The day after, I visited my local craft store and purchased a 'book box' for $9AUD.
I lightly sanded the rough edges and primed it with a layer of gesso.
Over a couple of days, I laid the inside of the box with green felt for a grass carpet, and painted the inside of the lid with a deep green. The outsides of the box were painted in brown but to give it some interest, I also painted wood grain patterns on the front and back of the box.
I sprayed the entire box inside and out with a sealing gloss that The Cat had around from his charcoal sketching days. If you don't have a sealer, my art teacher used to say that hairspray works as a substitute. Meanwhile, my first order of wool roving and felting needles were on their way to me so I reluctantly left my box for a couple of weeks as I waited for my felting kit to arrive. Of course, many of you know already that when it did, the felting needles were missing so I waited another week for them to be replaced while I did some wet felting.
Finally, my needles arrived two days ago and my enchanted forest home began filling up with inhabitants!
Indoors on the grassy carpet, The Cat (who owns this enchanted forest home) is having a chat with Hoo over his oyster mushroom table. (I'm waiting on some bright red roving from Wales from which I'll be making a toadstool 'tablecloth'.)
Hoo's job is to tell everybody in the forest when night time is. Even though you may think the sky does that already, some animal friends like earthworms, moles and other creatures live underground, so they appreciate knowing when night is without having to poke their heads out of the earth all the time.
It's also Bring Your Daughter to Work Day today, which is why Hoo has brought her owlet, Hoo Junior (or Hoo-Ju) to The Cat's house, but she's gotten herself stuck in a hollow tree trunk in The Cat's backyard.
The Cat's fishing pond has been newly made home to Mother Quack and of course, as it's Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, Quack-Ju is with her. In the far corner of The Cat's yard, a small veggie patch has been planted and carrots are ready to pick. A tipped bucket is beside it with two carrots inside, but picking carrots is hard work so The Cat's taken a break. The Cat doesn't eat carrots but he's stocking up for a special friend who will be moving in next week.
Here, Hoo helped Hoo-Ju out of the tree trunk. See the little toadstool stool beside the pond? The Cat likes to sit on it when he's fishing and the bucket of water beside it is the best place to put the fish he's caught.
The bucket of carrots have been brought inside and the two carrots placed on the mushroom table, ready to be washed and eaten.
What's left to do:
- Finish table with red wool roving to make a toadstool.
- Make a woodsy bed (maybe bark bed with a big green leaf as a blanket?) for The Cat and his friend.
- Make fish for the cat to eat.
- Felt another playbox!
My first attempt was not without some mistakes! I left the hinges on while painting the box. In retrospect, I should have taken them out and painted the lid and box separately to avoid getting paint on the hinges, which made them rust slightly, and where the lid touches the box, some paint stuck together there and became a little messy.
I made this one for no one in mind but as it's The Cat's birthday next weekend, I turned this into his gift, which is why the owner of the forest home is a cat modelled after his likeness. I would love to make more of these and hone my technique, but unfortunately, the only children I have in my family in the age range for whom something like this would suit are two Cat cousins. However, I need to respect their parents' wishes of not giving them soft, plush toys to play with that can collect dust, so please feel free to suggest people you know (including yourself!) who might appreciate some of my felted creations.
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