Felting

12 Free Bird Projects and Techniques

We're celebrating Put a Bird on It month with 12 hours of free projects, techniques, and eBooks featuring our feathered friends today.
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Upcycling Burlap Bags: Seeing the Beauty in Every Fiber

Recently I have been upcycling burlap coffee bean bags into café curtains for my kitchen. (Get it? Café curtains?)
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Fabric Art to Feather Your Nest

The vestiges of last week's snowstorm still linger in crusted mounds all over our yard. But I can ignore them because of the unmistakable spring sound of birdsong that has been filling the air the last few mornings.
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Mixed-Media Jewelry: How to Add Color with Alcohol Inks

The other day I was taking in some eye candy on Pinterest and saw some beautiful mixed-media jewelry made from bent silver spoon handles. Some had beads attached and some had words stamped onto them.
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Mixed-Media Painting Supplies: Expand the Possibilities

Paint has always been part of the mixed-media repertoire, but right now, painting is hot, hot, hot. Everyone seems to be painting, learning about painting, or has painting on their creative agenda.
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Upcycle Wool Felt Scraps into a Jewelry Bag

Today I'm sharing a little project from Kristen Robinson for making sweet bag for your jewelry or to hold a special little gift. Kristen makes these bags out of wool felt or linen; you can use purchased felt or make it even more personal by upcycling a wool sweater into felt or upcycling your fabric
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I (Heart) Felt Projects

When I need a quick fabric fix, I turn to felt . Felt crafts are like comfort food for me. Working with felt is easy and satisfying, because it comes in a huge array of colors, has enough heft to stand on its own, and the cut edges don’t fray.
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Making Time for Art Journaling in 2013 - Free Webinar

Listen in as our talented art journal panel, Jacqueline Newbold, Dawn Sokol, and Pam Carriker, discuss their favorite ways to work art journaling into their everyday lives.
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Mixed-Media Valentine Party: An Artful Way to Brighten Your Winter

My children are past the Valentine party stage (insert eye-roll here), but I'm not. I'm thinking of throwing a little Valentine art party for my friends. A mixed-media make-and-take, some grown-up punch, and a light dessert sounds perfect to me.
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Thoughts on Thursday: Eco-friendly jewelry making

It's time (again) to raid the recycle bins and see what inspires! While paging through back issues of Cloth Paper Scissors, I came upon some fun jewelry made from recycled items: beer caps and metal tins. Cool idea! In the November/December 2011 issue
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Felting Tips I've Learned This Year

As you read this, I'm on vacation. With any luck, Santa will have brought me a new sewing machine or needle-felting machine , and I'll be playing with it. (Santa, are you watching as I type?)
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Collage Art Gifts to Make in An Hour

Honestly, this year I really did start early on my holiday crafting. But here it is Christmas Eve, and I still have a couple of last-minute presents to create. If you're in the same boat, don't despair! I have few collage projects you can use for 11 th hour gift-making.
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Thoughts on Thursday: Wrap it up!

Last week I highlighted some last-minute gifts. This week it's all about wrapping. In the 2011-2012 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Gifts , we featured a number of ways to wrap gifts. Some of the wraps were projects and were actually gifts in themselves
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Photo Friday–100 years ago

Don’t we all dream about discovering an old bundled stack of letters like this? Whether we just want to read them, or use them in an art journal or a new collage series—the find would be monumental. At least that’s how I felt when I found this stack and
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Make Ethereal Fabric Art from Painted Paper and Silk

Just when I think I'm starting to catch up on all the mixed-media fabric art projects I want to make, I get the new issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, and I discover yet another project I just have to do.
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A Round-Up of 12 Easy Gifts to Make

This is when the gift-making season goes into high gear, so I thought I would round up some of my favorite easy gifts to make from around the Cloth Paper Scissors community. There's sure to be something here that you would like to make for your friends — or yourself!
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How to Hand Needle Felt - It's Easy!

I couldn't bear the idea of touching yarn in the summer, but I know knitters who knit all year long, regardless of the heat or humidity. So it goes with people who like to felt . I'm sure avid felters make felt crafts all year round.
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Thoughts on Thursday: Playing with wire, paper, and resin

In the November/December issue of Cloth Paper Scissors , Susan Lenart Kazmer taught readers how to make wonderful, sparkly leaves using wire, paper, and resin, which she then fashioned into a small, decorative lamp shade (left). Readers were also treated
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Photo friday–fall saturated

Is it time for a change? We just got our first bit of snow here as a storm blew through a week after super storm Sandy paid a visit. The other seasons seem to change so gradually but there is no denying that winter is approaching when you’re shoveling
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Mixed-Media Drawing Artist: Beyond Pencil and Paper

One of the things I love about interviewing artists is the chance to get inside their heads, ask all kinds of questions about how and why they work the way they do, and give them the opportunity to open up and share that information with the world. My fellow online editor Courtney Jordan did just that
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Cloth Paper Scissors, November/December 2012

The November/December is all about felting. Learn to felt with paper or how to dye felt for some unique results. Educate yourself with A Look at . . . Felting Tools. And check out the results of our Felted Wonders Reader Challenge. Make some fun paper and resin leaves, and create some quick gifts with
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Thoughts on Thursday: Announcing the winner of the Simplicity Deluxe Felting Machine!

The Felted Wonders Reader Challenge was the first sponsored Cloth Paper Scissors challenge, and the winner was promised a Simplicity ® Deluxe Felting Machine. Talk about incentive! We were very pleased to receive more than 100 creative and colorful
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Mix Felt and Paper for Easy Bird Ornaments

Felt is one of the most versatile art and craft fabrics. You can glue it or stitch it, and because it doesn't fray you don't have to worry about turning in any edges. I keep pieces of craft felt and wool felt in my stash. I have also tried my hand at felting techniques , like wet felting, hand
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photo friday–what, are you chicken?

Have you been just reading along and checking out the photos from my Photo Friday blog all this time and not actually made anything? What?!?! Are you chicken? Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Plus, I had the perfect picture! I used to really have a thing for
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gifted inspiration with surface design and stitch

This week I finally got to sit down with a sister Interweave special publication called Quilting Art Gifts 2012. Gift issues are my favorite special publications because the projects are quick, easy, and purposeful. While I consider myself a professional
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photo friday–faux birch

I really love birch trees. I love them in person, I love them in photos, I love paintings of them, like this one titled “Yield” painted by Staci Swider. (By the way, this painting is available in our Artists Give Back Etsy Store here !) The other day
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Fabric Flowers: Easy Gifts to Make Anytime

I love to bring flowers to a hostess, and I love to give handmade arts and crafts as gifts. So I was pretty excited when I saw the tutorial for making these fabric flowers in the 2012-2013 issue of Quilting Arts Gifts . The issue is full of holiday crafts, but many of the gift-making ideas are appropriate
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Turn Denim Pockets into Fabric Art Gift Bags

If you follow this blog, then you know I have an abundance of denim pockets culled from my husband's jeans, and I'm always looking for fabric art projects to make with them. One of my favorite denim recycling projects was this Patched Pocket Panel that combines art with storage.
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Easy, Scrappy Softies - What a Hoot!

Ever since I made a murder of fancy felt crow softies from Kelli Nina Perkins's pattern several years ago, I've been looking for other easy art doll patterns to make using my fabric scraps.
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Thoughts on Thursday: CREATE with the best

I just spent a wonderful 4 ½ days in Lisle, Illinois, at CREATE. This time I was in the store and I have to say it gave me a different perspective than I got taking classes as I did at the California CREATE. Though I loved taking classes, in the
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How to Felt Sweaters for Fabric Art

With any luck, I'll be able to persuade my husband that some of his wool sweaters are too worn even for working around the house. Then I can turn them into felt for fabric art .
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Translate Words Into Fabric Collage

Words and fabric collage are two of my favorite things. So I get excited when I see a way of putting them together in the same project. I discovered this relatively easy method for how to make a collage of words and fabric in the new book Vibrant Quilt Collage by Bethan Ash.
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How to Needle Felt a Cute Cuff

Recently we vacationed in Michigan where a lot of my family lives. I have many teenage nieces, and I was trying to think of a gift I could make for them that would be quick and easy to make, preferably with supplies I already had in my studio. And then it hit me: I could needle felt cuffs.
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Making Art Dolls and Softies: New Free eBook

Whether you call them softies, stuffies, art dolls, or craft dolls, doll making is something that many fabric and mixed-media artists enjoy. In this free downloadable eBook, Making Art Dolls: 4 Free Tutorials for Softies, Stuffies, and Art Doll Making , you’ll find a range of art doll patterns
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Summer Fabric Craft: Quick and Easy Handmade Arts Project for Kids

School vacation always seems to sneak up on me. For some reason, regardless of how many end-of-the-year concerts I go to, no matter how many times the seniors speed past my house honking their horns in celebration, when mid-June arrives I am always scrambling around to find easy crafts to make that will
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Tea for Tuesday - Needle Felting

After finishing my stacked teacup collage a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't help wondering what the design might look like done in fabric or fibers instead of paper. I considered making a fabric collage, but then decided on machine needle felting
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How to Make an eReader Cover with a Handmade Book-Binding Technique

The preponderance of e-readers and tablets like the iPad have many people declaring that book making — the kind with pages and covers — is dead. Furthermore, "real" books that have already been printed are obsolete. My opinion is this: 1. There are advantages to both print books
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Stencil loving collage–a blog hop and tutorial

I love blog hops. Today I’m sharing a fairly long collage tutorial as my part of a bigger blog hop with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and Crafter’s workshop Stencils. (You can find stencils like this in our store , too!) I really love how flexible stencils can
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Machine Needle Felting: Use Your Fancy Fibers

Several years ago when the knitting craze took hold, I brushed up my needlework skills in a class at a local fabric and yarn store. Completely taken by the fancy fibers that had come onto the market, I turned out scarf after scarf, and even sold a few. But at a certain point I realized that while I liked
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How to Use Tea Bags in Fabric Art

If you read this blog frequently, you know how much I admire artist Beryl Taylor and her mixed-media fabric art . The magic of Beryl's work is not just in its beauty. What's amazing is how she can create such beautiful works out of relatively mundane materials. It's her attention to detail
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Fabric Art Heart Tag Project by Beryl Taylor

When I think of mixed-media fabric art hearts, mixed-media artist Beryl Taylor immediately comes to mind. Beryl can take a bit of silk and a few beads, and, with a stitch here and a wash of paint there, magically transform them into an embellishment you can appliqué onto a fabric paper wall hanging
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Make Fabric Collage Nests to Hurry Spring

When Vivika Hansen DeNegre joined the Quilting Arts Magazine staff as editor earlier this month, I was thrilled. I admire a lot of fabric and mixed-media artists, but Vivika makes the kind of art that I aspire to create myself.
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Tips on Tuesday: Needlefelting basics

Happy New Year! It's 26 degrees in Sudbury today. Bright and sunny, but much too cold. Craving warmth . . . thinking color . . . Colorful wool roving beckoned . . . and from there thoughts of needlefelting! Simple materials and tools! And there are
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Hack Your Stamp Collection for Collage

I love rubber stamps. I have a whole collection of them with images that I just adore. But most of them I never use. Why? Because once you've used the image a few times, it gets boring. And it makes your art look the same, piece after piece.
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Make a Sweet Collage Tag from Candy Wrappers

I love chocolate. And I love my family. But when the two get together over the holidays, it's chocolate overload time. Chocolate in the stockings, chocolate decorating the gift packages, chocolate sprinkled among the baked treats.
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What a Relief: Printmaking without a Printing Press

Recently someone asked me: what's a collagraph? A collagraph (also spelled collograph) combine two of my favorite forms of art: collage and printmaking. They're also easy to make with tools you most certainly have around the house.
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Mixed-media home

We received more than 150 little houses for our "Home Sweet Home" reader challenge and there were many, many unique and inspiring houses (I often joke that I should be able to choose one piece of art to keep as I send the challenge art safely
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Deck the Art Studio with Anna Maria Giveaway Goodies

When we moved to our new (old) house, one of the things I was most excited about was having the room to put up a "mom tree" for Christmas. You know, the kind of stylized tree that has a theme and the ornaments are placed just so, rather than the higgledy-piggledy the family tree.
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Tips on Tuesday: Have fun with it!

Next week we will be into November, with the holidays fast approaching! I don't know about you, but every year I plan to make a certain number of gifts for family and friends and end up making a fraction of what I planned. AND I usually make these
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Easy Packing Tape Transfer with Digital Art

A few months ago I wrote about how to make better photo transfers on fabric, metal, and so on. I asked for feedback on your favorite kinds of transfers and tips, and many of you responded that you enjoy making packing tape transfers.
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Great Take-along Project: Fun Fabric Bead Embellishments

At a conference last year where bloggers of all artistic persuasions gathered, I was amazed to see the knitters, crocheters, and beaders all whip out their supplies as the presentation began.
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How to Sketch and Draw Like a Pro

When I was a kid growing up in Michigan, I was privileged to take classes at Cranbrook Institute of Art. I have two memories of this experiece. One is that the grounds were absolutely enchanting; I particularly recall the long Triton pool that I walked past to get to my class. I felt like I was in a
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Wearable Art in Full Flower

Whenever I go to an art show or craft fair, I like to wear something artsy. Not so I'll stand out — so I'll fit in. It seems everyone there wears their art, — or someone else's — on their sleeve, their ears, their feet, or around their necks. I love looking at all those
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Mixed-Media Fabric Art Gone Wild

I've talked about my husband's drawing skills in this space, but I've neglected to mention that he also paints. The reason is, he paints walls and trim, not canvases. But his painting is relevant to a mixed-media blog because at the end of the day, both his paint job and his clothes are works
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Fabric Art that Makes You Say, 'Woof!'

A couple of months ago I posted tips on how to photograph your pet , based on advice by fabric artist Faith Cleary who works from photos of animals.
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So Easy: House Collage Assemblage Project

I couldn't possibly tell you which Cloth Paper Scissors issue is my second favorite of all time. I find something creative, meaningful, and enlightening in each and every one. But my favorite ? That's easy: Issue 18, May/June 2008. Aka the one with the tea party cover. Why? A combination of things
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Art to Wear: Ready to Make When You Are

I'm pretty sure you can divide most creative people into two groups: the ones who start their projects well in advance of a deadline and the ones who work up to the last minute. You've probably already guessed that I am of the last-minute variety. I have been known to actually start making a
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Black and white and seen all over challenge

Are you preparing to make your holiday gifts this summer—planning to get them done early? We’re in the holiday frame of mind as we prepare for CPS Gifts 2011-2012 . We have fantastic décor, gift ideas, and a smashing Wrap It Up! section well underway
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Meet the Winners of Our Studio Contest

The votes are in! Nearly eighty avid fans entered the 2011 Fiberarts Readers' Choice Studio Contest , sharing images of — and reflections about — their special creative spaces from reclaimed closets to sprawling lofts. We were thrilled
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Learn How to Felt with 4 Free Felting Projects

If you want more texture in your artwork, one of the quickest and most satisfying ways is to incorporate handmade felt. Felting is among the oldest of textile techniques, a product of a magical combination of raw materials and simple manipulation with friction or needles. Wet felting and hand needle
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Hand Stitch a Sweet Bouquet of Felt Flower Girls

After such a hard winter, I (and most everyone else I know who lives north of Mexico), was really looking forward to spring. Now, 21 days into a very rainy April, I just keep repeating to myself: "April showers bring May flowers." At my house
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Quick & Easy Faux Patchwork Project

L ast week I talked about substituting gluing for sewing, and asked what you thought of it. To reward you for your enthusiasm, today I'm going to give you a project that is fun, useful, easy, and has a contemporary patchwork look that is accomplished with glue.
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Make Eye-catching Art Turn Paper & Cloth Into Gold

Kelli Nina Perkins is a multitalented artist. Whether she's making something utilitarian like a bookmark or one of her fun whimsical pieces, like her scrappy crows, Kelli's artwork will catch your eye. It's colorful and bold...and fun. Kelli
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The Glue that Holds the Fabric Collage Relationship Together

My sewing machine and I are like Carrie and Mr. Big from "Sex and the City," with me playing Carrie. Every time a project seems to humming along and I think we have a chance at a satisfying relationship, something goes wrong.
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The Best Way to Learn a New Technique

I've heard that one characteristic that makes someone a good teacher is the ability to explain a concept in more than one way. In other words, if the student doesn't understand a verbal description, being able to provide a real-life example might help. Or demonstrating the concept in a visual
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Make a Fiber Art Journal Bracelet

When I was a girl, every summer my parents and packed up the car, threw me in the back with some snacks, a pillow, and a few magazines, and we hit the road east, driving 12 hours from Michigan to Massachusetts. There, just a block from the Atlantic, my grandmother, uncle, and two maiden aunts were there
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Traveling on a Magic Carpet of Lutradur

In anticipation of my birthday, my younger daughter asked me the other day, "What would be the best present you could ever get?" I answered without hesitationL "A trip to Greece, Turkey, and Italy."
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Cloth Paper Scissors March/April 2011

Meet the talented Sandy Webster. Experiment with Restructured Paper. Learn how to make fashionable paper quilts and how to make necklaces from newspaper. Create a wire and clay sculpture. Walk a mile in hand-crafted mixed-media shoes--or just make your own pair. Mix fabric and stitch with encaustics
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Create with Best Friends You've Never Met

Giddy. Giddy, I tell you. That's how I felt when I arrived at our first CREATE retreat last year and the stars came out. There I was, standing at my Studios booth in the store and display area, and one by one, artists I felt I knew--but I had never met--wandered in.
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What say you Mr. Groundhog?

I have a pile of snow in front of my house. I have a BIG pile of snow in front of my house. This photo is not from this year. No, this year the pile is so big you can’t see the green on those carriage house doors. It’s so big
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Dare to Dazzle this Year!

Marci Rae McDade is the editor of Fiberarts. Welcome to the new Fiberarts Focus blog! In print for over thirty-five years, Fiberarts is the world's leading textile arts publication, covering the best and most interesting work in basketry, knitting
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Special fibers for new and exciting art

It's a new year and it's time to spread your creative wings and try some new materials, products, and techniques. Have you used any spunbonded textiles in your artwork lately? What are they, you ask... We recently got a sneak peek at Wendy Cotterill’s
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Are you Really mixing your media?

Mixed-media shadow box by Valori Wells My challenge for you to consider today is this: You say you create mixed-media art, but what media are you mixing? Have you gotten in a rust rut (if it has rust it makes the cut). Are you using the same paints, in
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Studio Time: New Uses in the New Year

Forget about spring cleaning. One of the best times to get organized is when you’re setting your goals, and there’s no better time to do that then the beginning of the new year. New use for an old trunk by Victoria Grobels. While flipping
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Cloth Paper Scissors January/February 2011

Meet the incredibly colorful Adnan Charara. Experiment with polymer clay book covers. Learn how to mix papermaking with encaustics, and how to make fabric mail art. Create a folder Journal. Take a flip through our reader challenge "mini books." Jump into your own artist collaboration. Look
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Upcycling...

Having worked on Cloth Paper Scissors for a number of years, I find that what I see and learn at work affects some of the things I do at home now. For instance, when I try to declutter, it is a whole new experience. When I attempt (operative word) to
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Dark But Not Dreary: Holiday Mixed-media Collage

I’d like to tell you about my profound love for all things black. As an art school grad, you can guess that I’ve had many a black outfit in my closet. I love the look of black grout on a terracotta tile floor—even though it took me
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Found Things Thursday: Bed Springs

“Bouncing Bed Springs, Batman!” “Hold your horses Robin, and let’s see what the good people of Gotham City might have in store for these contraptions of evil.” So, what are your ideas? I pulled these from a box spring on the side of the road on garbage
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Fun Fall Felt Project Inspired by Jewelry

In 2011, I want to work with more mixed-media jewelry. I know, I know, January is the month for writing resolutions and I’m sure I’ll be working on them then as well, but sometimes new projects need a little pre-planning.And, for the same reasons
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Using Heated Wax to Make Art Cool!

Looking for something new to try in your next studio session? Have you looked into encaustic art yet? I have been wanting to use encaustic medium in my art for some time now. After watching Amy Stoner’s new Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop DVD, Encaustic
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Check out our new artisan art!

The Artisan Search 2011 continues… Looking to find new and exciting art and artists, Cloth Paper Scissors has challenged artists to send us their best art in one of five categories: Mixed-media Stitch , Art Journal and Book Making , Printmaking
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You’re Invited to Enter our Challenges!

I just found out today that you can preorder the 2011 Cloth Paper Scissors Calendar that was created by 13 fabulous mixed-media artists who entered our Calendar Call for art last fall, which got me thinking about our Challenges. I wish I could send each
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How to Stock Your Studio: An Editor’s Picks

Guess what today is? Today is the day that Lucy Talbot gave birth to a bouncing baby girl—39 (REAL) years ago—Thanks Mum! Yup, it’s my birthday. And you can probably tell that I’m not too shy about it. (I’m even giving YOU the opportunity to get an Un
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Weekend Inspiration Part 2

My second day of inspiration. johl wrote on Fri, Feb 19 2010 7:53 PM How about "Springtime In Paris" prompt with the colors of baby blue, black and white, or pink, black and white? I'm ready for Spring, aren't you??? A post card from
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The Cloth

You did know that the first name in our title is CLOTH, right? Oh, I'm so bad and working cloth into my work. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against cloth, I just tend not to "go there" when I'm creating. I can tell things are
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Cloth Paper Scissors September/October 2008

Mixed-media collages; A mini quilt collage; The importance of clouds; Combining paper & quilted surfaces; Easy, colorful fabric books; Creating with digital prints on Lutradur and lace paper; Delicious cupcake assemblages; Recycled fabric treasures; A creative exercise in machine needle felting;
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Cloth Paper Scissors May/June 2008

Mixed-media fabric collage; Use photographs to create original fabric paintings; Vintage Spoon Books; create colorful keepsakes; fiberart for a cause; collage & paint some comfy chairs; The anti-boredom solution for kids; constructing your dream house; Mixed-media "Tea Party" Challenge;
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Cloth Paper Scissors January/February 2008

" True Colors" Reader Challenge; home is where the art is; create print-like quality with a hnt of mystery; repurpose overalls into a personalized apron; create an eye-popping still -life; make small mixed-media heart quilts; paint, collage, stitch paper quilts; design papers with rubbing plates
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