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Month: December 2012

Farewell 2012

Farewell 2012

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Well this hasnt been the best year for us with lots of things happened that i do not want repeated for next year. I didnt think i’d accomplished much of anything this year due to illness, floods,  ripping our house apart, renewing floors, kitchen and then just when i think were getting back to normal, illness strikes again.  So  i’m writing this year offffffff and really looking forward to next year. I apologise for being awall so much but it really has been one thing after another.

So all my well layed plans for 2012 are practically non – existant and to be honest without me going back through some of the post i couldnt think of what, if anything that i’d accomplished this year ,  i’ve missed so much time for  felting and i hope that next year will be a lot kinder to me.

When i did look back i was happy to see that i had actually done a few things lol  But  Number 1 on my list was my word for the year ( Willingness)  and i did start out being very willing to learn lots of new things but it came to a screeching halt early on in the year and it took a lot longer than expected to get everything back in order and then i was over most things and found it quite hard to get back to where i was.

So this is  what i did do this year

i learnt how to make textile beads, that was actually one of my highlights as i thoroughly enjoyed that and i will be learning more about that in the new year,

beads

I also finished an online course with Victoria Crowder Payne at Freedom of Stitch and loved that one to,  this is my birds nest using stitch, yarn, pressed flowers and paint . Also my tree using paint and different stitches

nest tree

I did start out doing the weekly taste but sadly gave up on that, although i still might look it all back up again for next year as i was really enjoying learning all the different stitches.

I made a couple of bags which arent finished yet,  but i did finish some felted flowers

flowers

and i’ve made quite a few book covers,  Zed and Heather completely inspired me to try these and i’m pretty well hooked on them

cover

And my paverpol ladies or paverpollies are so fun to make that i will do the course next year to become a teacher and incorporate them into some felts, dont know how yet but i guess i’ll work that out as i go lol

lady

I was also very happy and totally surprise to be the winner of one of Heathers gorgeous bags, it hasnt arrived yet but when it does i’ll take some pics to show it off. I was so excited to win her giveaway and i cant wait to recieved it.

I recieved some lovely surprise packages from Zed, Ann and Ruth, i know i’ve said thankyou but i just wanted to show them off to,  Yours are still all on their way 🙂

from the girls

And last but not least there’s our gorgeous girl Charlie who is just about to turn 1 year old, she’s been the absolute highlight of this whole year and such a happy well contented baby who happens to really love her nana lol

Charliegirl

I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas and wishing you all a brilliant 2013 xo

looking back at 2012

looking back at 2012

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Back in January I picked a worked for the year, Breath. I think I managed to do that more or less. Stopping to think about what I want to do. I tried some new felting things and learned to use a serger. Signed up for some new shows. I went to the medieval fair all dressed up and had a great time. So I did breath and do some things I have been wanting to do for a while.  I still haven’t worked on complicated resists much but I am still thinking about it.

Dressed up for the fair
Dressed up for the fair

It’s been fun and educational doing this blog with Ruth, Karen and Zed. Through the forum I’ve got to know some friends better and meet some new friends. All in all despite some sad times this year it has been pretty good and on track.

2012 Review

2012 Review

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It’s hard to believe it’s almost a year since we posted about our plans for 2012! Looking back over what I’d hoped to achieve I didn’t expect to have done many of them, as the year panned out a lot differently than I expected. One thing I really wanted to do was learn some stitches by taking part in Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST). I did try my hardest, but I found the instructions really hard to follow and gave up after about 13 weeks. I never got the chance to explore direct dyeing felt any further, which is probably a good thing, since I’d hoped to combine the results with stitches I learned from TAST 🙂  I did dye some fabrics for using in felting, though. And I did actually get around to trying out a Suri Alpaca sample, but I’d hoped to try a few more ‘controlled’ samples so never had enough to make a post about it.

suri alpacaOne thing I was really looking forward to spending time on in 2012 was working more with other felting fibres and fabrics, and writing some tutorials for the studio site. Early in the year I did make quite a few pieces exploring natural fibres with natural wools, which I really enjoyed. Some of the results were quite interesting, like this Suffolk wool and banana fibre piece, a photo of which ended up being used by a Lecturer at RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) for a book.

suffolkI did write a few tutorials for the blog this year, but they weren’t about fibres. It seems like I spent a big portion of my time in 2012 on the phone to various government departments and agencies trying to get onto a scheme to become self-employed. I thought I had all the information I needed until it came to writing my business plan and realised I (along with everyone else, it seems) have no idea whether the scheme lasts 6 months or 12, which is quite a problem if you’re trying to forecast things! But hopefully that will all be sorted out in the new year.

I enjoyed taking part in the Studio Challenges this year, I haven’t done a piece for Karen’s weather challenge yet, but I do have some wool and fibres blended and around 40 photos of storm clouds to work from in the next few days 🙂 Another thing I enjoyed this year was finally learning how to make silk paper. I did intend to try a few more methods, but that was another thing I didn’t get around to, though I did buy a book about it!

silk paperA couple of my favourite things from this past year are the bird pods I made and using the electric sewing machine my mum gave me to make collage notebook and diary covers. I still haven’t mastered the speed pedal on the machine, but I can wind a new bobbin really well 🙂 The bird pods were great to do, I haven’t had much success previously making 3d felt from flat resists, but they all turned out really well. This is my favourite.

bird pod whiteI’m looking forward to 2013, all the challenges and exciting new things yet to come. I hope you’ve had nice holidays and if you’ve done your own 2012 review, post a link in comments, we’d love to read them 🙂

Year End Roundup 2012

Year End Roundup 2012

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Time passes so quickly, doesn’t it? It’s hard to believe another year is almost over. It’s fun to review what I have been able to accomplish in the last year and see if I followed my intentions for the year. My word for 2012 was ‘Focus’ and you can read about how I chose that word and what my intentions were in this post. My main focus this year was to get as much I could from the stitch class I am taking from Gail Harker. Many times, I had other things that popped up that I might have considered participating in but I kept reminding myself of my focus for the year. I think choosing this word really helped me to learn more and practice my skills from this class. Our last session will be in February of 2013 and the exciting news is that we will be having an exhibition of our class work at my store, The Purple Pomegranate in Whitefish, MT the first Thursday in September of 2013. Hopefully, my classmates will be able to join me for opening night so we can have a reunion. I’m already a bit sad that the class is going to be over so soon.

slip stitch

Looking back at the rest of my intentions, I did manage to follow through with most of them. My book The Complete Photo Guide to Felting came out in August and I held several book signings, book giveaways and promotions. I was on an internet talk show which was fun and I did better than I had hoped I would. I am happy with the book and proud that I was able to accomplish having a book published.

I began teaching classes at my local yarn store. I taught several classes including how to felt a hat over a flat resist and a two-day course in making a nuno felted cocoon style jacket. I found that I really enjoy teaching but I wasn’t able to teach as many classes as I might have since I was focusing on my stitch class homework. I do have plans to begin teaching at the local community college next year and continue classes through the yarn store.

The mentoring program for Montana Arts Council MAP students went well. I mentored a quilt artist in critiquing her work and hand stitch. I also had several artist internships through my store where I shared my knowledge about the business of being an artist. It’s nice to be able to give back to the artistic community and help emerging artists begin their business life with a better foundation of business understanding.

I have continued to meet with my local group and explore further fiber art and surface design techniques. We also have recently begun researching art history and discussing it with the group each time we meet. We started with paleolithic art and are moving forward in time. I also organized a felting retreat locally and it was a big success. Plans are in the works for a second retreat. Another group has formed just recently to promote the awareness of the fiber arts and to increase exhibitions of fiber art. I am sure I will be telling you more about this group in the coming year.

The three intentions that I didn’t complete this year were learning more about Photoshop, making video tutorials and working on the yurt. I have had the intention about Photoshop on my list for several years and have never really done much about it. Perhaps I don’t really care that much? I don’t think I’ll put it on the list this coming year. I did get a video camera for the tutorials but never got further than that. I will work on this for 2013 and I hope to have video tutorials up on this blog soon. The yurt project is still in the works. I have been sourcing wool suppliers and 2013 will definitely be the year of the yurt at my house so stay tuned.

What have you accomplished in 2012? Do you have plans for 2013? I’d love to hear what you’ve been doing this year and where your path will be heading in 2013. Happy Holidays!

Last Show of the Year Done.

Last Show of the Year Done.

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I am not sure how it got to be this late in the year but the calender doesn’t lie. I have finished my last show of the year. I had a bigger booth than usual it was 10×20. Usually I want a 10×15 and have stuffed myself into a 10×10. The small booth is really to small but 10 x20 is huge. I also had to adhere to a strange rule, nothing above table height in the first 5 feet of the depth of the booth.  It is very restrictive.

When I first set up I had my long table on one end to define the booth and then put the small one at the other end.

stall original

before

This left the boot feeling wide open and not very inviting. I moved the small table to the make an L shape so I could stand behind it and needle felt some sheep and talk to customers.

stall rearainged

It was more inviting to get people to stop and then they felt comfortable going  into the scarf and hat area of the booth.

after

Of course as soon as one person is in the booth looking at something others will join them. All in all it wasn’t a bad show.

The next couple of will fly by getting ready for Christmas ( how did the house get this messy) and having guests for Christmas (10) and then sorting things out afterwards in time for New Years.

So in case I don’t get another post in before Christmas I will wish you a Merry Christmas. If you don’t celebrate Christmas I hope you have a great time this holiday season no matter what you are doing or celebrating.

One last thing; as I was writting this post I got text from my some from the barn to say we have a new unexpected lamb.

lamb 2

Fleece Navidad. Sorry couldn’t help myself.

Around the Web

Around the Web

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I hope you are all staying sane in the madness around the holidays. Here are a few fun things I’ve found around the web this week. I hope you enjoy them. The list is a bit short as I’ve been busy with lots of holiday stuff at the store 🙂

fibres around the web

Giggle with the Goats

surface design around the web

Free Downloadable Labels from Alisa Burke

Felting around the web banner

Felted Calendar Covers by Jana

mixed media around the web

DIY Cat Toys by Design Sponge

Eyeglass Case to Sewing Kit by Tea Rose Home

 

stitching around the web

Betz White’s Appliqued Felt Christmas Scenes

Yarny Vessel

Yarny Vessel

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A few years ago, I wanted to make a felted vessel for my girlfriend, I had an image in my mind of how I wanted it to be, and I wanted it to be ‘perfect’, so it took a few attempts, but I was finally happy.

for SI used two of the practice vessels to make some ‘woolly vessels’ by needle felting locks onto them. One of them was this white vessel. I needlefelted locks of Angora, Alpaca, Wensleydale, Bluefaced Leicester and Kid Mohair onto it, then put it through the washer to make sure the locks were secure, and because a lot of them were unwashed locks.

white locksAnother one I made was this bluey green one, it reminds me of something from under the sea or around the coast. This has hand dyed locks of Angora, Alpaca, Wensleydale, Devon, Bluefaced Leicester and Kid Mohair. And I used texturey wools like dyed Icelandic and scoured lambswool to secure the locks.

100_8160outside cropAround the same time, I had the idea for making a really colourful texturey vessel, by needlefelting pieces of handmade yarn and wool twists onto one of my spare practice vessels. I had quite a large stash of handmade yarn and often made wool twists for projects so thought it probably wouldn’t take much longer than the other two had. I was wrong! 🙂  It took a lot longer… about 3 years off and on. I probably could have finished it sooner, and I did have phases where I would make up twists and add them, or sit spinning yarn for a few hours then cut it into pieces when it was dry and spend a few hours needling pieces onto the vessel but it never seemed to get any closer to being done! This last weekend, not feeling well enough to tackle my half finished business plan, I decided to try my hardest to finish the vessel. I got out all my left over yarn, stashes of wool blends and a drop spindle and set to work making a big pile of wool twists and a long length of plied yarn to cut up. I also got out my box of very thin felt offcuts and wet, rubbed and rolled some of those to add too. I didn’t want to wet the yarn and wait while it hung and dried, so after snipping it into lengths I wet and rubbed one end to ‘seal’ it and stop it unravelling. After needling all the pieces into the bare parts of the vessel, I finished off around the top, tidying it up and securing the loose fibres. And this is the result:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
And then I put it into an old pillow case and put it in the washing machine with a normal load 🙂  It looked like this:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
I unsquashed it and gave it a few shakes and spins, ran my fingers loosely through the twists and yarns (there’s a few strips of silk and organza in there too) then sat it on a tub to dry overnight. And this is what it looks like this morning:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI know it’s taken me a few years to finish it, but I kind of feel like making another one now! 🙂

Alternative Holiday Sales

Alternative Holiday Sales

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There are many retail shows based around the holiday season that artists can enter to sell their work. I have noticed some ideas lately for trying out different types of venues or making your own venue to sell during the holiday season. These ideas may take more work on your part but could provide good alternatives for more sales.

marketplace mondays

 

One idea is to gather a group of artists and rent a venue such as a grange hall or even a church basement to set up a small artist run show. Running a retail show takes a lot of preparation and you will need all of the artist participants to help run and promote the show. Start early on your planning and logistical details to avoid “rushing around with your head cut off” just before the show. Invite artists whose work is all compatible but those who are not selling the same products. Think about innovative ways to advertise without spending too much money. The cost for the show will be split up between the artists and those guidelines should be set up in advance so there are no surprises. Once you get this type of show up and running, it is much simpler to continue it at the same time each year.

Another way to sell your work is to have a “pop up gallery show”. This will work for an artist that has enough work to fill an entire gallery space. Since the slow down in the economy, there are numerous empty retail spaces available for lease or rent. Many have been on the market for a long time and landlords might be more likely to do a short-term rental for 4-6 weeks. This will take a lot of research to make sure that the location is appropriate. The old adage for retail “Location, location, location” is true. Look for an open spot in a shopping area that is busy with customers already. Talk to the neighboring store owners to find out about special events that are held around the holiday season. Take advantage of those type of events to promote your “pop up gallery”. Make sure to read the lease/rental agreement thoroughly and check that you are following all city regulations in regards to licensing, taxes and any specific business rules. You would also need to staff the gallery and depending on your intended selling hours, you might need to hire assistants.

If the “pop up gallery” idea seems a bit too scary, consider asking a restaurant about using their window or wall space to hang your work. These types of arrangements are usually done on a consignment basis and you should have a written agreement before hanging your work. You could also consider just putting a display of your work in an empty store window with your contact information so that customers could call you directly.

Other possibilities are joining with a group of artists to have a studio tour before the holidays, having a “private show” for invited customers only or doing a “trunk show” at a gallery or store. Again, advance planning is a must. I hope that some of these ideas will get you started thinking about alternative ways to sell your work. They don’t necessarily need to be around the holidays but taking advantage of the “buying season” will improve your overall sales.

I will be taking a short break from Marketplace Mondays until after the new year. I would love to hear if you have any specific questions about your art business so that I can address these issues in future posts. Please leave a comment with your requests and thanks for reading!

 

Polymer Clay

Polymer Clay

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Does anyone use Polymer Clay in their felting or fibre arts? I know I’ve mentioned using Fimo buttons a few times, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I make my own. I first tried Fimo about 20 years ago, I managed to make a few marbley incense stick holders and snake type things 🙂 I just couldn’t get the stuff soft enough to use, my hands would ache, they’d be caked in Fimo and I’d give in! About 6 years ago, I started to get interested again and was happy to find that not only did the Fimo seem softer, but they also did a ‘soft’ version. I mostly made mosaic tiles back then, but after spending weeks making batches of different sizes to make a couple of mosaic mirrors, I hadn’t imagined just how hard it would be or how long it would take to laboriously lay out all the tiles and cut slices to fill gaps in, and that was before I then I had to glue them into place. And then my cooker broke. I didn’t realise it was so hard to find one with a very low heat setting these days. And by the time I did, I didn’t have the same enthusiasm for Fimo any more.

Then I discovered felting and never really went back to making Polymer clay…until one day I needed the perfect button for a textured felt bag I made. I realised my old stash of Fimo buttons and embellishments was practically non existent. I’d used a few pieces on felt pieces before and liked how it looked so I decided to get all my Fimo tools out again to make a few buttons and other embellishments. I kind of got a bit carried away…

pile of buttonsIt was nice to be working with polymer clay again, and good to find that it was all still workable after being left in a drawer for a few years.

brownsI mostly made buttons in a variety of sizes in a few different colour schemes.

comp 4But I also made a few fancy ones, and larger/different ones for more unique projects that might crop up (such as covering a magnetic clasp!)

differentAnd I also made a few brooches, pendants and fridge magnets since I had all the stuff out anyway 🙂

broochesI’d love to see your photos if you use polymer clay, it doesn’t necessarily have to be fibre related 🙂

Felt Applique

Felt Applique

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Last week I went back to my class at the Gail Harker Creative Studies Center. For the first part of class, we worked on applique methods. We’re going to make little books out of our samples. All the samples are 4″x4″. I’ve completed the samples but haven’t bound the book yet. I thought you might like to see the pages before the book was bound together.

first four methods

4 methods

herringbone applique

layered

stacked

closed feather stitch

slip stitch

shadow

 

I took the photos at work so they aren’t the best but hopefully you get the idea. All of the pages have the same background color of felt even though they look like different colors of felt. The felt I used was hand dyed commercial felt but I think these applique techniques will work great with hand-made felt and all those extra felt scraps that Zed is always talking about 🙂