Two Thirds of the Year in Tapestry!

Two thirds of the year in Tapestry! With the end of August the end of the second diary panel is finished. September through December will be together in the the third and final panel for the year.  Then the excitement of making decisions for 2014 will begin... Does weaving a tapestry diary make the year go faster? Does life seem richer when you reach for moments to capture in this way? These are some of the things on my mind as I consider the year so far.

We have had a fairly unusual August, cooler temps and more rain than usual and Green Country is much greener than usual. I am not complaining!

I am pretty happy with my little three day landscape interpretation of a retreat in the lovely countryside of Wellston, Oklahoma and some of the other scenes and memories in August.

Moving on to September









The building for the Fiber Studio arrives on Thursday! We have been busy getting ready to place it in its new home.

Here, my husband Mack and youngest son Josh are moving the boat to get access for the new building.

Tree trimming in progress.

The next door neighbor got involved pruning some dead wood off the Black Walnut on his side of the fence.

Cutting up all the branches to haul away took a day or so.

This is becoming a real family affair, isn't it funny how one improvement project leads to another. I decided to paint the outdoor furniture.

I not only ended up with a green thumb but feet and fingers to match. We are ready for that building and then the next set of improvements.
















Amid all these outdoor jobs I managed to slip away to Wellston for a three day retreat with friends. My main job for the weekend was to catch up on the Sheep Breed Tapestry Sampler project. I know I haven't written about it for a while but work is being carried on behind the scenes and at every show we do I take it along to work on. Progress was at an impasse due to the lack of new hand spun breeds to include but over the weekend I managed to spin yarn for the next four breeds; Cormo, Falkland, Black Norweigian and Manx Laughton. On our trip to WIM, weaving supply and Alpaca farm I also managed to add a few more breed samples to spin. I will be catching up with this thread soon.



I am never sure who is more curious when greeting the Alpaca's.



The retreat was a great way to refresh a playful creative spirit. I made a little basket for my favorite pin cushion due to the tender attention of my basket weaving friend/ teacher
Karin.

Thanks to my friend Donna I played with a Zoom loom for the first time. I decided to take the two squares that I wove with leftover hand spun breed samples and make a little bag. Then I collected little bits of things from everyone present, threads, needles, yarn and fibers and gave her a face. I guess the square on the back could be her salt and pepper hair.

When I returned home I gave her a salmon colored sateen lining and a cheek crystal and dubbed her the Lady Wellston Bag!

Nice effect the way the lacy quality of the face square allows the salmon color lining to show through a bit.

I decided to needle felt her curls and hair bow  after taking this photo to make them more secure.

I also became a little curious about Kumihimo over the weekend and even though my first experimental braid was not amazing,  after adding a little leather and a nice button a new bracelet was born. It makes me smile because the braid looks like a branch that the bird has just landed on.

I also spent a little time perusing my old sketchbooks looking for ideas for the next tapestry projects. I have some ideas percolating as I near the finish line on the Mango Hunters.

Soon it was back at home and back to my looms.

Look what was waiting when I returned. Elona, our gracious hostess for the class I did recently in Texas, had a pretty nasty accident. This is a tough way to get a little "me time" with her new Mirrix loom but she is having a great time with her weaving anyway.

When I return I want to share how I work with the neck awl that John Moss makes in my tapestry weaving. 

Another Chance to Win a Mirrix!

Everyone Has Their Favorite Toy

umm, I mean tool. Enter the new Mirrix contest and you could win an 8 inch Lani Loom with shedding device from Mirrix that is destined to become your favorite toy/tool ever.

Fiber Studio is a share sponsor and I will be one of the judges for the new contest.

The details are below.

What's Your 'Me' Time?

Win an 8" Mirrix Lani Loom(with shedding device)

Everyone has their 'me' time. For some it's a relaxing bubble bath and for others a long walk. For many of us, though, 'me' time happens at the craft table. We find solace in making. We find inspiration in creating. We need this time to nurture our souls and to take some of the stress out of everyday life. For our latest contest, we will ask you to describe how creating art is your 'me' time. This is not limited to weaving fiber or beads. Any art counts. Speak from the heart. We will have five guest judges from the bead and tapestry communities pick the top twenty entries and the public will vote for their favorite out of those.

How to Enter: Email us (elena@mirrixlooms.com) explaining why creating art is your 'me' time. Maximum 500 words. Minimum 200 words. Please include your full name in the email and clearly note that this is a contest entry in your email subject. ALL entries due by midnight (PT) 8/31/2013.

On September 1st our judges will choose 20 entries based on originality (25%), creativity (60%) and relevance (20%). Then, the rest is up to the public! Our final winner will be chosen based on votes from the Mirrix commnuity using the same set of criteria. Voting will last from September 2nd to the 15th and the winner will be announced on September 16th!

Our Judges:Andrew Simmons- Owner; BeadCreator Andrew Simmons is the software developer for BeadCreator software, the best-selling bead design software in the world, with over 30,000 users in 77 countries. His software was created at the request of beaders back in 2000 who had lost their beloved Beadscape program, and has evolved to teach beaders not just how to create patterns without colored pencils and graph paper, but to sell them in a global market, bypassing high commission resellers. He lives in southern California with his wife and six children.

Kelly Nealon- Editor; Digital Beading MagazineDigital Beading Magazine is Australia's first and only dedicated digital beading publication – and with every issue packed with 40+ projects, it's also become Australia's favourite beading magazine.
Kelly Nealon is Editor of DBM, having launched the magazine in December last year. Kelly's career in magazines spans 20+ years and she has a passion for all things craft!
Marcia Young- Fiber Art Now 
Chris Miller- The Woolery 
Janette Meetze - Janette Meetze's Fiber Studio

http://www.mirrixlooms.com/metime.html

One Adventure Leads to Another

I was getting ready for a trip to Texas when I got a call from Ann. We met and talked about the Mirrix Looms at Fiber Christmas. She decided to come over to my house and purchase an 8 inch loom and get started right away on a couple of Leather Wrap Bracelets. We had a great time and I expect she will be ready to try another project soon. It was a good opportunity for me to try out this class that I would soon be doing in Texas.

Two days later Lynn was picking me, the looms and supplies up. We were going to stay with her sister-in-law Elona and help some friends try out the Mirrix Looms and make bracelets. Elona was going to be hostess to all of us for the weekend.

Normally when we take trips to shows I am busy driving but this time Lynn was behind the wheel so I had to get otherwise busy. I took pictures of myself...

my knees,

my scarf,
the highway,

and Lynn. I think Lynn is beginning to feel like my son Josh who learned to be careful about sitting down in front of me because I would start drawing him.

The next day we were sitting at Elona's table with our looms and starting with the leather wrap bracelets. Here is Elona working on her first one.

Here are the two first bracelets to come off her loom that weekend. When we left she had gone on to the affinity style bracelets and had two of them started. I felt confident there would be a steady flow of beautiful things coming off her loom when we left.

This is Janet working on her first bracelet,





and a couple of shots of the first one finished.

 Ann said she had seen these bracelets and been wanting to make one. Now she has!

Here is Ann's modeled with her watch.

Janice came a little later to the party and had to leave a little early but wasted no time making a pretty single wrap.

Aren't these colors great? This is a collaborative effort with Lynn at the loom and Libby designing.





Lynn

 Libby...

and the bracelet.

I even managed to finish a couple over the weekend.

 Creating together is the best kind of bonding experience.

Sometime during the weekend the talk turned to my looking for a space to teach more classes and have the shop supplies available and displayed all the time. Someone in this lovely group mentioned buying a building and moving it to my place.

A couple of days after returning home we went to look at possibilities and ended up having one built. Yikes! We came back home and realized that before we could even get the building moved on we would have to move an old boat and trim lots of trees and... So the next adventure begins!

A Great Time at Fiber Christmas and Beyond

 Happy Fiber Christmas! We had a great time this year and enjoyed talking with all the visitors to the Fiber Studio. It was fun to be doing a show pretty close to home. Our next show will be Kid'n Ewe in Boerne, Texas. See the shows and links for more information. I hope to see some of the folks we met last year and some new ones. I will be sending out a coupon closer to that show so be looking for it if you are on the newsletter list. I know my newsletter offerings are few and far between but there have been no complaints about clogging email accounts. Thanks to all who sign up!

Here is a photo of Lynn, my right hand, cool head and navigator for all the shows we have been visiting this summer. The plain truth is I couldn't even get where I am going without her.
















Set up is a good time to take a break and see what other vendors are up to. Here is Donna Hilton whipping  the booth for Weaving at Indian Meridian into shape.

Mary Berry of Fancy Fibers Farm showing off a new shawl kit at the entrance to her area. We were neighbors this year.

Here is Kate Lowder of Lowder Colours Farm and an organizer for the event. Beside her is Rose Brickley, Massage Therapist. I got to know Rose at the Yellow Rose show last spring. Doing a show without a massage seems unthinkable now!

There is always lots of beautiful spinning fiber and wheels of every description. Here is Lori Brown of Diamond B Sheep Farm with a cute one. I managed to sell my Lady Bug at the show too. I am so glad it has a good home. Don't worry I am not spinning deprived, there are three more wheels at home waiting for some attention but the available space issue needed some attending too.

One of the things I liked about this show was having a generous area  for visitors to sit down, try out my looms or bring their own and learn a new thing or two. This is not always an option but it was wonderful to have a spacious learning/demo area.

All this and I managed to get the month of July completed for my daily practice tapestry diary! I am ready for August.

 I will be doing a little class on the wrap bracelets in Texas next weekend. I hope to have some pictures after. When I return I am going to weave a small piece for an international tapestry project,
http://tapestryline.blogspot.ca/2013/06/fate-destiny-and-self-determination-is.html. It is very small and there is still time to send one before the end of the year.

 Also, very busy on the Mango Hunters every little minute I can spare. It is a little like coming to the end of a good book, do I really want it to end, will I find another one as good, how can I wait to see the conclusion...

Thats what I'm talking about!

More tapestry news soon...