Feltmeup Designs

Saturday, 2 April 2016

Bird a Day Mini Exhibition

I had thought I had collected all the birds together for a group pic but Mr Felt has hidden the vulture and I misplaced the Floofy bird! Oops!

Friday, 1 April 2016

So the Bird a Day Challenge is over... here are a few questions I've been asked over the last week.

How do you feel now?

It's finally over... it's a strange feeling to be at the end of something, I do feel a sense of achievement at having done what I set out to do and I am tempted to make it a regular thing in my crafting as it forces me to be creative.

Doing something creative everyday has had a positive impact upon my well being and peace of mind too. I feel a lot better than I did at the beginning of the year, when I felt burnt out. People find it strange when I talk about not feeling creative considering the job I do but sometimes even a creative job starts to feel like a bit of a slog. I do feel more invigorated... things are starting to feel normal again.

What were your favourite birds to make?
My favourites surprised me! They were the ones that were most challenging initially but turned out the best. I'm very fond of the Spoonbill, Pelican, Dodo and the seagull... but my favourite is the Tree Creeper, because I saw one in the park and he caught the feeling of him perfectly!

Was it hard to make a bird in an hour?
The felting part is the easy bit! Making them tiny and starting with the bead cuts the time down... It's the photographing and blogging that really takes up time! I didn't take that into account when I set out to do this so it ended up taking up 2 hours of my day rather than just 1... next time I think I will find a better way to just snap a quick picture.

Did you miss any days?
I didn't miss out a day of making but sometimes there just wasn't time to photograph things or I was too tired. That just meant a couple of days when there were double posts.

Are you sick of looking at tiny bird feet?
Never!

Wait next time? You're going to do this again?
Yes... but maybe not for a while... or on a weekly basis rather than daily.

When will the birds be up for sale?
I'm hoping to get them up for sale by monday... I will keep you posted.

What Advice would you give to anyone taking on a challenge like this?
Go for it! Even if you think you might fail... you should go for it. Find something that works for you and make sure you find a way to share it as being held accountable by others is great motivation. II have to admit... I tried something like this once before and didn't share it and I failed, sharing was the best thing, it's hard to work in a vacuum. You'll be amazed how supportive people can be!

Also... make the time to do it, it could be anything, make a bird a day, a drawing a day, write something, bake something... it's worth it, you'll feel like a different person at the end an you will want to keep being creative!

xx
mel

Thursday, 31 March 2016

Bird a Day: Day 31: Last Day Dodo Bird

It's the last day... which has me feeling kinda sad... mostly because now I might have to get back to doing some proper work and I have to do my accounts next week. Mostly I am feeling a little sad because it's been good fun... hard at times but good fun too. There are so many more birds I want to make, I'm really hoping that I can keep my creativity flowing and come up with some new designs to offer in my shop now!

I decided to finish with the Dodo partly because someone requested him and also because he's a warning from history. The Dodo bird was the first species we know to have been made extinct by humans... it's the bird that was too naive to run away and too tasty for sailors.

Poor Dodo!