Birth of the Golden Goose...

Spirit...Thank you for gifting me with this opportunity to create. Please allow my artist floodgate to open so that I may have the ability to craft something truly beautiful for the children I love...

My daughter's first grade class will be performing the play, "The Golden Goose"...I am honored to help make costumes...and to needle felt the Golden Goose.

Here is how it begins...The birth of The Golden Goose...

Wool batting, foam covered wire, needle felting needles and an inspiration...

I begin with a single piece of wire, ends folded over so that they are not sharp. First I shape the beak, then the curve of the head and neck and body. I attach wire in the shape of simple legs and feet...and then begin wrapping the frame with wool.

Now I can better mold the shape of the goose by needle felting. The barbed needles cause the wool to felt together and become firmer...and the figure begins to take on a nicer, more identifiable shape...

Many needle felted projects will have an inner core of wire, aluminum foil or some sort of foam. This way less wool may be used, making the project less expensive. I'm guessing that less felting would be required also.

I chose to use only wool. My intuition is that the weight of it will make the goose feel heavier and more balanced. As I continue on I am happier and happier that I made this choice. I am really enjoying myself...and the goose is beginning to take on a life of its own....