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Needle felted creatures from the sea and beyond, by Chrissy of “The Felted Chicken”

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Chrissy lives in California and has an amazing collection of needle felted creatures indigenous to the sea.  I especially love her blowfish! On Chrissy’s Flickr account and her blog she shows you her dying techniques for the blowfish. She has brought a whole new dimension to needle felting.  She has a wonderful imagination and living in California near a sea, must help her develop her realistic looking sea creatures.  I love her octopus, lobster and of course her awesome sushi.  Take some time and visit fried chicken! You will find unexpected creations that I’m sure you will enjoy. You can find Chrissy on her The Flted Chicken blog, her ETSY shop, Flickr and on Facebook. If you are a member of Facebook you will want to become Chrissy’s fan.

Chrissy also is creating a sweet line of (re)Gift Boxes and bags “Pictured” made of a pre-felted fabric called Eco-spun. This is a synthetic felt that is made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.

Chrissy tell us!

I am a scenic sculptor living in West Hollywood. Right now I’m really trying to focus on my new ETSY shop.

Currently I am making many things out of felt. I love the fabric; it reminds me of craft projects I did as a child. My sculptures are 100% hand-felted wool made by Needle-felting. Needle-felting is the process of matting and compressing animal fibers into felt by stabbing a barbed needle into the fibers over and over and over and over again. It is very time-consuming, but also amazingly fulfilling. It allows me to hand sculpt fabric without having to use a sewing machine. It combines many of my favorite things – sculpting & stuffed animals – fine art & toys – innocence & craftsmanship.

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Learn about Bulgaria for Kids

Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is in Southeastern Europe that’s bordered by Greece, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia and the Black Sea. It was founded from an empire that deeply influenced the Slavic nations and was once part of the Eastern bloc controlled by Russia.

Bulgaria Facts

  • Bulgaria is 42,855 square miles, or 110,994 square kilometers, with a population near 6.5 million.
  • Its capital and largest city is Sofia.
  • The Bulgarian Empire, from which the nation takes its name, took power in the area in the late 7th century and developed Cyrillic script, which is used for many Slavic languages. The country was under Ottoman rule for almost five centuries, but it declared its independence in 1908.
  • Bulgaria sided with Germany in both world wars and became part of the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union in 1946. The Communist Party ceded control in the late 1980s and Bulgaria adopted a democratic constitution in 1991.
  • It is a unitary parliamentary republic with a president and a prime minister as well as a National Assembly.
  • The word Bulgar might have some from a word meaning to mix or stir, or a derivative of that word that means revolt or disorder. About 85 percent of the country is ethnically Bulgarian, and the official language is Bulgarian.

Bulgarian National Symbols

The Bulgarian flag is made of three horizontal stripes, one white, one green and one red. It was adopted when they gained independence from the Ottoman Empire.

The national anthem, “Mila Rodino,” or “Dear Motherland,” was adopted in 1964 but its lyrics have been changed many times, most recently in 1990, and a shortened version was approved in 1991.

The Eurasian griffon vulture is considered the national bird, and a lion is used as it heraldic symbol.

The patron saint of Bulgaria is Saint John of Rila, the first Bulgarian hermit, whose followers founded many churches in his honor, including the famous Rila Monastery, now a UNESCO World Heritage site (and a very cool looking building).

The national instrument is the kaba gaida, a bagpie that is native to Bulgaria.

Bulgaria Activities for Kids

Listen to the kaba giada in this video, or you can listen for two hours(!) here.

Learn more about Bulgarian folk dancing and watch some people doing it. The people in this video are also wearing traditional Bulgarian folk costumes, which is fun to see. (As a knitter I love those socks!) You can learn more about Bulgarian folk costumes here or at Meet the Slavs.

See what your name looks like in Cyrillic and see if you can write it! You can also learn the sounds of the Bulgarian alphabet here.

Learn more about Bulgaria from Kids World Travel Guide, or check out the resources available at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Wonders of Bulgaria has a good rundown of traditional Bulgarian foods you might want to try. For kids I’d suggest their version of moussaka, which is like the Greek dish only made with potatoes and not eggplant or zucchini. The Modern Nonna has a version that includes carrots, but they’re optional.