F.A.T. Girlzzzzzzzzzz Part II

I decided to play with some of our wool roving, felting machine, and misc goodies around the studio to make and embellish a postcard. I have been working the the color Red this month making Valentine samples and pulling red info and pics together. Al is working on Turquoise for next month, so I put them together for this project.

The embellishing machines are so great! They look just like a sewing machine, but No thread, no bobbins to fill...just a bunch of needles punching materials together in a very interesting way. If you don't have one yet, you can put this together with a piece of foam for a base and hand felting needles. It would take a bit longer of course, but you would benefit from some stress reduction!

Criss-cross three layers of roving on a flat surface a bit bigger than your finished project. You can always add to the edges if it is too small or fold over bits that are too big.
Place roving "sandwich" onto the machine (or your piece of foam) and go over the surface of the layers until they become one piece. Shape the edges as you go along by folding over or adding as needed.
For stripes, add another layer of roving in the direction and width that you want. Place in machine and "stitch" in place. As you work with the roving, you get the feel for how much it reduces in size as it is worked into the base. You don't loose much, but it is a factor.
You can continue to embellish the surface by shading the edge of strips with darker roving. Make polka dots by placing little circles of roving onto the base and working them in. By adding bits of gauze, silk, felt, open weave scraps of silk, netting or yarns to the surface you will start getting a more interesting and complex look and feel going.
Then come the beads, buttons, sequins, hand embroidery, ribbons, do-dads...endless possibilities with the treasures tucked into the studios around the world!

I tore a piece of painted watercolor paper to fit the shape of the felted piece.
Tearing gives you that nice uneven edge that is perfect for taking on inks.
Place the felted, embellished piece onto the torn paper and zig-zag in place. I made the paper a little bit bigger than the felt to give it another border.


Combine Stamps, Inks, Pens, Collage to add your message on the Back!

Wouldn't someone you love like to get something like this mixed in with the the Bills!!

Now if you are feeling very inspired and just can't stand it, just go to Artgirlz.com and add some new and unique items to your ever growing fabulous stash!!!
Have fun and Spread the Word!!