News
Instructional Video Realeses May 5, 2015 14:37
Our first instructional video (FELT IT! Make Mini Gnomes) was released on April 29, 2015! We are very excited for the release of this video, and the 3 to follow in the next few months (Mushroom House, Owl Babies, and Sleeping Fox) It's been great working with Interweave, they are also carrying our kits in their on line store!
The link for the mini gnome and mushroom house videos are here, and I will continue to add the other links as they are released.
(The links for the videos can also be found on the corresponding felting kit page in our products catalog)
Felt it! Make a Mushroom Dwelling
Please check them out and let us know what you think!
Also check out Anita's blog post about our new videos on Spinning Daily!
Gnome Blog
A felted chess Set April 13, 2015 00:00
As mentioned in the previous post we were invited to create an art piece for the gallery at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC. We decided to create a felted chess set, with the pieces consisting of Gnomes (obviously) vs. Vikings.
Viking King and Queen
Gnome King and Queen
We wanted the set to be larger than life so we chose to make it a 4ft. x 4ft. board with the pieces averaging around 12-14inches tall. It was a challenge to create pieces that people would be able to recognize as their traditional counterparts. Mushrooms were an obvious choice for the pawns on the gnome side, as were a gnome king and queen and viking king and queen. Bishops presented a bit of a representation challenge, being settled with tree gnomes on the gnome side and howling wolves on the viking side.
Gnome Bishops
Viking Bishops
Viking dragon riders and gnome bear riders were fun to make for the knights.
Viking Knights
Gnome Knights
The most frequently asked questions about building this felted chess set were: How long did it take? Did you each make a side? Can i make a move? We spent a total of about 200 hours working on the set, and were thrilled with the results! We both worked on both sides, though one of us made each set of companion figures (ie I made both wolf bishops on the viking side and gnome king and queen, Jen made both dragon rider knights and the viking king and queen. We both spent many hours making mushroom and rock monster pawns! We did let people (carefully) play the game both in NY and in Seattle - boy are there are a lot of chess enthusiasts out there!! Most were thrilled that the set was complete with a chess clock and and a gnome time keeper!
New ideas for new large scale art pieces are always swirling around.....stay tuned....
Going Gnome is getting a kick start! August 4, 2014 14:58
So, we've enlisted the help of our gnomes to get our kits packed with 100% US materials, and now in 100% US packaging! We have spent the past few months working hard to improve out great instructions - we've even added photo detail in them! The new kit design is amazing, but having the packaging made in the US means buying them in large quantity. The gnomes have launched this Kickstarter project to help us get the tubes here. Please check it out, share it with your friends, and back us if you can. You can get some great rewards - just a $25 pledge gets you a brand new, never before sold or seen felting kit - Prickle of Hedgehogs!!
Thanks for supporting us!
Where do your gnomes travel? April 17, 2014 12:42 1 Comment
2013 ended with, and 2014 began with our gnomes spending a lot of time on the road exploring new places!
The first big adventure was the trip to Chicago for Vogue Knitting Live!
We drove out and had an amazing weekend in the windy city with our dear cousin, and introduced so many mid westerners to the art of needle felting! We also got enjoy a trip down memory lane to the place where I was born - South Bend IN! We stopped by our old house, and low and behold the rock that our Dad painted with our initials 30 years ago is still there! The gnomes were excited to check it out.
We also got to see the amazing walnut forest that our neighbor planted for the future in his retirement - incredible how a forest can grow in 30 years!!! And though we didn't stop, we drove past good old Bonnie Doons Ice Cream!
We also detoured to Niagara Falls on the drive home!
After Chicago it was off to Brooklyn NY for the Renegade Craft Fair.
It was a great weekend accompanied by a bunch of visitors and some great holiday shopping for us all!
Some of our shop customers even stopped by to see us :)
We rang in the new year with another trip to NYC for another Vogue Knitting Live! Vogue New York was a first for us - we were asked to build an art piece for the artists gallery at the event. We created a 4'x4' chess set - Vikings vs. gnomes. It was so well received and was so much fun to create! Check the next blog post for details and more pictures.
Here is the set mid game: 
With its great success in New York, the Chess set was invited to travel to Vogue Knitting in Seattle! this was a first trip to the west coast for going gnome. We added a few days to the trip to do some exploring on the Olympic peninsula which was breathtaking!
Now we are in high gear getting ready for our spring shows and our next trip to Maryland - This is a great one for us as we get to see so much family while we are there.
We will miss seeing our cousin Jay, as he has set off on his own gnome accompanied journey to thru hike the Appalachian trail from Georgia to Maine! His backpacking gnome friend Winthrop is keeping him company on this amazing 6 month hike.
They have already covered over 200 miles and are hiking strong!
Check out Jay's travel blog and witness his amazing woodland travels!
We are so lucky that our gnomes take us to so many wonderful places and allow us to meet so many amazing people.
So now we want to know - where do your gnomes travel???