Needle Felted Insect Collections

It’s been years since I made these needle felted inset collections. They sold well when I made them before, but I had simply moved onto other ideas, other projects in the last few years. However, this spring, I’ve had more time on my hands than usual thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak so I’ve been revisiting some projects from the past lately.

The other reason I’ve come back around to making bug boxes is that I’ve been intentionally using up random materials and bits of things I came across in my recent studio clean out / reorganization project. I found a few shadow box frames that had no plans and were taking up space in my storage area, and then I found some flat felt I had used to cut out the base shapes of insects when I made these many years ago. I figured I had all the stuff to make a few boxes, so I went for it.

My mission was complete, I used up what I had (3 shadowboxes and a few half and quarter sheets of flat felt). I posted them and WHAM - they sold instantly! I wasn’t not expecting that, nor was I anticipating the flood of messages requesting more. So here we are, back to making bug boxes on the regular! Turns out there are a lot of other insect enthusiasts out there and I’m pleasantly surprised to find this out!

I’m all stocked up on materials for these and have been busy making new shapes and sizes, and exploring new insects in my favorite medium, needle felted wool fiber. This has been fun to dive back into and I’m so pleased with my new pieces! My largest yet, a 20”x20” box containing almost 70 felted insects, is part of this new collection. I’m also including a few single insects, and small groupings as well. All felted insect boxes are now available at onceagainsam.com.

Enjoy this combination video showing my process for making the needle felted insects, plus a short time lapse film called “Bugs-a-creeping”. There’s also bonus footage showing how a stop-motion video is shot (spoiler alert: one photo at a time!).

The Bunny Project Continues

Spring is in the air and bunnies have been spotted (both in my backyard AND in my studio)! I’m pleased to announce my next collection of needle felted animal portraits, a continuation of The Bunny Project, which is a bunny-only collection I started many years ago and add to periodically. This season’s additions are all portraits intended to be hung on a wall, and each bunny has its own personality. They’re all needle felted with dyed wool fiber, feature some sort of accessory that gives them character, and are mounted on a variety of wooden backers.

This week, I’m doing a pre-sale of the bunnies through my Instagram stories. I’ll post each one with its name, dimensions, and price, and the first person to message me with their email address (for invoicing) and shipping info, gets to adopt the bunny. The bunnies will be slightly discounted during the pre-sale and I’m offering free shipping this time as well. Whatever bunnies remain after the 24 hour pre-sale ends on Instagram will go up on the website, but they’ll be full price and I do charge shipping for website orders.

Have a look at the bunnies, pick your favorites, message me with any questions you may have, and get ready to claim yours this week. These bunnies are all one-of-a-kind, and while I can recreate some of them to a certain extent, there are elements I’ll never be able to source again (like some of the accessories or backing materials), so if you have your heart set on something in this collection and love it exactly the way it’s shown, please know I’ll most likely not make it again exactly the same way.

As always, if you have another animal or specific accessories, colors, or sizes you’re wanting for a needle felted animal portrait, I’m more than happy to do custom orders. Send me a message and let me know what you have in mind, and I’ll get back to you with a quote and estimate of delivery timeframe. There’s never any pressure to buy – quotes are free! If you decide to proceed with the commission, I do ask for payment upfront, and I’ll always send you a photo of the finished item before shipping.

My ongoing series of needle felted bunny portraits is getting 12 new additions this week! Here's a sneak peek at the new bunnies coming soon. They'll be avai...

Winter in the Woods Collection

My first series of needle felted animal portraits for 2020 is coming soon! I don’t get to make these portraits very often and when I do, they sell so quickly it’s a bit of a blur. I’m excited to share these 12 woodland creatures who are all bundled up for the winter season but I know they won’t last. I’ve got bears in hats, owls in scarves, chipmunks in earmuffs, and I had way too much fun putting together this little trailer that my husband helped fiml in the woods behind our house. 

This new series of needle felted animal portraits all bundled up for the the winter will be available starting tomorrow night at 7PM on Instagram. Follow @onceagainsam for details and a chance to snag one of these rare creations!

Follow @onceagainsam on Instagram for details about adopting one of these woodland creatures. As with my past animal portrait collections, I will be listing them for sale on Instagram and the first person to message me with their email address for payment gets the piece. 

These quirky felted portraits range in price from $50 to $125 depending on size.

Fun fact: my talented mother-in-law hand know those tiny hats! Aren’t they just the cutest!?!

The Return of the Animal Portraits

It’s been awhile (I think maybe 2 years???), but I’m finally bringing back my quirky needle felted animal portraits for a limited edition series! These sometimes-realistic and sometimes-ridiculous wall hangings range from bookish bunnies, to cool cats in hats, and my most recent favorite, a professorial beaver in a bowtie. The 3D wool portraits are large enough that I’m able to develop the head shape and facial details pretty well, and adding just the right accessory – a pair of glasses, a pearl necklace, a pipe, or knit cap (my mother-in-law knit some of these for me!) is one of the most pleasing parts of the whole process for me. Sourcing those small scale accessories can be a bit of a treasure hunt, but they sure give the piece personality.

 I’ve been making these felted animal portraits for many years, but only in short bursts, never in a continuous or predictable fashion. I take commissions year round and am always up for a special request, but I’m rarely producing more than 15-20 portraits a year outside of custom orders. That’s extremely limited when I compare to how many hundreds of wool paintings I make in a year, several thousand pendants & earrings, plus dozens and dozens of Christmas ornaments.

Each summer, in preparation for Indie Craft Parade, a major craft fair here in Greenville, SC, I typically make one small collection of the felted portraits, put them all out at the show, and they’re sold out by noon the first day, so there are no remaining pieces to add to my website. I don’t know why I even have a section for these on my site. It’s permanently empty!

Recently, I started to realize customers outside of the Greenville area (or even those in the Greenville area who didn’t attend the show or got there too late) don’t have the opportunity to purchase or even see the animal portraits in person. This year, prior to Indie Craft Parade, I’m trying something a little different in hopes of giving those interested a chance of adding to their collection. I’m going to offer these quirky creatures for sale in a brief pre-sale / flash sale on Instagram so there will be a short chance to snag one before they ever make it to the craft show (or if you’re local, you can purchase in advance and pick up at the show). Plus, I made nearly twice as many as previous years, so hopefully there’s enough to go around this time!

Hope you enjoyed this advanced look at the pieces available. Please follow along on Instagram for details about when they’ll be up for grabs in early September.

 As always, if you don’t see the exact animal you want, or you have something specific in mind, please reach out. I truly love custom orders!