Books

Excerpt from The Never Ending Story by Michael Ende:

Everyone in Fantastica knew what the medallion meant. It was the badge of one acting on orders from the Childlike Empress, acting in her name as though she herself were present. It was said to give the bearer mysterious powers, though no one knew exactly what these powers were. Everyone knew its name: AURYN

When Atreyu, the little boy hero, accepts the Great Quest bestowed upon him by the Childlike Empresses, a quest to save Fantastica from the Nothing, the medallion is placed around his neck.

"AURYN!" Atreyu repeated with awe. "I will be worthy of the Glory."

A couple of days ago I watched The Never Ending Story with Bug, Fairy and Pixie. They were enthralled. I promised them that the next time they were over I would begin reading them the book. Bug said, "I need a thing to put around my neck like Atreyu.

Well, of course he does! I did an Internet search to see if there were any metal ones out-and-about to purchase. There were, but all of them were pricey. So, I set about making one for him out of felt. When I gave it to him today, I know he couldn't have been more pleased if it were made out of gold. He immediately changed into what he considered appropriate attire (his Pirate Shirt Michelle made for him, although I'm thinking of actually making him an Atreyu costume), and he was more than willing to participate in a photo shoot!  Although I did make this as a medallion, if enlarged slightly, it could be used as one of our 6" applique blocks. Hope you have a little boy hero to give AURYN to! Enjoy!

Materials:
wool felt
embroidery floss
lid of wide mouth Mason jar
1mm satin cording
pattern

Make a copy of the pattern and cut out the necessary pieces. (Directions for cutting out felt can be found HERE.)

Using the pattern as a guide, place pieces on top of pattern, weaving them together following the pattern. Note: It is easier if you make 2 copies of the pattern; one to lay the pieces on and one to refer to for weaving the pieces correctly. Pin the felt together so it will not shift when you move it.

Position the snakes in the center of one of the felt circles. Pin in place. Stitch the snakes to the felt circle following the stitching lines on the pattern. Embroider eyes. (BTW... the pattern calls for a "stain stitch"... this should read "satin stitch"). Note: When cutting out the 2 large sections of the snake, you cut through the snake's body. This is necessary so you can intertwine the snakes. When sewing the snakes to the felt DO NOT sew along this edge because it is suppose to look like one continuous piece of snake. Instead, from the back side, tack this edge to the felt, making sure you do not go all the way through the snake. You do not want to see the stitching from the front but you want to make sure it lays down flat. Instead of tacking it from behind, you can put a little tab of fabric glue under this edge to hold it in place.


Lay the embroidered felt circle on top of the other. Pin in place and blanket stitch half way around the 2 circles.

Slide the wide mouth Mason jar lid between the 2 circles. This will give it body. If you do not have a wide mouth Mason jar lid, cut a circle from a rigid piece of plastic (mayo or peanut butter jar lid will work). The circle needs to be smaller than the felt circles since you need to blanket stitch around the outer edge. Finish blanket stitching around the rest of the circles.

Cut out a piece of felt 1" x 2" the same color as the felt circles.

Fold the piece of felt in thirds creating a 2" long, skinny loop. Sew a running stitch down the middle to hold the folds together.

From the front, mark the top of the medallion with a pin so you can see it from the back side.

Fold your loop in half and pin it to the back of the medallion so the top of the loop is 1/2" from the top.

Sew the loop to the medallion across the loose bottom edges and a few tacking stitches on either side near the bottom of the loop.

Cut a length of cord the desire you want. Make sure it will be able to slide over your child's head. String the cord through the loop and tie off the edges.


You are now ready to send your little boy hero on his own Quests!
 

I have some bad news to share... Last evening I was working on Part Two of Noisy Nora. I was sitting at the computer, banging away at the keyboard, my two Yorkies were curled up on my crafting table, and the two pups... soon to be 5 months old, were running in and out of the house to our enclosed deck and dog run. Pretty standard fair. Tim turned around and started chuckling.

"Oh, look. Now their playing keep-away with a dried leaf."

"Sweet", I said, absorbed in my writing.

I didn't process Tim's, "Oh no" until it was followed by, "I'm so sorry, Kim."

I stopped what I was doing, and reluctantly looked.

There, in his hand, was the leaf they were playing keep-away with. Only it wasn't a leaf... it was Noisy Nora. As a matter of fact, Father, Mum, Kate and Jack were also missing in action. We found pieces; some in the dog run, some on the deck, a random tail or ear on the family room floor, and we have to assume, the rest of the body parts were ingested!

I remained relatively calm considering I'm a woman on the edge right now. I called Michelle. She said, "Oh... you should post of picture of the decimation."

"No", I said. I would rather Noisy Nora was remembered as she was... full of life and mischief, not this broken and almost unrecognizable mass of matted alpaca fur!"

So, it seems for the time being, Noisy Nora has been silenced. Fortunately, I took pictures of the process, and I have her photos from the previous post to remind me of her and to write up the tutorial. I will get Part Two up shortly. Unfortunately, with my unbelievably busy schedule, I may not get back to remaking the mouse family until the Fall, and I can't make clothing for them until I have little mouses to model for me. If you have been waiting to do this project, at least I'll be able to have a tutorial on making the mice, sans clothing, soon.

You know how it is when you get your child's portrait taken and you must go through the agonizing decision of picking 2 or 3 cute poses out of 50?

So you ask a friend... "Which one of these 2 do you like better?"

She responds, "Oh, I thought they were the same."

"Oh, no", you protest, "See, in this one he's just breaking a smile and in this one he's just finishing a smile"!

Well, I wanted to give you a Noisy Nora progress report. I've got all 5 bodies done, with ears and noses, I just need to add arms, tails and face detail. I did finish Nora. Since I couldn't decide which picture I liked best, I included a few. They are different... really :) I've also been working on the clothing patterns for them. Hopefully, I will have Step 2 up in the next couple of days. In the meantime, let me introduce you to Naked Nora!

To begin making our little finger puppet mice for our Book Nook Book - Noisy Nora, I made 5 little bodies. Below are the directions. Before I get to that, however, I want to introduce everyone to a super cool lady and her outrageously cute alpacas! I "met" Maple of North Star Alpacas, when I first started Wee Folk Art. I am SOOOOO glad I did. I love working with alpaca roving, and Maple has the best I've ever worked with. I love how long alpaca fur is, making the roving and yarns supple and smooth and super easy to felt. She has beautiful colors and sells many of her rovings variegated. I love it! (BTW... I use the dyed alpaca roving to wrap around the branches in my gnome home to simulate foliage!)

I contacted Maple the other day after I had made the bodies. I just had to sing the praises of her roving yet again. Since I was going to feature her alpaca roving in this project, I asked her if she'd like to give our readers even more incentive to pay a visit to her Etsy shop. She generously offered for all first time customers 25% all yarns (they are gorgeous) and 15% off everything else in her shop. Trust me, you want to stock up. If you are interested in getting some great roving, don't delay. Her stock changes frequently, and if you see something you like, she might not have the same blend again. If you place an order, mention Wee Folk Art at check out and she'll Paypal you the savings as a refund. We've added her button under our Featured Sponsor so it will be easy to get to her shop.

Having said all that, time to move on to making the little mousey bodies. I used one of Maple's variegated rovings, with brown, gray and off white. So fun. Make the bodies so they reach at least below your middle knuckle, but they can be cut down later. I placed the finished bodies on pencils to dry. Make sure they dry thoroughly before you begin step 2... needle felting.
 
Materials:
roving (see comments above)

Break off about a 6" length of roving.

Pull apart the roving so it is thin.

Pull off pieces and wrap around your index finger, making sure to cover your finger tip well. It works best to always wrap in the same direction. It is better to use many very thin pieces of fiber instead of dense pieces.

Wet your finger with warm water and squirt with liquid dish soap.

Begin squeezing and rubbing your finger, agitating the fibers, to create felting. Add more soap and water as needed. 

Before long the fibers will felt. You will know it is done when the fibers feel dense, hug your finger and have an almost sticky feel to them. Rinse your finger.


Place on a pencil and dry upright. This will probably take 24 hours.

BTW... I just started needle felting faces. Here's a little peek. That will be covered in Part 2!

So, what do you think this is a picture of? Perhaps cat tail tops? Morels? Owl pellets? A cat's fur ball? No to all of the above. Actually, they are the bodies for Nora, Kate, Jack, Father and Mum from Noisy Nora.

Heeding several suggestions, I decided to make finger puppets, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to wet felt, needle felt or sew them using felt. My final decision... do all three! Figures, right? Anyway... I am sharing this project a little differently than I've shared any in the past. Generally, you do not hear about a project until I'm all done. What you don't know is there are some projects I make that aren't exactly blog worthy. Sure, some of them are close, and later I go back and tweak them to the point that I'm willing to share them, but others fall into the realm of dismal failures and I make a few mental notes and move on, never to revisit the debacle!

This project is different. As I told you at the beginning of the season, I was not going to be sharing as many crafts this summer. The gardens, family and a few non Wee Folk Art projects are claiming most of my time. Add to that a few more exciting outside projects, plus the baby shower AND moving my parents into a condo and I have about 17 minutes to myself all day :) (No complaints, BTW... this is all good stuff!) However... I don't want to go another week without sharing anything while I find time to make my Noisy Nora finger puppets, so I decided to share the project as I make it. But here's the rub... I'm not sure if they are going to turn out adorable (hey, they are in my mind's eye!) or if they'll be one of those dismal failures I mentioned, that you aren't suppose to know about.

So, there you have it. I'm inviting you into the whole creative process. Hopefully, at the end, we'll have something wonderful. But, in the event we don't... you can give me sympathetic words :) Oh, yes. I also have an old Internet friend to introduce you to, and she has a special offer for all our readers. More about that in the first part of the project... felting the bodies. Keep your fingers crossed this all turns out well! 

"Jack had dinner early,
Father played with Kate,
Jack needed burping,
So Nora had to wait.

First she banged the window,
Then she slammed the door,
Then she dropped her sister's marbles on the kitchen floor.

"Quiet!" said her father.
"Hush!" said her mum.
"Nora!" said her sister,
"Why are you so dumb?"

So the tale unfolds. And when a small, middle child doesn't get enough warm fuzzies, she settles for cold pricklies! The story is about a young mouse, Nora, tucked between a baby brother that requires a lot of attention and an older sister that gets it. Your heart reaches out to Nora as her frustration level increases. Finally, she is driven to a rash act, and the family learns a valuable lesson.

Noisy Nora was first published by Rosemary Wells in 1973. The book is still available for purchase, although Rosemary Wells re-illustrated the story in bolder colors and in a larger book format. I LOVE THIS BOOK. Not only is the text fun to read, and the pictures are delightful to parents and children alike, the message is clear; children WILL get attention, whether it is positive or negative. 

Since this is one of my favorite books, I want to turn it into a Book Nook book with a means of extending the story for children's play. The first 2 books I featured, Caps for Sale and Have You Seen My Duckling, both utilized wood cut characters or props. Since not everyone does wood working, I wanted to do something different with this book. Anyone have any brilliant ideas... hey, I'd even take well meaning half baked ideas! So... what would you like to see me do with this story? I have a couple of ideas myself, but it's always fun to be driven by our readers!   

Monday evening Michelle called me up and said, "Hey, Mom. Can you do me a favor?" Experience has taught me 2 things... first, I seldom say "No" to my children, and second, no matter how busy I am, I am going to get busier. "What do you need?" I ask. "Well", she starts, "Wednesday is the girls' last day of dance class for the year, and I want to make something for Miss Jodi. When I was looking at our projects, I was thinking, I bet lots of people would like a ballet slipper book mark. Do you think you could design one for me? I'll make it, but I don't have any of the supplies at home. So if you design it, and put together a kit of the materials, I will make it. Of course, you could blog about it, and you'll probably want to make one yourself so you can take pics for the tute..." Well, you get the picture!

So, Monday night I designed a Ballet Slipper Book Mark, and Tuesday I made two. I think they turned out adorable, and Miss Jodi loved it. Although the girls gave 1 to Miss Jodi to use as a book mark, you certainly could make 2 to use as decoration. Enjoy!

  

Materials for 1 slipper:
Pink felt
Tan felt
White felt
Pink grosgrain ribbon - 1/4" x 48" for lace and 1/4" x 6" for ribbon
Embroidery thread
Pattern

Make a copy of pattern.

Cut out ribbon and felt as follows (Hints for cutting out felt can be found HERE):
     2 pieces pink for ballet slipper
     1 piece tan for sole
     1 piece white for inside shoe
     48" of 1/4" pink grosgrain ribbon
     6" of 1/4" pink grosgrain ribbon

Note: Since the slipper is not perfectly symmetrical, you will want to stitch them together in the way they were cut out. When you are done appliqueing pieces to the front and back of the slipper, the 2 pieces will be blanket stitched together with the appliques on the outside. When appliqueing pieces to the slipper make sure you are sewing the appliqued pieces on the right side of the pieces. 

Using pattern for placement, sew sole to slipper back using a running stitch and 2 strands floss. Set aside. (Note: I forgot to take a pic when I was sewing on the sole, so this pic shows the sole when the slipper is all done.) 

Using pattern for placement, pin the inside of the shoe to the slipper front.

Lay the pattern next to the slipper. Fold the ribbon in half to find the center. Slip the center under the white inside of the shoe following the pattern placement. Pin the ribbon in place.

Beginning directly above one of ribbons, and using 2 strands of floss, sew the inside shoe and ribbon to the slipper using a running stitch. Sew until you catch both ribbons at the front of the shoe.


Fold each ribbon diagonally on the front of the slipper, overlapping in the center, following pattern placement. Pin in place.

Fold each ribbon diagonally behind the inside of the slipper, overlapping under the inside slipper piece, following pattern placement. Pin in place. 


Finish sewing the inside to the slipper. When you come to the 2 side crossed ribbons, slide your needle to the back, and tack in place from behind so you cannot see the stitching on the top of the side ribbons. Continue stitching around the top, catching the top ribbons in place between the the side slipper and the slipper.

Using the 6" of ribbon, tie a small bow. Cut the ends on angles and flatten the bow between your fingers.

Pin bow to the slipper using the pattern for placement. Pin in place. Tack the bow to the slipper from behind. Keep your stitches hidden so they cannot be seen on the front.

Place the wrong side of the slipper front on the wrong side of the slipper back. Pin in place. Blanket stitch the 2 pieces together using 3 strands of floss.

Cut the ends of the ribbons on angles to prevent fraying, and tie the ends together in a bow. It is now ready to be used as a book mark. If you wish to make a pair of ballet slippers, tie the two slippers together.

Three selfish frogs learn a valuable lesson about sharing from a toad and a very scary thunderstorm in Leo Lionni's It's Mine. I created the pattern for the Water Lily and the Lily Pads to extend the story but you can certainly use these for decorating or adding to a nature table. I made 3 lily pads and 1 water lily and laid them on a blue play silk, but you can make enough lily pads to cover an entire pond :) These have become a favorite with the grandbabies. Enjoy! 

LILY PADS

Materials:
green felt
embroidery floss
It's Mine Pattern (pattern includes lily pads for felt and  frog and toad for wood)

Directions:
1] Print the It's Mine Pattern.

2] Cut out 2 pieces for each lily pad. I made 3 lily pads using 2 different greens. (How to Cut Out Felt)

3] Using a blanket stitch, sew the 2 pieces of lily pads together using a blanket stitch.

WATER LILIES

Materials:
white/off white roving
embroidery floss
balls for wrapping 2", 3", 4"

NOTE: I planned to make 3 layers of petals, thus I used 3 balls. When I was done, I felt the water lily was too big for my project, so I wound up using only 2 balls; the 2" and the 3". The more you use though, the fuller the flower will be.

1] Choose the balls you are going to felt over. Think graduated sizes.

2] Follow steps 1 - 10 of our Felted Eggs for general directions on how to felt around a form. Note: I LOVE to hand felt in water. If you prefer, you can felt in the washing machine.

3] Using string or yarn, wrap the string around the ball, dividing it into 8 equal sections.

4] Using a disappearing marker, mark along each string from the top down about 2/3 the way.

5] Remove the string.

6] Using very sharp scissors, cut along each mark. Remember, do not cut the bottom third of the flower.

7] Using a fingertip or thin rag, dip in water and gently tap petal edges removing disappearing ink.

8] When you have cut your petals, place the smaller one inside of the larger one. (If using 3 sizes, place the small and medium petal in the large petal.)

9] French knot the 2 or 3 petals together using 6 strands of floss. Make one French Knot in the middle of the bottom, and 6 more knots circling the center knot.

To display:
Arrange the 3 lily pads in a circle and place the water lily in the middle.

It has been a busy, topsy turvy few days and truly can't imagine things settling down for a while. This past weekend was bittersweet. We were preparing for our 2 new pups to join our household when we got a call Friday morning that both of them were sick. Within 24 hours we lost them both to parvo. Having just lost our dear friend Scully, we both took it very hard. So, so sad. Although Tim swore we would not be bringing any new animals into a heart for a long time, by that afternoon, 2 new rescue puppies joined our family. They too are border collie mixes, and look quite a bit like Scully. We named the boys Sheldon and Leonard, and if you happen to be fans of The Big Bang Theory like we are, you'll understand our choice of names :) All is well except our 2 Yorkies are questioning our decision. They were use to living with a Husky and a Border Collie, but they were adults when the Yorkies meet them. The pure unadulterated energy of the 2 pups is a bit overwhelming, and if looks could kill, George would have done me in today! Wish us luck :)

On a crafty note... I have drawn up plans for toys to go along with the book It's Mine, by Leo Lionni. The story is about how 3 quarrelsome siblings learn a lesson about cooperation from a very helpful toad. I am making the frogs and toads from wood, the lily pads from felt, and Michelle had a brilliant idea for the lily flower that I'll be trying later in the week. I'll be sharing all these patterns over the next week or so.

I'll close with a few pics of the pups... just cuz I can :) It is amazing how much they've grown in just 2 days. Weeds I tell you :) So, here's Leonard and Sheldon.

Over the next few weeks I plan to share books with Bug, Fairy and Pixie by author and illustrator Leo Lionni. I have quite a few of his books in my collection including:

It's Mine

An Extraordinary Egg

Fish is Fish

Swimmy

Little Blue and Little Yellow

Inch by Inch

Frederick

Matthew's Dream

A Color of His Own

Lionni was born in Holland in 1919 and in 1939 moved with his family to the United States. He had a very successful career as a commercial graphic artist. In 1959 he published his first book, Little Blue and Little Yellow, and went on to author and illustrate over thirty children's books, many of them award winners.

Children love Leo Lionni's books. His use of mixed media and collage are visually stimulating and their simplicity allows children's imaginations to elaborate scenes. His stories have simple morals about sharing, cooperating and self acceptance. Although they are classified as Reading Level 1, his vocabulary can be challenging with words like momentum, inseparable, and impatiently, and beginning readers will need help achieving fluency.

These books lend themselves well to sharing many different artistic techniques, both visual and written. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of our projects we will be doing. If you would like to join us, head out to the library or check out the above links to Amazon, and grab a handful of his delightful books.