This is my third needle-felted fella... meet Portico. =) He was made for a dear love of mine, who happens to be TOO FAR AWAY right now...




My mom commented that his butt was too big. Too bad. I like big butts. =P



He also traveled with me a little. He's a worldly little polar bear.



Just for reference, my first and second projects, left to right respectively.


I'd love to get better at this craft! I'm finding it SUPER satisfying. Any comments/criticism is greatly appreciated! That, and perhaps some knowledge of where to get more roving.... And are more needles required? I've only got the one that the first kit came with.

I work outside a heck of a lot, and one of the things I always need (and always wear out) are rainboots! It's hard to find a pair that you can actually run in, so when I found a pair, I bought them... even if they're just plain grey. Just in case you're wondering, they're the Kamik brand, which are surprisingly snug, not boxy and floppy at all like most rainboots.

I had a silver DecoColor marker lying around... and approx 20 minutes later, here are the results.



Note: Not sure if this'll actually hold up in the rain or not, no promises. Could probably be done with a silver sharpie if I had one on hand. The silver color here is RIDICULOUSLY reflective - super eye-catching. I personally love it and think it'll be perfect for cutting through those foggy, gross days. Also, you can easily tell that I drew this without sketching and in a short amount of time, hahaha, no laughing at my wonky fish. =P
The lighter silver color is actually from the marker running out. Whoops! It worked out well for trying to fill in the shoal of fish, though.

Instead of trying to transform my whole body on a budget, why not just have one of the most infamous jellyfish (colonies) sitting on my head, tentacles cascading all down my body?

http://beyond.australianmuseum.net.au/images/400/j032.jpg
http://i1.treknature.com/photos/261/portugese-man-of-war.jpg

For those of you that are unfamiliar, the Portuguese Man O' War Jellyfish is a conglomerate of a few jelly species working together to create a biological fiend. Stringing tentacles that can reach up to 30m long trail along under a buoyant sail of a body, trapping unfortunate animals in its wake (Well, they just drift, but whatever).
They're SUPER pretty too, so look up a photo on google images or something. The colors on their sail are INCREDIBLE.

I'd really like to create a little hat like structure for myself to wear. I figured I'd just wear all black (leggings and top), with this cascade of ruffled fabric cascading down, perhaps some wool dreads if I learn to make them. Mardi gras beads or those curtains made of beads would also give me the other tentacle type.
But what of the sail?!


my beautiful paint image of what I'm somewhat imagining. Hahaha. I think that beigestuff would come down more like earflaps - maybe the sail could be mounted on a hat with earflaps?

Is anyone familiar with any sort of material that would be stiff, malleable, and translucent enough for the sail? Could I maybe just make it with plastic and something hot (and how many dangerous fumes would that release)? Any feedback much much much appreciated!

So, my Developmental Biology professor (btw, COOLEST subject ever) is really nifty and wants us to also think about the different philosophical issues and ethical arguments in the course, as well as just observe daily things around us that have to do with the course.

For this, she requested that we maintain a journal of sorts, though she wanted it on unlined pages, to allow us to draw and scribble whatever whenever, as well as utilize it as a lab journal. (we also made our microsurgery tools out of our own hair, pretty darn sweet).
Funnily enough, my school and the local supermarket do NOT sell any sketchpads. So what's a desperate student to do, but to create her own?

I've never really done any papercrafts, so I utilized this tutorial and adjusted it to fit my needs.

Materials:
Cereal Box
Paper (cut/folded/adjusted to size, made from these huuuge academic calenders they slide under everyone's door. Most end up as scrap paper, in the recycling bin, or worse, in the trash can >.<)
More cardboard (from the back of the calender)
Needle (from my sewing kit, to fix rips and such...really more of a necessity for college kids than you'd realize =P)
Thread (also from sewing kit)
Scissors
Ruler - I found one in my dissection kit
Pushpin (instead of an awl, drill, whatever. Used for making the holes for binding)
Binder clips (for holding the thing - grab some bigger ones. I got by with just 3 binder clips of varying sizes, but I wished I had larger ones, and more).
Scrap piece of ribbon (not necessary - was added because I messed up in the binding)
Tape (used to bind even tighter, since I couldn't find ANY liquid glues)
Rice (make yourself some rice glue by taking a small bit of rice, adding a bit of water, and smooshing it well. You'll know when its good when it sticks your fingers together. Makes a great eco-friendly, biodegradable glue, haha)

One snotty art teacher, an inability to cut straight lines, and only two materials allowed to be used creates some really strange "art" pieces.

The task?
We were to be inspired by something small, and utilize only the materials bamboo and cellophane wrap. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition of plastic and "ecofriendly" bamboo, haha.
Ludwika Ogorzelec had done an installation for my college (her work is FANTASTIC! http://ludwika.ogorzelec.free.fr/35_wieden_site/pages/4.htm for example) and so, we basically went with that! He kept emphasizing these micro structures like bacteria and DNA and crystals, and even mentioned that most plants and animals weren't abstract/whatever enough.... so I just had to choose poor, understated moss.



I tried to make it as dramatic as moss could be, which is pretty darn dramatic, when you take a look at the dangling sporophyte heads way up high.




A more comprehensive look


It was sort of fun to make, just a bit tedious and frustrating, since well, no glue = finicky EVERYTHING. It'd be cool to create something like this again with old driftwood pieces of all different shades and textures, and perhaps pulled plastic bag strips. I might try something similar, and base it actually off one specific genus of moss or something.