I loved getting this picture in my inbox yesterday. It was from dear Yasuko (on far left). I met Yasuko years ago at the Craft and Hobby show and quickly learned how everything she does is from the heart. I hadn't seen or talked to Yasuko in about two years and as I was setting up the jewelry area, I looked up and there she was! I was so surprised and happy she found me—I remember my eyes got teary. Yasuko works for Clover Needlecrafts in Osaka, Japan. Someday I have this big dream to visit her in her home country.
Have you needle felted before? I'll show you some images from December's Crafty Book Club project where I taught the folks how to make a little needle felted ornament. I gave everyone a base of white acrylic felt and then they laid their wool on that and started punching away with the multi-needle felting tool.
Once you finish your piece you can lay it on top of an acrylic felt back ground (in this case blue) and punch some more to join the layers. Then you can stitch or glue your embellishments on top of your "scene." I'm just going ot say it….Needlefelting is FUN!
And this is just one of my bags of wool scraps! Fiber Festival season is coming up y'all! This is a great way to get small quantities of special colors. We had an assortment of needle felting books—shamelessly, including the one I co-authored with Terry Taylor, Designer Needle Felting. There are some great needle felting project books out now! If you have a fav, drop it in the comments please.
I love this little stitched snowflake with flat back crystals! On the other hand, we got hammered with real snow flakes yesterday. Ugh. I'm in denial about going out to shovel my steps. I can think of a kagillion things I'd rather do right down from shoveling out the ash in the fire place to tweezing my eyebrows (and that's saying something because I absolutely hate tweezing my eyebrows).
My friends brought their 9 year old so I gave her a choice between a felt peace sign or a deer. She did a great job making a background for it, didn't she?!? She has come to a few CBCs and has a great, creative, energetic mind.
Blanket stitch! Need I say more?
And some novelty yarn worked into this one. Oooo. Yes. Anything for texture and layers!
Yasuko's phone. Who wants one? Yeah. Me too!
Hi, I’m Candie. I design jewelry and crafts, author books, teach classes and host television programs. I thrive on simple ideas that anyone can achieve. I also love projects made from unexpected materials that stand the test of time. Join me as I lead a creative life! 
I love that phone. I want that phone.