PART 1: Building the Base--DIY Needle Felted 3D Cat Portrait of Firestar

*PART 1: Building the Base*
This video is intended for you to be able follow along making a shadowbox cat portrait. The supplies you will need are listed below in this description. Please know that it will take 15-20 hours to needle felt this cat. It is not a quick or simple project. However, even if you cannot execute your needle felted Firestar to exactly the same degree, I think you can still enjoy this craft, and still end up with something nice. Best of luck!

TOOLS:
--A felting surface
https://www.etsy.com/listing/18322531... this one is like mine, but there are so many other options https://www.etsy.com/search?q=needle%...

--Needle Felting (barbed) Needles:
40T yellow and 36T black and optional green REVERSE needle (https://www.etsy.com/shop/FeltAlive)
** It is important to note that these needles can break, especially the 40 gauge, so you may want a spare needle or two. When shaping areas that are very dense, use the 36T to reduce the risk of breaking.

--Scissors

--Sewing needle (2 inches or 5 cm in length)

--Needle nose pliers

optional Clover Needle Felting Pen
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

optional Finger Guards
https://www.amazon.com/Dimensions-Nee...

optional Clover Felting Needle Claw and Mat Cleaner
https://www.amazon.com/Clover-Felting...


WOOL:
** I get all my wool through various Etsy sellers. You do not have to have the exact colors I used. If you do an image search for red or ginger tabbies, you will see there is great variation in their coats. However, I will include below the colors I used, but there are many wonderful sellers you can buy from on Etsy.com if these are not available.

--Core Wool (roving or batt ) about 2oz. Purple Moose Felting
https://www.etsy.com/listing/96248446...

--Dyed Needle Felting Wool Batt
Three colors: Camel, Gingerbread, Bittersweet
select each color (1oz) from this listing at Chameleon Fiber Co.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/77723512...

--Dyed Wool Roving
These are the 4 main colors of roving required (you will also make a couple of blends--especially blending 2&3 to make "medium orange", and possibly a little bit of 1&2)
In order of lightest to darkest:
(1) Natural White
(2) Cookie
(3) Butterscotch
(4) Toffee
select each color (1oz) from this listing at SlimChicken
https://www.etsy.com/listing/69486260...

I Also used Nutmeg Ashland Bay Merino as color (5), but this may be a bit more red than most ginger tabbies (color 4 will be perfect for most)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/20795430...

*as an alternative for color (2) or even in addition to color (2) if you just want to add more color variation, you could also get Maple Sugar (slightly lighter and more yellow than Cookie) https://www.etsy.com/listing/72282278...

OTHER SUPPLIES:
--Half Sphere Cabochons (18mm)--I got these on Etsy.com from MandT2007Cabochon
https://www.etsy.com/listing/82316314...

--Paint
Metallic Gold acrylic paint for the eyes (I used Liquitex, but I cannot find this exact metallic paint without being part of a large, expensive set, so this link is for a different metallic gold paint)
https://www.amazon.com/DecoArt-DM-DA0...

Evergreen acrylic paint for the eyes
https://www.amazon.com/FolkArt-Enamel...

*note: the lighter color green I used in the video was called “fresh cut grass” if you really want to use it. I don’t think it will make much difference once blended with the gold.

--Fine Tip Water-base Paint Marker in black (I happen to have this set, but I don’t see why another similar marker would not work)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

--Glue (I use Aleene's Tacky Glue)
https://amazon.com/Aleenes-Original-T...

and on this project I used Loctite super glue, ultra gel control
https://www.amazon.com/Loctite-Ultra-...)

--Any shadow box frame of at least 5x7 inches

--Berkley NanoFil Uni-Filament Fishing Line in color “Clear Mist” 0.004” diameter (4lb test)
https://amazon.com/Berkley-NF15010-CM...
This company also makes this product under the title “the bead smith” as a Uni-Filament Bead Thread (I have not tried that and cannot say how it compares to the fishing line).