Finished! Tree Stump WIP photos part 2

Yay! The tree stump and mushrooms display is all done and it shipped out today to go to its new home :) If you missed part 1 of this, you can see it here.

I took a few more photos this time than I did for part 1, you can click on them to make them larger. Here goes!

Here I'm starting to shape the base with core wool (this is where the tree stump will sit). I pretty much just make a coil and keep felting it together with the needle as I go, adding more wool until I think it's large enough.

When I'm happy with the base, I start to attach the finished tree stump. Using a coarse needle (size 38 usually), I felt it into place, being careful not to disturb any of the bark detail that's anywhere above the very bottom around the stump (the bottom will have mossy green wool added so I can be a little more dangerous there). I also flip the whole thing over and needle deeply through the core wool base, up into the bottom of the stump.

Here I'm getting ready to mix two colors of green wool that I previously dyed (more on dyeing your own wool with Koolaid drink mixes here). Instead of buying expensive carders that are made for blending wool colors and smoothing them out, I bought two paddle brushes with wire (for dogs) from a pet store for about $14.00. I've had these paddle brushes for at least 5 years and they still do the job perfectly. If you decide to try these, make sure you get the ones without the little ball tips on the end of the wires - you'll save yourself some frustration. Ask me how I know this ;)

Now's the really fun part...I get to add the greens I just mixed and make it look like moss is growing everywhere. I make sure to add thin layers into the crevices of the bark to make it look more realistic.

Next, it's mushroom time! I try to make and maintain a decent supply of pre-made mushroom caps so that I don't take as much time on small fiddly things when working on an order, so I don't have photos of them in the making at the moment. It's a pretty simple shape though :)  

I use florist tape wrapped over cloth-covered florist wire and felt the stems around that (with dark brown wool in this case), so that the mushrooms can be gently posed into different positions. The florist tape gets sticky when stretched and helps the wool adhere better to the stems.

After inserting the mushrooms where I want them and curving the stems, I add a bit more green to the stem bottoms to make them look like they're really growing there, and it's done!

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my processes; please feel free to ask me any questions and I'll do my best to give an answer that makes sense :)

Have a great day! ♥