Tis the season... for making!

(Sorry to those followers getting this a second time, I discovered that a link needed to be fixed so I'm re-sending...)
Despite the time change giving me that weird feeling of unease, and the daylight dissipating so early, I am finding myself relishing the change of season. No, I'm not talking about Christmas music and shopping, but the chance to hole up a bit and do some handcrafting. My studio was occupied by family members who converged to deer hunt last weekend, so I stuck with the computer instead. In addition to the little online class of Kim Klassen, I've also joined her "Photoshop Test Kitchen." I'm having a blast slowly learning some new techniques and pulling out old photos to try them on. (Here's just one sample of many I've been playing with, texture by Kim Klassen).

I ended up with a full, blissful day in my studio yesterday, as both kids were home with bad colds and M wasn't up for our home schooling. It was the first large, guilt-free block of time I've had in ages, and I got sooo much done!I dyed fiber and silk for future nuno-felting projects,Hand-dyed silk scarves, pre-felting

Spun some yarn (my first time spinning in quite a while!)Handspun bulky yarn, baby alpaca and cashmere blend

Felted some soaps, concentrating on trying to make each one into a tiny, unique piece of functional art and avoiding any sort of "mass production."

And today I've been jewelry-making (in the time after home-schooling was done). I've still got lots to do to get ready for the upcoming events at which I'll be selling- Art in the Barn and the Jingle and Mingle Handmade Gifts Party!Handcrafted pendant that will go on a copper necklace

Do you like my Moo mini cards? I had them printed with lots of my favorite images on the fronts and standard info on the back, and they're doubling as earring cards and price tags. What a great company to work with, easy and quick process! Pin It Now!

Felting Fun

Felting with alpaca fiber from our animals is just SOOO satisfying, and every once in a while I just get a hankering to felt (especially when I'm busy and should be doing other things!). I've had a steady demand for felted soaps and needed to make some to take to the Ohio Alpaca Show, but wanted to do even more. Since I also love to dye, I always have stashes of dyed fiber in lots of colors, and some days a particular one just sings to me. I wrap them with handspun scraps- don't they look like little presents?

Several years ago, I collected some beach rocks from the Oregon Coast. I love the smooth, cool, heavy feeling they have in my hand and knew there was a future project for them. One was particularly large, but I admired it's symmetry and as I lugged it home in my heavy suitcase, I kept telling myself that I'd be glad to have it someday.

I wrapped fiber around the rock and felted it well, then cut it open like a clam shell to make a vessel which would make a great little jewelry case. The first one is of dyed fiber, and the second is all natural colors with a fastener made of bone that I got in Alaska.

Maybe you can help me decide whether or not to put the abalone button on the dyed one (it reminds me of an abalone shell), or to use the ceramic button? If I don't sell them this weekend, look for them on my Etsy site next week!

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More Fiber Fun

After church I started right back in on fiber sorting, with another two packed-full boxes added to the stack. I do want to clarify that alpacas are really NOT dirty, smelly animals (as I said the fiber sorting job IS), though they are livestock which basically live outside and roll a lot. A lot of the dirtiness of skirting and sorting has to do with the dust and spider webs the bags of fleece have accumulated, and unfortunately the occasional fleece will have mold or moths due to my negligence and lack of space to store it properly. Hopefully, that's all history now that our new barn provides great, clean loft space for fiber storage!

After the hard work, I was in the mood to make something with fiber and decided to make some felted soaps. A new gift shop featuring Kentucky handmade products is opening in Versailles, and they want to carry some of our items including yarn and other alpaca products. I'll give a better description of how these are made in a future post, but wanted to at least feature a few photos of the process and resulting soaps. These soaps are like having a washcloth and soap in one- as you wet it, the soap lathers up and the felted fiber stays intact and acts as a soft loofah.

I was SOOO glad to have my daughter Mirian help- she has a great eye for color and it was fun to make the soaps together.

Later we headed to the river for another Sunday evening cruise, and the kids swam at sandy "Mulholland Beach." Two dogs befriended Mirian and Robert, and couldn't get enough of fetch! It's been great to see my hubby Paul so relaxed during his "vacation at home." We got back just ahead of a quick-moving storm that produced tremendous wind but not a drop of rain.

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