Mothers Day

Few things make me a mushy mess as much as Mothers Day does. My kids get super excited that I get to be queen for the day (why not everyday right?!). They get to give me presents they worked really hard on at school. I remember doing the same for my mom and I remember she loved nothing more than a bouquet of jaggedly cut felt flowers. Here's what my 2 favorite little monkeys gave me....
From my little girl Ari, age 5...She's quite the artist! Notice the ray of sunlight, and all the other amazing details. She's 5 and drew elephants for goodness sake!

And from my sweet little boy who's going to be 9 this summer (how can that be!)



His little note says
"The important thing about Mom is She's Loving
She is also reassuring
But the most important thing about Mom is she's caring
love, Kiran"

What mom wouldn't bawl at that?! Then he sewed me a kleenex holder that looks like a guy. I may have to put him to work soon...

Jason, being the amazing human he is, let me work all day with no interruptions. Then we all piled on the couch to eat pizza and watch a movie all snuggled under a blanket. The best day ever!

Introducing...The Wristlet!

Let me start of by saying I really don't like the word "wristlet". Its like scarflette. Kirsten and I decided "clutch" is way cooler. Here they are...


Cute little mini purses just the right size for your phone, keys and a small wallet. I love big bags but I may just have to make myself one of these.

I just joined Eco Etsy, an awesome Etsy street team dedicated to promoting all that is green and good. Look for more recycled packaging from me. There are so many amazing sellers that belong to this group...

Alright my 3 hours of freedom is almost up and I have to run get my kiddos...then run, then run some more :)...

Look Ma I'm in a treasury on Etsy
Thats my cherry skirt at the bottom :)...

Happy Accidents

I just got in a small batch of roving the other day. Its like getting a big roll of natural fabric, a blank palette. I tried dyeing some 3 oz batches a couple different ways. The first one I did regular rainbow dyeing, where you paint the wet roving wrap it in plastic wrap and then steam it. I love this method cause you dont really have to touch the fiber so there's less chance of it felting. I got this...
which spun up in to "Midnight at the Oasis" mmmmm pretty...

Next I tried the hot pour method from the Twisted Sisters Sock book. You heat your roving on the stove with water and a bit of vinegar then pour the colors. It softens the colors but you have to be careful to not poke it too much or it felts. Well what I didn't realize is that some dyes split into different colors...so my well intentioned earthy brown, burgundy and plum mix did this...
What the hell? Where did yellow and green come from?! All I could think of was salamander (not that I don't like salamanders but I was hoping for something a bit more romantic)...
Now here comes the cool part...I snagged some of these from Loop on Etsy... in that collection of fibery goodness I found this beautiful black alpaca and firestar batt. Tons of sparkle and color...So that little tiny batt mixed with my ugly roving gave me thisAll the warm earthiness I could ever want with some sparkle to boot. I love happy endings....

Recycled Mailing bags

I was so excited when i found that Etsy
has videos on YouTube. I love how to videos...I've learned various knitting and spinning techniques. Its pretty exciting.

Here's the latest amazingness I found...
Fusing plastic grocery bags...


This worked out perfect since I never seem to have first class mailing bags or boxes. My first attempt ended up a little melty...
Here's the final one. Looks pretty cool and is stronger and thicker than the PO's tyvek bags. I just sealed the edges with packing tape and voila!

So I finished the hoodie...I tried a new hood design that really wraps around so when its down you get a cool collar effect. Nice and warm too. I put it up on ebay ...

I also added a new pair of pants to my site...

I've been experimenting with block printing a little bit. Here's a great tutorial if anyone is curious....I love her work...Here. For these pants I decided ginkgo, yet again. I really love the shape of the leaves. And I love the idea that ginkgo is said to increase concentration and memory...I could use some of that!

Up next dyeing some fleece! I got this today...Big Fun!!!

French Films and Gratitude

I recently finished an amazing book my best friend got my son for Christmas...

This is an absolutely amazing story and the illustrations are stunning...
It has refers to early french film making by director Georges Melies. He did this beautiful film called The Trip To The Moon....I'm using it as inspiration for my next top....I can't wait to share...

I've been thinking alot about how much I just love my job. I get to stay home with my kids and make stuff and make a little money. I've tried doing "lines" of clothing but I get so bored with it, that it takes away from the thing I love. I know this is the way to streamline and be more efficient but it literally drives me crazy. Jason is always like cut out 10 of such and such and you can whip them out....I've tried and the result always seems less that what I like my end product to be....so my goals are to continue making one-of-a-kind pieces and try to make them cost effective. Its a work in progress.....

Here's some recent work...



Oh I took the plunge and applied to my first festival, Wheatland Music Festival.
Its a juried show so I'm waiting to see if I got in...I'm crossing my fingers...although I may have to reconcile making multiples of things if I want to fill a whole booth!