Making felt toys with Feltmistress

For a long time, Al and I have admired the wonderful felt characters Feltmistress creates through Instagram and Twitter. So when we saw she was running a toy making workshop at Somerset House Pick Me Up exhibition - and that it was the day after the marathon when I had a day off - we had to go.

Groam (right!)

We met two of her felt gurus G'goob and Groam - whom we'd previously admired from afar.

G'goob

Then we started trying to make our own.

There were lots of templates and suggested features - or we could try making our own. Still high on the marathon, I decided mine was going to be some kind of bemedalled superhero...

Feltmistress showed us how to add the eyes and we started sewing our toys features on to their bodies.

You'll have someones eye out with that ;)

We'd arrived early but while we were working the workshop got incredibly busy, with some amazing creations going on..

Here's our two. We couldn't stay to finish them but they're ready to be sewn together and stuffed back home.

Just love the expression on Alex's (left). Mine just looks insanely happy to have got a medal!

Later that evening I finished them off..

And photographed them next to my own felt creations - a robot and blackbird cushion for Al's worrisome warrior... 

..and the Elmer cushions for my toothy medal winner...

And here they are enjoying the sun together. Awww.

A border collie and a bicycle

Al turned 30 today and I made him a few homemade things to go with the money I was giving him towards a bicycle frame making course in the summer.

Here's a present from Watson - I found a black border collie model and painted him Watson colours with acrylic paints. I made his favourite toys - a ball and a milk carton - out of Fimo and found a suitable stick in the garden. The grass and bush are modelling greenery from 4D model shop.

Watson and all his favourite toys

I also made him a bicycle birthday card with pastels (it's been a while since I used them!);

Turns out bicycles are not that easy to draw with pastels!