Blue and chocolate felted flower brooch

I continue experimenting with hand dyeing. It's such a fun process and I just love the colors that turn out at the end. To create my chocolate blue flower felted brooch I first hand felted flower petals in white and dark brown. I had all three types of wool available at home.

To add color to my brooch I hand dyed each felted petal with blue drink mix which contains food coloring. As the result my petals have spots of bright blue to contrast their dark brown color and they smell like raspberry. My pieces of hand felted wool look so different now. Bright blue color makes them vivid and summer-like.

After assembling all my hand dyed pieces into a flower and attaching petals to a hand crocheted jute base I've got an exotic flower brooch in blue, dark brown and white. It will go well with any neutral or white outfit and will add color to a business casual dress.

My Red Rose brooch featured on Etsy Front Page

It's so cool that my Red Rose brooch was featured on Etsy Front Page today in a beautiful red and white treasury curated by Baronyka. Thank you so much for creating such an amazing collection and featuring me in it!

Virginia Dogwood in bloom

I've never seen a dogwood in bloom prior to moving to Virginia. However, in Richmond, VA dogwoods are everywhere. Beautiful in their simplicity dogwood flowers add color to our backyards. They come in all shades of pink, white and even greenish colors.

April is the dogwood month as all the trees start to bloom. One can see spots of red, pink and white in the otherwise bright green palette of spring forests. In the fall dogwood's bright red berries will be an excellent source of nutrients for birds, rodents and other small animals.

Covered with many large and beautiful flowers dogwood trees look rather like brides waiting for something great to happen in their life. Plant a dogwood in your yard and you will have a fairy bride coming to your yard every spring.

Spring flowers in blue red and yellow

It's so beautiful outside with all the trees, bushes and early spring flowers like daffodils and tulips beginning to bloom. Since I now have a new macro it's the perfect time to try it out and preserve all that spring beauty. Inspired by a few amazing photographers on Etsy I went out for my hunt. Ideally I would love to take pictures of flowers in a wide palette of colors with all possible hues, shades and color combinations. I've started with blues, reds and yellows.

Here are beautiful pale blues with hints of yellow on a greenish background.

Bright reds of a Japanese maple look so fresh and juicy. The flowers are bitten by cold a bit but I'm sure they will survive! The shape of the flower head is very peculiar and unique.

Bright yellow of a daffodil caught my eye. The flower looks like a porcelain with its petals being so fragile and light.

How to hand dye a flower felted brooch

I continue experimenting with hand dyeing and food coloring. The results are always beautiful and rewarding. To hand dye a felted wool brooch we will need one pack of KoolAid or a similar powder and white hand felted brooch layers. You can read about creating hand felted brooches in my post on How to make felted wool flower brooch
To prepare coloring I mix one tea spoon of powder with a little bit of water in a plastic container. It sometimes makes sense to prepare a few containers with slightly different coloring. You may go with strawberry and cherry for example.

When the coloring solution is ready gently apply color to each layer of the brooch puring it from a tea spoon. I usually start in the middle leaving the edges of the layer intact. It makes sense to use a plastic tray to protect your surfaces and the coloring is quite intense. When all three layers are dyed it's time to put them into a microwave. I normally microwave the whole set for a few minutes. The goal is not to burn the wool. Microwaving helps the wool to absorb the dye. The color will now stay on the fiber.

When the layers are ready I let them dry over night. With hand dyeing one has so much freedom! It's up to you how to apply the color and where to apply it. One can make the brooch bright and vivid by applying concentrated coloring or pale and light by applying just a few drops of color.
The final stage of our process is to actually assmeble the brooch. You can use a hand felted bead, a button or a glass bead to attach in the missle of the brooch. I personally like large felted beads as they make my brooches look more like flowers!

I will definitely continue experimenting with food coloring. My next project is to start mixing different colors! Stay tuned!

Felted flower brooch in peach orange

I continue experimenting with coloring. My favorite coloring solution these days is KoolAid that comes in a few bright colors. I've created my flower brooch hand felting white wool and coloring it with orange KoolAid. The color is very intense and beautiful! Because I color every layer of the brooch separately I can control the process and apply as much color as I think is necessary for each layer. The idea is to apply maximum color to the center of each layer leaving the edges uncolored. It adds volume to the flower and makes every brooch look different and unique. On top of that the brooch smells of oranges and makes me think of spring and summer!

Bright red felted necklace for spring and summer

I love bright colors! They make our life spicy and vivid. I've created my bright red necklace of hand felted beads. It's ideal for spring and summer. Juicy berry color will go well with any vacation dress. It will match the colors of spring bloom and summer flowers well!

Hand felted scarlet heart for Valentines

There are so many decoration and ornamental items one could create of wool. Hand felting is a very creative and rewarding process. I came up with an idea of hand felting a set of bright red and scarlet wool hearts that could be used as a home decoration or a Valentines Day gift to a friend, class mate, colleague or someone truly special. Each heart has a thread and you can hang it next to your computer at your office or next to a fireplace at home. Let's celebrate February and Valentine's Day!

Spring Green Earrings simple and beautiful

Green is the color of spring. It's very happy, positive and beautiful. I started creating items in green to get ready for the upcoming season. Felted earrings are light, durable and stylish. They look quite different from many other standard jewelry items and are natural and eco-friendly.

Red Rose Brooch for Valentine's Day

I've recently came up with an idea of creating a rose brooch for Valentine's day. It's made of red felted wool and wire. The idea is to celebrate a wonderful day of love, passion and upcoming spring. Bright red and fuchsia hues will be seen everywhere as we approach Valentine's day! Let's celebrate!

Felted bead earrings in red

I've recently started experimenting with felted earrings. There are so many things one can do with felted beads of red, brown or any other color. One can create felted balls add a few bright Czech glass or wooden beads and get a vivid pair of earrings.

Those earrings are very light and elegant. They are durable and will never break unlike glass earrings. They are easy to make as well. If it happens so that you lose one of the earrings it's not a big deal. Just make a new felted ball and here you are beautiful and romantic with both earrings swinging in your ears. Everyone will notice! I promise!

Sakura felted berry brooch in cherry and gray

My newest creation is a felted berry brooch in red and gray. The color of the felted beads reminds me of cherry. I was inspired by Sakura Japanese cherry trees in blossom. The brooch in simple and minimalist yet very vivid and eye catching. It has a safe pin attached to its back and can be worn on pretty much any outfit.
The brooch will look perfect on any business suit or a matching dress.

Felted Berry Brooch in Chocolate Blue

I keep experimenting with colors and shapes. My new version of a felted berry brooch comes in chocolate and blue. It's a very vivid and beautiful combination of colors that goes well with pretty much any outdoor and indoor outfits and attires. Unique shapes of my berry brooches make them standout. I get a lot of feedback from clients about how they get noticed everywhere they go wearing my brooch. It's so rewarding to know that!
The colors of the brooch make me think about chocolate and cotton candy ice cream that is pretty good by the way! The combination of tilted blue and dark brown is very rewarding and stylish.