By Tara, on January 30th, 2008%
Jim & Pam, inspired by The Office
Ok, all you patient would-be yarn-namers!
I pulled out my big list of yarns to spin and decided which one of the many (many!) suggestions I would use! The first winning entries are:
“Bert and Ernie: blues, oranges, yellows and reds” by The Bon “Rhett and Scarlett from Gone with the Wind – Deep Green and black with gray” by Jennifer
If you are either one of these winners, please email me at blondechickenboutiqueATyahooDOTcom and I’ll give you a code for 25% off your next purchase from the shop! I’m going to pull out my dypot tonight and get going with these colors and will probably be putting them in the shop next week! I’ll let you know when I do! Now, the contest isn’t over, because I still need some more ideas! Please read the other suggestions first and then . . . → Read More: Month of Love Contest Update
By Tara, on January 25th, 2008%
When I first started looking for sustainable and responsible fibers to spin, dye and knit with, I mostly focused on organic cotton and recycled materials (mill-ends, recycled sari silk, etc). As the world has become more ‘green’-minded, I find it’s easier and easier to find organic wool and natural-grown cotton. What it’s not so easy to find, is proof that this is sustainable or assurances that these products really are the best I can do. The more I’ve learned, I’ve begun to redefine what I consider ‘sustainable and responsible’. Reading Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Mineral impacted my thinking on supporting the local agricultural economy (and I’m blessed to live in an agrarian area). So, too, did learning that very few people in this area grow sheep for wool, due to its low market value and local alpaca farmers can get more for their crop if they . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday #4 – Silver Thunder Alpacas
By Tara, on January 22nd, 2008%
(a yarn inspired by a TV show)
I’ve spent a lot of time in bookstores and watching movies the past week (yay, long weekend!) so today is going to be all about book and movie inspiration:
I lovelovelove Juno: the handwritten titles are so beautiful and the music is so vulnerable and sweet. I buy very little music (more about that in a minute) but I very nearly might buy the soundtrack.
We watched Paris, Je t’aime last night and it was just I had hoped: small, quirky stories that were neither too emotional or sappy.
I’m particularly loving the book about creativity that I’m reading: The grace of great things : creativity and innovation, by Robert Grudin.
How to Make Books (got a great review on Supernaturale), such thorough instructions in a great tone
This month’s . . . → Read More: Monday Inspiration #2
By Tara, on January 18th, 2008%
If you’re here for the contest, scroll down – I’m still taking entries! Wow! You people are really creative, I’ve got a great list of possible yarns to dye! In case you’re wondering when you’ll find out if your a winner…well, I don’t know. I’ll decide on which of your ideas I want to use next time I dye and since I already have enough fiber dyed for next week’s batch of yarn, it’ll probably be mid-week, next week. Then again, this is a long weekend for me (MLK Day!) so I might just pull out the dyepot soon! When I do start using your ideas, I’ll post it here, so be watching this space! I’ll also attempt to contact you, but most comments just link to other blogs and if your email address isn’t obvious, I don’t know how else to get a hold of you.
This Fiber . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday #3
By Tara, on January 15th, 2008%
piles of wool, for a few early-90′s era couples
While brainstorming color ideas for new skeins, Hub and I started talking about being inspired by people and how some people just have a color associated with their personality or that in some way symbolizes them. This led to discussing if being part of a couple changes one’s color and soon we generated a list of famous couples (romantic or platonic; real people, characters in pop culture, etc) along with their colors. In celebration of Valentine’s Day and inspired by couples the world over, I’ve been spinning this couple-inspired yarn. We’re calling this the Month Of Love series, at the end of it, I’ll have exhaustively explored the connection between personalities and color. For the next month, starting tomorrow, January 16 through V-day, February 14, I’ll be posting 1 new yarn/weekday.
However, my imagination (and my knowledge of . . . → Read More: Month of Love
By Tara, on January 12th, 2008%
She sure did, read about how to get press in her business article for Venus Zine. Thanks Jenny!
By Tara, on January 11th, 2008%
I first met Maple of North Star Alpacas through Yetsy, the yarn-centric Etsy Street Team. I was immediately smitten with the pictures of her alpacas; they accompany every listing, which really connects the fiber artist with the fiber producer! Last week, running low on fiber, I contacted Maple to ask a few questions about her fibers. BCB is committed to using only eco-friendly, animal-friendly fibers and finding suppliers that fit the bill is a challenge. Some possible suppliers don’t respond to my questions or respond defensively (although I really try to ask the questions as un-judgmentally as possible!). I was thrilled when Maple answered me honestly and completely, so I thought I’d share a bit of her response,:
We just do the best that we can to take care of our little piece of the world. I’m probably more concerned about being animal-friendly…I think that all the farmers . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday #2 – North Star Alpacas
By Tara, on January 8th, 2008%
TIF Tuesday is a weekly series in response to Sharon’s Take it Further Challenge. January’s challenge is to create a design using the concept “Someone you admire” as the theme.
When I read this month’s challenge, my mind immediately started racing. I spend a good amount of time each week being inspired by other artists through their blogs and flickr; although I don’t know these people, I certainly admire their work. For some, it’s the art that I admire; for others, it’s their aesthetic or their boldness or their business sense. I also admire the real-life artists, crafters and business people I know. I didn’t consider narrowing it down to just one person, until I looked at the flickr group and saw that most people were creating something to honor 1 person they admired. This surprised me, but I decided to go with my gut . . . → Read More: TIF Tuesday 1.1
By Tara, on January 7th, 2008%
This week I’ve been nearly obsessed by patchwork and fabric dyeing. I can feel myself being sucked into new crafty pursuits!
Lisa Cogden’s quilty pillows. I especially love her use of patches; we have a lot of band patches laying around and I’d love to work them into something we can see everyday. 6.5 stitches is another quilter that uses little unexpected touches like tags and untraditional textures. Stitch in Dye is so inspiring, I woke up on Saturday thinking about the use of color and line in her fabric and quilts. My (so far just theoretical) foray into patchwork has turned up a bunch of great fabrics like: The Echino Woodland Damask Amy Butler’s Belle collection And my favorites are the handmade fabrics from indie sellers:
Sprout Designs Auntie Cookie Kristen Doran Hollabee
What am I going to do with . . . → Read More: Monday Inspiration #1
By Tara, on January 4th, 2008%
I’ve been meaning to do this for a few a weeks, bringing Fiber Friday to the blog! Each week I’ll either be featuring one of my new yarns or someone else’s that has a good story. Many fiber-y things are posted and Fridays tagged “fiberfriday”, so go over and have a look!
This week I am smitten with First Flurries (the yarn seen in the above banner). I’ve often thought that snow piles look as soft and billowy as piles of yarn and I finally acted on that inspiration! It very rarely snows here in East Tenessee. Well, it snows on the mountains, just not here in town. Last week was the first snow and then this week has brought a good bit of it. Last year it only snowed one day, while my little brother from California was visiting. He was thrilled with it and tried . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday #1
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