More on Needle Felting

Cattycat commented that she wasn't sure how the process was done. I found a free tutorial on the web at thesilverpenny.com that shows it better than I can explain. Make sure you check out the rest of her site - LOTS of inspiration!

http://www.thesilverpenny.com/FreePr...leFelting.html

Here's some more resources to whet your appetite:
eye candy and tutorials:
http://www.livingfelt.com/
http://www.needlefelters.com/
http://www.feltalive.com/
http://www.thefeltedewe.com/index.html

Resources for mail order materials and books:
http://www.hookedonfelt.com/forms.htm
http://www.spinnerschoice.com/felting.htm
http://www.woolery.com/Pages/booksfeltfiber.html
http://www.woolery.com/Pages/felting.html

Down to the wire for the Holidayz

Well, we're down in the thick of it now! Of course, I haven't gotten near done what I wanted to - same as last year, and the year before.

I just can't get into the swing of creating Holiday gifties until after Thanksgiving, then there's always extra work at work getting ready for the end of the year...which cuts into crafting time.

But I HAVE gotten a few pieces finished, and I'm working on a few fun ideas using needle felting with new tools from Clover:

Can't say what I'm planning to do till after the prezzies are opened. SHHHH!

Fix My Movie, Please!

If you saw my post about last weekend's activities, you may have been a bit queasy from my video-without-benefit-of-tripod...

You should check out what happens when that video is run through the algorithms over at http://www.fixmymovie.com

Here's a link to the movie itself...

http://www.fixmymovie.com/movie/mMt9S-/

One cool thing is to click on the icon to the bottom right of the frame, which shows you a side-by-side version of the original and the fixed versions. I ran mine through on Auto the first time, then ran it through on Remove Jitters a second time.

If I wanted to spend a mere $1.99, I could download this clip with an upgraded resolution of 4x!

Cool! Since just about everyone these days has a camera phone, and those now have video for the most part, this service is actually quite brill...

Serendipity strikes again...

Got a call from friends yesterday to see if I wanted to go with them today to see a free exhibit in Dallas, "Texas Collects Asia: Contemporary Asian Art," at the Crow Collection of Asian Art. When we got there, they were just warming up for a lion dance by a local Kung Fu dojo - unfortunately I didn't get their name...nor did I remember my cell had video till after they'd started (please forgive the fuzziness!):



It certainly was fun to watch...love the little girl who walked up and 'fed' the lion at the last bit!

Thoroughly enjoyed the tour, then, in the cultural interaction area, some kids were learning about Noh Theater:



Other kids got to make a pendant with asian symbols or decorate a 'kimono'. This is what I just love about the Crow - their emphasis on teaching the culture as well as showing the art. Their Asian New Years celebration is not to be missed!

As we left the building, we crossed over to the bamboo garden by the Nasher Sculpture center. The light was shining juuuuust right! (Once more, taken with my Nokia N75)

A Bittersweet Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving holiday was unexpectedly bittersweet.

The nieces and nephews brought their dudes, dudettes friends and friends' kids with them and you could feel the young energy surging through the room. I didn't even realize we'd lost that in our generation, but seeing it there once more, I realized we had. Mom had a great time listening to all the chatter.

It was a wonderful mob of new faces and old. Luckily we'd somehow brought enough to feed an army, because it certainly looked like we were being invaded! When all the various bellies were full to bursting, there was just a spoon of green bean casserole and a spoon of Sherri's New Mexican creamed corn and NO mashed potatoes (made with cream cheese, these always go fast)! Poor Bob didn't get hardly anything but roast pork to take home, but he didn't complain.

My niece Chrysta seems to be the Gatherer in her generation...staying in touch and getting all the various sibs and cousins together on the weekends. I worry a bit about Mary (the Girly Goth niece), but she's got to make her own mistakes right now...while she still 'knows everything'.

I got home and wished a little wish that those smiles are all still there next year.