Something new - needle felting

I was reading a thread in an online forum about needle felting. It referred to a YouTube video which intrigued me. We passed a wool shop on Wednesday as we were making deliveries and stopped in to see if they had the materials we needed.

They did, and so... First, I made a big old flower. It would be a great accent on a cloche hat or on a coat. Then I found an old piece of felt and decided to try felting a design on it. It was pretty free form and I really have no idea what it could be used for. A couple of snaps and it could actually be a cuff bracelet.. can you do that in felt?
Then I decided to give a figural a try. That was really what I thought I wanted to do when I got the supplies. I tried a teddy bear. His arms are a little long and I couldn't get his face right. At various times, while I was making him he looked like a monkey, a cat, a mouse and finally, when I got his face right, a bear! He's a pocket bear - just the right size to pop in a pocket for a little girl to take along as a secret friend.
Obviously, I haven't done much else for the past two days except to play with this new medium! But, the final piece is a mermaid.

I don't think she is finished. This is the piece to which I will add pearls and beads and maybe a few small shells.

She is my opportunity to really pour on the embellishments.

Next, I think I'll try a relatively large head. I have some ideas of a base to build it on...

I've been hearing a lot about people to being anxious for spring to come, but the older I get, the more I believe in enjoying life as it comes. One of the things I like about this time of the year is the opportunity to just hunker down and try new things...

Experimenting with soap, glass and, now a new medium, for me, of needle felting.