Holiday Sale
November 22nd and 23rd - All day.

The Needle Felting Etsy Street Team is proud to host their first Holiday SALE
Great discounts all weekend - Plus,
Find the Felting Needle in the Haystack
And win Prizes!
Just visit the shops with sales and look for the letters
N - E - E - D - L - E - F - E - L- T
in the descriptions of items for sale.
When you've found them, Convo the shop names in order
(example: Fufukitty =N) at the NFEST team shop.
http://needlefelt.etsy.com

Correct answers will be placed in a pool and
Winners will be drawn at random.
Prizes will include a needle felting beginners kit and more!

Basic Needle Felting at
Home Ec Workshop, Oct 10th

I had eight wonderful students for this workshop event. My youngest was 10 years old! Everyone worked very hard in the hour and a half allotted for this class. For those of you whou felt, knit or work on any crafty project, you know 1.5 hours is not a lot of time. It seems you just get started when it is time to clean up.

Here is a great shot of Mai Ling neeedle felting for the first time. You can see Home Ec Workshop in the background. John is sitting on the couch.

Here, Penny is working on her project.

A lovely star for her Christmas tree. Mai Ling's finished bird, and a cute little felted ring.

Home Ec is a delightful, comfortable space to work, socialize and make friends. Last night, even though they were closed for business, there were many people hanging out and working. With my class folks there it was like a little party. If you are ever in Iowa City, I recommend visiting Cody and Alissa at Home Ec Workshop. Here is a shot of the class working.


What is next for fufukitty at Home Ec??
I am so glad you asked . . .
Wet & Dry Felting, a two day workshop
Sunday, October 19th & Thursday, October 23rd.

Basic Needle Felting Class

I will be teaching basic needle felting tonight at Home Ec Workshop. I will post pictures and such later. There are nine people signed up for my class and there's a chance we could see more. I am super excited.

Blog Feature

Thanks goes out to Ben McFuzzylugs for featuring me on her blog. Please go check it out.
http://benmcfuzzylugs.blogspot.com/

My life as an artist - has been put on hold

Find more photos like this on INKTERACTION!

Up to my Eyeballs

I feel like I am lost under a sea of wool roving. I am trying to build up a supply for back-to-school and the holiday season. I have never felted so much in my life! I am seriously considering wet felting large swatches, or getting a machine to felt the base color of my pieces. I don't want to mass produce, but I cannot seem to produce enough on my own.

On another note, I am teaching 7th & 8th graders to sew pamphlets tomorrow. Yay!

Recent Items

I have been working on stocking up for back-to-school and the holiday season. I find my pieces get larger and more complex all the time. I have made a few headbands, as well as the usual assortment of small clips for Home Ec Workshop
Having a retail outlet as well as the online shop has worked out nicely, since one seems to feed the other and vice versa. I am constantly trying to give back to the ladies at Home Ec who have been so generous to me.
Generally speaking, I feel this has been a great venture for me. There has been a lot to learn about marketing, and not getting discouraged, and time management. I swear, I could spend ages on Etsy, trying to figure out who hearts me. . . but what is the point really. The more active I become in Teams and Promotions, the more I feel it paying off. I am really looking forward to the Holiday season. Hopefully the economy is not so sucky that I cannot make a few bucks this Christmas. Anyone actually reading this - remember to buy handmade this season.

True Confessions

I want to say that I have been doing this for years and that "Fiber is my life!" but that would not be true. I am fairly new to fiber arts and needle craft, and for some odd reason, I am having success.
I think because I am trained as a studio artist and and professional printer, that I have some sense of handmade items. To see my prints, please visit me at erinmaurelli.com My artist statement is there. My life to this point has been works on paper. I still really love that aspect of creating, but after having graduated with my MFA, and left the University of Iowa, I no longer have access to a press. (temporarily, I hope) So I have turned to fiber.
Specifically I am needle felting. It is fun and therapeutic, and has become a little online business. See fufufelted.com for more on that. I won't try to sell you here at my blog.