We Present To You: THE EARTH

An Earth Day special from Lynne of Cozy Cottage Creations

My Newest Product – the Felted Earth Ball

I am a list person. A planner. I need a long lead time before I do something so that I can figure out how it fits into my schedule. I joked with my husband a few days ago that if he wants me to do something in June, he’d better ask me in March. So it should be no surprise that I’ve already mapped out what I’m making for Cozy Cottage Creations right through the summer. Then it came.

A new children’s clothing catalog arrived in my mailbox on a Friday (which actually happens almost every day – where do they get my name???), and my jaw dropped. There on the front cover was my next project. Three children stood on the beach (I have no idea what they were wearing – cool clothes I’m sure), the middle child holding up a beach ball. It was no ordinary beach ball, though, it was the EARTH!! Made from satellite pictures! My next thought, “I can make that out of wool”, struck me like a gong. I quickly scanned the catalog – no they don’t sell that beach ball in there. Ugh. To the internet – and within seconds, google found it for me. I ordered it instantly. That night, I dreamt of Earth beach balls.

Over the weekend, I gathered my materials, but I didn’t have the right blue. Kool Aid to the rescue! I had fun playing with mixing flavors and dyeing some white roving to get the right deep ocean blue in the photo. My ball arrived on Monday, and even though I had penciled it in for Wednesday, I dropped everything and started to create my Earth ball. (And - as another aside - I find it quite ironic that a beach ball depicting the Earth is made out of very stinky vinyl – now back to the story) So, in between finishing the laundry, picking up the kids from school, making dinner, giving baths and reading books, I poked away at white, green and blue roving with my favorite needle felting tool. By late that evening, it was finished. I slipped exhausted into bed and dreamt of more Earth beach balls.

The next morning, I snapped a few photos, listed my new Felted Earth Ball on Etsy, and hurried off to my daughter’s ballet class. It sold the next day. WOW! My head is still spinning over this one. I suppose it goes without saying that this is not my usual mode of operation. I have never before conceived of an idea, created it, then sold it - all within five days. Hmmm. I think I might like this spontaneity thing after all. It certainly was exhilarating and I’m excited to say that I’ll be making more of these – lots more!