WAY TOO MUCH FUN

3-D HANDMADE FELT CONSTRUCTIONS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

dyed wool rovings, warm soapy water, bits & pieces of this and that, embroidery w/ perle cottons

 & misc. embellishments

Oh my, 

this is a super fun unit.

Lots of barnyard smells going on as the kids learn the age old technique of feltmaking.

The prep before the actual felting was a glorious riot of colors.

And then there was the actual felting experience.

The kids got soaking wet as they worked the warm soapy water into the wool.

We do this outside because of the bubbly wet mess it makes everywhere.

hee hee

Here are a few of the felted pieces before I put them into my washing machine 

to shrink them down even further.

Some close-ups.

And now onto the finished products.

I'm starting with senior Karen Long who made these adorable children's shoes.

These were a class favorite.

I always have thrift-ed antique laces & dollies for the kids to incorporate into their projects.

If you look closely at their felts you will see some that are embedded within the layers of wool.

Next we have was this little cutie by 8th grader Elliana Lee,

another class favorite.

Is it a whale/mouse?

I just want to pet it. 

 So tactile and sweet..

Several of the young ones made their pieces into journals.

Here we have 8th grader Malia Pulido above 

&

below,

junior Insha Khan.

Beautiful pieces girls with a lot of effort being put into the embroidery!!

And here's another sweet one by junior Helen Park.

Have you noticed that all these students have learned about visual flow?

Every embellishment they add should flow with their colors they chose to put into the wool.

They are graded on this for every assignment.

From above to below for Ms. Deliana Park,

English teacher.

She created a pouch from her very pretty piece of felt.

(note Ms. Hall how Deliana likes the same colorways you do)

One of my favs was this stuffed star by senior Charity Lizardo.

Just really loved how the colors came together in the felt (a lot of cool swirling going on),

how she allowed her seams to show 

& of course the cute buttons at the end of each ray.

Delightful!

And 8th grader Sydney Eng made this very elegant & sophisticated clutch.

And then another of my favorites was this journal by senior Hapshiba Kwon.

I hope you took your journal with you to college Hap,

and are writing your heart out inside it.

Love to all of you,

I miss you guys.

Felt Pouches - Student Work

I introduced you to my Beginning 3-D kids a few weeks back with their sweet felt embroidered pillows/pin cushions, well these were their finals for 1st Quarter.  

They had to combine all that they had learned about color theory, design and embroidery in this piece, so enjoy.

This top pouch was made by senior Julia Kim and is one of my favorites.

Below hers is the lovely stitching of junior Katelyn Uchiyama.

This adorable UFO is the work of junior Bianca Tolentiono.  Great colors on a striking backdrop.

The cute little Pikachu was made by senior Esther Woo, and the delightful butterfly next to hers belongs to senior Andrew Rim who exhibits amazing craftsmanship skills.

The lovely piece above was done by 8th grader Annie Lin, and below we have seniors Vinisha Kothari with the remarkable mermaid and Dhruvi Chauhan with the atmospheric landscape.

The little cutie above is the work of senior Megan Yeu.  Megan has a great class schedule this year.  She is planning a major in art, so this year she was able to fit 3 of my classes into her schedule, Advanced 2-d, Ceramics I, and Beginning 3-D.  What a great way to go out of here  :) 

And lastly there is junior Charisa Marie Perdon Bloemhof with a picture of her new baby sister.  So sweet!

Felted Stone Pouches - My Work

A couple of months ago I saw a wonderful felted pouch that fiber artist India Flint shared on her blog.  I thought it might make a great new felt project for my students so I proceeded to try it out.  I'd like to share the first half with you, cuz of course I didn't finish it yet LOL.  What else is new!

I started with some fresh and dried flowers that I felt would have some decent dye properties.    

I wrapped some shamrock leaves around the first stone so hopefully there would be a bit of color on the inside of the pouch.  Then I bundled wool around the stone, stacking 3 layers in a perpendicular fashion, tucking ends in.

Next I bundled all the flowers around the outside, hoping for an array of color.  I tried another stone with eucalyptus leaves...

and then one more with only the geranium blossoms and leaves.

India instructs to then place these stones in boiling water for about 45 minutes or so to felt the wool, and release the color.  Did I mordant the wool, nope, but in retrospect, I wish I had, because when I unwrapped these wet pieces below the color didn't stay true.

After I carefully pulled off all the string and plant matter, I did a bit more wet felting with soap and hot water, then I cut a small slit at the top of each stone so I could get my finger inside to felt that.  A lot of shrinkage went on as you can see below but each little pouch is unique and special.  Now remember, this is just the foundation, there is so much more to come.  

Felt Pouches - Student Work

I'm loving my new Beginning 3-D kids.  They are working so hard for me and have the most positive attitudes.  I couldn't ask for more.  These pouches were their 1st quarter finals and a culmination of the entire quarter.  We studied color theory thru tye-dye and polymer clay, and also an embroidery unit, then put it all together into these pouches.

This first one (front and back) belong to senior Fernie Jacinto.  I'm sure he made this pouch to give to his girlfriend.  You can even insert a pix into the back clear vinyl piece.  Pretty clever Fernie.  You should put your prom pix from lat year inside.  :)

The front and back of this next cutie belongs to junior Kaya Quarles.  I am enjoying Kaya immensely  and it's so cool, I had her daddy in class years ago.  I'm loving her two little monsters.  Great job Kaya!   

Next we have 8th grader Jenna De La Paz with her very sweet girl.  I've got 3 eighth graders this year who are doing outstanding work; Jenna, Jacqueline and Lauren.  You 3 are keeping up with the older kids.

Below is the work of 10th grader Laarnie Barcelon.  She is coming to me with terrific design skills and tons of energy and effort.  Laarnie, I want you back for the 2nd and 3rd year of 3-D!

Now here is the work of 8th grader Lauren Kennedy.  Told you she was good.  Here you can see the front and back of her pouch.

This first one (front and back) was one of my favorites and done by senior Kasie Le-Nguyen.  I love how she did the background, very clever design kiddo.

This next one was also a beauty by senior May Luong, with great use of color.  May is also in my Beginning 2-D class and excelling there as well.

Below is the backside of senor Priyanka's piece.  So lovely!

Senior Michelle Yoshimoto made this sweet piece above.  Love her use of buttons in the work, and here is my third 8th grader Jacqueline Yu.  Unbelievable what I get out of thee young ones.

Next we have the work of senior Mylan Jefferson who loves the Irish at Notre Dame.  Beautiful work young woman!

And lastly we have senior Jessica Barrett who I had when she was in the 7th grade.  And what a beauty she has grown into.  Jessica does gorgeous work, with impeccable craftsmanship and great attention to detail.  Love that you are back sweet girl!

For EXTRA CREDIT on a piece of paper or fabric, make me a pouch (you can use staples, tape, glue, thread, yarn).  And if you figure out how to make a drawstring I will give you even more points.  On the front side decorate it and on the back side put your name and period, plus pick the pouch you like the best and put the name of the maker on the backside as well.  Whoever gets the most votes also picks up extra credit.  Hand pouch to me when you walk in the door.  Have fun!   

Felt Pouches - Student Work

Jude, these are for you, our future stitchers  :)  These are my Beginning 3-d students and this project was their 1st Quarter Final.  They had to jump thru many hoops to come up with an original design, and then to use their most beautiful craftsmanship to embroider and stitch up these pouches with.  They also learned how to put in a drawstring.  Some great life skills!

Above and below we have junior Julia Chanco, her adorable front and back side.  

These kids put lots of effort and thought into their pieces.  We have senior Daniel Ho.  Look closely at how gorgeous his stitches are!  Oftentimes the boys craftsmanship is better then the girls.  Right Daniel??  :)

And below we have junior Hannah Park who also is one of my talented drawing students.  What an extraordinary piece she has come up with.

This very friendly octopus belongs to senior Isabel Chua.  And below the sweet little lion was created by junior Angela Wan whom I'm hoping is going to be coming back to me next year for the Intermediate class  :)

Below is the very gifted junior Alice Zhang, who always turns in exceptional work.

And then there are juniors Emily Yang and Sheila San Agustin, who are such hard workers, great designers and who absorb every morsel you put out there for them.  The back sides of their pieces are below.   

So, for EXTRA CREDIT, on any color piece of paper, cut out two rectangles and turn them into a paper pouch thru gluing, stapling, stitching, whatever works for you.  Decorate the front with whatever you'd like, the more you do the more extra credit points you earn!  On the backside put your name, period, and the name of the person's pouch from above that you liked the most.  Hand to me when you walk in the door tomorrow.