Needled By Nella

A crafting blog focused on needle felting! Browse the "needled by nella" tag to see my needle felting projects. Browse the "nella recommends" tag to see the kits, suppliers, and tools I use. Browse the "needle felting tips" tag for tricks and techniques I've picked up over my time as a felter. Check out my Etsy shop if you'd like to purchase one of my creations!

[needledbynella]

What do we have here? Tiny dinosaurs? Tinysauria, in fact! This first clutch of little cuties are lambeosaurine hadrosaurs-- aka duckbilled dinosaurs with impressive headgear! There's Lambeosaurus, with the striking orange two-part crest, Corythosaurus sporting the rounded purple crest, and last but not least is Parasaurlophus, with its unmistakable blue tube-shaped crest. These kids all took between 6 and 7 hours to create, and sport jaunty little bandanas, because why wouldn't a cute tiny dinosaur sport a jaunty little bandana? Watch this space, because I have more Tinysauria coming down the pipeline!

[ex0skeletal]

Felted Animals by SaniAmaniCrafts Available for purchase on etsy!

[audreysworldofdolls]

OMG cuuuuuuuuuuuute <3

[needledbynella]

WOW WOW WOW #goals

[needledbynella]

Presenting KNOCK OUT, my most ambitious felting project to date! This mixed-media dragon art doll is 15" inches long and took me more than 45 hours over the course of a month and a half to make. (I don't even want to try to imagine how many jabs of my felting needle that equates to!) He has a wire-posable neck and tail and string jointed limbs, so he can assume quite a few fun and playful poses. His claws are wrapped wire and the spines on his head and neck are acrylic jewelry accessories, isn't that fun? All in all, time-consuming as he was to make, he was totally worth it. I could not be happier with how he came out! ...Now I just have to get started on his partner.....

[needledbynella]

It seems sort of criminal to send this tiny grumpy llama off to be a cat toy, but his belly is full of catnip, so there's really no other option.

[needledbynella]

View this post on Instagram

Needle felting in action! What I'm doing here is surfacing - that is, going over a mostly finished section with a fine needle to smooth and solidify it. Can you see the difference between the left (finished) and right (unfinished) sides?

[needledbynella]

Here are some progress photos from my current big project: a pair of poseable, mixed-media dragon art dolls! I'm having a lot of fun with those so far, but it's going to be even more fun to get them finished up.

[needledbynella]

I don't know about you, but I can't help but be inspired every time I look up at the night sky. And hasn't it always been that way? We look up into the stars, and we make meaning out of them. It's human nature.

These little bears are a whimsical expression of that very human tendency. Their black bodies are a canvas for a spattering of delicate stars, seven of which are joined together with white dashes. These seven stars pick out the Big Dipper constellation, which is part-- of course!-- of Ursa Major, the Great Bear.

These little critter were handmade by me out of soft wool, felted into shape with a special barbed needle. This results in a plush toy that has a unique texture, soft but firm. Their eyes are tiny glass seed beads in the same color as the stars, sewed on after the body was sculpted. They're both about 2.5" (6 cm) long, and it took about 3.5 hours of careful stabbing each to bring them to life!

Want to own one of these little bears for your very own? They're both available for adoption in my Etsy shop!!

[needledbynella]

"And it was then that Nyarlathotep came out of Egypt. Who he was, none could tell[...] He said he had risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries, and that he had heard messages from places not on this planet."

"Nyarlathotep", H.P. Lovecraft

Needlefelted. 100% wool, mostly merino tops over core wool. Nyarlathotep here is about 7" tall, took 16 hours to complete, and was an awesomely fun little project. Definitely outside my usual wheelhouse, but a direction I was excited to explore!

I can't wait to send this precious little eldritch horror on to its new home~.

[needledbynella]

Bears! STAR BEARS, in fact, bearing the Big Dipper constellation picked out in white on their sides. These guys are a little bit bigger than my micro mini felted bears, measuring in at about 2.5 inches long each, and are made entirely out of wool except for their seed bead eyes. They took me between 4 and 4.5 hours each to bring to life.

Like my sauropods, these little guys are available to WIN in my Instagram giveaway! If you have an Instagram account and want a shot at winning one of these little guys for your own, then click on over to my Instagram account, find the post that says ‘1K GIVEAWAY’ across the top, and follow the rules to enter. Giveaway ends February 6th, 2016. Hope to see you over there!

[needledbynella]

Wee sauropods! Introducing Baxter the Brachiosaurus and Devon the Diplodocus. These two needle felted little cuties are made entirely of wool except for their seed bead eyes, and took me between 5 and 6 hours each to make.

Do you have an Instagram account? Want a chance to win one of these beasties for your very own? Then click on over to my Instagram account, find the post that says '1K GIVEAWAY' across the top, and follow the rules to enter. Giveaway ends February 6th, 2016. Hope to see you over there!

[needledbynella]

A needle felted brown tabby that I did on commission for one of my cousins! This is a portrait of a lovely dark tabby named Findus, and I hope his owner likes him when he arrives. This little fella is all wool and took me about 10 hours to bring to life. I have to admit, I was pretty worried about getting the stripes just right, but I think they turned out all right, don't you?

[needledbynella]

I can't believe I forgot to share these tiny bears! How cute are they?? These little guys are all available in my Etsy shop right now, and not one of them is more than 2 inches long.

[needledbynella]

I hope that all of my followers who celebrate it are having a very merry Christmas! And for those whose holiday is already past, or who celebrate elsewise, or who don't celebrate at all, I hope your winter season has been pleasant and bright and continues so into the New Year. Thank you so much for all the support so far this year. Y'all mean the world to me!

[needledbynella]

I live pretty far away from my family, so every year I try to send them a Christmas care package. One of the things I like to include is some kind of holiday craft-- and this year, what else could I do but needle felt? So I designed these cute little mixed media wreath ornaments, featuring needle felted cardinals and berries as well as some faux evergreen sprigs. I even made some custom holiday tags for them! It was a fun little process, and an interesting exercise to recreate the same design over and over again. And since I was working on them over the course of several weeks, I have some progress pics to show as well as the finished pieces!

[needledbynella]

The Craftys Awards show starts in about 15 minutes! I'll be tuning in to see if Mimyck takes the prize in the felt crafts category. Will you be watching?

[needledbynella]

Super exciting news! I just got an email tonight that Mimyck here is a finalist in the Felt Crafts category of the Craftys Awards! How cool is that? There were a ton of cool projects in that category, so it's really an honor to be among the finalists. They're livestreaming the awards ceremony from San Francisco tomorrow night, and I'll totally be tuning in. Will you?

[needledbynella]

NeedledByNella

NOW OPEN! Follow me @needledbynella on Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook for all the latest news of my creations. Thank you for dropping by

Check it out, everyone, my Etsy shop is now live! Check it out for snootles, candy corn mice, and some other fun things!