The blessings of my work and of my reflections.

Waldorf Doll Toy

 

Perry is my newest Waldorf Inspired Needle Felted Wool Horse

Thanks to Missy for the suggestion of the name Perry for a Waldorf horse!

 Penny is our Waldorf doll who adores horses and you can imagine how happy she is to have so many horses to love right now!! 

 

 

From left to right: Phoebe (purple horse), Pippie (pink horse) and Perry (blue horse) are handmade, organic and all natural. They are made from sheep's wool batting which I wrapped and needle felted to a wire armature that allows for gentle posing while playing and adds to the strength of his construction. 

 

Perry is covered in light  blue Merino wool roving from New Zealand. The bottoms of his hooves are light yellow. 

AND THE WINNER IS:

Thanks to all who entered the contest to name Penny's new pink horse! The names you chose were very imaginative. You may find them in my shop for other horses' names in the future. But the name for Penny's horse was chosen by an unbiased third party (my husband, with Penny's input) who was unaware of the names of those who entered as he read a list of the entered suggestions. 

THE WINNER IS: "Pippie!! ...because it is a perfect name that really seems to suite Penny's horse!" Congratulations Linda! You will be receiving your fiber artsy prize by USPS within a few days! Hope you enjoy learning how to needle felt! ~debbie :)

Creations from my Studio (& Ash Wednesday!)

Here are a few pictures of the newest items I will be putting in my store later tonight: 

Penny's horse was so beautiful that I decided to make one for another Waldorf doll or doll you may own! Wouldn't a little girl you know just love her own wooly horse? This is a new wool horse needle felted around a wire armature then covered in pure white sheep's wool. After the shape was finished I covered it in purple, orange, yellow and blush colored merino wool roving from New Zealand. I created a mane and a tail from braided roving and tacked it down firmly so it will last in the hands of older preschoolers. It is safe for all ages. This little horse was made with a full 4 ounces of wool.It stands about 9inches high.

Penny couldn't wait to introduce the two horses!

 

This Waldorf dress is for soft bodied dolls 13 -14 inches tall. The dolls in my store whose names begin with "P" can wear this! It is wine colored with dots and swirls, long sleeve dress with a natural fray at the bottom instead of a hem. This fabric is from the new Dancing Horses designer collection that I made for Penny. Here she is wearing this dress:

I have been asked to include a few more pictures of Penny's hair showing the front and back more clearly, so here you go! Click on the pictures to zoom in. Hope this helps.

I was busy last week making Valentine's Day toys for my grandsons. Thought you might like to see what they received in the mail from me (along with candy and a card):

This dog and cat went to our daughter's sons in Atlanta. They are 3 and 2 years old and I thought they might like a different type of wool filled doll, since they received Waldorf dolls for Christmas.  

 The tan puppy is for 2 year old Nathan whose favorite stuffed animal at home is a puppy he named Puddles. He loves trucks and bulldozers too, so this dogs little t-shirt has just that on it. 

For 3 year old Sam who loves cats the most, I made him a grey cat. He also loves Dalmations and firetrucks. So I was excited to find this t-shirt material with tiny firetrucks and tiny dalmations on it to dress his new cozy friend in. 

Our son and his family just left New York and moved to Mississippi for tech school with the US Air Force. Three year old grandson Kaidyn loved our neighbor's cat and they played together all the time. Kaidyn misses Bernie the cat, so I decided that is exactly what I would try to make him. To make the cat look tiger striped, like Bernie, I took caramel colored fleece and on the underside I needle felted the rust colored thick and thin pieces of yarn. I kept poking the pieces of yarn with the felting needle just till the fibers began to show on the front side and begin to feel "furry". I think the effect was amazing! Kaidyn loves all sports and I made his cat's t-shirt with a football design. 
 

All three animals have short pants made from this cool fabric from the designer collection Grunge Basics by Basic Grey for Moda. I cannot wait to make more of these for my Etsy shop!

This is the book I bought to learn to make these cute little softies. The directions are clear and all patterns are inside. I made changes to each, switching out outfits and colors, etc. But you can make it exactly like the wonderful ones in the book!

 I sent my doll Poppy off this week to her new BFF. Since we were in the middle of a blizzard and since she was going all the way to cold Minnesota, I decided she needed a new scarf to keep her warm on her journey. 

 

I think you will be seeing Waldorf doll scarves in my Etsy shop pretty soon. Aren't they so sweet and don't they just make her Red Duster look awesome? Poppy said she will wear it without her Duster, too. It will help her keep her nose warm even inside!

One more thing I made for Valentine's Day was the paper balls you may have seen that I had started in the pictures of my home studio. My daughter-in-law Nina helped me make enough for each of my daughter-in-laws, my daughter and myself! We worked on them while we watched the Super Bowl with our hubbies. The inspiration and directions for the Paper Balls are from this book:

 

 Hope you enjoyed seeing all the things I have been up to the past week and a half. 

Today is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent. My husband and I recently became members of a church that observes these days with services and encourages special spiritual preparation in each of our hearts for the glorious celebration of Easter that is to come in forty days.  

As we are invited to enter into a season of reflection tonight we were reminded with the ashes of the palm branches (from last year's Palm Sunday observances), that have been crushed, mixed with olive oil and burned to create the ashes, that we too, are only ashes. And to ashes we will return. That is what the Pastor said as he made a sign of the cross on my forhead with the ashes.

I am going to be open to inspiration that may come from a new place within me during this season of reflection and prayer and fasting. I look forward anew to the gift of creativity and beauty!
May the peace and love of God be with each of you!
~debbie :)

NEW CONTEST to name new Waldorf Inspired Needle Felted Horse

CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST

Penny has thought and thought, but cannot think of an amazing name for her little horse. She is trying to come up with a "P" name (a name beginning with the letter P) for her little friend. I am hoping some of you will leave a comment helping her name her horse. For the person who gives us the perfect name (Penny will be the final judge) I will happily send out a ball of pure felted plain wool (that I have already rolled then wetted with very warm water and added soap.Then I squeezed and squeezed and rolled it around in my hand till it became a more solid ball. It was then rinsed and squeezed dry and set out to air dry completely.  It is 9 inches around and about 3 inches high. It is now ready to decorate so I will also send the winner some colored roving and I will include a barbed felting needle and instructions. Have you always wanted to try needled felting, but didn't want to invest in all the supplies? Then this is your chance to try it!

So to enter: add a comment below with a "P" name for Penny's horse. Please include an email address so I can contact you if you win. Enter as often as you like, but only one horse NAME per entry. The contest is open NOW (12:35pm, Sunday, February 14th, 2010) and will close on at 11:59pm on Saturday, February 20th, 2010. Winner will be announced Sunday, February 21st. Prize will be mailed out on Monday, February 22nd.
Good luck everybody!
~debbie :)

Waldorf Doll Penny and Her Pink Felted Horse

I can't wait to introduce you to my newest 

Waldorf doll Penny! She needs help naming her beautiful new needle felted wool horse!

I AM HOLDING A NEW CONTEST TO NAME HER HORSE.....KEEP READING TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN ENTER AND HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN! 

  WINNER will receive

wool ball to felt, wool roving and 

a felting needle with instructions.

 Penny loves horses. She loves to play horses with her friends!! She loves to read books about horses. All night she dreams about growing up and riding far away on the fastest horse ever!

Other Waldorf dolls love to play house with their best friends, or dress up, or love to cook, but Penny loves to play horses with her friends. She is happiest when her friends bring all their horses over and they have a sleepover and play together all night.

I decided to surprise her by making her a new dress with the new Dancing Horses fabric by Laurel Burch for Clothworks. The bodice and sleeves are Dancing Horses Dark Wine Swirls and Dots and the skirt of the dress is Dancing Horses Dark Wine Metallic Mini Horses. Her matching under panties are made in the mini horses fabric. When the dress was ready and I brought it to her, I told her to close her eyes and not peak. I helped her put on the dress, her eyes squeezed shut. She was talking a mile a minute, wondering what I could be up too and asking so many questions.

I placed her in front of the mirror and told her to open her eyes. She almost fainted with delight! But my surprises were not over. She didn't know it, but I was setting about to make her the prettiest horse ever and all for her!

I decided to make her a gorgeous and unique friend - a horse that I would fashion out of pure sheep's wool. I started by making a wire armature frame that allows for careful posing during play. The frame is covered with over 3 ounces of wool that I have needle felted together.

The process is a traditional art form used before the colonial days. After shaping the armature to have 4 legs, a back, neck and head, I began to cover the frame with fluffy, undyed wool. The tools I used were a long barbed needle and a large flat brush for a base. I then took lengths of fluffy wool and rolled it around the wire, covering it completely. I added more wool and then as I rotated the form of the horse I poked the barbed needle deep into the wool and up again, deep into the wool and up again - thousands and thousands of times.This process causes the wool to felt and to become firm yet remains soft and squishy to touch.

As I needled felted the wool it lost its loft and I added more and more until the thickness and desired shape was achieved with the needle. After many hours of this process of adding wool and punching and shaping it with the needle, the final shape and form of the horse was complete.

Then I held Penny up to my selection of wool roving that hangs in my studio. I told her we were now going to decide the color her horse would be. It took her like one second to choose the bright pink. She sat near me, watching as I continued needle felting the pink roving to the raw wool and before our eyes the horse became so colorful and bright and happy!

Every horse has a mane and tail of course and Penny helped me pick out the prettiest colors to make her horse the most beautiful and magical that has ever been! I attached, twisted and tucked the roving to get the effect we were after. I secured the ends of the tail and mane. After adding a "blanket", "reins", swirls and embellishments Penny's horse was ready to nuzzle and play with her!
Penny is in her glory!

Already she has hosted a tea party for her new friend.

 They have "traveled" away to places unexplored and back.

And all the other Waldorf dolls around here think that Penny has the most wonderful horse they have ever seen.


Oh, and Penny? She is of classic Waldorf design. Her legs are one piece with her body.

She can sit and her arms are attached. She is fashioned, like her horse out of 100% pure sheeps wool. The wool is rolled and inserted into "skin" that is made from long stapled cotton grown only in Turkey. The fabric is from Europe and is organic and all natural. The quality is superior to any doll "skin" fabric I have ever used. She has an inner head that is tightly rolled wool that is tied and shaped before the skin fabric is applied. She has a little nose and hand embroidered brown eyes and pink mouth. Her gorgeous mane of thick brown hair is hand dyed wool yarn in eight different textures. I crocheted a yarn wig that caps her head and then I cut and pulled through and tied off every strand of her hair. Her hair is in pig tails now, but can be let down and played with and styled in so many ways. Please do not use a brush however, the hair can only be finger combed due to the way some of the yarn is made.

Both toys' wool bodies will warm when hugged. Imagine sleeping with a doll that shares your body heat and in turn warms you?! This is a gift a child will cherish! Penny is heirloom quality and while she can be handed down to the next generation, my Waldorf dolls are made to be played with everyday by this generation of children!

Thank you for shopping my Etsy shop. I would love to make a custom doll like this or of a different style and size. Just let me know!

~debbie :)

CONTEST

Penny has thought and thought, but cannot think of an amazing name for her little horse. She is trying to come up with a "P" name for her little friend. I am hoping some of you will leave a comment helping her name her horse. For the person who gives us the perfect name (Penny will be the final judge) I will happily send out a ball of pure felted plain wool (that I have already rolled then wetted with very warm water and added soap.Then I squeezed and squeezed and rolled it around in my hand till it became a more solid ball. It was then rinsed and squeezed dry and set out to air dry completely.)  It is 9 inches around and about 3 inches high. It is now ready to decorate so I will also send the winner some colored roving and I will include a barbed felting needle and instructions. Have you always wanted to try needled felting, but didn't want to invest in all the supplies? Then this is your chance to try it!

So to enter: go to the blog post entitled NEW CONTEST... posted on Sunday, Feb.14th
leave your idea for the name for Penny's horse in the comments section of the Feb.14th post (not this post). Good luck everybody!