CRINOIDS!

One of my favourite cab suppliers (Heart of Stone Studio) had these amazing crinoid fossils. Crinoids are lovely and graceful-looking sea creatures that resemble fern-like plants but are really animals. Commonly called sea lilies, they're Echinoderms, relatives of sea urchins and starfish, and they are one of Nature's success stories, having been around for 530 million years. Ancient Crinoids sported feathery arms sprouting from a stalk anchored on the ocean floor, while their modern descendants mostly don't have stalks. Their soft , filter-feeding bodies are supported by a framework calcium carbonate segments called ossicles, and it's the ossicles that you see in these fossils.

I needle-felted a bezel around the fossil (bit of a mission!) and gave it a UV resin frame (adding some stability around the stone) - plus it looks like natural diamond/rock....
The ring base is Faux Bone with sterling silver tube rivets and the 'tendrils' are sterling silver wire wrapping (part LOS) with natural freshwater pearls in pink and white on the ends (again from Heart of Stone Studio).

The Faux bone ring base is not a complete circle - so the wool 'jewel' can sit inside and it is held in place with some rough black cotton stitching!

This was an experiment as I had been thinking about how I could hold a stone/cab in place using felt - and it seems to work nicely so I will be taking it on further probably. Although I'm now learning to crochet - so expect some woolly scarves to be posted soon...!

Updated Sea Anenome Ring

This ring just didn't feel 'finished' - so I ended up coating the bulb of the wet felted sea anenome with UV resin and added some rough diamonds (very, very sparkley even though they are still rough). I am liking the effect of resin over felt - as the felt texture is still there but very hard! I then added an airplant (Tilladsia Albida). Now he feels finished and more 'alive'!

Then when I was taking new photos - both my kiddies wanted it and fighting ensued!

The airplant should like living in the felt of its 'host' as it doesn't need much water - and it doesn't matter if the felt gets a little wet as it will dry naturally.

Leopard Skin Sundew Brooch/Pendant

Hmmm - I've been pondering this one for a while and it came together this weekend when I decided to needle felt some "sundew" bobbles onto what I had already wet felted. Now it looks right so I will call it finished!

Its a really cool piece of 'Leopard Skin' Jasper - olives, yellows and peaches outlined in rich black. This jasper is a cross between 'animal print' and abstract art - I love it! I bought this cabochon from www.heartofstonestudio.com.

I wet felted around some Faux Bone (with merino wool in deep green) and then cold connected the jasper with some micro-screws and fine silver heishi (Fair Trade from the Thai Karen Hills Tribes) to the woolly base using a bronze frame for the stone, which I etched and then gave an antique greeny patina.

I had wet felted the green/pale pink/shocking pink tendrils at the same time as the base. Then I needle felted in some bumpy spots - I've just got a book on how to do needle felting so that helped me immensely although I still end up sticking the needle in my finger occasionally - its v ouchy.

Anyway - its a cross between a leopard and a sundew. It has a brooch and pendant fastening on the back so it can be worn either way. Its quite large - about 21cm diameter.

Man-Hating Cactus Brooch

I've been playing around with combining plexiglass and acrylic sheet with fiber this week. Plus I was itching to try out my new Curlz font stamping set - which arrived a few days ago from Jeanette at www.fundametals.net.

I came up with this little fella - he's only 6cm long and it was a real mission to felt the 'pricks' and get them to stay securely in the holes!

If you are easily offended (or a man) - then don't read the script on the 'flowerpot'.

Also featuring copper sheet with patina, natural pink feshwater pearl, brass screws and eyelets. There will be a brooch pin on the back when I get around to it....

My First Lampwork Beads

These are the first lampwork beads I made myself! Well actually under the amazing guidance and tuition of Lisa-Jane Harvey of Born To Bead (www.borntobead.co.nz). She has a fantastic studio setup and I hope to take her beginners glass fusing workshop soon (kiddies permitting).

I'm thinking some felt with these babies.......although my daughter has already made off with the blue swirly one (which was a bead that went really wrong....).

I've got some really cool felt/faux bone rings to post soon when I've finished them. Hopefully soon......

Sea Anenome Ring

This little beastie was fun to make! The ring base is Faux Bone - shaped into something resembling (I think) vertebrae/bone bits and coloured with brown shoe polish. I also riveted some sterling silver tube through it as I liked the contrast - and I love riveting.

The sea anemone top part is made from merino wool roving - wet felted with some green silk bits thrown in.

COLOURS Exhibition, Estuary Arts, Orewa (NZ)

I've got some pieces in an exhibition called 'COLOURS' at Estaury Arts Center in Orewa (North of Auckland, NZ) during March. This Squid is one of them - I like him alot as he was fun to make and has felt (tentacles and necklace/cord)!

I need to work on my names for things though as the most creative title I could come up with for him was 'Felted Squid' ....or something similarly boring.

Gosh - my two little kiddies are off tomorrow for 3 nights holiday with their dad to the Coromandel. I'm going to miss them SO very much, but have lots of things waiting to be created in my head. Plus I get to have a lie-in in the mornings (can't remember the time that last happened - and no nappy changing!).

I'm also finally getting around to doing a one-on-one 3 hour lampwork class - which I won in the Beadhold Wirework challenge last year. Its with Lisa-Jane Harvey at Born To Bead Studio in Auckland. Can't wait - although I know I'm then going to go off on another tangent wanting to make glass beads/critters....

Maybe I could then felt them....?