Are you ready for Christmas?

What a time of year! It is not enough time in twenty-four hours!

Yes, I’m talking about Christmas. If you are like I am, I mean if you like to make presents with your hands, it would be better to start work on them in the summer time! What could be better than a gift which was made with love, with fantasy, or with hope?

I’m not a very good organized person and what would I do without my lovely Etsy where I can find everything what I was going to make by myself but I didn’t. Just allow me to guide you there or let me share how happy I’m with my purchases for my friends and relatives for Christmas.

First of all I need to tell you I have been a knitter for more than 30 years. But, if you are a full time working mom and wife it is not easy to make something like Muza does in her shop.

Or look at TatianaOrlova shop, where Scandinavian knitting designs are combined with Russian warmth. Wow, this is really a knitter’s winter fairyland!

 
If you are looking for warm gift don’t hesitate to visit these next shops where my friends are making very artist items!

          From left to right: CozySeason, woolsolution, SocksAndMittens

Maybe because I live in Alaska I prefer wool and natural materials. They keep you warm and comfortable on cold winter days. But could you imagine how beautiful and soft wool could be in a scarf which was made using nuno felt technology? Look here and I’m sure you can’t go without a purchase!

From left to right, from top to bottom: YanArt, manonknits, JaneBoFelt, galafilc

I can’t be quiet when we are talking about embroidery. This is my new passion and I’m just in the beginning of my study. That is why I strongly recommend you visit Lana’s BelleCoccinelle shop! There you will find amazing art work! Look around and enjoy!

Also I would like to introduce you the shop of talented Ukrainian artist Natalka and her skrynka shop. You can find a lot of choices for gifts there.

And to end, I just want to tell you that I’m a proud member of Rusian Artists team on Etsy. And if you want to find something really unusual and made with love of high quality just type RUSTEAM in search column of Etsy website and you will be surprised how many talented people belong to our team.

Yes, Christmas is almost here. Don’t be sorry if you are late with buying presents for this great holiday. Just think of the future and I’m sure you will be back!

Allow me to wish you a Merry Christmas from my Rusteam’s friends!

Happy shopping! Happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Happy Frog,
a proud member of Russian Artists team on Etsy

Felting Defined

Fulled knitting:
The process of knitting something with wool yarn, usually with large, open stitches, then shrinking it by throwing it into the washing machine. This process, commonly called felting, is actually fulling.


Feltmaking:
The ancient process of beginning with loose wool fibers, adding water (and, more recently, soup), then pressing the fibers together, followed by a more vigorous working of the cloth to shrink and stregthen it. Also known as traditional felting or wet felting.


Needle felting:
A process in which sharp, barbed needled are poked down through loose fibers, entangling them into a dense mat.This process has been adapted by crafters, doll makers, and other fiber artists surface embellishment, "painting" with wool, and for sculpting felted figures. Also called dry felting.


Nuno felting:
A technique, named by Polly Stirling in the mid-1990s, that involves feltingh loose wool fibers into cloth, usually silk. The fibers travel through the weave of the cloth and entangle on the back side; as the fibers shrink, a strongly textured felt/fabric hybrid is generated.


Cobweb felting:
A technique in felt making in which very small amounts of fiber are used to create an extremely sheer felt that contains holes as a textural effect.


Carved felt:
A technique of carving away layers from a thick, durable felt, usually to expose multicolored wool layers within the felt.


Yarn felts:
Felted fabric made with preexisting wool yarns, sometimes with small amounts of woo; roving. These include lattice or grid felts (crisscrossing yarns in a grid) and free lace (laying the yarn a freestyle pattern).


Sincerely,
HappyfrogfromAlaska