Calyx Sale was so much fun

The Calyx Sale was so much fun! Thanks to all who came and browsed and shopped. From my point of view, it was a wonderful experience to meet a whole new group of artists and participate in a different show. The organizing folks have it down to a fine art (so to speak) and were a pleasure to work with. It was also great to be motivated to create a whole new flock of Bragg Creektures - 29 in total.

Each little guy starts developing a personality as she/he is being made - each one is named and comes with  a little bio. I fully admit that I give free reign to my inner corniness when writing the bios. Here are a few of the gang - clearly they started taking over my house and poor Hobbes has been a bit mystified and traumatized.




Sanford (2012)

Sanford has persistence down to a fine art. He has yet to find a bird feeder he can't crack or a puzzle he can't solve. He hopes to find a career that will use his skills (CSIS or CIA?).

Cecilia (2012)

Cecilia is a trapeze artist and hopes to start a travelling circus called Cirque de Squirrel. "I hope to establish a venue for delinquent squirrel youth to show their talents rather than getting into trouble vandalizing bird feeders".



Larry (2012)

Larry works as window cleaner by day and a nightclub singer at night. Other than that, he just likes to hang-out with his friends.

Scarlett (2012) 

Scarlett is planning to be a professional hypnotist. She discovered her talent while living with Hobbes. " He used to chase me around until I stared into his eyes and repeated, "I am friend. not lunch" while swaying back and forth - we've been buddies ever since." Lion taming is another career option.

Melissa and Misha (2012) 

Melissa's favourite movie is Cinderella.   It inspired her to start sewing - no one can do finer needle work. She is hoping to become a couturiere and move to London or New York.

Misha is all about breaking down stereotypes. He and his friend Hobbes are planning to open a cheese shop. They are the perfect match. Misha has a refined palette for selecting only the best cheeses and Hobbes will be responsible for preventing inventory shrinkage.

Bento (2012) 

Bento was recently awarded a medal for bravery by the Japanese Government. He nibbled free a fisherman trapped in a net. Bento and the fisherman became best friends and opened a vegetarian box lunch restaurant. "Seems like destiny," he says. " Who better for making vegetarian box lunches than a box fish."







Needle-felting: Adding Some New Twists

The first few years that I was making needle-felted Creektures, I wanted to make them totally by needle-felting - no using embellishments such as glass eyes, or armatures, or sewing etc. Everything was needle-felted, including the eyes, tails, legs etc. I did sometimes use yarn and uncarded curly wool for mains and tails but these were applied by needle-felting. Partly this choice was to make sure that the "guys" were safe for small children, but also to avoid the distractions of sourcing and learning a bunch of things at once. Besides, it felt a bit like cheating at that point. This was a great learning process and forced me to figure out what is and is not possible - it is amazing what can be achieved in terms of detail and structure using this single technique.

Now that I know these boundaries, I have added some techniques that allow me to do things that cannot be done by needle-felting alone - hence, not cheating in my mind!

I have been reading and taking some courses on wet felting which is another whole story. I have used wet felting to make clothing for some Creektures (e.g. a coat for a wizard, leaves for a modest wood-elf). Wet felted "points" work very well for porcupine quills and spines for fish, unicorn horns etc.  

It is possible to make supportive legs with needle-felting alone, but I find that thin legs get wobbly with time. It requires a lot of needling to get the wool very tight and works best with thicker legs - for example elephant legs. Armatures add a whole new range of possibilities. They do not have to be complex and can take only a few minutes to make if you keep them simple. Burrito has a simple armature of 22 gage galvanized steel wire to support his legs.  

A series of squirrels, tree-frogs and geckos got me thinking that it was time to defy gravity. Rare-earth magnets help them clammer around my house.   

It is all fun and great to have a broader repertoire!