well done to every one . there is a group picture of the hares on my page Workshop Photos , where you can take a look and see if you can spot yours . As some of you might be aware quite a few of my workshops this year , particularly some of them at Artison were ones postponed from last year and rescheduled , which is quite an unenviable situation to have to sort out particularly as things have remained pretty uncertain . The new owl kits I mentioned in my last news letter have been well received with a couple going over the Atlantic to the the United States . The owls are always fun to make as you can use a variety of colours and textures . Looking forward to next year, I have a couple of new characters to add to the choice of workshops available for you to attend . They are pictured below . I hope you like them ...  If you don't hear from me again before Christmas , have a lovely time and make the most of the Winter , particularly those crisp sunny days when they come along . Best wishes & thank you to everyone for their support and interest .  Hello again everyone. I notice I've not written anything here since the Spring , but it's not because there has been nothing going on . Far from it , If you have a look at the workshop photos , you can see there have been several workshops some of which were of course rescheduled ones . Thank you to everyone for coming along and making them so much fun , and supporting them through all the uncertainty of the last year or so , and of course hats off to our hosts at Quirky ' and Artison for keeping it all together in very trying circumstances. I have been asked at several of my workshops if I have any new classes planned in future? I will take this opportunity to let you know that I will have a couple of new characters to introduce to you in the not too distant future. The sculptures are made , but I won't be releasing any pictured until I'm happy that I've put together the method which we can follow in class and have them completed during the day. I can however tell you that the projects will be something substantial like the hare sculpture , and the Herdwick door stop . Something else I have been busy with is putting together a new kit which is now on my Etsy Shop . This time it is an Owl Kit , which like the Three Sheep kit , and the small Hare Kit I have also taken advantage of video instructions . These appear to have been well received by the people who have used them , and it also gives me the opportunity to explain what I am doing like I would in the class , and you can also do it at your leisure as once you have the links you can access the videos when you want ( you can even download them to your own PC if you wanted, there are several ways to do this and if you're not sure how , someone you know usually will , I have always found ) . You can watch the video introduction to the new owl kit here, If you would like ? On the subject of video , I have been asked if I do Zoom type workshops ? Although I can see the attraction I have at present no plans to do it myself just yet . There is of course the logistics of getting the materials to the participants , but my own experience with these video conference things , which I believe they are called , is that there always seems to be someone who's screen freezes up or the sound goes off due to a bad internet connection . It's bad enough when contacting family members , so for now , the thought of having eight or ten people on at the same time and this happening is a bit daunting ! See you soon !    Hello ! Hope everyone has been making the most of the dry but cool Spring ? Not updated this page for a month or two , but at least this time I can report that we have the first workshop of the year under our belt . This was a Herdwick doorstop class which took place at Quirky Workshops , Greystoke ,and thank you very much to everyone who attended and made it such a wonderful day after such a long lay off . Also to Annie who has worked hard to get the workshops up and running again , as well as having to work with all the current rules and restrictions , not just for our classes , but all the others too. I will post a couple of photos on the website which were taken on the day. We also paid a visit to Artison where I have two workshops in one Weekend at the start of June . I took the opportunity to drop some of the more bulky materials off early , as we will be staying over and won't have room in the car for our luggage and two workshops. It was also an opportunity to catch up with Gaynor and have a look at some of the modifications to the set up of the room we'd be using ,as they have not yet had their first workshop of the year so far. It was nice to be able to get a couple of items into the Viridian Gallery at Keswick since they opened . We made no items during the Winter as there has been so much uncertainty with businesses opening times , but we delivered a slightly modified design Herdwick doorstop which I forgot to photograph and it sold the first day ! and a cushion Richard made with a fox design . Also because of the uncertainty of the workshops, a lot of our preparation which is normally done well in advance of the event has been left until the last minute when we were more certain that things were going ahead . I hope you have found some time also to get creative, there have been plenty of our kits posted to keep hands busy. Watch out for the new picture kit of the narrow boat on the canal scene which will be in the Etsy shop soon ! Enjoy the warmer weather which must surely not be far away (despite us getting caught in heavy snow on the A66 near Bowes the other day). Best wishes . 🐑   |
