Thursday, 28 July 2016

A Polar Bear in Summer

Since discovering Gretel Parker and her wonderful creations a few years back, I've been itching to try out needle felting. I did have an unsupervised go a wee while back and it turned out okay but not great.

So a couple of weeks ago en route down south to a family gathering  I stopped off in Oxfordshire to attend a Gretel Parker workshop. It took the whole day to start to get to grips with the technique, but I had some great support and very gentle tuition. Since then I have spent quite a number of hours finishing off my little bear. And I'm super pleased with the result.



These are all the bears lined up at the end of the workshop. My bear is third in from the left at the back, looking more like a white Alsatian than a bear.  But in my own time I managed to shape him up to my satisfaction. I will put him inside a small glass dome, (when I eventually un-pack it), with some snowy bottle brush trees, I may even make him a hat, or a ruffled collar.

I will leave you with some of Gretel's work, she really is super talented.




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7 comments:

  1. the woolly dog28 July 2016 at 21:37

    That's pretty impressive for a first go, in fact they all look good, but with a tutor like Gretel how could you fail, she seems such a lovely and talented lady. Never fancied doing it, I think I'd turn my fingers into pin cushions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shrimpton and Perfect28 July 2016 at 22:57

    Only stabbed myself once, but bloomin eck it hurt. I've got an idea to create a giant rabbit now :)

    Jean

    ReplyDelete
  3. Deb28 July 2016 at 23:20

    Nice to see your finished bear and wasn't the day lovely! After the workshop I was inspired to re-visit Gretel's book and am halfway through a dachshund. My bear lives in his very own blog post at http://weekdayhome.blogspot.com/2016/07/i-made-bear.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gretel29 July 2016 at 07:42

    Oh fabulous, and well worth the extra work afterwards! I feel so touched and honoured that you took time out of your day to come to my workshop and it was lovely to finally meet you at last, after all these years!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shrimpton and Perfect29 July 2016 at 09:05

      The pleasure was really all mine Gretel. I'm sure I will see you again at another workshop.

      Take care
      Jean

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  5. Ashley cramp29 July 2016 at 15:22

    awhhh I love him so cute. Having never had the chance to felt things except of course when I accidently 'shrink' my cardis in the wash. I salute your achievment.!
    x

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  6. Lyn17 August 2016 at 18:38

    I did a workshop with Gretel at Hope and Elvis a while back and she really is a lovely lady and super talented. I love your bear.xxx

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