Tutorial how to make felted wool acorns

Have you ever thought about hanging acorns on either a Christmas tree or next to your computer in your cubicle? I have!

A sunny Fall day is ideal for a stroll in a park. That's what we frequently do on weekends when our family goes to one of many wonderful parks in Richmond, VA. Every such stroll normally ends up with a whole collection of stones, acorns and sticks picked up by my kids. With plenty of acorns in every corner of my house I suddenly realized that I can actually turn them into something bright and vivid. Felted wool acorns are beautiful, durable and could be used in many ways. They add color and style to one's house and make it look cozy and friendly.

So where do we start?
First of all we need a few good acorns. They can be picked up in pretty much any park these days. It's acorns' season!

Next we will need a bit of wool suitable for wet felting, soap and hot water. I usually try to use wool of as many colors as I can find as it helps to create a whole array of multicolored, bright and vivid acorns. For wet felting I normally take a small piece of wool make it into a soft ball, wet it with hot water and add some soap to it. After squeezing and later rolling this ball between my palms for good 10 to 15 minutes wetting it and adding soap from time to time I get a felted firm ball that could be gently squeezed into an oval to look like an acorn.

The last step is to connect our acorn heads to felted wool ovals. I use a mercerized cotton thread to sew them together. This type of thread is very strong. Chances are slim it will ever tear apart. The thread enables us to hang acorns anywhere we like.

I personally like acorns to be of different shapes and sizes. They look genuine as they pretty much are. Bright wool colors make them look festive and jolly. They are a perfect gift for anyone you love or care about!

Chained Rose collection by StudioElenus

I came across this wonderful Chained Rose collection by StudioElenus on Etsy one day and completely fell in love with it. All StudioElenus necklaces, rings and brooches look so stylish, well crafted and inspirational. Luckily I got a chance to interview this talented Etsy artist and can now share StudioElenus' creative insights with the whole blogosphere.

Q: Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Lena and I'm a stay at home homeschooling mom of two. I create my hand sewn jewelry at night when kids go to sleep. It works perfect for me as I can sew my blooming flowers, rings and rose brooches while watching a movie with my hubby or listening to an audio book.
As long as I can remember myself I was making stuff. I tried just about every medium that is out there. I could never stop and my creative nature takes over me all the time. I have a feeling my kids inherited this quality from me:) Art projects go non-stop in our house. They start long before I roll out of my bed in the morning. I wake up to glue and paper cut outs on the dinner table. We live in a creative chaos!
Q: Could you please tell us a bit more about your Chained Rose collection?
For the last half a year I’ve been working on my Chained Rose collection. It features rolled chiffon rosettes wrapped up in chains, and bead embroidered blooming roses. I design statement bibs and day necklaces, bracelets, rings, brooches and hair accessories. I started making jewelry for sale about 2 years ago using chains, semi-precious stones as well as glass beads, and decided to incorporate these materials in my fabric designs. That is how the Chained Rose was born which uniquely combines bohemian chic of vintage inspired fabric rosette and luscious glamour of contemporary jewelry trends. It makes a statement without going overboard, and is light weight and easy to wear unlike most of the statement jewelry.

Q: What are your main sources of inspiration?
I am inspired by many things natural and man made. I recreate color combos I see in the streets and in scrapbook paper, I leave the botanical garden with hundreds of ideas, I look through fashion magazines to make a note of hottest influences to come home and create something that supports some fashionable idea but is unlike anything you will see in stores.
I take pictures of the jewelry during the day in natural lighting. I use shabby chic wooden boxes and boards to create Victorian inspired aura and to emphasize romantic charm and elegance of my designs.

It's always so rewarding to learn more about unique artists and things that inspire them every day!
Lena, Thank you for sharing!
Lena was interviewed by TonyaUtkina

GIVEAWAY: Red Berry Earrings

Fall is a lovely season with so much vivid and beautiful colors around us. It will be followed by a rather colorless winter so let's enjoy this feast of color while it lasts! I handmade this juicy Red Berry earrings of bright Czech glass and silver plated wire. They are absolutely unique and each piece is carefully crafted in an eco-friendly and inspiring surroundings.
I'm hosting my first Fall giveaway! One lucky giveaway participant selected by True Random Number Generator will win my handmade Red Berry earrings next Thursday, October 14, 2010.

To enter:

Please visit my Etsy shop TonyaUtkina and leave a comment about your favorite item in my Etsy shop. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you in case you win. Your e-mail info will NEVER be used for any other purposes!!!

Extra entries:

Please leave one separate comment for each entry. (So if it is 2 extra entries for example, leave 2 comments, etc.)

1 entry - follow my blog with Google friend connect

1 entry - follow me on Twitter TonyaUtkina

1 entry - like my Facebook Fan page TonyaUtkina Jewelry

1 entry per day - retweet the following message and post a comment about it (just copy and paste the following into the twitter window). Can be done daily:
RT @tonyautkina GIVEAWAY Red Berry Earrings! Visit my blog http://tonyautkina.blogspot.com/2010/10/giveaway-red-berry-earrings.html

2 entries - grab my button and put it on your blog

3 entries - blog about this giveaway

No purchase is neccessary, but if you happen to buy something you will get extra 5 entries .

Open to US and Canada only. Winner will be chosen by online random generator. Winner will be notified by e-mail on Thursday, October 14, 2010 and will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

Good luck!:)

Happy Halloween findings on Etsy

I just created a Happy Halloween collection featuring bright orange Etsy findings. It's amazing how many wonderful pieces are created and sold on Etsy every day! It took me some time to locate these favorites as there are so many great items to choose from! My children love Halloween. I suspect they love it more than Christmas. Although I doubt if it's possible! Ok! They love Halloween at least as much as they love Christmas! So here is my tribute to Halloween!


I featured the following great Etsians in the Happy Halloween treasury:
MyWayToSay, FleetingStillness, graphicland, SilkMagic, bumblestore, Oksa, VitalTemptation, TomBjornDesigns, Beautyland, CuffeShop, FineEmbroidery, katrinshine, KarisaGraphic, cushyadornments, CityCrochet, herbolution

Damselfly at Camp Merryelande

I came across these Dragonflies - Damselflies at Camp Merryelande, a really cool spot for summer vacation at the beach. It's a rather undeveloped and wild place but that's exactly why we like it so much.

Surrounded by tall grass and pine trees the camping is very secluded. One feels being in a jungle full of unique birds and beautiful damselflies.

These insects are actually ideal models as they normally freeze for a minute or two on a leaf or a piece of wood before leaping to a similar object nearby. A photographer has enough time to make a good shot. These are beautiful creatures definitely worth being photographed.

My third Esty front page

It's so cool Etsy admins picked my Urban Living treasury to be featured on Etsy front page! It's actually my third Etsy front page treasury and it's all about urban living this time. Things we like and colors we pick living in very busy, efficient and somewhat gloomy city environments.


My fellow Etsy artists I featured in the treasury include: JuliaFelt, BlueberryCream, Manonknits, SweetNumber, yevgenia, herbolution, KAPARA, CityCrochet, Aroundbeads, kpersonboutique, NeroliHandmade, sabinesydney, poaplumbagsjewelry

My first GIVEAWAY results

My first ever Giveaway ended yesterday, June 24th. Thank you so much for participating. I very much appreciate your time and attention!

I ran the number of comments through a random generator.


Let us congratulate Tina Reynolds who won the set of my handmade beach bracelets in berry cream sherbet!!!

Congratulations Tina!!!