It’s the first day of August, so here’s a couple calendars you can save to your desktop as wallpaper or print out.
Wallpaper (just right click on image and chose “set as background”):
Calendar (print or can also be set as wallpaper):
We have a busy schedule this month. I am pleased to announce we will be at First Thursday, in the Hillcrest District in Little Rock on Thursday the 7th. On Saturday the 23rd, we will be at The Great Escape, located here in Conway. More details on both events coming soon.
Also, tomorrow, the 2nd, I’m hosting another AREtsy-Arkansas Etsy Street Team get together. Hope to meet lots of new artists and have a good time with some of the girls I have already had the pleasure of meeting.
Austin turns six today! This picture was taken on the ferry to New York a couple weeks ago. For our birthday adventure we are going to a water park in central Arkansas. Spending the day in a water park is not exactly my idea of fun, it’s the putting on the bathing suit in public thing. It’s for the boy, I will keep repeating…it’s for the boy.
In Middlebury, Vermont, located inside a beautifully restored colonial farmhouse lays the Vermont Yarn Company. This yarn shop shares the farmhouse with the Field Farm, the Foote Street Farmstand, and Sandra Lance Pottery. There is loads to see and for sure everything to delight your fiber senses and more.
The shops layout was very unique with yarn even displayed around an old fireplace. Too cool!
Why use curtains when you can use hand painted boucle?
More Cherry Tree Hill Yarn everywhere!
I did not have the pleasure of meeting the shop owner while I was there, hopefully next time. The layout of the shop was just too precious to not share. I did grab a couple bags of painted roving and a bag of super soft natural mohair. Here is a picture of one of the balls I spun into yarn, a before and after.
Sandra Lance was more than helpful and is a very unique character. She does beautiful pottery work, even makes her own glazes. I squealed when I saw this handmade glass sheep. Sandra loves to wrap up your items in gift wrap and does a fantastic job at that too.
It is a treasured addition for my sheep kitchen makeover. I’ll share more of my sheep finds tomorrow. ♥
In the past I have shown off some pretty interesting bags of barn yard fiber. After a trip to the Liberty Flea Market, owned by my Great Aunt and Uncle, I stumbled upon bags of old lace and bits and pieces of ribbons. These two combinations piqued my interest. With my recent voyage into the land of Art Yarns…What better combination than old rustic barnyard and vintage lace? Introducing Handspun Barnyard Lace:
After Jeanetta spotted a small skein of it, she had to crochet it up to see how it would look.
Isn’t it cool? We both just adored it and agreed it would make a fantastic bracelet, or a bag, or even a necklace. Our husbands both looked at us like we were a little nuts, but you understand! We even talked about what a cool vintage embellishment it would make for crafters. It is such a cool looking yarn, it will be a nice addition to my new line of hand spun yarn.
Here’s one more for my Thick N Thin Art Yarn Series. It’s pink, and orange, and curly, and full of fun and wonderful twists. It will calm a bit and bulk up more as well in places once it gets set, but it’s beauty will only improve. Really, I’m enjoying this yarn series so much, I see no plan of series being short lived.
My recent spinning has given me such a nice, peaceful feeling. Typically, I am pretty anal about how even my spun yarn is. Every little tiny part that’s a tab bit thicker or thinner, I see a flaw and not an unique addition to the yarn. But, with my Art Yarns, my perfectionism is thrown out the window. I just let the creativity flow. The fiber can be thick or thin and locks can be left out and I’ll over spin here and put in stings and lace and do whatever there. I get frustrated with life’s little pains and I just put that extra spin in the yarn or just leave it bulky. Like magic, my frustration is gone and I am left with a gorgeous, unpredictable skein of yarn, as precious as a work of art. It is a very fun process and it is good for the soul. In my Art Yarn I find Peace.
I snapped this shot of the boys on one of our yarn shop trips in Vermont. Isn’t it just so cool, sometimes in the insanity of it all, you find peace.
The boys, Daisy, and me on our way home on the “Ferry Tony”. It’s really the Ferry To New York, but when a person quickly writes “take the Ferry TO NY” (with the letters T O N Y) close together, you can see how a person can easily think the ferry is called Tony.
