Needle Felted Bella

These past few months at home have given me time to explore other crafts beyond basketry.  Needle felting is something that I have been dabbling with for about a year.

For my daughters birthday, I decided to needle felt a mini portrait sculpture of her boxer Bella. 

This was my first attempt to create a free standing felted sculpture.  I started with a pipe-cleaner skeleton covered with natural colored wool.  Once I was satisfied with the proportions of the body, I added the colored wool to mimic the fur patterns. 

 The finished piece is about 4.5" by 6" high.  

Bella  - the model