supplies in the shop for a limited time

 

If you've ever wanted to try needle-felting, you can now get a sampler of wool and needles in my shop for a limited time.

When I first started needle-felting I used whatever kind of wool I could get my hands on.  As I progressed I realized that some of those wools just weren't cutting it.  After much trial and error I found a wool that I love- it felts quickly, forms a solid core, and has a nice surface texture.  It's the only wool I use for needle-felting.

 The fact that it's a rambouillet grown right here in Minnesota is the cherry on top.  I've hand-dyed it using Greener Shades dyes which are free of heavy metals, making them a more environmentally conscious option than most commercial dyes.

I have just a couple of samplers in my shop right now along with sets of felting needles to get you started.

Interested in becoming addicted  exploring a new hobby?  Have a look in my shop.

a busy and wonderful week

 

This past week has been a flurry of activity.  We had guests here for the week and spent lots of time exploring, fishing, swimming, climbing tall things, smelling the linden flowers, feasting, and enjoying each others company.  It was so busy and fun and somehow restorative at the same time.

 

Yesterday I wound up the week with an event at the St. Mathias Farm where I spent the day talking to people about needle-felting.  Though the weather was less than desirable, the people more than made up for it.  What a fine bunch.  I had such a nice time.

While there I made that little mushroom duo.  It allowed me to show people exactly how that whole needle-felting thing works, and it was fun for me because we all know how much I love mushrooms, right? 

This coming week I'll be working on some stones that I hope to have finished before I leave on a trip the following week.  I'll also be putting several wool acorn ornaments in my shop this week.  They'll go in to the shop as groups but if anyone wants just one or two, send me an email and I can get them together for you.  They'll be $3 each and I can quote you shipping depending upon your location.

 

Hope you all have a great week ahead of you!

Happy Sunday.

 

 

they grow up so fast

Our little guineas are growing up so fast.  They're getting their big-guinea feathers already and are more than twice the size they were when I pulled them out of the incubator.

 

 

With 4 curious kids in the house,our birds get picked up and carried around a lot, which makes for more tolerant and tame birds once they're adults.

That's not to say we don't get this look from them now and then though...

 

We have guests coming in to town today so my presence here will be spotty at best for the next week or so.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. See you soon.

new work in the shop today

 

If you'd spread the word, I've be grateful.

shop

Have a great day, everyone.

 

shop update soon

 

Another stone completed in my hand.  This one with trapped pebbles too, a reflection on holding pieces close that make you whole.  Nature does that for me, makes me feel whole, (other things too of course, the love of my family, laughter, and more) and when I'm too far from it I find I pull things to me in an effort to duplicate that wholeness that may not fit as well.

This stone, along with the brooches and stone I showed you in my last post (and maybe another) will be in my shop on Thursday morning at 8am central daylight time. (I'm the same time zone as Chicago if you need to calculate for your area)  I'll be putting the listings up for preview soon so you can have a look before they go "live".

Wishing you all a lovely, and whole, day.

 

 

I'm not glorifying busy, I'm just... busy

 

Some new work to show, a handful of landscape brooches and one completed stone.

 

A palm-sized stone with pebbles trapped in its stitches.  One more on my worktable waiting for my attention.

 

9 growing babies in the brooder, enjoying their days out in the yard and their nights in the guest room.  7 more eggs in the incubator, because apparently 9 baby guineas just isn't enough.

 

 

4 birthdays in this house in the span of a month, an unexpected party to host, expected (and eagerly awaited) guests coming to stay, a festival to attend, traveling to do...  Not to mention the day-to-day stuff, the working, the gardening, the chasing of the children.  And don't even get me started on my plans to summit (the ever-growing) Mount Washmore.  It's enough to wear a girl out.

I plan to find a little peace in between the busy parts.  Not sure how, but that's my plan.  Right after I weed the tomatoes and bake a cake.

And feed the chickens.

And mop the floors.

But right after that, peace!

Hope you're finding some too.

very fancy

 

I've been putting together some little wool acorn ornaments for an event I'm doing later this month, and when I fit the wool bead into its cap, I nip off just a little of it to make it fit snugly.  My youngest  took those nipped off bits and strung them up to wear.

 

She's very fancy with her new necklace and her "Mary" dress. 

 (we're reading the Little House on the Prairie series and she thinks this is her calico, and since she has golden curls, she thinks she's Mary.  Though I know she's far more like Laura than Mary)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

second edition of Art-o-mat stones on the go

 I've finished my second edition of Art-o-mat stones.

50 all packed in their boxes and headed out to  Art-o-mat.

 

If you find one in a machine near you, I'd love it if you'd let me know. I'll travel vicariously through them.

 

 Have a good day, everyone, and a Happy 4th of July to my American friends!

Have a fun and safe holiday.

we made guineas!

They made it!  Not 7, as I originally had hoped, but 9 little fluffy guinea keets to add to our flock.  There are a few more eggs in the incubator that haven't hatched and we'll give them a few more days, just in case, but I'm thrilled with 9 babies in the house.

We've hatched chickens before and last year I hatched out Goose the duck, who is now a big handsome boy (who still loves his momma), but this was our first experience with guineas.

 

There's always that one guy who stands in the food dish.

 

They'll be in our makeshift brooder (a plastic bin with rags and grass in the bottom and a stuffed animal to cuddle under) in the dining room for the first few days before we move them out to the brooder box in the garage.  That will give me a chance to keep a close eye on them and give them a chance to thrive in the crucial first few days.

 

Hey dude, someone's peeping on you.

 

It amazes me how quickly instinct kicks in.  Even before they were fully dried off they were wobbling around the brooder, pecking at the bits of grass.  Just overnight they went from wobbling to running and that's the only way they travel, no strolling for these guys, run, run, run.  In a few days if the weather is warm enough they'll get to spend time out in the tractor (a moveable cage we pull around the yard so they can run in the grass) and then the hilarity will really begin as they try to catch bugs and learn about the world.

There's always something going on around here.  The kids have already started gathering eggs from the chickens to hatch next.  Maybe Kit was right, maybe I am the Keeper.

Happy mid-week, everyone.

something new on the workbench

 

For the past several weeks I've been sharing my workroom with the incubator.  Yesterday as I was sewing I heard the faintest little peeps coming from the guinea eggs, telling me that hatch time was near.

 Yesterday afternoon two had pipped through their shells (meaning they had poked a hole but hadn't full hatched yet) and this morning they were out and wobbling around the incubator, knocking into the other eggs.  We call that "bowling for brothers".

After I took these photos a third hatched out and I am counting 4 more that have pipped.  We'd be thrilled with 7 new guineas in the flock so we're really hoping all these little guys (and more, hopefully) make it.  We lost our only male guinea just this past week, probably to the coyote we've had visiting, and we rely on them for tick-control.

Hopefully I'll have some fluffy chick pics for you tomorrow.

Cross your fingers for us!

color glorious color

All lined up in front of me today.

a collaboration

 

A wee collaboration between Kit Lane and me, a few of her fabulous 'Bobs given some stitchy love from me.  She'll be unveiling these in her shop this afternoon.

Both the pale yellow guy at the top and the pink one behind him were needled by Kit as we sat and chatted together one snowy weekend in April.  I had given her some wool that I had dyed, the yellow with strawberry leaves (I think) and the pink from lobster mushrooms, and she was trying it out on my visit.  When they were finished I tucked them in my suitcase along with memories of amazing conversation, bites of forbidden cheesecake, and San Pellegrino fizzy water, and brought them home to stitch. (the white one was hers to keep)

The yellow one was encrusted with knots and stitches, all of dyed by me with materials from my woods.  The pink one seemed to long for something a little more quirky.

Kit does wonderful work from these squee-inspiring Jacabobs to her sculptural pieces (and Jabba, we can't forget Jabba) and has a dedicated following.  I'm thrilled to have been able to collaborate with her.

If you're interested in owning one of these pieces, keep your eye on her shop.  They should be there some time this afternoon.

Thanks everyone!

a quick road trip

 

A quick road trip for me today.  A lunch with a friend for me and a reunion for these little guys with their maker.

I'm looking forward to some good chatter, the kind that happens when you sit down with someone who gets you, and to the rolling hills and farmland views.  And my favorite effusive welcome sign from one of the towns I drive through that says "Welcome to our area".   So generic, it always makes me laugh.

What are you looking forward to today?

working on some stones for the Art-o-mat

 

I'm feeling stitchy.

Working on the next batch of stones to send to Art-o-mat.

 I can't wait to find out where this next batch lands.  On my last stub from them it looked like stones had shown up at the Smithsonian, the Visual Arts Center in Richmond VA, the Whitney, the Cosmopolitan, here in Minnesota - in St. Cloud, and a Whole Foods in Texas.

I wish I could travel along with them and see the sights.

the landscapes are heading out

 

Thank you to everyone who stopped by my shop update yesterday, all of my new landscapes have found new homes.

And to those of you that receive my blog post via email, there was a delay yesterday and I'm not sure why.  Sorry for that.  Hopefully there won't be any more of those glitches, especially on shop update days.

The birds?

Well, their persistent parents started building a nest in my bird feeder this spring.  I thwarted their attempts three times before finally giving in and letting them build their nest.  Their first batch of babies has now fledged and mama robin has been back in the nest cleaning it out for what I imagine to be round two.  I've resigned myself to the fact that I will feed the birds over on a stump in the yard for now.  You kind of can't blame them though, what a choice spot.  Roof over their heads, feed below.  Location, location, location.

Happy Saturday, all.

new landscape brooches in the shop today

These new landscape brooches will be in the shop this morning at 10am central daylight time.

Sorry for the short notice.

They're here in my shop already for viewing.

They're making me crave a road trip.  Can you write off a road trip as a business expense if it's to gather inspiration?  hmm...

Thanks everyone!  Hope you have a great day.

the funk has moved on

 The little funk I was experiencing seems to have moved on.  I felt it starting to loosen its grip a bit the other day when I signed up to be a felting demonstrator at this year's Celtic Fest and by Sunday when we drove past an especially verdant field, I felt it let go completely.

Yesterday morning I headed down to my workroom to capture the feeling of that field and ended up making two more brooches after that.

 

 

Thank you, funk, for moving on, and to the sun for shining.  And to each of you that offered support in your comments here and on facebook and twitter.  It's rough when you're not feeling quite yourself but it was nice to know that many of you knew exactly what I was going through.

Hope your week is sunny and bright.