Finally! An actual website!

The Mouselings are celebrating here at Mouselings HQ, because we finally have a real website, and it's now live online!

Here 'tis: mrsplop.co.uk

The only thing we haven't quite worked out is the Woo Commerce bit. The Mouselings have been jumping up and down with frustration trying to get it to do what they want it to do, but so far, computer says no :D we'll get there in the end though!

So for now, the 'shop' linky bit goes to my Etsy shop until we've figured it all out and the Mouselings have stopped giggling at the name 'Woo' commerce. For some reason, they think it's hysterically funny, and then they can't work because they're giggling too much.

We hope you all had a wonderfully ploppy christmas!

Love

and the Mouselings xxx

A needle felted Samoyed and an eye problem

Well, it's official, I'm a needle felting addict. I've got an addictive personality, so I don't know why I didn't see this coming. The trouble is though, I've got an issue with my eyes. I told the doctor I needle felt, and he said my eyes are having problems because I'm doing too much 'close work'. How completely rubbish! Considering I'm now a felting addict (and probably have been for quite some time) It might help if I have my glasses checked though, as they're as old as the hills (ok, not quite that old, but you know what I mean)

Anyway, as you can see, I haven't listened to a word my doctor has said (apart from the glasses thing) and I've gone ahead and made a needle felted Samoyed dog. My dog, Betsy, made me laugh so much with her reaction to him! When I had finished making him, I put him on the coffee table, in front of where she was lying on the sofa. Her ears pricked up and she just couldn't stop staring at him. She must have thought....How on earth did you get to be so small? You strange dog!

Here are some pics of him....

Love as always, Mrs Plop xxx

Needle Felted Sleeping Red Fox

Ever since I first started needle felting, I've always wanted to make a fox. But for one reason or another, I never seemed to get around to it.

But recently, I found the time to finally make one. He was great fun to make, and I used lots of great big wads of orangey red, brown and white wool fibre. I'm quite pleased with the result. I hope you like him!
Love Mrs Plop xxx

His listing is in my Etsy shop here: Needle Felted Sleeping Red Fox by Mrs Plop's Shoppe

Needle Felted Little Christmas Mouse

Finished today, needle felted little Christmas mouse with a sprig of red berries.

I used ethically produced Dorset Down brown wool fibre from Newmoor Barn Ethical Fibre Co. It has lovely red tones within it. The white is Ryleand wool, also from the same company. The brown colour felts so well, it almost felts itself. I absolutely love it. The red berries are glass.

If you want to give this little mouse a home for Christmas, you can find him here in my Etsy shop. Needle Felted Little Christmas Mouse By Mrs Plop's Shoppe

Love, as always,

Mrs Plop xx

Needle Felted Oliver The Orphan Otter OOAK Handmade

Meet Oliver. He is a needle felted orphan otter. Poor Oliver! All he has in the whole world is his special rock :(

He needs lots and lots of love and cuddles. Orphans seem to be a bit of a theme for me....!  But I need to try and balance it with some happier felted animals, poor Mr Plop nearly cried when he first saw Oliver! lol!

Oliver the otter's listing is here in my Etsy shop: Oliver The Orphan Otter by Mrs Plop's Shoppe
He's one of my more expensive felted animals because of the time it took to make him.

Love Mrs Plop xx

A Puppy For All Seasons #2 Winter - Golden Retriever Puppy

This is the second puppy in my 'A Puppy For All Seasons' series.
#2 Winter - Needle felted Golden Retriever puppy.

The puppy in the photos has been donated to the Irish Retriever Rescue to raise funds for their dogs in need. Please check out their website and support this fantastic rescue wherever you can.  They are always in need of donations and volunteers, and of course forever homes for the beautiful dogs they rescue. You can also find them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/IrishRetrieverRescue

If you would like to order a needle felted golden retriever pup for yourself, you can see his listing here in my Etsy shop: Needle Felted Golden Retriever Puppy by Mrs Plop's Shoppe

He won't look exactly the same as the puppy in these photos, because he is handmade, but the differences will only be subtle.

Unusually for me, I used a wire armature for this puppy. I find using armatures a bit annoying, and you have to be very careful you don't break your needle when you're in the beginning stages of felting, but sometimes it's better if you use an armarture as in this case, because it makes the whole piece more stronger and more solid.

The wool is ethically produced, from the fantastic Newmoor Barn Ethical Fibre Company. I used their Dorset Down wool in 'Cappucino' which you can see here on their website: Dorset Down Carded Wool Fibre and for the top coat, I used their Alpaca fibre in the same Cappucino colour. Link here: Alpaca Carded Wool Fibre
I really can't recommend Newmoor Barn highly enough! Not only does their wool come from happy, well cared for sheep and Alpacas, it also felts wonderfully, and it even smells amazing too! I don't know what they wash it with, but my whole workspace smells of this lovely, clean, washed wool smell.

Mouse Angel gets a flower garland :)

I've just finished making an order for one of my needle felted Mouse Angels, and to make a change, I decided to put a garland (halo) of paper yellow roses on her head. I think it suits her. What do you think? :)
Love, Mrs Plop xx

Her listing in my Etsy shop can be found here: Needle Felted Praying Mouse With Wings & Flower Garland by Mrs Plop's Shoppe

Marty, Needle Felted Dumbo Rat

I was chuffed to bits to be asked to make a needle felted Dumbo Rat for the famous Martin 'Marty' Mouse You can find the fabulous Marty's page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/martymousetherat

and here's my needle felted version....

A puppy for all seasons

This is the first puppy in my needle felted series of 'A Puppy For All Seasons'
Autumn - Golden Brown/White Spaniel
OOAK needle felted soft scultpure of a tiny baby spaniel puppy, nestling in the autumn leaves.

The winter puppy will be listed when all the leaves have fallen and we have approached winter time.

The wool I use is 100% cruelty free, ethically produced wool :)

This puppy measures about 4.5" long, plus his tail which is about 1.5" long.

You can see his listing in my Etsy shop here: A puppy for all seasons - Autumn Spaniel by Mrs Plop's Shoppe

A website? Really? Woohoo!

My husband (aka Mr Plop) has made me a lurverly new website! I am currently populating it (ie putting stuff all over it) and it will be ready to view soon.

It's in maintenance mode at the moment, but if you want to check back, here is the url:
http://www.mrsplop.co.uk

It's got a shop and slider thingies and everything. Ah, I'm like a kid in a sweet shop haha :D

See you soon!

Love Mrs Plop xxx

Needle Felted Dumbo Rat Custom Order "You're the rat's whiskers"

I had a message from a lady asking for a custom order needle felted 'Dumbo Rat'
I'd never even heard of one before. But they're cute little critters, and I really enjoyed making this order.  The outer fur is my usual favourite - Alpaca fibre. I blended a brown and black to make a darker brown, as I just didn't have a dark enough brown. All worked out though, and I'm happy with the result. Not as happy as Fred though, who was very intrigued! :D

The whiskers are horse hair that were very kindly sent to me by a follower of my facebook page, from a gorgeous horse called Toby. Thank you Lisa & Toby!

Fred seems to think Dumbo Rat looks like dinner!

 

 

 

Needle felting and staying in the moment with a sleeping mouse

Staying in the moment is something I don't find easy. And I know I'm not alone! Being a human being with a mind full of junk and noise and clutter is hard. Let's face it!

Animals seem to have it sorted. My dogs just live for today. They don't seem to worry about what just happened/what happened last year/what's going to happen tomorrow. They're all about what's happening now. And that has to be a much more peaceful place to be. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure they don't go about their day with this incessant chatter and worry about the past and the future going on in their heads like we do.

I don't know why it's so difficult to stay in the moment, I'm not a psychologist. But I do know that during the times when you are really in the present, you know about it! You feel a true peace, and the noise shuts up for a while. Some people achieve it with yoga (I tried it a couple of times, but I got bored and fell asleep) some with meditation (I once went to a meditation class, held in a sports hall, but it smelled of B.O. and I couldn't stop thinking about the B.O. and then I kept wishing I'd taken the bread out of the freezer, because now I'd have to have toast when I got home, instead of a sandwich and I'd really rather have a sandwich etc)  Some with positivity self-help books. (ok, I stayed awake with this one, but trying to force yourself to feel ok about things when you really don't, didn't work for me. And some with therapy. Yep, that one works.

But whatever method you try, it doesn't make you stay in the present with a still mind all the time. That would just be weird, and unobtainable. I think the point is to get as many of those peaceful times as you can, and just know that it's fine to have all this noisy rubbish going on the rest of the time. That way you're not fighting it, you're accepting it.  We're humans, and humans are pretty messy and complex, that's just the way it is.

Now to the needle felting. Well, that's my method. It might not work for everyone, but it works for me. That isn't the only reason I do it, but it helps to have something that that makes you feel calm and peaceful while you're doing it. I can't say there's one way it works for me, it's lots of things - it's probably the repetitive movements of the needle shaping the wool. Then it's the shaping and working the wool, and then it's the brilliant moment when the wool starts to look like a little animal. And you almost want to say hello to it! (I don't say hello by the way, ahem, um well maybe I might have done ;) ) From there it just develops more and more, and when you're working on the finer detail, it keeps your mind focused just as much as when you're doing the more repetitive needle poking movements at the start. The whole process is completely brilliant, I have to say!

My sleeping mice seem to be very popular and I've been so touched by all the lovely messages I've had about them. I think maybe they appeal to people because the mouse is so peaceful and so in the moment. When I make one, I've noticed that lovely feeling of calm goes up just a notch. Maybe that shows in the finished piece.

I also want to say a big thank you to Heather & Gary from Little Ram Studio (They make the most stunning lino cut art) for featuring one of my sleeping mice on their gorgeous blog! Thank you so much guys x

Love, Mrs Plop xxx