The Gaitlinburg trip that wasn't

Be very careful what you wish for. It has been so long since I had seen an accumulation of snow that the 6 hours to Asheville wasn't really all that bad (I wasn't driving) So many wrecks on the interstate, cars stopped for hours at a time. Young men pushing cars out of snowbanks. Driving down the one lane of 3 that is open and enjoying the snowmen people built while they were waiting for the wrecks to clear. Finally in Asheville, the road to Gaitlinburg has a mudslide so no going that way. Stop at various hotels, no room at the inn, no stables either. I step out of the car to play in the snow and my feet immediately got out and I am laying flat on my back. Decide to make a snow angel since I am down there anyway.... We continue back home. A 4.5 hour trip has turned into a 12 hour adventure. Has anyone seen it lightening while it is snowing? It is blue. A ball of lightening shot down the highway towards us, it's center was teal and outside was blue....twilight zone.... So we missed the lights a Gaitlinburg but I think I had more fun dealing with the snow. It ended up 15" in Asheville. No wonder by 12" boots didn't stay warm
There have been several nice sales on wool this month so I got a good supply of Merino. The New Zealand Merino is not nearly as soft as the US Merino. Will be interesting to see how each of them felt.

This weekend's fun

We are taking a weekend trip to Pigeon Forge (yuck) and Gaitlinburg (yea) Tn. It is supposed to snow and I never get to see snow so I am excited and packing like I am going to the North Pole. We are riding the trolley in Gaitlinburg to see the lights. This is the 3rd year I have done it so I guess I will know all the jokes from the ticket taker but it will still be fun. Pigeon Forge seems to be all shopping malls and bad buffets. Phil and his mom will want to hit every one. Hopefully Phil has no stomach problems. Maybe there will be a cool yarn or roving store. The Tn Artisan Guild is in Gaitlinburg and they have already asked me to join when/if I move to Tn. That was a nice little ego boost.
From the way things have not been selling in my shop this season, I need all the ego boosts I can get. Anyone else selling anything? I did pretty good at the show last week even if I did have to stay home with Phil. Next year I will be back and able to push my product and tell more about the felting process and maybe do some demos.
Life is good and I am catching up with things finally. Such a good feeling. I still have some more house decorating to do but it won't take too long. Then I can sit back, drink sparkling hot cider and relax!
Hope you are all doing well, have your shopping done and are just waiting for the man in the red suit.

It's getting closer

As Christmas is coming, well I am not making much progress. Usually by this time each year, I have the house fully decorated. This year we just barely got the tree up. I may still be hanging ornaments in January at this rate.

Just decided to add free shipping to 1/2 of my shop so if you have been considering one of my felted scarves, they are free shipping. I added some glass Christmas balls that I put red, white, green wool and gold sparkes inside. They are pretty on my little metal tree.

I have the last show of the season this weekend. It is a house show that is not going to be inside as I thought but outside on her porches. I am on the back porch with one other artist so I hope we still get lots of traffic. The high will be 42 degrees and it is supposed to be raining so I wonder how well my felt will do with the humidity. I will probably have to re-shape everything.

Hope you are all doing wonderfully!

Black Friday, CyberMonday and help getting more sales

I have been advertizing more than usual for the upcoming holiday season. While my views and hearts are increasing nicely, I am not selling very much. This doesn't really disappoint me because I have come a long way from where I was this time last year and I expect next year to be even better. It takes a long time to build up a following and I want to thank all of you who follow me here. It means a lot to know someone is listening and maybe even learning from some of my adventures.
In Etsy forum today, there is a great post about getting seen by more people. Most of it is stuff I know but not stuff that I do on a regular basis and I should. Here is the blog http://www.wonderthinking.com/2009/12/secret-to-etsy-sales-part-2/
Is everyone still working on things for Christmas? I still am and trying to list several times a week. I have my last show of the season on Dec 12 and 13 so after that is done and the house has been decorated, I am taking a couple of months off to do stuff that I want to do. I have signed up for a small odd doll clay sculpture class and I am really looking forward to it.
Well back to work and everyone have a great day/week.

Thanksgiving Day

I am finally out of the kitchen. I love Thanksgiving but I always over do it and now that everyone is gone, we still have enough left overs for at least a week. The company was good and stayed just the right amount of time. Now I am cruising around Etsy finding new sites I like.
This one http://tinyurl.com/yd8tlg4 has some very interesting felt jewelry. She uses her sewing machine on her felt much more that I do and I like the look. After the holidays, I will play around with this too.
Seems to be many more people on Etsy each month. So many jewelry makers, I honestly don't know how any of them get their shop to stand out. Lots more roving being offered which is nice. Remember if you felt, don't buy superwash roving, this is for spinning only.
I have the opportunity to get 2 alpaca if I want them right now. Only $100 for each of them and the current owners will work with me on getting them here from NC mountains. They just want to cull their herd, hay is getting expensive. Our backyard is about 2/3s of an acre and is fenced 6 ft high. It would be very easy to build a small stable/shelter for them connected to the barn. They would have to share the backyard with my dogs who are mostly inside but I just don't know if this will work. I don't want to make any of them unhappy or threatened. Decisions to be made. Wouldn't it be lovely to wake up on Christmas day and have them safely in my yard?
Hope all of you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't eat as much as I did!

Veterans Day

Well it has been a cold rainy day, not fun for veteran's parades or visits to cemetaries but perfect for felting. I have converted the kitchen into a felting station and am having lots of fun and getting much done. I can't make scarves or shawls there but cuffs and wall hangings are perfect for this area. I could be doing soap too but I am abit tired of it. That show in Dec. is going to get here before I know it so I really need to have lots of products ready to sell. I also need to at least double my Etsy inventory. Of course will all the rain, I can't take very good pictures, even with my light box so I can't post the few things I have finished. I started playing the other night with cookie cutters and needle felting. I really don't care much for needle felting, too many bloody fingers but with the cookie cutter shapes, it is an easy way to decorate a cuff or make a pin. So I will be doing more of this too.

Hope you all had a good day and had the day off too. So nice to have only music, my dogs and my art!

More SAFF

Inside the main arena is were most of the vendors were and all the classes and demos were shown. The demos were great, I love watching the spinners. I only do drop spindle so to watch others do fancy stuff was fun. I resisted buying a wheel just as I have every year, we just don't have the room and I have too many interests now as it is. One demo was how to make a coosie on a coke can. It was so simple, a resist technique and I will be giving these away for Christmas I know. I ran into 2 young girls with their rabbits and they had just been waiting for the right audience. I now know the difference between English and German bunnies and more about their diets and habits than I ever hoped to know.
Now back to shopping. More alpacha, someone had cream and black at $1 per ounce. Some veggie matter but carding will take care of that. Several dreamy batts with angelina or flash in them. I am all about the sparkle. I bought a small tin with a soy candle in it and decorated with wool on top of the tins. This is what I plan to make for give aways at the Dec. show. I talked with so many wonderful people. Got to see my teacher Chad and she might be teaching classes at her house again this winter...got to start saving those pennies again.
Finally I made it outside to see the animals. No alpacas? Unless they left on Sat. cause there were only llamas on Sun. Beautiful animals, one young lady was on her first trip away from her mom and she hummed the entire weekend I was told. I talked with llama rescue and they told me who to get in touch with in Ga. when we get that extra acre fenched in. I had always wanted sheep but the coyotes are getting bad so a llama would be more practical and I wouldn't have to get a GP that I would not want to leave outside! The sheep and goats were wonderful, I think it is the Jacob sheep(?) that were so pretty.
Anyway, a good time was had by all and I now have enough supplies to last me until I see the next beautiful batt that I just have to have.....

Just in case you didn't see my give away...

****Fall Give Away**** Win this neckwarmer http://tinyurl.com/ndncpn. Beautiful fall colors. Be the 487 heart at my shop and you win, I will even pay shipping.

Libby's Excellent Adventures at SAFF

We left early Sat. morning for SAFF. Headed up I-85 until we saw a sign that said accident 30 miles again. Traffic had visibly backed up even as we saw the sign so we stopped at the next reststop to figure out what to do. There were several others looking at maps and we decided to head off into the country. It was the perfect thing to do. We went thru little towns with specatular views of the mountains and the leaf color seemed at it's peak.
We finally got into Fletcher and decided to check into our room at Day's Inn. Never, ever will I stay at a Day's Inn again. They did not have me in their computer, then said that Hotel.com had called and canceled my reservation, then said my promised price of $79 a night was now $109 a night and the town was full so we had no other choice. So they entered me into the computer and said my room was now $89 a night. Who knows what will come up on my credit card.
So now we are off to the Fair. Entrance price had doubled but was still cheap. The show floor had more vendors than ever. I went straight to my basket man from Sapelo, an island off of Georgia coast that I lived on while doing my master's research. He was glad to see me and said he had sold most of his baskets on Friday and was wondering when I would show up! I bought a beatiful pumpkin, brown and cream basket and he discounted it since I was such a good repeat customer. That was my first purchase. I next went in to see all the fleece that had won prizes and was graded and now for sale. I had never bought any because of the price but I found a beautiful light brown, airy, fluffy, perfectly cleaned fleece for $45. Had my name written all over it so I know own this year's shearing of Sophie, a 3 year old alpaca. The owner came over to talk to me and thank me so we had a very nice chat and he was telling me what a bargain I got, hah, as I sat there with the fibers held close to my chest like someone might try to steal them.
I will write more later as this was only the barn, I hadn't even made it inside the mail building yet.

SAFF

Have I told you about SAFF, Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival? It is in Fletcher, NC about 17 miles outside of Asheville, NC. It is a great festival, good classes and wonderful vendors. At the last minute I have decided to go. I am not taking any classes this year, only going up on Sat. spend the night and return Sunday afternoon. I love watching the llamhas doing an agility course. One of my favorite parts. Going in and talking to all the goats and sheep is great fun too, even if everyone looks at me strangely. I really don't need any more fiber but I am sure I will smoke my credit card anyway. Will tell about it next week.

Some Fall pics from last weekend

Quiet week

Thank goodness it has been a quiet week at work. This cold lingers on, 2 weeks today. Maybe I have allergies too, we certainly have lots of grasses blooming right now. I am currently working on felted necklaces. I made the focal piece for one yesterday and went to Hobby Lobby to buy all the findings so I could put it together last night. I brought the felt in with me so I could match some beads with it etc and I paid for everything then realized I didn't have the piece of felt. I re-traced my steps thru that entire store and of course I had been all over the store. I went to the register to see if it had dropped there. No felt. The girl at the register and her customers were trying to help me find it (nice people) but since none of them knew what felting was, they didn't know what they were looking for So now I have the perfect findings for a piece of finished felt that I can remake because I used all that wool making the piece I lost. Somedays it is one step forward, 2 steps back, sigh. Still it was a good day.

Weekend in the N. Ga mountains

What a wonderful weekend. It rained gently most of the weekend but the leaves were turning and it made the colors more intense. Sitting on the front porch listening to the gentle rain and watching the leaves fall was so restful. The cabin we stayed in was beautiful and the owner's only charged us one night because of the weather and the fact we got in so late on Friday. What a generous thing to do for us. We will definitely stay with them again.
A local gallery had contacted me in August about demoing with other fiber artists on Sat. I met so many wonderful women. One of them said she collects my work, has 4 pieces, what a great surprise. Mostly there were quilters but there was one woman who make very cool fiber,wire birds and of course I had to have one. There was also a Christmas glass heart that I needed. I sold one of my biggest shawls so I still earned more than I spent, a good thing. I also got orders from the gallery for many more pieces of my work.
Now I really need to bust butt for the show in Dec. My inventory took a serious hit and I better get to work for that show.
One question, I felted lots of soap very easily in the mountains. Here at home, my soap felting is not going as well. Anyone know if hard water or soft water makes a big difference in felting? Wonder what will happen if I use bottled water?

Back from the Show

Well the show is over. There was good and bad from it, more good really. It was a very small crowd and my items were higher priced than most so we did not sell well. I bartered quite a bit with other vendors and now have a new stained glass window hanging of a raven that I love and Christmas presents for most in the office. I am glad that we had a dress rehearal of putting up the tent and the grids at home. It was pretty awful here at home but not too bad at the show. If Phil had not been with me, I found out quickly that I could not do my setup by myself although lots of vendors helped us and we helped them.
It was truly a neighbor hood festival. We were right across from headquarters and the bathrooms. Right down from the vendors (bad thing) and down enough from the music to enjoy it but not be blown away by the speakers. Some vendors had to wear earplugs and shout in their booth to be heard. The economy is definitely keeping sales down.
I made some new friends, will be joining a new website by invitation and I danced alot in the street, by myself to my husband's surprise. I felt right at home in this festival.
The bad news is we only made enough money to get our booth entry fee back plus $11 which we promptly ate. We did not even earn our gas money back but I think I would do this festival again. We had lots of critiques on our booth from both customers and vendors. We changed the way we displayed items a lot on Sunday and it helped our traffic and sales. Good learning experience.

Yeah it's Friday

What a long week it has been. I am doing my first arts and crafts show without sharing the booth with anyone so this will be a first for me. Of course I am nervous, I have been working on getting it together all week long at night. Just need to make sure everything has a price tag which I will do this evening I am still painting sugar skulls too. The house is an explosion. The show is at Pine Lake, Ga which is a small town that is mostly an artist colony. Don't know how well my work will sell there.
On a really positive note, I have been named Crafter of the Week at http://www.mycraftcorner.com/ They did a lovely write up about me and my dolls so check it out if you have a chance.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Halloween spirit

Why am I having so much trouble getting into the spirit of Halloween creating this year? I am painting sugar skulls but very slowly. I have shows coming up the next couple of weeks and I think anything Halloween should help draw people to my booth but I just can't seem to buckle down and finish anything. This is about the only piece I have finished so far and I am not sure if it is Halloween or just strange... You can see this goblin on my site http://raven333.etsy.com

More about doll classes

One of the teachers last week worked with Jim Henson. He had such a calm, laid back way of teaching, I could just imagine him making a crazy puppet. He taught how to make a doll on a candle stick and we embellished the heck out of those dolls. My candle stick needs to be taller, she is out of preportion right now. I took way too many trims but was glad I did. Wish I had brought my camera, one person made a witch that was just incredible. Might have to give that a try. Oh and I still can't do fingers, even big fingers, I blow them out when I turn them everytime.

After the Doll Classes

I am finally home again. I had a good time but have decided to take a break from doll classes for awhile. They are much more expensive than felting lessons and I don't seem to enjoy them like I once did. The people there were wonderful, lots of new and old faces. I gave a felt demo one night and it was popular, as Sally said I turned into Tom Sawyer, everyone wanted to try it after they say me making felt.

The dolls I made are in various stages of being finished. I will show the one I make in Pam Grosses class. It really inspired me so I hope to make more soon.

Classes and a contest

Tomorrow I am headed off to a week of classes by well know art doll instructors. This is very challenging for me. I have not been really into this because of all the problems we have had lately. Jack the free rescue dog fell in the back yard Sat. and is having $1500 worth of surgery tomorrow so I will be calling the vet every few hours to check on her. She will be in a cast for several months so that should be interesting. As you can guess, I really need to get away from everyday life for awhile so these doll classes should help. If I finish anything, I will show pics in here.
Now for the good part. Win this hand woven neckwarmer http://tinyurl.com/ndncpn. Beautiful fall colors. Be the 487 heart at my shop and you win, I will even pay shipping. I will be checking out my site and will let the winner know at soon as I hit that spot but it will be mailed after I get home. If you are an early Christmas shopper, this would be a unique gift and it would be free. Even better! Good luck and wish Jack well on her road to recovery. She did this same thing to her other knee 2 years ago. Luckily the front legs can't get this kind of injury!

A beautiful rainy Sunday in Ga

A wonderful day to work on dolls for Magic, Mischief and Mayhem that begins in 2 weeks. So why and I procrastinating? We have to make 4 dolls and I think I started with the hardest. I am so afraid that the rest of them will be such a pain that I don't even want to start on them but start I must. I at least need to finish one of them today.
I went into my studio with full intentions of getting started and I saw this box that I couldn't remember the contents so I had to open it and put things away. Under it was another unknow box so I dug around in it and put things away. At this rate, I will probably bury the dolls and patterns that I need to work on. Any ideas of how to light a fire under my behind?

The Art of KC Willis

I love this artist's work, her fabric collages are primitive and natural. Lots of sepia and image transfers. She is having a shopping spree on her artwork if you check out this site. It also shows her teaching schedule, I sure wish I could take a class with her. Here is her incredible website so check her out, I am sure you will fall in love with her work too http://studioretreats.ning.com/
"OK, so you didn't win the first $300 shopping spree...doesn't mean you can't be the name drawn in this one! I'm pretty serious when I do giveaways and this one is no exception. On September 5th I will draw a name and I hope it's yours. $300 worth of art of your choice from Lipstick Ranch. Fun.I'm gonna keep it short and sweet....write a line or two in your blog about my 2009 and 2010 workshop schedule being up and running and link to the Studio Retreats page. If you want to mention that the likes of Joanna Pierotti and Sarah Fishburn (to name just a couple) will be teaching here...go ahead. Oh and if you can't help but tell them workshops paid in full up front get 20% off and until the drawing is held September 5th those same paid workshops get one night of their hotel free here in lovely Longmont, CO....well I'll forgive you. And all of you who have already booked a workshop, here's your chance to blab incessantly about it and get in on the drawing. You can pick out your $300 worth of art in person! Very fun."

Spread the the love from HandMadeArtistsForum. This week's featured artists are:

Monday, August 24 http://virginianin.etsy.com/Tuesday August 25 http://unkamengifts.etsy.com/Wednesday August 26 http://sisterjewelry.etsy.com/Thursday August 27 http://roseofsharonjewelry.etsy.com/Friday August 28 http://artsycrafty.etsy.com/Saturday August 29 http://artisticwill.etsy.com/Sunday August 30 http://raven333.etsy.com/

Road Trip tomorrow!

I was asked to participate in a show in a Gallery I had never heard of. Well that is because it is in a town I have never been to so Sally and I are going to take a 2.5 hour drive to deliver my piece. We will drive through several ante-bellum towns that Sherman decided not to burn so this will be a great history trip too. We plan to eat at the Blue Willow Inn, which is an old family plantation that has been turned into a restaurant where they bring big plates of southern home cooked food to each table and every room has several tables. We will likely be seated at a table with people we don't know so it is fun getting to meet other people, many of them tourists. Then we plan to go gallery hopping and boutique looking. There is another town that has converted the very old brick bank into a restaurant. You can eat inside the vault if you get lucky. We may need to stop for another dessert there, takes alot of sugar to keep up with all the looking and walking tomorrow. It will be an art day with no art making, just gathering ideas.

Brutus the Dog

Sorry, I tried to bring his picture in here but couldn't figure it out. Let's just say this dog is really big and scary looking.

Thought everyone should know about this dog and his story.


The K9 above is Brutus, a military K9 at McChord. He's huge - part Boxer and part British Bull Mastiff and tops the scales at 200 lbs. His handler took the picture. Brutus is running toward me because he knows I have some Milk Bone treats, so he's slobbering away! I had to duck around a tree just before he got to me in case he couldn't stop, but he did. Brutus won the Congressional Medal of Honor last year from his tour in Iraq . His handler and four other soldiers were taken hostage by insurgents. Brutus and his handler communicate by sign language and he gave Brutus the signal that meant 'go away but come back and find me'. The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus. He came back later and quietly tore the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at another door. He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the guys were being held in an old warehouse) until it opened. He went in and untied his handler and they all escaped. He's the first K9 to receive this honor.. If he knows you're ok, he's a big old lug and wants to sit in your lap. Enjoys the company of cats. K-9 Congressional Medal of Honor Winner .

Thought you'd find this interesting. Talk about animal intelligence and bonding with humans!

Remember that they can't do a lot of things for themselves and that they depend on you to make their life a quality life!

~Take a moment today to thank God for your pets. Enjoy and take good care of them. Life would be a much duller, less joyful experience without God's critters.

~Now please pass this on to other pet owners. We do not have to wait for Heaven, to be surrounded by hope, love, and joyfulness. It is here on earth and has four legs!

Freedom

How wonderful the last few days have been. My DH and my stepson have been in the mountains and the dogs and I have had the whole house to ourselves. I have gotten so much art done while they have been away. I finished an item to be auctioned for breast cancer research. Every couple of months I pick a charity and do a piece just for them. It is usually women's causes like the huge doll for ovarian cancer. This project was made into a beautiful little book called Ties that Bind A Collaboration of Love. Most of the causes I am behind are not published as that one is. I do many items for auction for Corgi-L. I guess many of you know I have the Corgi from Hell which most of them can be. I couldn't live without him but somedays I do think about it. Nah, not really.

Froggyfibers Interview

Today I am interviewing a wonderful fiber artist, FroggyFibers. She cleans and cards fleece, makes roving and batts plus she can spin and felt. Here is her etsy shop, check it out.

http://tinyurl.com/mln4p6

She is also active on Twitter.

1.When did you first start working with fibers?
My most recent experiences working with fibers began in 2003. I was working at a customer service call center and during our training classes one of the ladies pulled out a crocheted blanket she was working on. After we got out of training she would work on different crocheted projects during the low volume times. Eventually I worked up the nerve to ask if she would show me how to crochet. I met at her house one weekend and she showed me a simple chain stitch. We worked on chain stitching for 30-40 minutes because she stressed the most important thing you can do when crochet was have a consistent chain. That starts my current experiences but recently I have looked back and realize that I have had many smaller fiber excursions to build on. Everything from neighborhood kids showing me the chain stitch (never learned any other crochet technique) to my mom showing my how to knit and sew. I never figured out how to bind off the knitting so it always came unraveled and my mom didn't really know either. As for sewing, I got tired of the thread knotting up and I was convinced I was going to break her sewing machine so I put an end to that as well. Just proof things really do come full circle.

2.What is the first thing you remember making with fibers
I don't remember the first thing I made with fibers. I vaguely remember trying to make doll clothes from my mom's scrap fabrics. Most of the time it was hand stitching two pieces of fabric that looked like a shirt and two pieces that looked like a square to make a skirt. I would change out my doll outfits so that the didn't always wear the same clothes each day. I know I didn't why should my doll's have to. I do remember the first yarn I ever tried to spin. I was doing everything self taught and I grabbed my spindle and the roving and tried my best to hand spin. At that point, I hadn't read enough to know about park and draft or predrafting fibers to loosen them up. It turned out like a squiggly blob. Now I always tell people who want to learn that it takes patience and persistence. Then I give them a half page of reliable links and the two free Interweave spinning brochures. I really wish someone had done the same for me when I first started so I try to help others in the same way.

3.Do you have a favorite technique? What is it and why is it your favorite.
I don't really have a favorite technique. Probably my favorite fiber activity is spinning and dying. I love to play with the colors and experiment with different results. Sometimes you can dye something that looks awful but when you spin it up its absolutely beautiful. It's just not always predictable and I really like that.

4.Do you go to any of the fiber festivals? If so which ones. Why is it your favorite.
I have only been to one fiber festival and only as a visitor so that automatically wins. I have been to SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival) in Asheville, NC. My husband convinced me at the last minute to go and we took a 5 hour drive from middle Georgia to North Carolina. Since I wasn't signed up for classes I only had one purpose in going... to SHOP! My husband “suggested” a spending limit but when we got there I just kinda played it by ear. We went around that building like three times before I ever bought anything to make sure we saw everything. We were on a limited budget but my husband was such a good sport because when we got to this little corner of the convention hall there was a dealer who had knock out prices. I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen the spot in the first three trips round the center!

5.Where do you get most of your supplies? Add Etsy shop name if you buy on Etsy.
I don't really buy supplies on Etsy. If I see something that I really love I will buy it for myself. If its roving and I spin it I normally end up listing it though and I give credit to the store I purchased from. Mostly, I get my undyed fiber from Paradise Fibers. It's not like their a secret supplier of fibers though. I once bought some mill end rovings from Sheep Shed and everyone speaks highly of them. I took most of those fibers, dyed them and mix them up for batts.
6.Anything else you want to say, this is your soapbox.

I don't really have a whole lot to say. I feel like I already rambled enough anyway. I will say that I love Etsy as a venue. Yes, it has flaws but I can see where the company is trying to improve on their weakness. Five years ago I would have had to trudge through eBay to do what I do now. Also, I expect some competition from other companies, there are many many many out there now from 1000 Markets to Artfire to Zibbet and they are all trying very hard to build on what Etsy started: A venue to sell handmade goods for the small time seller.
Sure, some people will say that having been with Etsy since 2005 I have a blind loyalty to it. Others may say that I should know better because I've been around that long. To me: I just don't have the time and energy to argue about what this venue or that venue should be doing or even how they are ten times better than the last one. I take each one at its own merit and for what it can provide for me and what I do. Each venue is different and that is the way it should be. I guess I just hate the wedge the whole “growing handmade website” market seems to put between people. You love it, you do it, you make it happen no matter what the venue. If the site affects you that much on a business level, find something better but be professional and don't go bad mouthing. It didn't work for you that doesn't mean it won't work for others. Sure, talk about your experiences but leave the snark at home. If a site affects you on a personal level... well, suck it up, this is business and not kindergarten.
So, that's my personal soap box. As a general rule I try not to show a biased opinion of any issue but obviously I'm just like the next person, full of opinions. So a small glimpse into the mind of this ever roaming frog. It's just one of those “take it or leave it” moments. Either way, buy some fiber or yarn on the way out. Smiles

it's almost time

for things that go bump in the night.... OK I know I am pushing it but Halloween is my favorite season and I want to get started on it early this year, it always slips up on me and then I am making Christmas stuff. So to start getting into the spirit, I have found a few fun blogs and websites to get me started. Thought you might enjoy seeing them too.

http://thestudioatcrowhavenfarm.blogspot.com
http://chickenlipsfolkart.blogspot.com/
http://itsybitsyfunzyonesie.blogspot.com/
I have made my share of "unusual" dolls and I really should take pictures and post them here. I have one doll that I have completed and I have been terrified to paint because I know I am going to screw it up. Well it just came to me, so what if I screw it up, I will just gesso a couple of coats on and try again. This is supposed to be be a fun outlet for me, not making me go more nuts than I am. Maybe this weekend I will get that done and then pull all the pictures in here to make you guys laugh and maybe even inspire?

Sunday Show

I just returned from a show in Decatur. I didn't sell anything but had quite a few business cards picked up and a local blogger came thru, took pics and quickly interviewed me. No money but yet again, more exposure and that is always a good thing.
I am trying to find alternative ways to advertise. Magazine adds are way too expensive and people need to see a variety of my work up close so I found someone who made me a YouTube commercial and it just came out today. She did a great job of it so check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz2rFZfW1ug I found the artist who made it for me on Etsy , here is her shop in case you might want to give her a try. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7317065 Don't know if this will get more people to my site, it gives my site info but you can't click on it to go to mysite. I think that might be a YouTube rule or something. I will post back and let you know how it goes.
Hope you all are having as pleasant weather as we are in the Atlanta area. Just beautiful today.

Don't think I told everyone about the project I had for the neighborhood kids. Right now they are all at the age where wrestling is the rage, ask me who my fav wrestler is, Jeff Hardy... Anyway, my surprise to them was I bought 4 Mexican wrestling masks and 4 styrafoam heads to put the masks on. The I pulled out all my paints to the deck and let the 3 boys just go for it. At first I tried to teach them alittle about painting. When I realized that was a waste of time, I decided to paint myself a mask. In between drying points we discussed why Mexican wrestling was different from American wrestling. We disussed what an honor it was so where certain types of Mexican masks so I did get a little history in there. After painting the glitter flew and everything dried in the sun. The kids wore their masks and had a great day. Here is a picture of me in my mask, it is too small for my head so that is why I have a piglet nose but this was a fun project for all.

a Friday off

Isn't it wonderful to have a Friday off? Not much happened but it was so relaxing. We first went to GoodWill to get Jonathan some inexpensive shirts since he is growing so fast. I found a chair that will be perfect for one of my dolls. Then I went to my favorite New Age store and bought a beautiful new celtic pentagram.

Came home and went swimming. There was a good breeze so it was cool but still fun. I want to start a new project tonight. I have seen some cool wet and needle felted neckaces. Not sure that any one but me would wear one but I could encrust it in beads and just have a good old time. I love doing freeform peyote beading and could do that between flags of the felting.... Will show this if I ever try and finish it. I am showing a peyote bracelet that I just love and have on Etsy. Catching the colors was difficult but it is still pretty.

Happy 4th tomorrow, be safe and have fun!

a whirlwind

I feel like I am living in a whirlwind these days. Things at work are incredibly busy because of H1N1 virus. I have worked late everyday last week and 1/2 a day Sat. Still plenty of stuff waiting for me this morning.

Sunday I was part of a show in down town Decature, Ga. I was in the Seen Gallery and was really excited about the show. It was a very hot day and I guess people did not feel like being out and strolling so the attendence was low. Not good for sales but great for meeting people and discussing felting plus one of the local shops took my card and told the Gallery owner that she loved my felting. Hope that leads to something. Also had plenty of time to meet the other artists, they were all mostly intown, I was the only one from the boonies. Was told about another possible venue that I need to check into and was asked back to the Gallery for the July show. Even if people don't buy, I definitely caught their eyes with all my colors.

Anyway, I need to get really busy to make more things for the next show. It really isn't the time of year to be selling felt but if I get my face out there, it should help with the fall and winter shows.

Photography on artwork

I have spent most of the afternoon trying to photo the true colors of this freeform peyote bracelet. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26786743 As you will see if you click on the pictures, each color looks different and none of them look like the real colors. I think I am going have to go ahead and build a light box. Somewhere on line I found really good instructions for making one so if anyone is interested, I will try to find it again. I think it was posted as a link on twitter or maybe YouTube. It is amazing how much free information is out on the internet. If you have suggestions as to making the colors true on my bracelet let me know. I tried to scan them but of course the scanner is taking the weekend off. Hope it hasn't died on me....

Hot, hot ,hot in Georgia

I have not posted in awhile, work seems to be taking all my energy during the week. Of course the heat doesn't help, it really drains your energy to be outside and my garden is showing the neglect.

My home has been invaded by 5 little boys this weekend. My step-son, a visiting boy up the street , the boy next door with his cousin and a visitor. The front door and my refridgerator are now revolving doors. Thirsty, empty pits, everyone of them. They do play well together, no big fights so far, just an incredible level of noise. Was I ever like that? I was such a tom boy, I was probably worse.

On to the art world, I have my first show next Sunday. It is an afternoon show in a Gallery in downtown Decatur. This is a very nice community and will draw lots of customers I hope. It would be nice to get some commissioned work. The show is called Sundacation and is supposed to be aimed at people who are in town and not on vacation. Keep your fingers crossed for me, my creative muse is taking a summer break it would seem.

Hope everyone is have a good start to their summer!

Yart Sale on Etsy

I am having a Yart Sale! Many items marked down, they have YART in the item title. Will be adding more items as the sale progresses. Please come visit.

A really fun Friday

I took off work on Friday (which already makes it a good day anyway). We got up a 6 and gathered Jonathan and Phil's mom and headed to south Georgia, well south of us anyway. We went to a wild animal park. You ride in this very old, bumpy school bus with no windows and the animals all come up to the windows to be fed. I have never seen so many animals out in the wild and not in a zoo. There were at least 10 types of deer, goats, llahmas, emus, ostriches, wild boars with piglets and cows. It was amazing to feed them, they took the food so gently from you. I had a musk ox who decided I was a soft touch. He kept up with the bus with his head in my window for a long time. His nose must have been 10 inches wide and his horns were very intimidating but he was very gentle. Also got to feed the giraffes and we had buffalo come onto the bus with us to eat. I was not too thrilled with that.

They had a small enclosed area for the tigers, ligers (cross of tiger and lion),lions, monkeys,bears etc. There was a young llahma that let me hug on her and kiss her, she kissed right back. I measured but she would not fit into the car trunk. There was a very demanding goat with 3 horns who also got feed a lot. He was quite happy to see me and my animal food I had left over.

It was really a fun day, I am ready to go back again, maybe in the fall when it is cooler. Glad we got there early because even with showers, it got very hot and muggy.

Now for a wool report if you are still with me. Remember that carder that I bought? Well I made my first batt and put it up on raven333.etsy.com It is a really pretty color. I mixed two icky strands of roving and added angelina then ran it thru the carder several times. It is a small batt, I can see now why people want electric ones but I am pleased with the results!

A while back, I answered a call to make art for auction with the money to be given for research for ovarian cancer. Below is the official information about the raffle. I have several altered ties on the site but you have to scroll thru the site to find them. If you can bid on any of the pieces, it would be really appreciated. If not, then enjoy the artwork and pass this info onto others who might not know about this project.
Thanks,
Libby
Let the RAFFLE BEGIN!The Ties That Bind Doll Raffle is now open.It was one year ago that we began this project. Everyone pitched in with their art. Now it's time to pitch in againby donating and spreading the news!Remember this is a tax deductible donation! Give big. Give often.If we can get 500 people to donate $20 over the next 4 months we will raise $10,000.How awesome would that be???????We can do this. If everyone here gets just 6 people to donate $20.....we can go beyond that goal!THAT IS ONLY 6 PEOPLE DONATING PER ARTIST.The latest photos and link information to the raffle can be found on our blog album:http://projecttiest hatbind.blogspot .com/There is a link box there where you can copy the code and place it on your blogs, websites and what evers.Just remember to highlight the code in the box and make sure you highlight to the RIGHT AND DOWN....oryou can easily miss picking up the entire code...it's a little box!!We have until September 30th to raise as much money as possible. On the 30th the non profit organizationwill draw the lucky winner!PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. ADD THE NEW RAFFLE LINK PHOTO BUTTON TO YOUR BLOG/WEBSITE.if you need help with this just email us!!! See the raffle online at: http://www.scrapboo kroyalty. com/tiesthatbind .html

I survived the weekend

Saturday I went to my trailer studio to start dyeing and carding. Started filling up the pots with water and the water turned off. Complete stop, no noise, no air in pipes,no water. My husband was outside cutting the grass so I followed him until I could get his attention. While we were talking, I felt burning on my feet and realized I was standing in a fire ant hill. So I kicked my shoes off, starting slapping my feet and legs as I backed out of the hill. Phil of course thought I must be having some sort of convultion so he got me back into the cool studio. I told him about the water and he said the water pump must have died which will cost at least $1400 to fix. I already need $1000 for an electrician to run new wires that the squirrels have chewed soooo it is not looking good for my studio, at least not until Phil finds a job.

Flash forward to Sunday. It was beautiful outside so I took my photo table and some props up into the edge of my backyard so I would have a nice green backdrop. I brought out 10 items to take pictures of for Etsy. Since I am in the back of the yard where it is shady, I immediately get swarmed by zebra mosquitoes and sweat bees. I am swatting and hopping trying to keep the bugs off of me. Larkin my corgi has knocked over my beer and is happily getting drunk. I am trying to grab him, not drop the camera and swat insects. The crowning touch was when I looked down and saw I was standing in poison ivy. Sure is a good thing I love doing and promoting my art!

stolen art doll

Silly Friday

“I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

I am having a Silly Friday. The dogs have kept me up almost every night this week and I am so tired that everything seems funny to me. Of course laughter is good medicine although people at work are looking at me strangely but who cares?

Saturday is going to be a big dye day. We are supposed to have a sunny weekend, first in about a month and I am going to take advantage of it. Will be dyeing lots of Harem cloth from http://www.dharmatrading.com I love that stuff and it takes dyes so well and holds up much better than cheesecloth but is still thin enough to drape nicely. If you ever have questions about dyeing or chemicals, check out the Dharma website. It has lots of great info and tutorials. Customer service on the phone is actually fun, these people have a great sense of humor.
Hope you all have a wonderful and productive weekend. CU on the other side!

Things are sure quiet around here

So to stir a few folks awake, the warmth of the spring sun always makes me sleepy too, I am going to have a sale in my Etsy Shop. 10% off everything and free shipping too. http://raven333.etsy.com/

I have added a few more items, sold a few so the site looks abit different than last time you looked probably. I have so many ideas in my head now if I can just get it together to start doing more art. It's that sun thing, keeping me sleepy I guess.

I finally got my carder, all the way from Canada. It is a handmade one but it works and the price was right so I am going to start making my own custom batts from my dyed wool so spinners and felters, keep checking back on that.

Nothing new with the household, Phil is still job hunting. Jonathan graduated 5th grade. We have had a few electrical storms at night so the dogs aren't sleeping well which means I don't sleep well either. I love the storms but the dogs can't figure out the booms and sudden light flashes.

Thanks about it for this post,

more later...

Harley Darley

Such a Lazy Day

It is a rainy Sunday. I should be working on another scarf that is 1/2 finished but all I want to do is sleep. I think that class last weekend sapped all of my artistic memory. Yesterday I went on a hunt to several different Michael's. I was looking for flying skull appliques and I bought out all they had. It was interesting to see that one store had them on sale and another store didn't. Of course there were some funky flower appliques that I had to have so I cleaned them out too. I love gathering, I am such a magpie for anything shiny. Last week, someone looked at my shop and did not like it. She said I needed more natural such as beige and linen colored items. That my store was too bright. Well, seems that I don't do much natural, it just isn't in me I guess. Maybe I will try to make a few natural scarves and see if they sell. This could be an interesting experiment.
Hope you all had a more productive weekend than mine. Maybe I will find more energy next week!

My Return from Kentucky classes

I have been gone for almost a week so it has been quiet in my blog. Now I am back home and ready to share the week with you. This was a doll sculpting class where we used air dry clay to sculpt heads and then to cover the dried heads with cotton cloth. There were several steps of sanding, drying, using modeling paste, acrylic medium and finally paint. Most of the people in the class came out with some beautiful doll heads and most got them painted in a very realistic way. I will never do eyes like I used to do again. Not sure that my hands aren't too shaky to do the fine detail on the faces. Anyway, I made a demon's head and then found a wooden telephone bird feeder that I converted into a stand for the head. I have much more to do with this piece but it is definitely me. I guess I just don't do pretty very well.
We were asked to bring aprons. I decided to make an apron but it came out so cool, I couldn't take a chance to ruin it so I only wore it alittle while. Am glad to be home sort of, Phil is still looking for a job but it was a good time for a much needed break.

another day of cotton dyeing

I got off to a very slow start today. Am headed up to the studio to do some more dyeing. Am going to try the microwave way this time, can't get much worse. My carder came yesterday but it is still in the box so I will be trying to set that up while everything is changing colors hopefully. I got a nice little write-up and my seahorse doll in http://papierblue.blogspot.com/ She features several artists each day and was wonderful enough to include me. Sometimes it is little gifts like that from people you don't even know that keep you going....

Felting afternoon

Well, my first attemp at dying cotton didn't quite turn out. I soaked in soda ash instead of urea and then a soda ash wash so will try again tomorrow. The cotton did accept some of the dye but I am afraid it will wash out if it gets wet. Learn something everyday.I am going to have to hire an electricion soon. The mice and squirrels that I share the studio with seem to be chewing all the wires and each time I go up there, another socket doesn't work. Wonder if I can find someone who will wire on the outside of the walls and put a cover over the wirings instead of wiring inside the walls where hungry critters will continue to eat? Probably very out of code but with so many people out of work, I am bound to find someone who will do it, maybe.

A quick post today

I just found a website with amazing dolls. Odd-Dolls - http://odd-dolls.blogspot.com/ This lady has stage 4 inflamatory breast cancer. If you get a chance, check out her site. At the bottom of her blog, she has a list of doll artists that she admires. You might even want to send her a note if you really admire her dolls as I do.
Libby

setting goals

new on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23951896

I saw this on a Tweet the other day. A goal is not always meant to be reached,it often serves simply as something to aim at."Bruce Lee" This really got me to thinking. I always have goals but mine are pretty flexible. I include mental health days, my muse has left me days and weeks where nothing sells well but the week before was a great sales week. In one of the Etsy forums last week and suspect this comes topic comes up often, a new seller had set a goal to sell 100 items in her first 6 months on Etsy. Now that is a nice goal to set for yourself, much higher than I would ever set for myself but still possible. This person was new to Etsy, it was her first time in the Forum. She had never been on Twitter or any other Social Medias, had no blog and did no advertizing. She just couldn't understand why her art wasn't selling.

I think this is how many of us started at Etsy but we didn't give up in six months. We just started looking at ways to promote our shops and our artwork. If you only sit there waiting for people to find you, that rarely happens. I am constantly looking for ways to market. Heartomatic turned out to be a great way to to draw lookers to my shop. I still don't get Tweeter and think there is a lot of good information in there, I just haven't had time to read it all but I do post a few times a day, usually answers to other Tweeters and I post if I ad something to my shop or blog.

So don't quit after 6 months, just work a little bit harder. Set your goals but they are something to aim for not to live by. Of course I am sure that Donald Trump would laugh loudly at this blog but luckily he is not on my friend's list so I don't have to worry about it!

optical lense tutorial

This is a tutorial I wrote when I co-owned a now closed company. I still have more of the optical lens if anyone is interested.

Antique Optical Collaged Pendant
Supplies needed

Antique optical lensBackground and decorative papersOld photos, magazine or stamped imagesMetal leafing penGolden's Matte Gel
OptionalGlitter, mica, pressed flowers, threads, etc.Chain, ribbon or some cording

This is a really simple project that is a quick way to make a unique piece of jewelry. These lenses were used to test people's vision before the invention of the machines that your optician uses now.Wash the lenses and dry it well to remove dust and fingerprints. If part of the lens is frosted, that is the side that you will collage onto and the frosting will disappear.

Draw an outline of the lens and cut out a piece of paper this size. You can use cardstock but I like to use old Christmas wrapping paper that I have saved, esp. the foiled type. This is your background.

Now find old photos, magazine or stamped images that you want to use as your focal point. Take the pieces you want to use to a photocopier that can reduce the images, our Kinko's color copiers do this. Make several sizes of the pictures so you can play around with them. I like to tear the images out instead of cutting them, it gives them a more interesting border. I often run a Krylon metal leafing pin around the edges of my image.

Using Golden's Matte Gel, paste the focal image onto the background. Now you can paste more images or dried, pressed flowers and ferns, specialty threads, mica, glitter or anything else that will not make the piece bulky. Let all of this dry, it dries quickly.

Add a generous layer of the Gel onto the entire face of your small collaged piece, being careful not to dislodge any of the parts. Now push the gelled side of the collage against the lens. (Don't forget to put the collage against the frosted side of your lens if you have that kind) Gently push the collage with your fingers so that any extra Gel is pushed out the edges of the lens and wiped away. Try to also push out any bubbles you can see thru the lens but don't worry if you can't get them all out. I have been using Diamond Glaze by Judikins instead of the gel medium and it works well, just remember it is much runnier and you will have to be careful to let the lenses dry on a level surface. You may find that your lens already has a small hole in the handle. If it isn't big enough or if you have no hole, you can use a Dremel to bore a hole big enough to put a jump ring thru and then hang your pendant on a chain, a ribbon or some cording.
Enjoy your new piece of jewelry, you will have lots of people asking you about it!

A Better Day

The job situation for my husband still looks bleak but he is trying to keep his spirits up. We have been thru this before and maybe the next job will turn into a forever job. We just keep praying and trusting that we are in the right place for the right reason.

Back at my little store, http://www.raven333.etsy.com I had another very new friend, Lois Stifel, write a review of my shop and the charity work I do with Corgis, you know, the Queen's dogs. It is on her blog, Art from the Heart and I really appreciate her getting the Corgi rescue information out to the public. The article can be found here http://foxygknits.com Please read it if you have a chance.

Well, time to head to a meeting so off I go, TTYL.

What a difference a day makes

Phil came home with bad news tonight. His contract job was ending 3 weeks early because the company had decided to go in a different direction. He is so down and there is not much I can say to make it better so rather than blogging tonight, I am going to direct you to a very good article by a fellow artist. She made the decision that making art for arts sake was much more rewarding than selling her art. Gives me something to think about http://tinyurl.com/d8h843

Tuesday

What a wonderful day I am having! First I sold 2 of my most beautiful felted pieces. So far everything I have sold on my Etsy shop has been felted, hmmm, that tells me something. Second GladRaggz has written a beautiful description of my website http://raven333.etsy.com/ on her blog http://tinyurl.com/daa3hw Thank you so much GladRaggz.
My ad on Craft Cult showed a dramatic rise in views yesterday, all good stuff! I needed a little kick in the pants to get my muse going and all of this should do it. Don't you just love it when things come together at the same time?

Easter Weekend

What a great weekend, beautiful weather, all sorts of things blooming and neighbors working in their yards. I felted and dyed wool on Sat. Made the most beautiful robin's egg blue batt which I show in here when I have it totally dry and take pics. My felting experiments didn't turn out as well but I did get a lot more organizing done. I almost know where things are and I do know what to not buy anymore of, I have more locks that I ever imagined. Today I have been finishing up the CorgiAide necklaces so I can get them into the mail tomorrow. I procrastinated on them for far too long and didn't realize how much that was bothering me. I re-strung a felt ball necklace and am finishing another. I also put up 2 more rovings for sale on http://raven333.etsy.com/ I really enjoy dying wool but can only use so much of any one color. I did put a bid on a carder on Ebay, keep your fingers crossed that I get it. I would love to blend my roving and I think it would sell well.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and let's make it a good week!

Do you think this will work?

I have some lovely roving that is merino, silk and sparkles. I was wondering if I laid out the roving in rows, wove silk inbetween the rows and then put another thin layer of the roving on top if this would all felt into nano cloth? I know the silk should all shrink up so this piece of wool/cloth will be very distorted and probably won't work as a scarf, but I could cut it up and make it part of a vest. I am designing a very unusual jacket in my head with many felted pieces, altered fabric and dyed lace. Anyone have any ideas on my nuno project?

weekend of felting

Looks like the weather is finally going to be nice this weekend. I plan to do a lot of felting. I want to make at least one shawl, maybe 2. Will be dyeing too since I can do it out on the porch. I have decided to felt a lot of book markers to give away as gifts on Etsy. Have also decided to put an advertizement on CraftCult. It isn't very expensive and will hopefully bring more people to my site.
In the dog world, I have been working on toe nails as usual. My dremil works really well but wish it was faster. My crew will only stay still for so long. Everyone needs baths but it is so muddy outside that I think that would just be a waste of time. I have been trying to teach "inside voice" to Larkin, my corgi. He has the shrillest voice, it goes right through you.
Hope you all have a good weekend. See you next week.

I learned to felt by accident. I was signed up for a class to make puppets and at the last minute the teacher decided she wanted to teach felting. Well all the other classes were full by then so I took a felting class. Within 5 minutes I understood the technique and was off to find things to felt around. I found a hotel water glass and tried felting around that. The teacher stopped by to tell me why that would never work. By the end of the class I had a perfect little amulet bag from the glass that I just needed to bead a strap on it. Well that got me really into it. I have taken every felting class I could find and have even hosted teachers from New Zealand to come teach in my studio. Along the way I have learned to make hats, many types of scarves and shawls,all sizes of bags and am now working on my first coat that will be all my handmade felt and hand-dyed by me. It will be very unusual I am sure. At this point I am teaching felting to feed my wool habit. What a wonderful class mistake this has turned into for me.

Weekend Jewelry Making for Auction at Corgi-L

Many of you have seen posts with photos of my beautiful Pembroke Welsh Corgi. I also belong to a group who raises money for corgi's at shelters, at puppy mills and corgi's who need expensive medical attention that owner's can not afford. Each year this group has picnics and auctions to raise money for Corgi-L.

None of these events is close to me so I usually send some money but this year has been so tight, I decided to make jewelry for the auctions. I found an incredible dog artist on Etsy who gave me permission to use 4 corgi images from him and I am shrinking these down to 1.5 x 1.5inches so they will fit into a small glass pendant which I frame with batik fabric. I am putting on chains, charms and other beads. These pendants are turning out to be really nice so I do hope they will raise a lot of money. I am also going to give people and option at a higher price to send me pictures of their own dogs and I will make them custom pendants.

This is going to be an adventure!

Friday again

How fast a week flies by when you spend most of it asleep. This bug has certainly had it hooks in me but today I fell almost human. I am flying to NC tomorrow to give a speech on cellular microbiology and it would be quite helpful to have a voice by then.
In other news, the dogs have been angels for the most part, they know when mama is sick and except for a few fraps, they have been very good. Even Phil has been inventive and made his own meals but that leaves a sink full of dishes that I am sure will be waiting for me on Weds.
I have 6 necklaces ready to be strung, photoed and put up on etsy. Maybe I will find time next week., I really need new stuff in there. I have been buying some lovely batts of wool on Etsy, hey wait aren't I supposed to be selling things not buying things there? Anyway, they batts are beautiful and I just don't know what I will do with them. I have a jacket in my head so that may be what it ends up being. Well have a good weekend all.

Saturday and the dogs are wet

Today I decided to go to the studio and dye wool, do a scarf, play around with my new cotton banners. It is cold and rainy. The heat in the trailer studio doesn't work so I have space heaters and can turn on the house fan which warms it up well. Unfortunately, Phil and Jonathan went to a movie and I forgot to tell Phil to turn the water on so that messed up my plans. I decided to bring it all shop and play here. I dyed my banners and just can't seem to get the right undercolor. I am doing shibori on them but they aren't behaving well. I did dye a bunch of prefelt and it took the color beautifully, even exhausted the dye bath. I tried to felt some soap, I have decided that I can only successfully do I soap a day. grrrr I did felt a few balls for jewelry and I plan to restring a lot of necklaces tonight.

My eye is much better today where Jack punched and scraped it. It still waters but the swelling is down. I haven't looked at the color yet.

We went to Chili's for Jonathan's birthday last night. Food was good but I swear next time I am only get their broccoli. It is some of the best I have ever had. I made a huge mess with the chicken tacos. Guess that is all for today.

Quiet Friday

I planned to sleep in this morning and then go in to work. I was sleeping and dreaming good things when I felt this sharp pain across my eye. I tried to get out of bed and was totally wrapped up. Turns out Jack the dog decided it was time for breakfast and she got in 3 good scrapes before I could get up. I have nice dog claws across my face, swollen eye and an eye ache if there is such a thing. Didn't make it in to work though I have a thousand things to do, didn't get any felting done either, what a waste of a day.
The good thing that happened today is I got an order from Jill Gully today. It is a lovely bluish,teal prefelt and a bag of throwsters waste in colors that will complement the felt. I think I might have a silk hankie that would work well on it tomorrow. I hope I can make a shawl with it tomorrow. I also have 3 necklaces to repair and 2 to restring and then I can put them on etsy. I swore I would not do jewelry since there is so much out there but I need a few lower priced items. Have felted some soap and it turned out pretty, just need to photo and list it. Life is good, except for my pushy dog.

The sunny weekend that looks like rain.

We had snow last weekend and this weekend it is forecast to be sunny and in the 70's but it is grey outside and looks like rain. I had planned on going up to the trailer to do some more organization and maybe some felting. Well I also thought I had a class intown at 2pm yesterday and when I showed up, it is for 2pm today so that changed my plans abit for today's fun.

I am still going to the class although it means driving for 65 miles round trip to take a felting class that I could probably teach but I just feel like I need to be with other creative spirits at the moment. Playing by myself is fun but I love getting feedback from others and it isn't quite the same on line.

In other weekend news, we don't have Jonathan this weekend but he tries out for soccer today. He is so good at that sport, I have no doubt he will be picked to play, I just hope he gets on a better team this year. His team last year had at least 5 good players but the rest could care less about being there and it was frustrating for the good players to win few games. Next week he tries out for some sort of pitching team (?). This is all set up by his mother who just called me last week to let me know that she thinks we have Jonathans schedule too full, sigh, such fun being a stepmom.

just normal stuff

Not much creativitivity here but it is supposed to be in the 70's this weekend so maybe I will be more motivately. I did get one piece to send off to a gallery and have one more to go. Am still waiting to hear bout the show in June. Also saving money for the Kentucky classes this year. With 2 groups of classes and extra classes after the convention, I will need to use up a lot of my annual leave and save up much more money. I did get some birthday money yesterday so that will go towards the shows. It is looking to be a good spring. My attitude is very hopeful. I am taking a felting class at a local shop tomorrow, it is probably going to be a class I could teach but I was hoping to convince the teacher to sell my hand dyed wool, that would really be worth the class and I will probably have fun on top of that! Anyone else doing anything fun?

snow in Georgia

What a difference a day makes. I am still not making anything but am sitting and watching the snow fall. It won't stick, not cold enough and we have had too much rain but it is beautiful. Wish it would do this all day and all night, it has been so long since we have had a pretty snow. I would love to go out and photo some things for etsy in the snowy trees.
The birthday dinner didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would. Jonathan was really delightful even as a 10 year old know it all. My MIL gave me a really "interesting" rhinestone very big seahorse necklace. Will look like Bling on me LOL. She also gave me $30 which I can't decide if I will use for a new book or add it to my stash for the classes I am taking my Sept. Probably the classes are what I should do.
Hope everyone else is having a nice day and either relaxing or being productive as the snow keeps falling.....

down today

I spent most of my morning in bed. I had all sorts of plans for felting today but none of it is going to happen. I turn 55 next Weds. which to me is no big deal but my husband is insisting we celebrate it so tonight Phil, his son Jonathan, his mother and I are going out to celebrate at a big family restaurant. Oh what fun, why can't they just leave me alone?
Went to get my haircut today. Went to the place my husband suggested and not into town to the woman who has cut my hair for years. At the new place, I ask to see my husband's stylist and one lady says that she is. I now have one of the worst haircuts I have ever had and the woman lied. I had mistaken which shop and had actually been across the street at the wrong salon yet this woman says she always works on my husband's hair. I feel violated and rather stupid which is really helping my mood about going out tonight. I think I am going to find a rock big enough for me and the dog's to fit under. Hope anyone reading this is having a better start to their weekend.

StarTrek Log Feb 24, 2009

Well, I have not gotten much done during my work week. Seems the working day takes such a toll that coming home at night, cooking, cleaning and being on the internet is about all I have the energy for each evening. I do always make time to play with the dogs in the backyard, helps us both get some exercise.
I did get on Twitter and Facebook for awhile last night. I am making many friends and followers but no one talks to me very often. I do make comments on many of their posts but guess I need to be more pro-active instead of sitting here waiting for everyone to come to me.
Tonight I must remember to measure the bag that I am showing at the Hampton Gallery in late spring. This is a juried show for prizes but they are allowing 40 some people in and I have gotten into it. Mostly I want to keep my name seen in the Ga. mountains area, so many tourists. This will be the third North Ga gallery that I carries some of my items so it is good exposure but would be nice if the bag sold too.
If you have time, stop over at my etsy shop and you can see my bags and other amazing items.
http://www.raven333.etsy.com

wool roving

For the past 2 weeks I have been shifting around my studios. Yes I know I am very lucky to have two. When I married Phil we knew I would need a studio so we added one to his house just before I moved in. Well I had no idea that I owned that much stuff, sigh and then I decided I was in love with felting. So when the acre of land with a very old trailer on it came up for sale, we bought it and I am moving all my felting stuff up there. I still keep finding stuff in the old studio that needs to be moved. As I have been uncovering things, I have realized that I own POUNDS of white roving. Some if mystery wool, some merino, some BFL and some maybe romney. Anyway, I now have my summer cut out for me. I will be over the dye pots as much as time will allow. I am now off to look for a carder. Always wanted one, now have a good excuse!

I am back

Well, I have starting to take my etsy shop seriously. Here is a mini showcase.http://www.etsy.com/mini_generator.php Sales are slow but I am making lots of contacts with people, staying on the forums and chats. This all takes a lot of my time and is cutting into my art time. Not sure how I am going to solve this.
Have also considered doing some local shows by myself. I have enough stuff to sell but I gave the broken down tent away so am looking to rent one from somebody. Easy Up tents are expensive. I keep looking on Craig's List but no luck so far.
I hope to keep up with my blog better and make more friends so I am not just writing into the air, but then again, that might be ok too!

http://www.etsy.com/mini_generator.php