Hello,

You know how it gets...you intend to do things...but you just don't?  Well that's me and blogging...Is it that life is just so busy or am I just that lazy...jury is still out on that one...but anyway here I go:

I have been quite busy.  We have returned to our local Farmers Market where sales were slow early on but picked up this Saturday when the temperature also up...as in the 90's!  That is too darn hot for my happiness, but since we had been wet and rainy for what seemed like months on end...I'm trying not to complain (too much).

May found me planting my seedlings in the garden It is growing nicely though I lost some to rot due to all our rain. I went to Pacific Northwest Art School for a class. I hosted some low-key Open House days at my studio in June. I also got asked to be the featured artist for Blue Flag Studio & Sandpoint's POAC 35th Annual Art Walk which runs daily from June 23rd to September 7th.
www.artinsandpoint.org
www.blueflagweaving.com
www.pacificnorthwestartschool.org

I have some awesome art up there...I hope some of you will be able to make it up there to see my newest art!  Since vessels are 3-D there is more to see on other sides...for now you just get a preview.

I have a series of new vessels I have started with the theme: Interpreting Nature.  The first one is dedicated to the mighty oak trees and is nearly done.  The second is about the ocean and is about half done.

I have more art in the show in Sandpoint and I will write about it in my next post.

Ta ta for now everyone...
Janet

Going for a Roller Coaster Ride

Hello,

Well if I felt like I'd run a marathon on Friday and Saturday...(thankfully Sunday was truly a day of rest) then Monday was an absolute roller-coaster!  Over a month and a half ago we had taken samples of my work to be juried at a couple of local shops - right on the main street in Coeur d' Alene.  Both said they liked what they saw...however...we were still tied up with the end of summer Farmers Markets, Blue Flag, getting our website built and everything photographed for it and then the Christmas Market...so it wasn't until Monday that all of this came back around...I had been planning to clean house and decorate for Christmas...but...

A call from Mark led to a quick trip down to the gallery to look over the proposed display space...then back home for a discussion and a quick decision to take all our merchandise, which was still packed from Saturday's Christmas sale, down to Northwest Artists Cooperative Gallery on Sherman Avenue that afternoon.  Friday is Art Walk all through downtown and we wanted to be part of it!  But we needed lunch so we detoured to Subway for that and then proceeded to unload and set up all of our 'stuff' yet again! We are getting pretty good - and much faster - at doing this now :)  Here is a quick look...

For a video tour of the gallery and some of the work done by other artists check out this link.
Northwest Artists Cooperative http://www.northwestartists.net/nw_artist_coop_gallery_001.htm

The sun was shining very brightly today...it was so beautiful...then today's mail brought our first check from Blue Flag Studio!  Whoopee!  Thank you Kristie and Terri - Love you both!  Couldn't have been a better compliment to the sun outside.  But I am still on the roller coaster today...what I thought was going to be a slow down this week has just continued to build up steam.  Friday is Art Walk from 5-8 pm http://www.artsincda.org/ArtWalk.html and Saturday I will be with a fellow artist down at the Jacklin Center for the Arts in Post Falls from 10-2.  Check it out at: http://thejacklincenter.org/

Until then I need to finish a handbag for Sharon in California, felted fingerless gloves for Antigone, earrings for Bonnie, and a scarf for Gail...and maybe more things for myself for Saturday at Jacklin...noooooo problem....guess the cleaning and tree decorating can wait!  I hope!!!

Take care all,
Janet

A Trio of Runners

Hi Everyone,

Today's project, besides a bit of shoe shopping, was to finish the first of three table runners I hope to have finished for the show December 3.  This first one is a fall/Thanksgiving theme.  I have laid two layers of merino and then a piece of silk.  I had already made a couple of prefelts the other day.  Today I cut them into leaves and acorns for my surface design.  So my next layers were a papier ribbon (a ribbon yarn made with 75% paper) and my leaves and acorns.  Its looking pretty good!  Tomorrow I will begin my second runner...

So stay tuned...And for those of you that are headed out to shop tomorrow don't forget your small home grown merchants like Blue Flag Handweaving Studio in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Janet

Well Good Evening Everyone!

I have been busy nuno felting scarves yesterday and today.  They aren't ready for their pictures to be taken though so instead I have a couple of other items that I have finished to show you.

I love the Photo Bucket slide shows - when they work!  Hope you get to see all six photos.  I stitched on the felted fabric using the free stitching method (darning foot) on a machine.  I used different colored threads depending on the accent I needed - in some cases I used gold metallic thread.  Difficult stuff to work with!

Both these pillows will be sold through Blue Flag Handweaving Studio in Sandpoint, Idaho.  You can click the like below to contact Kristie about them.
http://www.blueflagweaving.com/

As a teaser here is a preview of a new scarf - before felting.



Well I am off to get my scarves out of their acid water bath.  Night All!

Janet

We Go For an Adventure Today

Hello,

So today was a very interesting day.  It started out so well...one of those days you can just feel are going to be good.  After all hubby and I had spent numerous hours these past weeks getting ready for it...so it just had to be a good day, right?!  I was well rested having finally gotten a full 8 hours of sleep and everything for the shop Blue Flag Handweaving Studio, in Sandpoint was tagged and ready to be loaded.  Whew!!

So after a leisurely breakfast and loading of merchandise and dog (yes, the puppy got to go for a ride today) we were off!  It is about 40 miles from home to Kristie's shop.  And about 5 miles from there this crazy truck driver tried to run us down...only he wasn't crazy he was trying to let us know we had a flat rear tire.  Wished I could thank him.  For some reason neither of us had been able to feel it - rather strange - never happened before.  Anyway an hour later and we had our spare tire - The Dreaded Donut Tire - on and we were back on the road to deliver all the cool felted stuff I had made.  And on the plus side all the time sitting and waiting allowed me to get some knitting done!

This is one of the small, fun-loving bags we took up there today.  I made the beads out of tyvek, paint and wire.  Almost too cute to part with!  Hope you enjoy seeing it.  And if you want to purchase it you can do so through Kristie at http://www.blueflagweaving.com/

Now we are back home and I am off to devour some of the yummy brownies I just baked...from scratch!  Yum...I'll try to save some for you :)
Janet

New Blue Bliss Handbag

These two items will be on their way to Blue flag Handweaving Studio in Sandpoint, Idaho on Friday.  See them in person!
http://www.blueflagweaving.com/

Darn!  This new method only worked once! Ugh!  Well maybe the slideshow will fix itself and be there for you to see.

Hand-Felted Handbag and Technology!

Well wonders will never cease...my husband has amazed me yet again with the technology available to us in this modern world.  My husband installed a program called PhotoBucket.  Now when I snap a photo or two of my work with my phone it will automatically send it to a website for storage until I need it.  Then I can simply and easily put it into my blog.  Whew!  What a relief.  I have been emailing to myself; then downloading the attachment and then uploading them to my blog.  Long process that often failed to work. So...!  Tonight we test it...

Tonight I finished lining and putting a leather strap onto the autumn colored "Circles" handbag I felted last week.


 That's all for tonight,
Janet

New Handbag - Just Felted!

Hi Everyone!

At long last, I have finished felting my handbag!  I started this with the piece I hope to make into a coat, but then set it aside.  The motif on this is made of circles from the prefelt of greens and browns I made last week.  I also added some circles of dupioni silk in bright orange.  Again I used brown batt that I have had on hand for awhile.  It seems to have been thick enough in most places.  However, I added some merino where I could feel that it was thin.  Then that led to adding more merino to blend colors better...and one thing always leads to many others ( :) and so as I said it seems like "at long last" I have finished this!




New Handbag Using Prefelts



Circles Well Felted onto Flap Front



Sparkle 'fiber' that I bought from Kristie at Blue Flag Hand Weaving Studio

 Night All!  Tomorrow I'm off to show-and-tell with my two latest creations.

Janet