Slowing down, routines

Since this week has actually slowed down, I had a chance to work on some new spindles to go in my shop. I am going to try to spend more time working on spindles and items in my shop.
The first one I did today is a new design :
The Sweetness Spindle

I finished those, and decided to branch out to other flowers. The first one that came to mind was the Sweet Pea. Then I found the glitter tube, and fun ensued. Here is the result:
The Purple Sweet Pea

I decided that I will try to focus on my business part of each day. The mornings I will start by reading my favorite online news here:

Then I will work on spindles, or fibers.
I hope to get more up in the shop in the next few weeks.

Family, News, Updates

On May 8th, Rochelle's 6th grade class went to Washington Dc on a School Patrol trip. I got to go along as a chaperon. We took 2 buses. In one day we saw a lot of the sites. Due to time constraints, we did not tour the White House, but did get a group shot of all of them:

I was with these 3 gals all day. What a riot they are.
Haley, Rochelle and Megan.

I spent the next 4 days trying to recover while doing my normal running around to meetings, helping with some customers at the LYS my best friend Carla owns, and getting ready to pick up my BIL from airport on the 14.
Last weekend I was completely distracted by 4 men. My husband and his 3 brothers got together and what a fun time. I did manage to get some pictures of the 4 of them, first time in about 19 yrs! Sometimes men can be a bit frustrating. I have no idea why any of them are camera shy, they are all good looking. Of course I am biased some:

From Left: Roy, Rick, Rusty, & Rod.

Rusty flew home on Sunday, and Monday am I got a text from my baby sister. So now I was distracted by my side of the family, and the result was this:

I am an Auntie!!
Please meet Madeline Rose Bobby. Born Tuesday May 20th at 12:17 am. She is 5 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long. Oh yes, she is a red head like her Mommy too. What a sweetie!

Finally I had time to work on a dress for my youngest child, Rochelle. She had her 6th grade recognition dinner and award presentation on Thursday this week. I managed to complete it, and she looked great as you can see as she stands beside her best friend Nate.

So between spending time with family, doing some spring cleaning, and working on knitting, sewing and general life. I have been totally busy.

But that is not all I have been busy with. I also recently was hired by Handmade News a New online publication full of great Craft and Handmade information.
Today I have another article in it, this one is on Lace. I encourage everyone to take some time and read it as you can. Its full of trends, information and lots of ideas! You can find me under the Craft Trends dept.

MD Sheep and Wool Hangover

This past weekend was Maryland Sheep & Wool festival at the Howard County Fairgrounds. While it was not the best weather for it, it was still a wonderful experience.
When I arrived at the fairgrounds on Friday at noon I was greeted with this site:

While the outside was a bit damp it did not stop the fleeces from being brought in for sale at the fleece tables.

Saturday morning everything was bright and ready for the crowds.

The fleece sale was busy as usual, and fleeces left fast from the piles. The fun of seeing all the different colors and breeds was almost overwhelming.

Couple that with a plateful of Ribbon Chips, and the day is bright despite the clouds and occasional rain.

The colors of the booths was truely a feast for the eyes, and was almost as filling as that plate of chips was.

Each one held more wonderful colors than the next. It was almost like walking into the colors of the Emerald City after the drab gray world outside.

Sunday the rains came back in full force, causing most to stay under the safety of the barns and tents. The main walkway at mid day looked almost empty.

By Sunday afternoon the skies opened up even more, but the crowds kept coming.

I however was soaked to the bone, and my head was swimming with all the sights, sounds and colors I had seen. Ideas of what to make, spin, and work on were running through my head.

So I said a sad goodbye to the fair grounds, and I leave you with this sweet little gal:

Till next year sweetie!

View more of my trip here.

Supporting Causes

Today was a exceptionally warm day. Actually, I think it may have been a record breaker. I had originally planned to work on some spindles, but I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry. I love to hang out the bed clothes on the line and always feel so good when they are all done.

As I was hanging out the quilts today, I was looking at the Rose bushes, and the Lilac. The leaves are starting to come out, and the buds on the lilac are getting big. Even though it was so warm, the feel of hope of spring was in the air.

Hope is something we all reach for. Hope is always there to encourage us that things will get better.

I had the opportunity to attend a fundraiser for the Fraternal Order of Police. After the horrible slaying of the 3 officers in Pittsburgh, it was wonderful to see the amount of people out supporting those who answer the calls never knowing what it will bring. If you have a chance to support the Police or Corrections Officers in your area please do.

Tuesday night I will be attending another fundraiser for Relay for Life.

As many know who visit my ArtFire Shop, I have a Drop spindle there that part of the proceeds go towards Relay for Life. The decision to do that was easy, as Cancer has touched my life and my husbands in many ways.

I will be introducing another new spindle in the next few weeks, this time with proceeds going to Autism Speaks. Autism is a cause near to my heart. So keep an eye out for the new spindle soon.

I urge you all to support those things that are special for you.

Fibers FIbers Everywhere. . . . .

Or maybe I should say Rain, Rain, Go Away. . .
Its been very gray and getting a bit chilly today. I know this is part of Spring, and that the rain is very needed, but still. I would love some nice warm sunny days.

Maybe this is why I decided to look for something colorful to put in to the shop this week.
The first one I listed yesterday when it was very dreary is this bright colored one I called "Tonks":


The 2nd one is a corriedale roving I have named Juliet. Both of these are 4 ounce in weight, which if spun in a sock weight, should give you enough to make a pair of socks.
Spun lace weight one will have enough for a nice size shawl.

Looking at the calendar today reminds one that Maryland Sheep and Wool is approaching fast.

The vast array of colors, fibers, yarns and animals will surely overwhelm even the most seasoned fiber person for a bit. I expect to be blown away with all the wonderful smells and sights as usual. If you are close enough to go I urge you all to attend. There is something for everyone there.

This year I am going to try to NOT bring home a raw fleece.

Wish me luck. I will need it.

Blockhead Radio

I have added a new link to my blog, Blockhead Radio.

Once again Artfire Crazy Train has started a run, and this time it has hooked a great radio station with it! If you listen you will hear some great ads for ArtFire shops.

You will find a link to it on the right hand side of this page below the Shop Now! link.

I can't say enough about Artfire, if you have not visited there yet, please RUN and check it out.

T-shirt quilt & Making Spindles from Scratch.

So Monday, I pieced this together, and yesterday I spent time tying it.
This is what it looks like now:



The only thing left to do is to have a binding put on, and the person I pieced it for will do that. So today I turned my attention back working on drop spindles for in the shop. Since I had the camera out I figured I would get some pictures of what I do to make them.

I start out with dowels, cut them to length, and then glue them to the wheels. The pieces in the lower corner are what I start with.
I then sand, and prime. Sand again, and base coat with 3 coats of paint. Eventually I end up with some of these:



Finally, I do the decorative painting, and then top that with 2 coats of a outdoor sealer, and I end up with a nice shiny spindle. I drill the hole, and put a hook in, adjust it, and take it out for a test spin!
This series is now available here. I am donating $5.00 from each sale to the Relay for Life.

Sidetracked!

I actually planned on putting the Ray of Hope spindles up in the shop today, but I got sidetracked. I am working on getting a Schacht Mighty Wolf loom. One of the things I am doing for the seller is getting a t-shirt quilt pieced and tied for her.
Now, before I go much further, I promise the spindles will be going into the shop on Weds, as tomorrow I have a full day of errands and a Guild meeting.
The t-shirt quilt is neat, but I am glad it is ready now to be tied. I hope to have it tied when I am away at some engagements tomorrow. At least that is my plan. While its a neat idea, the fact of the matter is, t-shirt material stretches. It stretches badly. It really need to be stabilized, and while all of the pieces had been, it still was horrible to sew.
Needless to say, I would have rather have spent the day painting spindles, knitting or just working on something else.
At one point I even vacuumed some, but I knew I needed to get this monkey off my back.

So, after I get done doing the stuff tomorrow, I will be back to making more spindles.

I do encourage you all to stop by ArtFire.com and look around. The place is amazing and the items up for grabs are so cool. Seriously. If I had a bailout I would be buying like nothing else.

Stay tuned!
And don't forget to Buy Handmade!

Happy Easter

Just a quick pop in to say Happy Easter!

May the hope and promise of spring continue to bring good things to all.

Ray of Hope Rose Spindle

As promised I have been trying to get better at updating the shop and letting you know about the new spindles coming soon.

Today I added 5 more spindles to the Shop. Hope you enjoy looking at them.

I wanted to show you a preview of a special spindle that will be going up soon. I am calling it "The Ray of Hope Rose" spindle. Part of the price of these spindles will be going to Relay for Life to help with Cancer research.

Top of whorl (hook not shown)

Each of the spindles will be numbered and will be limited to being made for only one year.

Side view of shaft and whorl.

Side view of whorlKeep an eye on the shop, these will be listing soon!

And the WINNER is.....

Wow, this was a hard decision to make.
All of the names are so wonderful and original.

After thinking about it and really struggling with it the winner is - EvenRose by Loribird!

I am contacting her today and will be getting her spindle in the mail as soon as I get a snail mail addy.

Thank you all for participating in the contest.
The EvenRose spindle along with the others will hopefully be in the artfire shop today.

Have a great Day!

Technology? shudder

Technology has always been something that I have not warmed up to. It scares me in a weird way, since it seems so complicated. Uncomplicated items are more my style.
Things that do not require electricity, like the spinning wheels, drop spindle, knitting, hand sewing, are more in line with the lifestyle here. Maybe it is due to not having much exposure to them when in school, as only a few students in my class were even given an opportunity to take any computer classes. But mostly it is due to being afraid I could not wrap my head around the information needed to understand it all.
The whole learning a new language thing scared me. What the heck is HTML, and code? I had no idea, but looking back to my attempt to learn German in high school, I was pretty sure I would not understand it much. (To my defense, I can still recite the phrase that Herr Healy drummed into our heads. "Arbeit Macht Dass Leben Zus" )
When I went to college, no one I knew had a computer in the dorm rooms, we used electric typewriters. The ones with the digital screen that you could erase the last so many letters were really neat.
A few weeks ago I started an Artfire shop. One of the great things is the support in the forums. Reading through those I had many "AH-HA!" moments. Realization also hit home that the shop needed to get more of a voice on the web. Not being one to jump on a band wagon right away, this old fashioned gal had never even visited twitter or facebook.
Now that is not to say I don't chat online, I do. Constantly.
I am on Plurk and AIM almost all day. Just ask my family lol.
So after taking several deep breaths, I finally took the plunge and joined Facebook (Shell Auker), and after a few hesitations Twitter(Rosegardenfiber) too.
So, if you are on either, please say hi.
Today will be spent on the spindles, spinning, and some knitting. I will hopefully have new pictures and items up on the shop this week. If I don't, please feel free to let me know on any of the spots above!

New Spindles on the way! Contest!

I spent some of this past weekend working on new spindles for the shop, I have a few almost ready to go... Some of them are more of current designs, but the purple one is a new design.
I am still trying to decide on a name for it.
Any ideas?


Leave a comment if you have an idea for a name, If I chose your idea, you will win one of them! So make sure to leave your info so I can contact you.

New Start

I have been very bad about posting here, but will be trying to do more from now on.
Please keep checking back as I will be posting more.

Welcome!

hello and welcome, I am a handspinner who love to make yarns and use them too- I am wishing to make some of the handspun availible for others - if you see something you like- please email me and we can discuss the possibilities of the purchase. At times I may place items up for sale here- prices will be listed with items.-- Enjoy the stay and pics! Blessings! Shell