The thing I like about the projects in this book, and probably about handsewing felt in general, is how easy it is, nice to work with, and totally and absolutely satisfying! The fact that a little unevenness actually looks great is a total bonus :)
Of course, mine don't approach the rustic feel of the originals because I Just. Can't. Do. It. I try. I try really hard to be wonky. But my innate anal retentiveness won't allow me. It's a total battle as I go, part of my brain is saying in a very James Kirk way "Must. Be. Wonky." and the other part of me is saying in a Church Lady kind of voice "Tidiness is a virtue"
Part of the fun of the finger puppets is that she suggests you make various changes for different animals (as seen in her examples) but the tails are a mystery so I had to come up with my own versions for each animal (except the mouse). From left to right that would be: dog, mouse, rabbit, cat, hamster. I probably shouldn't have placed the cat next to the hamster but on second thought the hamster looks big enough to take care of itself.
I'm feeling a little dissatisfied with my photos recently. I know why and it's Photoshop action envy. I ended up at MCP Actions via Pioneer Woman's photography blog, and I have this horrible lingering feeling that if I could just afford to buy one of those packages then my photos would suddenly be breathtaking. I hate the hazy, slightly faded look they have sometimes and while I can Photoshop them a bit by myself or use the PW action sets I have (limited but great I should add) I really wish they had the depth of colour, clarity and sparkle that the pros manage.
Do you already have Photoshop Elements? Try GIMP- it's free, and does just about everything Photoshop does, I think :) These little puppets turned out so sweet :)
ReplyDeleteThis is fab!
ReplyDeleteI just died of cute. And, by the way, I like your photos. They look plenty bright and sparkly to me.
ReplyDeleteI love the curlicue tail you gave the bunny. And I know all about the inner church lady. Although she's not very successful (my wonkiness comes naturally, I fear), she certainly is loud.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you will ignore the voices telling you how you "should" be sewing and that your photos aren't quite good enough. I really enjoyed this post and may very well put some felt finger puppets together for my two year old twin nieces. Thanks for the lovely post!
ReplyDeleteOh they are just entirely too cute! Love them, and you're right - the hamster can totally defend itself! (I wish we had hamsters here...that's a rodent I could get enthusiastic about having in the house! lol) Oh, and inner church ladies tend to keep their traps shut if you feed them cake, just btw...
ReplyDelete...funny you should mention about your photos...I was just thinking what great ones you had of the puppets! I have no advice - am feeling decidedly disappointed with my photos at the moment - but I know that's all down to a decided lack of skill.
More importantly though...what are you taking down to Feilding? Do you knit?
Hee hee....yes Jacqui do you knit?????
ReplyDeleteYour pics are lovely! Still, I know what you mean. I have a point & shoot and no photoshop. I may as well be in the dark ages! I feel like great pictures elevate the work *so much*.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I work at it but definitely feel that if I could click one action button for the same result I'd be a happy camper.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the problem with church lady voices, the nasal tone really carries.
ReplyDeleteNo, the voices aren't that prescriptive, just a reflection of my inner turmoil and struggle ;) I think a little more wonkiness and untidiness would be good for my soul, certainly I achieve it in other parts of my life with ease (like keeping the house clean), but in crafting it doesn't come naturally.
ReplyDeleteNo I don't knit sadly, I ended up taking nothing down at all! But that was fine as I was doing social things mostly so this way I didn't feel like there ws something I should be doing instead :) I've decided that there's skill in photography and then there's Photoshop. A little of the first goes part of the way, Photoshop takes you the rest. It can't save a terrible photo but it does wonders with mediocre! I'm such a fan and I'd be even more of a fan if I had more actions...
ReplyDeleteBugger off Gilsdorf. ;) You know darn well I rely on you for fabulous knitted items!
ReplyDeleteI've never had to experiment with them because I've always had Photoshop but I gather there are some pretty powerful free online tools for gussying up photos - or if not free then a darn sight cheaper than Photoshop!
ReplyDeleteOMG these are so so cute
ReplyDeletehee hee
ReplyDeleteThese are cute! I had to laugh at your wonky comment. I was chopping up some choc slice last night and 'oh no, it's going all wonky...actually it's kind of cute wonky, maybe I'll do it like that...' so I ended up with a whole batch of totally symetrical identical little wonky pieces of chocolate slice.
ReplyDeleteI have the full-fledged Photoshop, of which I use to about...1% of its
ReplyDeletecapacity I'd guess :)) I think next time I'll look into elements as I
suspect it might be more suited to what I do with it, Photoshop proper is
definitely geared for the pros.