What's Inside Rabbit?

I'm often asked what I use to stuff my soft sculptures and why they are heavier than expected. Well, years ago I was gifted with a huge "marketing sample" of processed Pima cotton from a gin in Yuma, Arizona. While the fibers were too short for a novice spinner like me to spin, I saved this generous gift knowing that it would be useful some day. For the past few years, I've been able to use this lovely cotton to stuff all of my wool sculptures. To weight my Rabbit sculptures, so they sit up tall and have a nice heft, I use a hand-sewn silk bag of small river stones. After inserting the bag of stones inside the sculpture, I stitch the bottom closed with wool thread, and sew on a label. My hope is that buyers appreciate all the handwork and the natural materials used in each piece.

Striped Silk & Wool Scarf

Designed and handcrafted by Kim Buchheit; photo by Mike Buchheit 
I made several nuno-felted scarves to show at my fall workshop, but the class got cancelled... rats! The good news is that it got rescheduled for next year and we've already got several people interested. If you'd like to learn more about it, drop me an email. The other good news is that I've got loads of scarves to give away as gifts and to sell in my Etsy shop. Here's one of my faves — an eclectic mix of canoodling stripes. I hope to get this into my Wildly Woolly shop soon — let me know what you think. Happy autumn! UPDATE: Item has sold.

Summer Giveaway!

© Kim Buchheit

PRIZE

Vintage-style Rose Hair Clips :: Set of 2
(as shown above; view detailed pics here)

HOW TO WIN

4 Ways to Enter: Be sure to leave a comment here and let me know which way(s) you entered.

1. Twitter this giveway — copy/paste: Win Vintage-Style Hair Clips from @wildlywoolly. To enter, visit: http://www.wildlywoolly.com

2. Heart my Etsy shop

3. Follow me on Twitter (@wildlywoolly)

4. Follow me on Facebook (Wildly Woolly)

WINNER ANNOUNCED

Entries will be accepted through Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Winner announced Wednesday, June 9, 2010. UPDATE: The winner of the give-away is Joyce Ramsey. Thank you Joyce and all for participating!

Vintage-Style Hair Clips

Hand-crafted by Kim Buchheit; © Kim Buchheit

On my upcoming summer get-away, I want to just pull my hair back and not spend time fussing with it. To that end, I created these romantic vintage-style rose hair clips. The rich sable color keeps them "grown up" — and the snug alligator clip keeps them in place (even in my fine hair!). If you'd like a set for summer, you can order them in my Etsy shop!

Felted Amigurumi :: Woodland Pals

Design and hand-crafted by Kim Buchheit; © Kim Buchheit

Wee bear and his woolly owl pal have teamed up to enliven my Etsy store. They were first hand-crocheted in the Japanese amigurumi style using my own pattern. After being felted in a hot bath, the facial features were applied via needle felting and the safety eyes were added. Come visit them for tea and snacks — you might just find yourself adopting them on the spot.

Felted Wee Bird on Juniper Branch

Design and crafted by Kim Buchheit; © Kim Buchheit.

I really enjoyed developing this little sculpture today. Initially I had hoped that the long-legged birdie would stand on his own... but, alas, he simply couldn't (poor fella). As I looked around my cluttered studio I spied a nice weathered piece of juniper wood, and that was the aha moment. I think he turned out cute, and the wood base makes him more substantial and stable. Yay! He is now hanging out with the other woolly wonders in my Etsy shop.

Something to Light Up the New Decade...

Design and crafted by Kim Buchheit; © 2009, Kim Buchheit.

Hand-felted, flame-free woolly light pots! These night owls will light up your evenings with their sweet soft glow. Also available in a contemporary polka dot set. If this is any indicator, I think 2010 is going to be way too much FUN!

Felted Owl Brooch

Need a small gift under $25? Here's just the thing: Hand-felted owl brooches! These sweet little fellas are just 1 1/2" tall, and would look oh-so-cute pinned to your favorite cuddly sweater, scarf, or woolly hat this winter! I've needled-felted up just a few and they're sure to fly off the shelves... so grab yours today!

Designed and crafted by Kim Buchheit

Felted Owl

Look who-who landed in my Etsy shop today: 1-inch teeny-tall Ollie Owlie! Available in a variety of heathered-spice colors, he comes in a custom designed pillow box with a tiny adoption certificate and hang tag. Ollie makes the perfect ready-to-give handmade gift (if you can possibly bear to part with him)! UPDATE: This little curry-colored owl has sold; but other colors are still available.

Felted sculpture © Kim Buchheit

Felted Bowl Set

Felted bowls © Kim Buchheit

This new summer bowl set looks as if it was plucked fresh from a watermelon patch... on sale now in my Etsy shop ($65 for two). The pods on both bowls were made from my Kool-aid dyed roving — black cherry and a cool yummy lime! They are almost edible :) ~ Kim

Felted Footed Bowl in Etsy Treasury

What a nice Sunday surprise to hear that Jennifer, of Friendly Fairies, has included my magenta felted bowl in her darling Etsy Treasury. Thank you, Jennifer! 

Felted Bowl with Applique

Felted Bowl © Kim Buchheit

In an effort to cut down on the time it takes to make my felted bowls, I created this style above which has no pre-felting design done to it. In other words, the decorative work (the hot pink and popsicle-orange spirals made of roving) were applied by needle felting after the bowl was wet-felted by machine. I was pleased with the results; hope you are too! Bowl available through my Etsy shop. ~ Kim

UPDATE: This bowl has SOLD.

Anchored Felt Sculpture

Felt Sculpture © Kim Buchheit

This felted piece is anchored on two ends to a juniper branch (torn from a felled tree) so that the branch is truly integrated with the work. I drilled a small hole in the branch and secured it to the wall with a nail. A crown of feathers lines the opening of this needle-felted pod. ~ Kim

Needle Felted Sculpture :: Nest

Felt sculpture © Kim Buchheit

This pod decided to transform itself completely into a nest — replete with a wet-felted blue egg on a nest of raffia, and a few decorative feathers for good measure. While generally preferring more abstract work, I was not unhappy with this piece. I loved working with the dirty pale green roving. It was a terrible wonderful mess to work with — full of vegetal matter and all — which just made me feel more connected to the source materials and the natural world during the process. ~ Kim

Felted Bowl in Etsy Treasury

What a great morning to find that my little aubergine felted bowl made it into a gorgeous Etsy Treasury. Thank you Lori from Risky Beads. (Be sure to check out Lori's unique and enchanting handmade jewelry collection!) ~ Kim

Felted Sculpture :: Wall Pods

Felted sculptures & photo © Kim Buchheit.
Pictured above are some more felted wall pods that I created. I like them hanging from a tree branch that I nailed to the wall in my messy studio. I've been playing with adding mirrors to these wall pods; one is shown here. I plan to add several more tiny mirrors to this pod after the holidays. Speaking of, happy Thanksgiving to all! We plan on having a house full here at the canyon. ~ Kim

Felted Sculpture :: Wall Pods

Felted Sculptures © Kim Buchheit
A series of needle-felted sculptures that I've been developing. The dark brown-grey wool is 60% llama, 30% wool, and 5% silk... it's such a handsome blend! (The contributing llamas were Triumphus, who has since passed, and Charley, who now lives in Vermont. Thanks, guys.) These pieces are approximately 24 inches in height; am working on large-scale versions. ~ Kim

Felted Cosmetics :: Concealer

Design © Kim Buchheit
Latest in the line of felted cosmetics: Eye Concealer (promises, promises!) :)

Felted Cosmetics :: Shadow/Blush

Design © Kim Buchheit
I'm just laughing while making these felted cosmetics... they just make me happy! I think I love these little mixed-media pieces for the same reasons I love trompe l'oeil. Stay tuned... more to come :)

Felted Cosmetics :: Upcycling is Fun!

Design and photos © Kim Buchheit

I am just having way too much fun making needle-felted make-up for recycled cosmetic containers. My faves are the lipsticks in Clinique's pretty silver tubes! Will post an entire vanity full as soon as they are finished. And, yes (!), the lipstick moves up and down, just like the real thing. Would love to hear what you all think :) ~ Kim