Felting Friends: Felted Soaps + Tutorial and New Video!

"Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"
— Dr. Seuss

We grow when we stretch out of our comfort zone,
we blossom when we venture into new territories,
we shine when we realize we can do something
that we've never done before.

But we only learn that we can
by doing it.

Sometime this week, may you find yourself in that place:
exploring new realms, and reaching for new heights, and
we hope that it brings you a new feeling of appreciation
for all that you are,
and all that you can do.

We believe in you.

As always, we wish you happy felting, and let us know if you have any questions or need any support by emailing us at
customer service@livingfelt.com

With Love,
Marie

Check out these gorgeous soaps by our Felting Friend, Jodie Davis!
She matched the colors of the wool with the scents,
and created some really great looking felted soaps!

Jodie stocked her felting studio with the
Studio Builder Pack and now she has an array of great
colors to choose from for her soaps and other creations.

This fun bundle comes with wool only, or complete with
8oz of core wool, a 10x7 Earth Harmony Foam
and 3 packs of felting needles!

Studio Builder 1 | Studio Builder 2

Back by Popular Request: Felting over Soap Tutorial!
If you've never felted over a bar of soap, you might like to try it just once
and see how you like it! Some people really get down to business and felt tons
of bars for gifts and craft shows. It becomes a self soaping scrubby bar :)

As with any project, there are endless ways to go about it, and below
is one approach that I have found easy and fun to do!


For great results on your first try, start with merino cross batting, and a bar of olive oil soap. If your soap has very sharp edges, consider rounding them with a vegetable peeler or knife.		Lay two overlapping strips, one running north and south, the other running east to west. It should be just enough wool to evenly cover you bar of soap.


Fold/wrap the wool tightly around the bar of soap, covering all areas. If you leave a hole in the wrapping, you will have a hole in the finished product. Holes grow wider as the wool shrinks towards other fibers and away from the gap.		Now your bar should be completely covered in wool.With batting, the fibers are already going in many different directions, so the felting will come easily. Roving or sliver will do better with at least three layers to get the fibers criss-crossing.


Place your hand inside a pair of knee-high stockings and grab the bar of soap, then fold the stocking around the bar so it is fully encased.The wool should lay flat and be without folds. The stocking provides a nice barrier and will hold the wool in place while you felt.		Wrap hair bands around the stocking to hold it in place. Dunk your soap in hot water, pressing the water through and the air out. Begin massaging the surface of the wool through the stocking. Rotate the bar in your hands, rubbing all sides and corners to felt the wool evenly and firmly.

When the fibers begin to migrate through the stocking, gently peel it off and continue felting by hand. Rinse as needed if it gets too sudsy, and when you have a nice skin on your felt, shape it and set it to dry. It will firm up as it dries. If desired, put a label on it and there you have it! Here is a free label template in Word you can use and change... It's called Soap in a Sweater

Check out our new video:
Needle Felting with Cookie Cutters!

This is a fun and easy method for making
stand alone shapes and appliques to decorate
just about anything!

Add dimension to your
projects with these:

Specialty Designer Packs come with an array
of fibers, yarns and locks! They add wonderful
texture and vibrancy to any project!

Five Designer Packs to Choose From!

Premium, Sun Dyed Mohair Locks
come in the most gorgeous colors!
Try them on a vessel, a purse, a scarf,
a journal cover and more!

Appliques Add Beautiful
Felt Designs to Fabric!

We love these appliques because they are a fast and accurate
way to apply beautiful felted designs to just about anything!

Choose from several styles including flowers, butterfly, mushroom and more!
(Marie loves the butterfly! :o)

Applique Molds for Needle Felting

If you've been a felting friend of ours for any length of time,
you know that Marie loves the metal felting tools and always
sings their praises. Well now she's added another love...the PEN TOOL.

This light weight tool is not only good for small surface design, you'll
love it for needle felting 3-D shapes, even your miniatures!

Because the needles are so close together, and because you can easily
change the configuration to 1, 2, or 3 needles,
this tool is a delight to use, even on small shapes!

Pen Needle Felting Tool

Watch Your Email!

Peace Felt 2011 Registration starts soon!
We'll let you know how you can register
to participate in creating a circle of love
felt around the world!
More on Peace Felt

Living Felt 2011 International Felting Contest!
We'll be announcing this year's theme
in next week's newsletter!
Great prizes and a fun inspiration to stretch your imagination.
Check out our amazing participant entries from 2010

Bunnies for Children in Japan!
Watch your email for this Crafts with Purpose project. Many families have been
evacuated and are displaced.

We are working with a group in Japan who will distribute simple, hand-crafted bunnies
to the children.

Even one bunny can help bring a smile
and touch a child's heart.

More info via email later this week.

...visit facebook to see even more great pics by our mutual felting friends,
and send us your pics to be featured on our blog, in our newsletters,
and the Living Felt Website. Your pic might even make the home page!

, we need clear, crisp photos
-- Please send the best photos you can! :)

More Felting Friends Pics on the Blog!

Living Felt Friends on Facebook

How to Submit Your Photos

Join us on facebook, and become a friend of LIVING FELT where you can upload your felted creations for all to enjoy!

Sending My Blessings,
Marie Spaulding
www.LivingFelt.com ~ Act on Your Inspired Ideas!

P. S.
On behalf of all of us here at Living Felt, I thank you for your letters, emails, pictures, and facebook posts. We truly love hearing from you, receiving your echoes of joy at tapping into your Inner Creativity, feeling the wonder and exhilaration of expressing from your heart. All of us here read your notes, and we all give thanks that we can be of service in lighting up that brilliant, brilliant light within you, and reminding you that it was with you all along.