Knobbly Felted Organic Soap

'HEART FELT SOAP' is a collaboration between Ginga Squid and FeelAtHome....in New Zealand.

My friend Leanne (of www.FeelAtHome.co.nz) makes the most gorgeous smelling organic soap using the cold processed method of soapmaking, which allows the soap to retain all of its natural glycerin. In fact I often want to eat it it smells so good (her geranium & black pepper is one of my favourites) and people have been known to eat a chunk of her body bars by mistake at the markets she attends - thinking it is white chocolate!

All of her soaps are made with Pure New Zealand spring water (or New Zealand goats' milk). She is passionate about creating unique blends of essential oils that you won't find anywhere else, along with some unbeatable classics.

Anyway, she dropped me off some of her Lemongrass & Green Tea soaps for me to felt last week - they smelt so good!

I wet felted the soap using New Zealand polwarth sheep wool which I dyed in tones of pink. Then I added some strings of laceweight green wool and then needle felted on some merino yellow knobbles!

Happy Horny Fungi Ring

I am really happy about how the colours came out in this one. Constructed from merino wool which I first wet felted and then needle felted. I also used UV resin at the base of the felted structure with natural rough diamonds.

The ring base is Faux Bone with sterling silver tube rivets.

The ring size is a US 7.5 and stands about 12cm above the wearer's finger.

Carnivore Crinoid Brooch

I sold a piece! Yay! This was my entry to the Regal Castings Contemporary jewellery competition - which was part of the NZ Jewellery Show, Auckland. I didn't win anything but my piece actually SOLD!

This brooch features a piece of fossilised Crinoids that I bought from Heart Of Stone Studio. Crinoids are lovely & graceful-looking sea creatures that resemble fern-like plants, but are really animals. Commonly called sea lilies, they are Echinoderms - relatives of sea urchins and starfish.

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. Thier soft, filter-feeding bodies are supported by a framework of calcium carbonate segments called ossicles and it is the ossicles that you see in this piece of fossil.

I created a man-eating, parasitic, Triffid-like base structure for the Crinoids to happily live and lurk within (even though Crinoids don't actually have teeth).

Other materials used: brass sheet, bronze sheet, patina (green & heat), prismacolor, plexiglass, sterling silver, merino wool roving, microscrews, fine silver heishi (Thai Karen Hills Tribe - Fair Trade), brass heishi, pink natural freshwater pearls, brown pearls, thread, craft wire & plastic aquarium plants.

Diamond Bud Ring with Air Plant

......so I did decide to take this one further - I added an Air Plant!

Now its finished.

Mouldy Log Necklace

I just finished this piece - it reminds me of a mouldy log! Probably not a great sales pitch - but it is what it is.

I think it would look quite cool worn over a black polo neck top though?