Its supposed to be 110 today...they really are the Dog Days of Summer. I know because my dog doesn't want to do anything he doesn't have. I don't either for that matter. I did decide to make some dogs though starting with this bassett hound; this is a commission piece for a friend of mine's beloved girl Pixie. Working with a few photographs definately inspired me and here's what I came up with.
Doesn't she look sweet? Pixie is a mostly flat needle felted creation, theres a bit of relief around her eyes for expression... worked in merino, corriedale and alpaca wools.
Now for keeping cool... The other day I decided to take my work outside to my porch because I wanted to make some felty soaps. Its wet work. Thats where you wrap a bar of with wool and allow the lather of the bar itself to felt the wool around the soap and it shrinks to fit creating a built washcloth effect. As you use the bar the wool continues to shrink until you just have a little woolie pouch left. This makes a great gentle way to exfoilate. I made some last week at Rat Fest with a 10yr old and now his mom say he takes his shower everyday no problem!
Next time I'll try to remember to get some photos of the process... I was so wet through after felting 7 bars of soap... I went ahead and decided to wash Murphy as well.. He wasn't that thrilled.
