Crafting with felt and how I make my felt story pattern pieces (giveaway is over)

***Read on for a coupon code for my Etsy shop until Feb 14th and a giveaway to win one of my felt stories*** Giveaway is now over

I love felt and the rainbow of colours it comes in.

I love pinning felt ideas. Most I will never try but they are so pretty to browse through. You can have a wander through my felt, felt and fiber fun Pinterest board HERE.

I love crafting with felt.

Being a jack of all creative trades I find the creative process quite magical no matter which medium you like to work with. Taking a blank canvas and creating a painting, or taking a piece of wood and carving beautiful toys and bowls. It's an amazing magical process from raw to finished project...don't you think? The same goes for felt...taking a rectangular piece of felt and transforming it into a usable story or game is a wonderous process.

To make my felt pieces I first draw a pattern on computer paper.

 Next I make a tracing pattern from empty cereal boxes on to the inside of the box (we go through enough Cheerios that some days I think we should buy stocks in it). The cereal boxes are more sturdy than the paper and last through many years of use. I also like to write the name of the story on each piece so when you have a table full of scraps and patterns you can easily find the piece you need. I don't know about you but my table is always a creative mess (when finished I store each stories pieces in a small ziplock bag).

Next comes the fun part...choosing your colours of felt.

Once you have your cardboard pattern piece all cut out trace it onto your chosen felt colour. When it is traced on the felt, cut it out. I like to cut along the inside edge of my pattern pieces (approximately 2 mm). This ensures that all the ink is cut off and your pieces don't have inked edges...a pet peeve of mine.

This week I've been crafting up a storm creating felt (flannel) stories for Valentines day. I haven't made any felt stories since we sold the daycares and I honestly miss it. I know it's almost Valentine's Day but I added a bunch to my Etsy shop if you'd like to have a look. I will be busy making more stories for upcoming themes in the coming weeks so check back often.

Psst...I love to hear what you think of the stories I've added so far (keep reading to possibly win a story for yourself).

I have a special coupon code for my blog readers in celebration of Valentines day I am offering a discount of 14% to anyone who uses the coupon code " loveday " at the checkout. This coupon code is valid for my blog and facebook readers only; a small thank you for following along. Hurry though this coupon code ends on Feb 14th.

Sierra joined me in making some pieces of her own this week and she even made her own mini felt board. if you are wondering what the orange things are on her felt board; they are pizza slices...all orange because she only like cheese pizza.

She also enjoyed playing the lovebug game shown at the beginning of this post. A game where you hide the lovebug behind the felt hearts and another person has to guess which heart it is behind. Younger children can guess by stating a colour choice while beginning readers can read the words. The one in the shop comes with two different poems to use with it; a short version for younger kids and a slightly longer version for older kids.

Sierra and I played a few games while Aayla was playing at the neighbours but as soon as Aayla came home Sierra asked to have the pieces she made so she could teach Aayla to play.

If you'd like to make a felt board of your own HERE is a DIY I did a few years ago to make one like this with a storage pocket for the piece on the back:

If you are local to Barrie, Ontario I'm hosting a bead giveaway here. The owner could only donate a gift card to be used in store but I'd love to offer another giveaway open to everyone everywhere to make it fair. So here you go! Good luck and I look forward to seeing which story is your favourite.

a Rafflecopter giveaway