Wow! Thank you so much for featuring KimbysKrafts Shop! First I'd like to say I'm honored to be part of such a supportive and upbeat team! Its so much fun to log on and see whats new and happening in everyone's shops!
To give you a little background, Kimbys Krafts actually started by accident. I'm a photographer by trade but life got in the way and I had to find a job with insurance, an apartment ect.. (man being a grown up stinks!) BUT over the years Ive changed my entire life around and met a wonderful husband who supports all of my crazy ideas and dreams.
As some of you may know I'm in nursing school which is so rewarding but extremely difficult and despite the time restraints I still wanted to find something to occupy my (very little) down time and be creative at the same time. For Christmas my husband bought me a sewing machine and I started making bags out of old and vintage suit jackets but I found it was taking too long and I needed that time to study... so now I have a PILE of jackets in my closet and only make these when I'm on breaks.
Moving on to now... I found Etsy through a classmate and ordered some things and stumbled across this little mouse on someones site (I used to have a pet rat, Fatty Ratty, so I instantly fell in love!) It was made with wool and this amazing craft called needle felting. Well I showed my husband and he said "why don't you Google or YouTube how its done..." Well I did and now I subscribe to a zillion tutorials, I went to a local yarn store and bought a kit (I started this in February 2013 I think) and I LOVE it. Its like a win win for everything. I'm able to listen to lecture and power-points at home while I stab at the wool. I create whatever I want and can sell it here on Etsy with virtually no stress and concern and the only deadline is if I commission a piece! (yes stabbing the wool takes out a LOT of aggression! lol) I have started to dabble in wet felting when the weather is nice so I can sit outside but that takes a bit more skill which I'm still mastering.
So my stock started with 3 different needles, 18 small samples of merino roving and a sponge pad. NOW I have a HUGE Tupperware bin full of all sorts of wool, roving needles books etc... It is officially my obsession!
I still have a lot to learn and If you could see my first piece (I should post it on my FB page) to now I'd say Ive come a LONG way! My pieces actually look like animals and not colored blobs hehehe
For now I'm working on fall and winter items and trying to stay within an affordable range so be on the look out!
What is needle felting? Well you take a tuft of wool, raw or dyed merino roving and you stab it with a special barbed needle until it becomes a compact shape like a ball or oval. Once it is to the desired shape you continue to add on additional shapes to sculpt and create the item or animal you desire. You can add different colors and different types of wool to create texture. Needle felting is extremely time consuming but very rewarding. For example the bee in my avatar is a round ball, an oval or egg shape, 2 flat circles and 2 arms with rounded ends. He took about an hour to make. There is no sewing or stitching involved just the wool and a needle!
Well I hope you like my shop and again THANK YOU for featuring it today!
