I have spent many a night since the turn of the year learning yet another hand work craft.  Wrapping, poking, twisting & tying wool, otherwise know as needle felting.  It is nothing I have really thought of sharing with you all in the blogosphere, as most of you seem to read this for gardening guidance, but a fellow mama artist has encouraged me so a little timidly…..

It all started when we began our home school pre-school year when I gave my son two critters as a gift to begin our school year.   Ground Hog and Squirrel were born over the course of many nights of bad light and poked fingertips.

Ground Hog and Squirrel from How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry

It was a gesture of love and a commitment to more storytelling and puppet shows to fill our seasons with…. I must admit, there have been about as many puppet shows as puppets, but I figure I am slowly entering this world, slowly building my cast, and have many years of tales to tell, I must make the puppets first!!!

I humbly introduce a few of my many creators who have joined our clan this year and whom we love dearly.

Then came Jack Frost, inspired from Chris Van Allsburg’s The Stranger and the Autumn Fairy- bringer of the harvest, my first attempts at the human form!

When the nights got long and wooly, I kinda went crazy and spun a serious yarn about a special white reindeer child who was born to a reindeer herd, but since they had never seen such a creator the family had to travel to the far corner of the north pole to speak with the “Wise One” who could guide them on how to raise this strange and exceptional reindeer….the tale goes on and links Santa’s phenomenal flying reindeer as direct descendants to this little guy, it took many nights to tell to completion and then the puppets were born on the nature alter one by one…

The magical nature alter of winter in Solstice light

….

The Reindeer Family

Then came the frost fairies with magic sparkle wands and all….

The Frost Fairies

Oh and King Winter who appeared with a Special Winter Solstice Eve candle lit puppet show!!

Kind Winter

After that came a sweet Valentines tale from Suzanne Downs and Papa Giorgio was born with his Goldfinch friends.

Papa Giorgio and his gold finches

Oh me oh my, then there was the cast of Hedgie’s Surprise, a wonderful Jan Brett Story that made a delightful puppet show.

The Cast of Hedgie’s Surprise

Then Easter came and these little critters arrived,

Mama Bunny Harvesting Sunflower Sprouts

the ever-growing bunny family!

The Funny Bunny Family

Then of course lady spring arrived in the golden carriage drawn by white butterflies and Mrs. Thaw waiting to greet her…..From the beloved book Ollie’s Ski Trip which I must have read at least 500 times this winter!

Lady Spring Arrive in a carriage drawn by white butterfiles!

Mrs. Thaw Awaits Lady Spring

Oh and Eli and Evelyn on Easter morning collecting Easter eggs throughout the house, these guys actually inspired a puppet show put on by my son, totally silent but a very in-depth story he presented for us…

Eli & Evelyn hunt for Eggs

By this time I learned with the addition or subtraction of a hat or a cloak the puppets could in fact become other characters and appear in different stories (a point of great contention at one point between my son and I thankfully resolved!)

I actually learned a lot about my son through this process and expectation and creation… I definitely had to work some things out with him, but his love for these creators has been the most rewarding thing of all….he must know I have lost excessive sleep over the menagerie!!

I thought I would finally put the wool away by now, but every time I think I am close, another creator wants to be born….Birthday gifts, Wedding Gifts when will it end!!!!

I thought I lost touch with my artist self in the midst of all the meal making, floor sweeping and diaper changing of motherhood, but I guess the creating just keeps on happening over here…just in new and surprising forms!

A Wedding Gift