Another Wet and Dreary Day

Our storm didn't amount to much as it turned out to be mostly rain. There were some pretty high winds and the back door blew open a couple of times, until I closed the garage door. There aren't many leaves left on the trees ... that just about cleaned everything off. The oaks are still hanging on to some of theirs, but are looking rather ragged and torn up. I worked late into the evening yesterday and finished up a couple more odds and ends, then set up a photo display of all my work for the show. Today, I have to break that down and start setting one up for Don's work. I see the cat has been into my display, but no real harm has been done. She just loves to sleep on the wool.  Hubby had a bit of a crisis today. The switch on his big scroll saw isn't working and it has to go into Burnside for repairs. He'll have to do that before he goes back to work at the bar this afternoon, so that's going to ruin what free time he thought he had today. Oh well, story of our lives ... one step forward, two steps back. At least it's not an expensive repair and won't take more than a couple of days. The cutting was all done anyway so it's just time for the saw to have a rest. Poor thing has been working really hard this past 5 weeks.

Winter is Here

The storm has started here. I was watching late night news from Boston and they were fairly beside themselves that the worst of this storm was going to miss them, for the most part and pound us. It's already started and it's sticking but very, very wet, so will be messy. Looks like us folks in the snow belt are going to get lots before the day is over. We've postponed our shopping trip to Lower Sackville until Monday. No point in driving in this if we really don't have to.

I finished up the tree frog wall hanging piece and he's all ready for the show. I kinda hope he doesn't sell as I really love him, but I could make myself another if he goes. I used up every last bit of my favorite green (hemlock) wool on the vines so I'm hoping there won't be too long a delay at Acorn's Journey with ownership turnover as I'm going to put in a big order in another week or so.  I'm still waiting for the 4 kinds of wool I ordered from Louet and had an email yesterday that it had been sent out, so I'll be watching for a UPS truck to arrive in a day or two. I have a small sample of an interesting green merino coming by post from BC but doubt I'll order from them again as they're overall selection is poor. I need more practice with my new drop spindle and all I have here now with a long enough staple is unbleached core wool which looks kinda bland when spun. Since I'm just learning ... it's an interesting texture too ... can't seem to keep it even. My husband is very entertained watching me try to spin.

Today is a bit up in the air as to what I'll be working on. Binding a wall hanging and painting a wooden puzzle are top priority so they can be packed up for the show. I'm antsy to start a new rug, but doubt I'll get to it today. I'll need more wool to finish it anyway, so no point in rushing. On that note, I'm off to put on another pot of coffe and get to work on something.

Lazy Thursday

I have a cold today but don't feel too bad considering the fact that I was convinced last night that I'd be in horrible shape. I was too miserable to finish my frog so that will be today's project, as well as painting one of Don's woodwork pieces. Then I have to find some nice fabric in my stash to put a mitered border on the Santa wall hanging I have finished. That will just about wrap up all my work for the show and I can start another large rug that I don't want to work on under time pressure, as it's rather detailed and I want to make it a bit dimensional. I was going to try to squeeze in something else for the show, but I'm so tired of rushing things just to get maximum volume. I slowed down on the frog and the results are amazing.

I emailed my artist cousin this morning ... now that summer is over, I'm sure we both have more time to communicate. You must visit her site as she is so talented and has many wonderful things in her gallery. Stop by as I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have your online company. http://www.seapeople-art.com/  Anyway, we emailed each other nearly every day last winter and kept each other entertained while the nasty winter weather did it's thing outside. Now I must really get back to work and get something finished.

It's Been a Long Day

"I'm just bloody knackered! " as our dear British friend, Peter would say. It has really been a long day, starting at 4 am and continuing, napless, until now.

This time change has really messed up my Circadian clock, which is strange as that almost never happens. Anyway, my leisurely awakening at 8 am has gone to hell and I'm now up, swilling coffee at 4, telling myself I do it just to get a decent cup for a change. Normally, there either isn't any left or it's 4 hours old.

I started a new piece today. It's a tree frog wall hanging approximately 10" x 16" on a jute backing. It's a bit more dimensional and all the excess jute will either be sewn to the back or trimmed away. Then, since the cute little bugger is perched on a branch, covered with vines, I shall add more vines hanging down to give it the dimension of close to 4 feet high. It would be so easy to go crazy with the vines, now that I can spin wool into yarn which will make the center of the vines very strong ... don't tell Tarzan. I have to stick to my plan or it will be overpriced and I need more mid range value. The piece is going better than very well, so well in fact. that it's inspiring and I'm thinking that I won't want to part with him. Hmmm.... must refer to business plan again.

Spinning? Yes, I did mention that. Another story really and kind of funny. I had been curious about drop spindles and found a couple instructional video on YouTube. I left them on the screen while I wandered off to felt for awhile and my darling husband had a look. Next thing I know, sitting in front of me is a perfectly serviceable drop spindle ... the hardest part of making it was finding a small enough hook to screw into the end of the dowel. Don made the disc and drilled the hole perfectly centered so it spins nicely. Now to try it out ... oh my god! Funny! I had wool tangled everywhere, but finally got the hang of it enough that I made a short length of chunky from core wool which has a longer staple. I can't quite manage the dyed felting wool from Acorn's Journey yet but might draft some into some longer staple wool I have on order. I'm expecting 4 different natural colors in half pound lots from 4 different breeds of sheep so I can explore what different wools will do. Anyway, the yarn I made today is really pretty ugly but damn strong so will do nicely for the centers of my vines.

Exhaustion in setting in pretty quick. I'm trying to stay up later so I can get up at a reasonable hour in the morning ... daylight being optimum. It's nearly midnight now, so likely safe to try to sleep. However, I have to walk right past that tree frog piece I love working on ....

Work for the Show

Just a couple of things for the show. The closeup on the right is the inside of a vessel containing a geode. Strange but cool. I will be taking more pics soon as I have three flat pieces completed and ready to go. Started another piece today ... rather excited about it ... it's a tree frog and I'm going to try to work it into a relief piece with some hanging vines.

Just Taking a Break

All I have to say is .... BUSY! Yes, my husband and I were very recently accepted into a group of crafters and artists by invitation, who gather their creations once a year for a HUGE show and sale. We had looked into this a few years ago and came away with the impression that this exclusive group would never be within our reach for membership, but things change and now we're both in. It's exciting but left us with alot of work to do before the show. The night we signed up, was 6 weeks from the show dates and our inventories were both rather low for exhibiting.

Now the show is only two weeks away and we find we can see light at the end of the title. We've been putting in ten hour days to make things worthy of this venue and it has paid off. We are very hopeful this move will open some doors for us. As soon as the show is over, I'll be posting tons of things on here for you see. We don't expect to sell everything so there should still be lots left.

I've been watching a favorite fiber artist's blog (Andrea Graham). Check out her site as her work is just fantastic, and so very inspiring. www.andrea-graham.com She is also my wool supplier, and I was a bit saddened to learn she is selling her wool business. Selfish I suppose, as I can see how busy she is and I certainly understand how that business would cut into her time severely. I emailed her and found out that she will continue to sell wool in larger quantities. Hmmmm ... I get that it suits her so much better to do this, but can I afford at this point to buy in larger quantities? Well, actually .... maybe I can, as long as I'm more careful and stick to my plans. If my work sells well in two weeks I might be in a position to start buying dyed wools in half pound lots rather than by the ounce. An ounce is still a good bit, but won't go far in a rug, so having half a pound lying around would actually be better. Again, this fits the business plan of commissions much better, but who is that lucky to be able to survive on commissions alone?

My newest thing is rugs. I've always been fascinated by those Cheticamp Hooked Rugs. They're simply beautiful. I have discovered that felting to a jute backing works and once the jute is covered, I can go crazy with dimension, color and detail. I can actually get some very fine detail using the needle felting method and colors are basically unlimited. The three I have done so far, look really nice and after doing a bit of research, I have decided a fair price for me would be $45 per square foot. Hey, wool isn't free and I'm too old to chase sheep after dark. We still don't have much of a supply base for roving here in Nova Scotia. Some shops are charging lots of money for little tiny bits, but not really feasible for large projects, so I'm forced to order all of it from away. This increases costs, of course and then there's the waiting. I'm not comfortable dealing from the states as I don't really trust the mail crossing the border with such precious cargo.

Well, it's time to get back to work. Every flat surface in this house is covered with projects of some kind in various stages of completion. We're running out of space. As I write this, my darling husband is standing at the work table behind me, mounting some of his work on black backgrounds, using spray glue and asphyxiating me, so I have to run along a get my light box out to transfer some patters onto jute. I'll be back later.

Back in the Studio

Good day to my loyal followers, of which I think I now have two! Sorry I haven't been around much over the summer. Social committments took up much of my time, as well as I took a job outside the home for a couple of months. That has now come to an end, and the parties have died down to a dull roar. As soon as I get the house back in some kind of order subsequent to the hubster doing the chores all summer, I'll be in the studio full time. Currently, I have plans to finish a rather elaborate sculpture from wool, which I started last spring. I'm also working on a painting of cliffs in the sea, from a day trip I took a few weeks ago. The spot that impressed me can be seen by looking left from the lookoff at Cap d'Or, on the Gloosecap Trail, near Advocate Harbour. Don is finishing a large address sign he plans to place at the end of our driveway and has done a couple of complicated scroll saw projects. I hope to have pictures to add to this blog very soon. So folks, we're back in the studio and picking up where we left off. Stand by for more projects and brainstorms from Decorative Kindling.