Events, exhibitions, felt workshops and more...past and future

After a fabulous Winter fair at GalGael, about 10 days ago, I've been in Edinburgh for a day. I was asked to decorate two windows for the Restaurant Henderson's Of Edinburgh.with my needle felted goodies. I very much enjoyed doing it!  A dear friend looked from outside of the restaurant, while I was decorating being inside. That was very helpful. Here you see the result. It's a little magical!

Window with crystal dwarfs, wood gnome, fairies and angels

Crystal dwarfs

Window with felted vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, fairies and dwarfs

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You can find a couple of my needle felted items in the Christmas Art & Craft Exhibition in the beautiful Auld Kirk Museum in Kirkintilloch open till 20 of December, 10-2pm  & 2-5pm. (Closed Sundays and Mondays) 

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A couple of photos from today's needle felt workshop in Edinburgh. Four talented women created angels and fairies, and one of them created a Mary for a nativity scene. It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and everyone of the participants seemed to leave happy and grateful for improving their needle felting skills. More workshops in Edinburgh will follow next year. 

4 ladies created beautiful angels

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And last but not least:
Looking for a handmade with love Christmas present? 
Please get in touch and we can see what I've got in stock or you can still commission and receive in time.

Felt workshops in November and December 2014 in Glasgow

As we are getting closer to the festive season you might like to get creative with wool fibers. Make an individual gift for a friend or loved one or create an item, an ornament for your festive decoration. Lots of opportunities and great fun!
Here you can find wet felt and needle felt workshops, run by Laryna in Glasgow and surroundings. For all workshops please, book in advance as places are limited. No previous experience needed. All workshops are open to all felt skill levels.
Enjoy and hope to see you soon!
With warm wishes
Laryna

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Thursday, 13th of Nov. 4-5.30pm at GalGael 15 Fairley Street, G51 2SN, Glasgow/ Ibrox

In this felt workshop we will use colourful fluffy wool fibers to create balls, hearts, beads and other small compact shapes.
The aim of this workshop is:

● to learn-or improve wet felting and/or needle felting skills
● to experiment with colours, shapes and design
● to take home a unique piece of handmade felt.
At the end of the workshop you will have your own felted item and have learned or improved a new and traditional skill.
Cost: £5 including material

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Saturday, 15th of Nov. 10.30am-1.30pm at Laryna's.  63 Crowhill Road, G64 1QY, Glasgow/Bishopbriggs

Creating a seamless felt item either a pouch or wrist cuffs.
In this wet felt workshop you will:

• experiment with colours, shapes and design
• learn to create a seamless pouch (e.g. for a mobile phone or a pair of glasses) or a pair of wrist cuffs.
• use a template and colourful sheep's wool fibers, warm water, soap and friction to create a firm seamless fabric.
• take home a unique seamless felt item.

It's a fun and creative process! No previous experience needed. All material will be included in the costs of £18. Tea and biscuits provided. 

Wrist cuffs

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Wednesday, the 19th of Nov 10-11.30am &
Wednesday the 3rd & Wednesday the 17th of December 10am-12noon at Laryna's,  63 Crowhill Road, G64 1QY, Glasgow/Bishopbriggs
In these needle felt workshops we will use colourful wool fibers to make seasonal decorations, ornaments or jewelry related to winter and the festive season e.g. a woolly sparkling fairy, a gnome, a tree hanger, a Santa and more. Or bring your own ideas, what you would like to create from wool fibers.I
In these workshops you will:

• learn how to use a felting needle for dry felting.
• experiment with colours, shapes and design
• learn how to make a flat felt
• learn how to felt a compact three dimensional felt item
• learn how to sculpture with wool fibers and the felt needle

Sessions can be booked separately.
A cup of tea and biscuits are provided.
Cost: £6 for 1,5hours and £8 for 2 hours

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Thursday, 11th of Dec. 4-5.30pm at GalGael 15 Fairley Street, G51 2SN, Glasgow/ Ibrox
In this needle felt workshop we will use colourful fluffy wool fibers to create festive ornaments and decoration.
The aim of this workshop is:
● to learn-or improve  needle felting skills        
● to experiment with colours, shapes and design
● to create a unique handmade needle felted ornament or item for decoration.
Cost: £5 including material

Needle felted woolly angel

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I was asked to facilitate a few more felt workshops in the area of Glasgow in December. If you would like to know more about an event in Renfrewshire on Sat.13th of December 12noon-3pm and a workshop in Helensburgh on Tue. 9th of Dec,starting around lunch time. (This workshop has to be confirmed.), please get in touch with me.
For all felt workshops please book here!

I warmly invite you to GalGael's Winter Fair on Saturday, the 22nd of November, 11am-5pm,
15 Fairley Street, G51 2SN, Glasgow/ Ibrox
A fantastic selection of traditional craft and art stalls.
Hot chestnuts, delicious cakes, hot stew, mince pies, coffee and tea on offer.

Free entry!
I'll be there with a stall.

 

Natural dyeing and felt making workshops at Urban Roots, Glasgow

A beautiful range of natural dyed wool. This is the outcome from a couple of sessions of dyeing with natural colours from plants we were growing on the plots from "Urban Roots" in Toryglen and/or collecting in the area. 
Here's how we started in April: We were picking dandelion heads and daffodil heads to dry and later use for dyeing the wool fibers for felting. 

Together with Kathy B. http://kathrynalicebeckett.blog.com/, the expert in natural dyeing, and with all the volunteers we made plans what we wanted to grow in the 4 beds which were available for growing the dyeing plants. We did some seed sowing and started to get to know each other a bit. More sowing and planting workshops followed. 

Red onion skin dye

The Summer was warm and dry and only a few plants made it. But we went out into the surrounding area and picked yarrow, Hawthorn blossoms, Ladies Bed Straw, St. John's Wort, Budleia and a few more. Eventually in mid of July we had the first of 4 natural dyeing sessions. It was amazing to see the change of the white Shetland wool or Blue Faced Leicester wool fibers to become dyed into a yellow, beige or red-brown colour! The workshop participants helped with cooling down the liquid for dyeing, pouring it in buckets. We all were excited especially about some really vibrant dyes from Madder Root and from Budleia. The wool was mordanted before it was dyed, so that the wool fibers open up and better absorb the dye. 

Cosmos

Sunflowers for natural dyeing

Elderberry dye

In the mean time, when we were waiting for the dyes to boil, I showed spinning with the drop spindle and felt making and the volunteers had a go on spinning and later felt making as well.

Wet felted shaker

Wet felted leaf shapes

Wet felted leaf shape

Wet felted around a bar of soap

Wet felted around a bar of soap

During the following workshops in August and September we used onion skin, elderberries and sunflowers and cosmos from the garden. The colour range was slowly expanding just missing a blue at the end, because the Woad didn't grow very well in the garden. So maybe next year there will be enough Woad to be harvest for a blue colour shade. 

Needle felted fruit and pumpkin shapes

The colour shades of the natural dyed wool and the autumnal leaves fit perfectly together

On our last workshop, mid of October we went for a walk in Malls Mire wood in lovely warm sunshine and picked a couple of Autumn leaves. We later arranged the leaves around our circle of dyed wool which was mainly in autumnal colours too. 
We actually had a couple more activities during the 8 workshops. E.g. we went for walks to harvest and connect with nature. Once we did eco printing: We used pieces of silk fabric, picked plants and berries and rolled them together with the fabric and put the bundles in boiling water for dyeing.  

Bundles in hot water

Eco print on silk fabric

It was great to work together with Kathy, who's the expert for the natural dyeing. Natural dyeing isn't new to me, but it is a couple of years ago that I gained some experience in it. I got really excited about the many colour shades we had. Thanks for all I've learned and discovered. Hope the
guys had some fun and insights too!

Colour circle with the names of the plants we used.

Workshop on "Felt United" day, 4th of October, 10.30am-4pm

It's Felt United day! This year's theme is: PEACE! 
Felt friends around the world gather for a day of creative felting.
I'm happy to provide the space, my experience and skill in wet- and needle felting, material like wool fibers, pre-felt and all the equipment.
Please bring your ideas, make up your mind or meditate about PEACE... How does PEACE look like for you? How do you imagine PEACE, experience PEACE? You will then use wet and/or needle felting as an creative expression of PEACE. 
This felt workshop is for those who have already a bit experience in needle and/or wet felting. 
The workshop starts at 10.30 and finishes at 4pm. If you would like to join us for a shorter time period, please let me know in advance.

Costs:£20 & material
Coffee/tea provided.
Please bring a packed lunch.
Venue: 63 Crowhill Road, Glasgow/ Bishopbriggs, G64 1QY
Places are limited, please book in advance and text/call me:
07503 210 416
Here's the link to the website:
www.feltunited.com

Non Stuff Festival at Wiston Lodge

Last weekend I went to the fantastic Non Stuff Festival at Wiston Lodge/Biggar.The lodge is a large estate surrounded by beautiful woodland. The place is mainly used for nature related events and workshops.

The first Non Stuff Festival was organized by "The Forgotten Works" and many volunteers. 

When I arrived at Friday afternoon, my tent was the first been put up on the large grass area near the pond. What a beautiful campsite! The photo below shows the the view at the next morning.

 

My tent in the morning sun :-)

The festival included many unamplified performing brilliant music groups, permaculture, lots of interesting, fantastic workshops and games. There were so many interesting lovely people and I met people I hadn't seen for quite a while, which was very nice. So we all had lots of fun, learned something new in workshops and enjoyed the many great musical performances and each others company.

I was offering 2 needle felt workshops on Saturday. The first workshop on Saturday morning was about showing how to make woolly fairies. Four ladies joined me and we had a great creative time. Everyone  made her very unique ornament. 

The afternoon workshop, in lovely warm sunshine on the lawn, was a busier one. Children and adults had fun creating fruits vegetables and leaves from fluffy colourful wool. We were so lucky with warm and sunny weather on Friday and Saturday. I had to leave early on Sunday morning, but the festival went on to Sunday night. 

Collage from participants needle felt creations

Feeling glad I went to the Non Stuff Festival, even it was only for a bit more that half of the whole event. Wiston Lodge and its surroundings is beautiful place and I very much enjoyed it being there. I look forward to the next Non Stuff Festival and my next visit at the lodge :-)

What a fantastic Gaelic Wool Festival in Benderloch/Oban

What an amazing 3 days we had at the Gaelic Wool Festival, Feis Cothlam at the Kintaline farm and in Benderloch from Thursday, the 17th to Saturday the 19th of July. We were so lucky to have sunshine most of the time. It was my first time at the Kintaline farm, a beautiful place in Argyll, not far from the sea. On Thursday lots of folk enjoyed a visit to the farmers market with additional stalls all about sheep, wool and wool craft and some other crafts. 

Not to forget Sgioba Luaidh, the waulking women, who sang gaelic waulking songs while waulking a handwoven tweed cloth. The waulking or fulling makes the hand woven fabric thicker, matts the fibers together, so the cloth becomes stronger and more water proof. This cloth was soaked in soapy water over night. 

The hand woven tweed during the walking process

I had a go at waulking and many others too. The waulking and the songs were a beautiful addition to the market. 

Beautiful spinning wheels for sale

Heartfelt by Liz's colourful wool and all you need for felting, spinning etc. stall.

I had a stall that day, demonstrating needle felting.

My creative fiber craft stall with all the needle felted creations

In the afternoon I walked through the farm's colourful garden to see the shearing of a sheep's fleece. A couple of Shetland sheep in different colour shades from beige to almost black where there to be sheared. 

I love the wool from the Shetland sheep

The shearer was shearing a small dark sheep, quietly and concentrated, alert of possible movements of the sheep and trying to keep it in a still position, using a pair of shearing clippers or scissors to shear the fleece off the sheep. I was impressed how quick and focused he worked, holding the sheep and moving it to the one or other side as needed. We, the observers watched silently full of aw and a little tense too, as we were aware of the difficult task, which had to be finished in one go. 

Eventually the fleece was sheared, a very dark brown wool, soft and still warm from the sheep's body temperature. 

Freshly sheared Shetland wool fleece

The next day, Friday we had workshops running and fiber craft skill sharing. I was facilitating a needle felt workshop in the morning and one in the afternoon. That was good fun! The participants enjoyed learning a new skill and being creative. 

Participants response:  

- "Enjoyed the whole experience. Thank you for giving the opportunity to try something new."  

- "I really enjoyed the workshop and the skills taught to me by Laryna. It has inspired me to take up felting and to try other creative ways of using wool."
Participants needle felt creations:

     

 

The Friday fiber craft day finished with an interesting and informative talk and a demonstration about Bedouin weaving in Kuwait. 
 


On Saturday we enjoyed a craft market with a wide range of fiber craft stalls, fleeces, fibers, tools and all you need to get creative with wool. 

Made a couple of mini gnomes

My stall

Fairy friends

What a fantastic event we had, with lots of interested visitors and participants. Thanks to the organizers and volunteers, who made this colourful and inspiring event possible to happen.

Feis Cothlam: Gaelic Wool Festival 2014

Looking forward to a weekend of all woolly things!

 

On Thursday you can find me at the market demonstrating needle felting and displaying my needle felted fairies, dwarfs and more felted goodies. Friday morning and afternoon I'll facilitate a 2,5h needle felt workshops. You'll learn to needle felt a gnome, or a fairy or other nature related items. On Saturday 10am - 4pm there will be a market with all wool- and wool craft related items and stalls where you can see and buy all the goodies around wool, sheep & textile craft. You can find me there at a stall with my felted fiber craft goodies.

Here you can find out more about the event:

lorn.org.uk/woolfeis2014 
Here's a link to an article about the event: 

Needle felted ornaments

Needle felting a leaf

The dwarfs say "Hello"