WOULD YOU LIKE MUSHROOMS WITH THAT???

WOULD YOU LIKE MUSHROOMS WITH THAT???

I am excited to have my first blogging experience on Beehive Art Salon!  My name is Deb Beeton and I live in Orem, Utah.  I am a full time wife and mother of 6 great kids!  I spent my college career studying other people's artistic expressions in a BA degree in humanities.  After I had my own family I realized through my own artistic endeavors in photography and colored pencil,  I WANT TO DO ART!  So I love to try many different mediums depending on my mood and my courage.  After all, Art takes courage doesnt it?   I appreciate having a family that will indulge my artistic muse every once in a while with a smile and a nod.  They know as long as my hands are busy I am happy!

When I was a little girl I was fascinated with terrariums, they looked like mini forests to me.  I imagined little elves and fairies living near the trunks and taking shelter under leaves and running around the woodlands.  I had a fun experience making some adorable felted wool mushrooms.  Our art group made a woodland tree with all sorts of woodland animals and mushrooms and we donated it to a local auction that benefits women and children in need.  Through this experience I learned how cool the process of felting is!  I love the simplicity of the mushroom shape and I just think mushrooms are adorable.  You could make yourself a few and use them in a terrerium, make a charm, stick a few in a jar or hang them on a spring tree.  I put some in this potted plant I have displayed with some beautiful lime green moss I got from a local garden nursery here in orem.

First you need a felting needle.  Its not an ordinary needle.  It has little barbs near the tip that grabs on to the wool and felts it. (You can get them at Joannes) THEY ARE SHARP!  ( I found out the hard way)  The tip is very fragile so you dont want to bend it as it will break off and you cant use it.

You can get a "felting block" as you see here, or use a big piece of upholstry foam.  It is a place to sculpt your mushroom so your needle has a place to go as you felt.  Wool Roving is what the wool is after it is combed out but not spun into yarn yet.  100% wool.  It is available at joannes in a few colors.  I got mine at a place in provo called Heindslemans which specialize in different yarns.  It is about 9$ for a pretty big bunch and they have great color selection!
Let's start!  I started with the stem here.

You roll a little wool and then poke, poke, poke, with your needle up and down quick motion (like a sewing machine) into your wool and create a shape. You get faster as you go! Its like sculpting with clay but you are using wool and a needle.  The stem starts small you can add and make it as thick as you want. I keep adding roving until its the size I want.  I made a tiny charm here but the first picture in my post is a little thicker and bigger.

                                                                       Watch your finger tips!

Next is the little mushroom cap. I grabbed a little roving because my mushroom will be a charm so I dont need as much. I strart out with a blob then stick the needle in to start forming a shape. It almost looks like a little raspberry. It can seem a little tedious but stick with it.  Poke in the same spot like 20 or 30 times you will see it fusing together.

always have your needle strait dont try to bend it to sculpt.  use a strait up and down motion. Until it is the size you want.

At this point is where you would want to add the metal post for a charm. I got one that has a loop already in it. Just stick it in the cap and twist then add your stem to cover it up. You fuse the cap and stem together using the poking motion of your felting needle. dont let the needle hit on the metal.

I added a few little spots on the top of my mushroom cap.

And VOILA! You have a mushroom!

Here are a few more! What am I going to do with all this fungus? (hee hee)

I love spring!