I'm starting this post by showing the work that Peg did on Randy's paper.  I was visiting the day she was working on it and grabbed my iPhone as soon as I saw she was working so I could document the process.  See she was using this "glass bead" type gel medium with a stencil to create branches around the rabbit moon.  

Lisa Lee was the 3rd person to work on this paper and she created the rabbit moon.  She mentioned to Peg that there is some folklore surrounding the idea of a rabbit image on the moon.  So, off I went to research.  Fascinating. Maybe I'll write a story too... 

Anyway, here's Peg's work.  Next I'll talk about what I did on Randy's paper.

Once the branches dried, Randy's paper was passed to me.   What to do, what to do.  The rabbit needed some attention. You could hardly see it through the moon and trees. So, I had to give him some love.   

I had the great fortune to work on the a friend's rooftop garden while I enhanced the rabbit and gave the moon a glow on Randy's paper.  It was a glorious day.  Just thought I'd share with you the joy and beauty before me that day. Thank you Sunshine!

                          What can you do with dingleballs?!?!

Well, I'm cultivating a Pinterest board just for you.  It has a few great ideas for knitting & sewing patterns along with some crafty things like flowers and garland.  Pop on over and check it out!  

Once you've used your kit, just about all of the yarns I sell will be perfect for making dingleballs.  I'm spinning up some new colors for an update later this month to inspire your muse. :) 

I fussed & fussed over this paper.  Beth started it with a "Beach" theme. But that's not what it's becoming. And given the mountains (which I love) and the flowers (which I also love), it was not feeling very beach like.  I couldn't come up with a thing all month & then some. I kept hearing, "The Atchison, Topeka, & The Santa Fe" a train song, but in Harry Connick, Jr's version on the album 25. I cut trains out to collage onto the paper, I tried to place a train track, but no. They didn't feel right. So I sat in front of it with colored pencils and markers. What to do? What. To. DO?!

Then I recalled many an inspired day watching Commander Mark on PBS. 
 Remember him? Fun! Enthusiastic! Encouraging.  Aliens, planets, secret hide-a-ways.

So I grabbed my pencil & swooped & looped like Commander Mark would do. I didn't think. Just let the pencil lead me. I always used to think he knew what he would draw before he did it. But now, I wonder if he didn't just trust his marker & let the marker take him where it wanted to go on the drawing. My swooping resulted in a river that wandered into a waterfall. Wow, I found a way to connect the mountains to the flowers!

I'm really happy with the results. I couldn't have planned this. I'm really glad I just let my pencils go to work.  I feel like I achieved a good sense of 3-d with just a flat piece of paper. That in and of itself is an accomplishment in my book. Yay me! (remember to congratulate yourself after a job well done. You'll then encourage yourself to improve!)

Fellow felters and spinners, I ask you... 
     - Do you have a project that needs a dash of fiber, but not a whole skein? 
     - Maybe you want to add cocoons or beehives to your handspun for that 
       extra charm?
     - Want to wet felt some beads or balls? 

Then FELTY BITS are just the thing for your next project, my dears!   I made these especially for small projects or little bits of adornment that Felters, Crafters, and art yarn spinners just like me are always looking for.  You don't want a whole skein, but can't find that small colorful amount of what you need. Here I come to save the day!

I've priced these just right so that your project budget won't be taxed. At $5 for hand carded fiber, it's a steal!  I've already sold many of these at previous shows to lots of very happy customers.  

Every $5 bag of Felty Bits: 
    - Is stored and shipped in a seal-able plastic bag
    - Contains approximately 1/2 oz of fiber     
    - Is a wool blend. Some contain sparkle, silk, angelina and/or mohair locks.     
    - All are hand carded to align fibers and create the most loft
    - Is a unique batt. If you see another in a similar color, best grab it,
      because you may not see it again. 

I started by making these for my own projects and have had so much fun carding and using these small bits of fiber that I just had to share. I used one 1/2 oz bag with a needlefelting machine, adding several medium sized leaves and petals to a shirt. I was amazed by how much fiber I had left over. 

I hope you love them as much as I do.  I love them so much, it's really hard to sell them.  But I know they'll be going to good homes and will make many amazing projects and bring happy, joyful color to many lives. And that, makes me happy. :)

Yes, I do make up my own lyrics to songs. It's a family tradition. I was singing about dingleballs to the tune of Jinglebells. Kinda fun, huh? Yeah, I thought so. 

I've been saving this bag of yarn scraps for ages. On 4th of July, I blogged about making potholders from my leftover dreadlocks making days (see pics below) and knitting project scraps. That project wasn't enough to satisfy. Besides, I had lots of different colored scraps.  I needed a way to pull all the colors together.  And they weren't really colors that I typically worked with. I'm a bright and bold color girl normally.  But these colors were soft, muted and nature toned.  I do love those colors and enjoy working with them, but they're not usually my first grab from the yarn or fiber basket.  

Then, my mom found this color work style, ready-to-wear, sweater with some crazy long fringe all round it. When I say long fringe, I mean long... 4". I looked at her like, "Uh, what do you want to wear this for?"  She said, "Dingleballs!"  Oh. my. goodness. That woman is amazing. The sweater was perfect and already had holes in it, from the fringe, that would be perfect for tying on a few dingleballs.  
So I took the sweater home and dug through my bag o scrappy goodness. Wonder of wonders, all these leftovers that didn't have a purpose or a project all of a sudden fit the sweater perfectly.  Various shades of blues & purples (dusty to royal), tans and browns, and a variety of olive greens including a few forest green. I even used some of the fringe (it had polyester in it though, ick!) to make itsy bitsy dingleballs. 

I made dingleballs using the tool from my kits.  But, I wanted to have big and small dingleballs. I thought that would give the sweater some character.  I do love the wee kit tool, but, the tools aren't offered in any size smaller than 3/4 inch.  I recently learned on Pinterest how to make a dingleball using a fork.  Using a fork doesn't give the same uniformity that the pom pom tool does. but the dingleballs are still super cute!  Below are a few photos of the finished sweater. I think it would be adorable with a belt and a fun olive colored skirt instead of my amy butler tunic. ;)

Last year I launched 2 handspun yarn kits, only available at shows.  I'm now offering a limited quantity of kits in some very fun colorways. I started making kits because I often want a project, but don't have the time to commit to anything major.  Plus, with everything else going on in our lives, I think we all appreciate a little instant satisfaction (I know I do).  

The kits will be going up in the Etsy shop this week. Look for an shop status updates on the Facebook page or sign up for my newsletter to get an email as soon as the store is updated. 

The first kit is for a magical toad. It's magical because it reminds me of the frogs and toads you see or read about in Harry Potter. I love magical things, stories about wizards and witches and other wonderfully fantastical things.  Well, with a name that comes from the story of Camelot, how could you not love magical things? Can you guess the queen I'm named after? But I digress... 

One day I discovered Brigitte Read's amigurumi style crochet toys.  I fell in love. She designed projects that were small, fun, and had lots of character or were a great base that allowed me to give them further character.  It's her amazing pattern (used with her permission of course) that supports the handspun yarn I create for this cute little "Toads!!" kit. I think you'll find her patterns easy to understand and the little toady fun to create. Though, they do need names once they are finished. Send me a photo and your toad's name and I will post him here. I love to see finished projects and loved toys!

The second kit I currently offer is D.I.Y. Dingleballs.  These are also known as pom poms to the the misinformed. Why call 'em dingleballs? Well, I am a bit of a clown and I love funny things. To some, the name may bring about nasty bits and icky thoughts. But, to me, they are like the pom pom trim seen adorning the top-edge of the windows in a VW Bus just dingle dangling away, bobbling along, as the vehicle hits bumps in the road.  Dingleball makes me think of dancing. I love trim that dances.  It's a ball that dingles and so... dingleballs. They also make me think of big fat cherries ripe on the tree. There are so many fun, happy visuals to imagine, so get your minds out of the gutter. ;)

This pom pom maker in this kit is fabulous. When I first ordered them for kits, I was in the middle of a big knitting project and needed a mental and hand-resting brake.  So, I sat down and made like 50 dingleballs in a single Saturday afternoon. I could barely tear myself away from them. I was floored by how much fun it was to watch them evolve into these gorgeous spheres. I'd made many dingleballs before with lots of other tricks, tools, etc. but none compared to this one. Then, after practicing on commercially spun yarn, I "bit the bullet" and dared to cut my handspun. OH it was scary let me tell you. But it was glorifying.  Never have I seen such amazing color than when using the handspun I had spun up specially for dingleballs. I was in awe. My mouth began to water. And on I went to make more, and more, and more, and ... well, you get the idea. 

Then, I observed that many indie knit designers were creating scarves with knit or crocheted pom pom like trims. Oh God, the thought of having to knit all that trim makes my eyes roll into the back of my head. Too much work! It's beautiful, but not something I like to spend my time doing. So I made kits that would allow a knitter to work up a simple scarf or shawl, then adorn the edge with dingleballs. You'd get the same happy dancing effect like in the VW Bus, but you could wear it everywhere.  After I created the kits, I discovered more and more ideas and uses for dingleballs. I will be sharing another post that will show off the sweater my mom & I trimmed with dingleballs. It's gorgeous and super fun (and comfortable) to wear. 

These pictures I took my own self. I used me a barbie-Q and the help of a nice little iPhone app that has a self timer. Self timers are good when you want to take your own pictures. Plus, I could set it up so that it took my picture every 4 seconds. How wonderful is it to fill the world with Birtha pitchers? Wwwwonderful!  I'll have you know tho... I iz not in nose above and below. So, I'm not fully in Birtha mode. But, you can suspect that I'll be back to parade my new pants more one of these dayz.

Feets are good to photograph.
My feets like to be free and nekked. Specially when it's summery. I likey that. A lots. 
Do you see how I have red dots on pink? That makes me happy cause I glow and offend your sweet wittle eye balls. Get used to it. Cause there's more to offend where that came from. :P

Bye Bye!
 -$- Birtha

This year, I returned to sculpting in polymer clay.  As a kid, I spent many, many hours sculpting.  Then, about 6 years ago I picked up some clay to make some fairies for one box in "The Take-Out Box Project", an art challenge I was part of with 16 other artists, and haven't played with it again until this year. 

In my elementary years I created a lot of art.  Sculpting was just one of the many mediums I was blessed to play in (thank's mom!).  I made wee figurines and stuff for my dolls and toys.  I loved dolls. But, I think I loved making things for them more. I used to make vingnettes all over the house (and get yelled at to clean them up - sorry Mom, creative muse and all!).  I collected blocks, dolls, and then I figured out how to make doll furniture out of paper with origami techniques.  A doll or faerie home always seemed better when made in a fresh corner.  Still makes me giggle. I made food, plates, and cups.  I sculpted heads.  It was great fun, then I didn't know where else to go with it.

Fast forward to 2012. I had the great fortune to take classes from Patricia Hedegaard at FaerieConWest. She taught us how to make goblins and dragons. The flood gates just opened up and sculpting what ever I wanted became so much easier. I learned about fingers, toes, bodies, horns, and more.  Above is a picture of my little dragon. Isn't he cute-a-full!? 

Now when I pick up the clay, I just allowed myself to play. I find my greatest success comes when I don't try to create a vision or think long and hard on what I want the clay to become.  Rather, I pick up the clay and start with a shape and let the clay tell me what it wants to be. I just fall in to my creative trance state (natural people, natural) and allow my hands to work. Think of it like walking meditation.

That's how Bald Mermaid was born. I started with a head and no eyes. Then, I decided to make a torso. The hands - oh gosh, they ended up being as big as her hips. Guess we all need to be a little handy. Lastly, I just created a simple tale. I decided that clamshells would be funny for a "bra".  And who had the best cartooned clamshells that are easy to sculpt? The Flinstones.  They're not an exact of clam bucks, but they're my idea of funny clam shells.

I didn't add any hair. In fact, it took me a while to settle on eyes.  She's still a work in progress, but I'm not sure I'll add hair.  There are many women who don't have hair by choice and not.  Why not support a unique standard of beauty.  For, how many bald mermaids really exist? At least 1 in my wonderland!  Ya like her?