Fibre Art Brooches

This coming weekend (November 16th and 17th) I will be selling my fibre art at Artistry 2013 in Blind Bay.  This is the third year for this wonderful show/sale where local artisans sell their handmade goods.

I like to have something a little different to offer at these local sales and this year I have been creating some fibre art brooches.  They have been fun to make and I will be really interested to see how they are received.

The brooches started off with a felted base of wool roving and then I added some other fibres with additional needle felting or hand stitches. I love exaggerating embroidery stitches and then layering more stitches or beads on top.  The background fabric is ultrasuede and there is a pin back on each piece.

I will also be selling my fibre art purses and cuffs as well as a few of my art quilts.

If you are in the area, drop by the Blind Bay Community Hall on Blind Bay Road (right across from the public beach) on Saturday between 10am and 4pm or on Sunday between 11am and 3pm.

Felted Fibre Art Cuffs

This is a busy time of year for those who sell handmade items for the Christmas market. Right now, I am in between two artisans show/sales in which I am participating this year . . . and I'd like to tell you about one of the items that I have created for these sales.  Cuff bracelets have been appearing in a variety of fibres and techniques over the past couple of years and I started selling some of them in my Etsy shop this year. They have been fun to create because of the incredible scope of embellishment.

I make cuffs in many techniques, but the cuffs pictured in this post are needle felted . . . dyed wool roving, threads, spun yarn and even bits of silk have been needle felted onto a base of either felted wool or synthetic wool and then they have been accented with hand embroidery stitches and a bit of beading before adding the handmade button closures. These buttons are from another Etsy seller, 2goodclaymates who also happens to live in the Shuswap area.  Carolyn custom matched the colours in some of the cuffs to come up with the buttons ... and others I found in her "ready made" collection.

The cuff on the left in the photo above has the added flourish of a burned organza ruffle around the edges which makes it so spectacular on your arm.

These cuffs are some that I created this week after selling so many of my cuffs at the sale last weekend, that I had to replenish my stock. If they don't sell this weekend, they will later be listed in my Etsy shop.

If you live in the Okanagan . . . do drop in at the Okanagan Artisans Show and Sale at the Best Western Vernon Lodge (in Vernon) this Friday, November 23 (noon to 9pm) and Saturday (9:30-3:30).  I will be there along with my felting friend, Gwen Martinuk who will be selling her gorgeous felted scarves and accessories as well as delightful felted birdhouses ... you'll fall in love with them as soon as you see them!