NINE Days...

We are now on the home stretch of counting down to the Fiber In... I can not even begin to tell you how excited, nervous, scared, and just overall frantic I am feeling inside... I talked to mom today, so everything is in place... Hotel was booked in April, displays are built, and now I have the work van to load all my "stuff" into... 

Mom has always been the voice of reason behind my "projects", but also the one that has pushed me and kept me following my dreams... no matter how many times those dreams have changed... I just hope and pray that I will be that same supportive and reasoning person behind them as they grow up...

Okay, I'm done with all the mushy stuff... for now anyways, lol.

Last night, I had high hopes for all the stuff that would get done last night... and some stuff did get done... but I made the mistake of watching "The Hobbit"... thought that it was boring, and then got soooo into the movie, that I could not focus on creating... I really want to watch the second one tonight, but I just don't know if its the smartest idea.

So... Here is what happened last night:

Tatted Art Yarn Accents - Beaded Drops

Silk Noil

Green Silk Noil... Fresh from the dye pot

Yellow Silk Noil... still in the dye pot

I am hoping that tonight will be packaging and inventory... but I'm not promising anything, lol :)

10 DAYS!!!

WOW, WOW, WOW... Really??? Only 10 Days until the 11th Annual Florida Fiber In??? You have got to be kidding me right...

I still have sooooo much left to do... Displays still need to be finished... dyeing still needs to happen... labeling.. pricing... plus all the other ideas floating around in my head... oh how time flies, lol.

I was sort of a slacker yesterday and didn't get a post done... but that doesn't mean I wasn't working... I finished up some bamboo and then started working on a few more sets of Tatted Art Yarn Accents.

For those who do not know what the heck I am talking about... Tatted Art Yarn Accents are just little tatted creations to spin into your yarn... they work the same way as spinning in locks... they have two tails, so you start with one and finish with the other... then when you are finished spinning, your yarn will have gorgeous little "accents" sticking out :)

A couple packages of Tatted Art Yarn Accents

And here is the drying rack with the new bamboo colors :)

This one is my new favorite... it reminds me of being a small child and believing in mermaids (still do a little, lol).

And some that are just waiting to be labelled

Looks like I am going to have to make a delivery for work tonight (forgot to do a part of my job)... so I may not be as productive as I would like... but guess we shall see what happens :)

Permanent Marker Dyeing... 12 Days Remain!!!

Well, I finally finished the permanent marker dyed bag from yesterday... From everything I have read, it says that the alcohol should dry in around 20 minutes... but it took almost 4 hours for mine to dry, lol.

I think a big part of it is that I did not have a spray bottle anywhere at home... so I decided to just squirt the alcohol onto the drawstring bag and hope for the best... 

Let me go ahead and warn you... gloves should probably be worn while working with the alcohol... as well as possibly covering the counter before starting.

It will dye your hands... and it takes a while to get it off, lol.

So, once you have your bag (shirt, shoes, etc.) colored... spray the alcohol onto the bag and watch the colors spread around... 

Side 1

Side 2

Make sure that where ever you are setting the bag up to dry, that you do not care if it gets ruined... lay it on cardboard, or newspaper, or an old cooler lid, lol.

After the 20 minutes (or 4 hours) for the alcohol to completely dry... you will want to toss the bag into the dryer on the highest setting for 15 minutes... this is going to "set" the dye... 

Once the dyes have set... from here on out, you will want to wash the bag on cold in the washer and then you can pop it in the dryer like before.

Side 1 - Washed and Dried

Side 2 - Washed and Dried

I have a feeling that the colors faded so much because I used so much alcohol... so I definitely think that investing in a spray bottle is a must... and you can get a cheap one from the Dollar Tree... 

Finished!!!

I actually like the result... I would have loved it to be a little darker... but also if I would have done the diagonal lines on both sides... but it was a test... and it worked :)

13 Days... and a fun (how-to) project :)

I missed yesterday... so I figured I would make tonight a semi-long post... I have not done much the last two days... at least I don't feel like I have...

I have gotten a few more sets of stitch markers done and some tatted art yarn accents... oh, and some bamboo roving... but that is really it.

Here is one of the sets of stitch markers... this one is my new favorite... I'm not sure why, but I love it :)

Aren't they fun???

And a close up :)

Now, onto the fun project... A few weeks ago someone posted how to do tie dye with permanent markers... and I put out some feelers in the fiber guild to see how many people would be interested... and everyone seemed to want to try it.

So this morning at the board meeting, we discussed which meeting we should attempt to do it at... and November seemed like a good time... but we shall see how it all plays out.

Well, after the meeting, I took the boys and we met up with Laurie (friend) at this little thrift shop... the boys were starving (like always), so we were just running out of the store... and I spotted this canvas bag on the rack, but of course there was no tag... so I went up and asked if they could give me a price.

I happened to know the sales guy from my mom's neighborhood, so he sold it to me for $.25... are you kidding me, of course I will take it!!!

There were a few little stains, but it is a trial piece, so I'm not worried about it.

Here is what you will need:

Something that is canvas or has cotton (shirts, shoes, totes, etc), permanent markers, alcohol, and you are supposed to have a spray bottle.

I searched the house and found some other permanent markers... as you can see, they are not all name brand.

I put a plastic bag inside the canvas bag in hopes that it would not "bleed" through... so lets see what happens... start decorating.

Side 1

Side 2

I will be back tomorrow to finish up the trial... Hopefully you can wait to see the results :)

15 Days... and Phat Fiber Samples Sent :)

15 days remain... it is pretty shocking how quickly the time is flying by... but its also a good thing :)

After getting the kids put in bed last night, I was flipping through channels to find something that was semi-interesting... and I hit the jackpot... "The Fast and The Furious" was on USA Networks... and I can honestly say that I have not seen that movie since high school (10 years ago)... and I still love it, lol.

It had the perfect amount of action to keep me busy... and still let me get something done... so I managed to get all 50 samples packaged for Phat Fiber... and then sent them off this morning... I am feeling pretty accomplished today :)

"Great Salt Lake" Cheviot Top

The theme was the Southwest... and for some reason, the Great Salt Lake in Utah kept coming in my head... when I started dyeing, I didn't have an idea at all... but once I saw the turquoise with the brownish/green color, I knew it was the Salt Lake...

The Turquoise is the water... and since all the pictures I have ever seen of the lake had sort of shrubs and dirt around it... the brown/green color is perfect.

The Full Size

I am really happy with the way the samples turned out... and hope to have the full size listed in a few days... plus maybe one or two for the Fiber In :)

16 Days... and more colors :)

Wow!!! Only 16 days remain until the Florida Fiber In... I am definitely getting more and more excited about it... Especially since I have heard from so many friends, that they will be attending this year :)

I realized last night that the Phat Fiber Box went on sale the same weekend as the Fiber In... and then it hit me that I had not sent my samples in... so I am frantically trying to finish weighing and packaging fiber samples to get to Phat Fiber Headquarters in time as well.

Although it was sort of a lazy night, I did get a few more sets of stitch markers complete... Here they are :)

More Rainbows... These are tatted stitch markers

Close up of the Colors

And since not everyone wants super bright colors... I figured I should do some that are more subtle and natural looking :)

Burgundy and Brown

The husband is coming home tonight, so I may not get to do much crafting tonight... He would much rather I try to organize the stuff I have all over the house already... so we shall see what happens :)

17 Days... and a huge Surprise :)

We are nearly at the two week mark til the 2014 Florida Fiber In... I seriously am starting to freak out... I have been trying to remain calm about the whole thing, because if I get too stressed out, nothing will get done, lol.

Over the long weekend, I really didn't get anything done... I slipped on Saturday in the driveway (when it rains here, the driveway gets this weird "slime" that is super slippery... and apparently I hit it)... When I fell, I grabbed for the truck door, and landed slowly on my knee... it hurt, but I didn't think anything of it... the pain went away.

About 2 hours later, the boys had swimming lessons, and of course they wanted to be thrown in the pool... so mommy decided that I should throw them in... mind you that each kid is about 35 lbs... and wanted to be thrown in at least 15 times... well, when I got home (about 5-6 hours after the initial fall)... I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen... Apparently I pulled or tore something and man does it hurt. I am attempting to hold out on going to the doctor, at least for a few days to see if it starts to feel any better... 

So hopefully everything will heal up and the pain will go away... but after the pool, before heading home... I made a pit stop... 

You see, Andrea from The 863 Magazine had interviewed me a couple months ago... and the magazine came out of Friday!!!

It was a secret, so that is why I hadn't said anything yet... but I have officially been published... AHHH... I am still in shock about the whole thing... I am a nobody, who is doing something that I want to do... and Andrea felt that I was worthy of having an article written... I will never be able to thank her enough for recognizing me or what I do... but it is a great honor :)

The front of the September/October 2014 Issue

First Page... Sorry about the glare

Second Page... and look at the Four Purls ad underneath :)

There is another 1/2 page but I didn't take a picture of it (because there are no pictures on it)... the article is extremely well written... and I love it... I don't even mind my picture (which you are more than welcome to laugh at, lol).

The article can be found online here:

http://the863magazine.com/spinning-and-dyeing-a-yarn-by-andrea-cruz/

I have a huge stack of the magazine, so of course all my family will be stuck with a copy in the near future, lol... And I plan on bringing a couple to the Fiber In, so if you want to read it, let me know :)

Tonight will be filled with creativity... I promise :)