With you, may the fourth be.

I had a super busy weekend planned this bank holiday (some of the things actually didn't happen in the end which was probably, in retrospect, not a bad thing). This afternoon I'm off to one of the rare Stretham Old Engine open days because my life is just that exciting. But at the same time I received the package of felting needles that I'd recently ordered off the internet. I got a standard felting tool (previously I'd been using the pen tool by Clover. My new one is SO MUCH BETTER!) but also a selection of more specialised needles for fancy work such as little faces.
So what is a girl to do, watch engineers having mini geekgasms over old engines or play with her new toys? Well I'm here to tell you that the new clover tool is so nifty that this little Yoda was done in an evening. It goes without saying that this changes everything!

Wampa cushion and keyring

I had a satin red cushion I got as a part of a set for a christmas present a few years ago. I didn't have the heart to chuck it out but certainly wasn't going to use the ugly thing. So, I cut off the cover and here's a kawaii wampa cushion for you.

And just because, here's a severed wampa hand keyring! (Gosh, aren't my nails long here?)

Moustaches and snowflakes

Here's a random selection of little things I've made recently.

Moustache cookies on sticks for Movember!
(I forgot to take pictures of other people eating them so you'll have to make do with my ugly mug.)
I provided both left and right handed moustache cookies, you will notice.

Snowflakes for the Dev

Tie fighter

Boba

It may not shock you to learn that this one wasn't from a template, I made it myself. Supposed to be batman but his head looks more like a cat

A keyring that ended up looking like the cookie monster.

Star Wars hand puppets

Princess Leia is all..give me a hug!

" Gggggaaaaaaarrrrr. Arrrrhhhn."
 

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm"
That being said, he is '4-6 year old hand'-sized, as indeed they all are.

"Luke, you are getting scrabble and a pogo stick for christmas"
"Wow, dad, how did you know?"
"I have felt your presents"

The gang, just hanging out.

"Will someone get this walking carpet out of my way?"
 

 Lord Vader, I should have known. Only you could be so bold.

Yoda defeats Vader! Obviously holding the camera meant I only had one hand to do the puppeteering, and my hand didn't really fit, but you get the idea. I hope you appreciate yoda's little bow at the end.

All the Mikes and some hats

So, here it is. The maxi mini Mike hat.
 

To clarify:

Mike = Mike Actual
Mini mike = finger puppet mike
Maxi Mini mike = Massive finger puppet mike as hat for Mike Actual.

Mini mike came first, made last year, and I am not sure of the exact moment when I decided Mike actual needed an oversized hand hat - it feels like I have always wanted to make it, but whenever it came about - here it is.

Brim is a bit twisted here, but you get the idea. What amused me was that Mike was terribly upset that both he and mini mike had a beer (see the guinness in his hand) and maxi mini didn't. We decided if he got drunk he had the furthest to fall.

Now, I made this pretty quickly the night before the hat competition, and I winged it somewhat, so it is far from perfect, eyes too big, ears too small. But this is a Doctor Whoovesesque 11th. Next time I am going to do it properly with the right material etc and make a Tom Baker MLP hat.
Poppy's pro tip: don't wear a Dr Whooves hat in the company of numerous bronies.

Hourglass cutie mark.

And, you've seen it before, but as it won second prize (jointly with maxi mini mike) you'll jolly well see it again.

R2D2 herb planter

I really can't think of anything witty or interesting to say about this, so here, brought to you on my new red and silver samsung laptop, is an R2D2 herb planter.



Not the thyme you are looking for...

Despicable Me and a fluffy wampa

A Despicable Me hat, for the father. In retrospect I think the flaps should have been blue to mimic the dungarees but never mind.

Wampa keyring, just because!

 

I was going to add teeth/blood to his mouth, but I rather liked that it looked more like a mustache than an angry mouth.

Boba Felt and Kermit the Fett

The main reason I bought all that fleece back in June was to make hats and from the very beginning I knew I would have to make a Boba Fett balaclava.

so, here you go; Boba Felt.

 

(The black is see-through to the wearer, being made of a couple of layers of black netting. In the next picture I used a flash, so you see where my face is)

And because it had taken so long to get round to making him, I pushed out the boat and made two. Here is the second one. But I wanted to be a bit different, so, I give you... Boba Frog. You know, if under the mask it was atually Kermit. And the good new is I can wear it with my Kermit outfit - you know - if so I wish!!

A few silly keyrings

Finn's head as it appears in the opening titles to Adventure Time. For such a very quick and simple design it is a shame I didn't get the embroidery on his mouth quite right. Although it looks worse in this zoomed in picture.

 Gunther! He/she rocks.

I had a small amount of left over brown fluff.

Wampa hats

*Two* wampa hats! One with ear flap/paws and one plain one. I did of course consider making one of the paws detachable but it would have been funny rather than practical.

Why do I always get that crazed look in my eyes when I point a camera at myself?

This is the first one I made.

And this one is for shop girl. I made the hat a little bit on the short side, so the flaps are to keep the ears warm. And for added daw-ness. Oh I also gave this chap a sparkle in his eye!

 There we go - much better on the dummy. He kind of looks wistful here.

 Here's what the paws and claws look like.

Keyrings

I was going to wait until I had more a collection before showing you these, but I've been sewing all day, I wanted something to put online!

Ice King from Adventure Time. Think his beard grew a bit too long, but nevermind. Now Princesses can get their own back and kidnap Ice King for once!

A susuwatari (soot sprite). In one hand, but not obvious, he is holding a little blue lucky star candy, which he loves. In the other hand, your key (there's a loop at the end of the arm.

Everybody's favourite plucky little robot.

With all of these I packed them really tight with scraps of material, which has given them a nice dense fob-feel to them rather than stuffing.

A collection of Kindle covers [pt 1]

These are terribly fun and therapeutic to make and I expect I'll be making more now and then in between big projects. 

I suspect only about two people will know who this is. This is the diesel sweeties avatar of Wil Wheaton in his legendary clown jumper. Possibly a niche market for that one

And here is the inside, if that sort of thing interests you.

This chap is No-Face from Spirited Away. This was actually the first one I made when I was just getting the hang of felting  so it is hardly inspired.

I feel I should point out that I photographed the cases with the Kindles half out to demonstrate better. But they do fit fully in really. Just in case there was any confusion.

I probably could have resisted but chose not to.

Day Twelve - AT-AT herb planter

First thing I must say is that the concept for this is not mine. It was originally from Bonnie Burton's Star Wars craft book Not owning the book I don't know exactly how this is made, but internet scuttlebutt is that the legs are pringles tins just stuck onto a herb planter with a fast food container as a head, all duct taped up. I like to think mine is better as I added the AT-AT shape to the body/herb planter and the legs are square.


Poppy trivia: the cardboard used in this (all duct taped up obviously for waterproofability) was from that big ol' box I got - remember this picture?
Materials: cans, cardboard, a skewer and 24.5 metres of duct tape.