Hot from the dye pot

I tried a new dye technique on cotton to see if I could duplicate on cotton what I did for my wool Kaleidoscope scarves. (you can see one here)

Kaleidoscope scarf

But the cotton didn't take up the dye like it thought it would so it's a little light, still useable though and I'm going to make a few different things with this warp, wall hanging, a variety of scarves, it's kinda fun to change plans midway, it challenges my creative forces. I like the earthyness of the colors though I was hoping for a brighter yellow.

I wanted to show off my beautiful boys in their handwoven vests that they wore to my brothers wedding. They didn't have any formal clothes and the wedding was just before christmas so it wasn't a great time to go shopping. Two days before the wedding inspiration hit and I whipped up these vests out of some old woven cloth I had lying around. I made bowties out of the cut out scraps and they were so precious! They certainly didn't inherit my camera-shyness. The little men can sure strike a pose!

Writers Block

Why is it so hard to write about myself, well, I mean, it's obviously not too hard cause then this blog wouldn't really exist, but honestly, I have to write a one page bio and I have tried and tried and tried and.... nothing. Give me a paragraph to write, easy, give me a novel to write, no prob, but one single page, aieieieieie. It's just NOT WORKING!!!!
AND I have to submit some photos, well, it feels like my life hangs in the balance of these photos. Why am I so stressed about this? What's with the huge block? I know, it's because it's something new and new things usually come with some degree of discomfort, but this is just silly. Come on! Just write the damn page already! But what should I talk about? My farm, my dreams, my inventory, my kids, my treehouse, my teaching, my car gages that don't work, my burnt bread (almost burnt the bloody house down today), my log cabin, my blue ceiling, my axe? Augh, the pain.

So faithful blog readers, help me out on this one. And what do youse think of these pictures. One of them will go into a brochure and it has to be the most eye-catching one.

So back to burning the house down, (David, maybe you shouldn't read this) I was happily making the most delicious breakfast bread that you could possibly imagine, including, but not limited to, bananas, eggs, flax seed, raisins, walnuts, cold-pressed olive oil, lemon juice, molasses, honey, and stone-ground flour. It kneaded up well, it rose beautifully, the loaves were perfectly shaped and I gave them just a liiiiittle extra time to rise (I'm usually too imatient for that) and they were thrown in the oven and promptly forgotten. Yep, I went outside, visited Grams, fed the animals, etc etc etc and 6 hours later came home to the smell of very burnt bread. Hard as bricks. Can you believe it, the goats still ate them. Yeah, hmmmm. So that was four loaves out the window, literally, and now I'm making one humble loaf so we have something to eat for breakfast tomorrow morning. aaaaah, brain! work already!

Ok now what the heck, my lights are flickering. The power was out for 2 hrs this morning, it was fun! I cooked the kids breakfast on the wood burning stove and we cleaned the house by the light of the gleaming dawn. I think we should have a power outage day once a week. No humming appliances, no tv, no internet, no music, no fans running, it was so peaceful, like heaven.

Faerie Fabric

Can you see the fairy? Ok, it's just me, but this fabric shows alot of promise and I'm excited about the possibilities. I'm going to make Fairie DNA by inserting wires into the weaving, then making a long cloth and twisting it into a double helix. I even have A-Ts and G-Cs embedded into the cloth (in a fibrey sort of way). After all, everything on the planet uses the same letters for their DNA, even fairies (dontcha know?)

I'd also like to make a fairy mobile (you know, the kind that hang in a window) and have a few of them ready for the studio tour that I'm getting pretty excited about. I will soon be on this webpage so look for Solstice Studios here!

http://www.rockystudiotour.com/

I got alot of my fairy inspiration from this site, which I love and visit often when I'm feeling too human

http://www.fairywoodland.com/

I have also just become Stumbled Upon, which is kinda a fun way to find friends, sites, etc. Here I am

http://solsticestudios.stumbleupon.com/

Don't forget to take a couple peeks at my Etsy store over there in the sidebar. I just got all my photos on line, the beautiful and professional photography is all thanks to Tribal Treats Photography (aka hubby). XOXO

http://www.tribaltreats.com/

It's alot of links, I know, my excuse is that it's marketing tuesday, as well as blog tuesday. Which also explains why I'm not out in my studio finishing the alpaca vests that are almost done! Good lordie, the spring winds are just whistling through my mostly finished walls. I need to put some fingerless mitts on. I might also mention, while I'm waiting for my photo to upload, that I just bought some of the nastiest, most hen-pecked chickens that you ever did see. They were cheap and were supposed to be companions for my lonely little hen, Chuckles, but so far, they just stink to high heaven and haven't laid a single egg. Just a tip, finding chickens through the classifieds is not a good way to go, and *sigh* you really do get what you pay for.

Solstice Bio

She can weave with speaking threads,
The coloured patterns ebb and flow.
Woodlands, water, grass surround,
Her fired log cabin studio.

He can hold the camera lens
To capture moments near and far.
Hidden in the memory,
Is softness, sharpness, sun and star.

Creatures tame and wild blend,
In balance and in harmony.
Pastures lush, and forests dark,
Withhold, reveal, nourish, and screen.

Children laughing, gathering dyes,
Feast and resting, wax and wane.
Welcome guest, rain and sunshine,
Here in nature's parkland place.