What Is Your Favorite Donut?

Jun1

Today is National Donut Day!!!!!!  What a great excuse to eat a donut without guilt!!!! We must celebrate, the donut!

My favorite is the good old Jelly Donut!!!!

Now, go ahead…..have your favorite, but first….please leave a comment letting us know what your favorite donut is!!!!!

Have a wonderful day and safe weekend.  Don’t forget to check in on Monday for our Featured Artist!

~Louise

 

Have You Met This Artist? 05/28/2012

May28

Hey guys! hard to believe it, but it is already Monday, again.! The year is really flying by! My new artist, here, to share with you all is Jenn Wells. She makes T-shirt quilts and Fabric quilts, as well!! GORGEOUS WORK.

Here, check it all out and read what Jenn has to say!

I am a stay at home mom of 3. My oldest will be a Junior next year, he is super busy and ranks #1 in his class. My younger two are 13 and 14, both in the seventh grade and seem to want to do it all from choir to sports to other extracurricular. I have been married 17 years to my husband Paul and we enjoy raising chickens, quail, rabbits and a garden. I volunteer in many areas in the community and love to read in my spare time.

Love the way this one looks!

Several years ago I decided to become a stay at home mom and my mother inspired me to try and sell some quilts. I was making them for friends and family but had not thought of owning my own business. I sold our entire library of books on EBAY in order to have enough profit to get started. I started with beautiful toddler quilts and then soon moved into the T-shirt business with the help of a friend and her mother explaining the process to me. That was several years ago and now on ETSY I sell many T-shirt quilts every year. I love being able to give each of my customers something they will treasure for a very long time.

I also love to do things in the community with my quilts. I have made a few locally as giveaways. This year I made six quilts for our local choir at the school my younger two attend. They will be auctioned off to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I have also given away a few on my blog with the use of my Facebook Page.

My favorite part about quilting is how relaxing it is to me. I find there is usually something new to learn. I enjoy every part of the process from picking out the fabrics with the customer to designing the quilt that will be a blanket of their memories. I often go over and beyond adding a small touch like a label or some embroidery as time permits. Its hard to pick my favorite quilt as they each have something special about them. I find that emotionally the quilts I love to do are the ones from a customer’s loved ones clothing. To know that this person will have one last thing from their mom, grandmother, dad etc just really puts a sense of warmth in my heart. I feel the Lord has blessed me with a talent and I am thankful for each person he brings my way.

As always here are some more pictures for you to drool over! :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunshineofautumn

http://newgrowthstartswithgod.blogspot.com/

sunshineofautumn@yahoo.com

https://www.facebook.com/sunshineofautumnquilts

If you are an artist, or know of an artist you think deserves to be featured, please let me know by leaving a comment here.

My featured artists will go on to be featured on two more blogs this month. Next, on Karen’s blog and then,  on  Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at SlaveToMyNeedles@comcast.net.

~Louise

Have You Met This Artist? 05/21/2012

May21

I have Tanya over today!

Tanya does custom knitting! So if you want a piece done, you may want to give her a shout.

I better let her explain what she does. :)

Tanya Seidman

Tanya Seidman! Talented knitter!

I’m a stay at home mother to our 11-1/2 year old twins, Ariel and Madeleine and a mom to a host of nine big and small pets. For 23 years, I have been married to Jonathan Seidman. That’s a long time to be married to me! We’ve been together for 26 years.

I love these mittens! LOVE THEM!!!!!

Seven years ago, a friend inspired me to knit. She would knit up these lovely ponchos for her daughter and I wanted the same for our daughters. Rather than asking my friend to knit up the garments, I wanted to learn how to knit and make them for myself. I’m a very visual and determined person, so I went out and I bought a $5 instructional DVD video about knitting. At that time, there were local yarn shops offering classes, but I did not want to throw away $200. I’m a quick learner and I knew I could do it in an afternoon. Seven years later I’m knitting just about anything. I love to add fabric to my pieces or tear apart a pattern and add something unusual to the knitted pieces. I love one of a kind garments. 

This must be *the* most fluffy picture ever! LOVE THE FLUFF!

What inspires me the most is color, art and other talented knitters. I own a crazy collection of over 500 pairs of knitting needles. All from glow in the dark to glass needles with hologram skulls on the ends. When you visit my home the first thing you might notice is my collection. They are in decorative, pretty jars sitting on the window sill or on tables. I do not try to hide them or my yarn when someone visits. I see it as… you’re visiting me and not my home. 

Oh-la-la! *wiggles eyebrows*

If you are interested in any garment pieces (big or small) or knitted toys, you may contact me via email at tanyaseidman{at}gmail{dot}com or drop me a message through Facebook. All knitted pieces are custom made to order. Also, check out my Etsy shop, Ting Ting and Owl. It’s a bit on the bare side because it is new. If you see a piece that you like or if you have something else in mind, do not hesitate to message me. Each piece is always knitted with care and in a smoke free home.

There you have it! Go send her an email! I am sure it will make her happy! Or say hi to her on FB… It’s nice to make new friends, specially such talented ones!I have a few more pictures for you too! Check out what else she does… and do you recognise the owl hat? hahahha…. yep! She can make you one of those too! :D

Have You Met This Artist? 05/14/2012

May14

Today I want to introduce you to a very sweet lady from Chicago! Vanessa Uttaro and her etsy shop The big city Bumpkin! She makes the cutest map necklaces ever!!!

But here is Vanessa in her own words:

Anyone who creates or crafts knows what it means to get the itch — you’ve been idle or stagnant for too long, and you don’t just WANT to create something, you NEED to create something, anything!  As a seasonal employee at Wrigley Field, I have long off-season to do exactly that, but I had reached a point in my creative journey that felt like a dead-end.  I didn’t know what to make, any more, I just knew that I had to do something.

One laundry night, as I was sifting through our apartment buildings “giveaway table” (where tenants leave things they can’t use any more for other tenants to take), I found this neat laminated map of Chicago.  It got me thinking about all of the different neighbourhoods in the city, and how people love to represent where they’re from, and I had a “Wouldn’t it be neat…?” moment.  I thought it would be so cool to wear your neighbourhood on a necklace, but this was an all new arena for me — I had never really made jewelry before!  I went to a craft store the next morning to see what I could find, and picked up a few bezels and some epoxy resin, and got to work.  The first few pendants were rough  – cool, but rough — and that particular craft store was going to make me go bankrupt if I kept buying my supplies there, so I ran to Etsy.com.  I found a fellow crafter who sold supplies, and took the leap of faith and ordered 25 pendant frames.  Believe me, it was a leap, because I had about $30 to my name at the time!
I couldn’t believe how quickly these pendants took off!  People all over the city, and even in other cities, loved them, and started requesting custom pieces.  After one big order of custom key-chains for a customer in Southern Illinois, I was able to start investing my profits back into the “business”, and building up a stock of different maps and styles of pendants.
I’ve only been at it for about two months, but the feedback has been fantastic!  I started a Facebook fan page (facebook.com/thebigcitybumpkin), where I met the lovely host of this blog.  :)   I’m planning on doing a big craft show in Chicago this Autumn.  My boyfriend even got in on the fun, and we’ve started making Official Game Used Major League Baseball pendants, with balls hit out of Wrigley Field that he catches on the street!  You can find my pendants at thebigcitybumpkin.etsy.com, and in auctions on tophatter.com.  Oh, and I’m on Twitter @vuttaro, and I blog at thebigcitybumpkin.blogspot.com  Phew!
I’m back at work now, so most of my time making the pendants is on the weekends, but it’s so great to see the feedback I’m getting, and I can’t wait to see how this project will grow over the next year!

If you are an artist, or know of an artist you think deserves to be featured, please let me know by leaving a comment here.

My featured artists will go on to be featured on one more blog this month. Next on  Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at SlaveToMyNeedles@comcast.net.

~Louise

Have You Met These Artists??? 05/07/2012

May7

I have Debbie and Richard over today! Alpaca breeder extraordinary!

My wife Debbie and I live on a farm in Alhambra Township, Madison County Illinois. We are about 45 minutes outside of St Louis, Mo. In addition to our day jobs at the phone company in St Louis, we work on our farm at Circle B Alpacas. After raising 2 kids we were looking for a new project so we purchased our first alpaca in 2009. We now have 11 alpacas with 2 babies due in the fall. Alpacas are from South America and were bred by the ancient Inca’s as fiber animals. Only Inca royalty were allowed to wear alpaca so it is sometimes referred to as “Fiber of the Gods”.

Our main goal is to provide the highest quality fiber on the planet and to accomplish this we have a breeding program with 3 different aspects, genetics, science and nutrition.

Genetics: A lot of research is done before we purchase a breeding female. We only buy alpacas listed in the national database of alpacas called the Alpaca Registry. We research previous generations all the way back to the 1980s when the importation of alpacas was halted. At this time we are breeding our females to a herdsire that we own but sometimes we purchase breedings from other farms. Alpaca Veterinarians are telling us we should only be using the top 2% of male alpacas in the country in our breeding program. Science: We use skin biopsies to get a glimpse of the fiber producing capabilities of an alpaca. We send this skin sample to an alpaca veterinarian and he sends back a report with metrics on many different aspects of the fiber characteristics. Nutrition: A lot of alpaca farms tend to skimp here and buy less expensive hay and feed. I have found this to be important enough that you can see the difference in a fleece when you compare one that has been fed Mazuri Ultimate to a fleece off an animal that has been fed cheap feed. I call it “ Well Nourished Fleece”, you will see me using this phrase a lot.

In the past we have been sending fleece to small fiber mills in the Midwest but we have decided to start processing our fiber by hand on “cottage industry” milling equipment we have recently purchased. After this years shearing all of our fiber will be grown and processed locally.

Thank you for this opportunity to get to know us a little better. Please feel free to contact us with your questions or if you would like a custom fiber order.

Rich Brandt 618-401-3398 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              618-401-3398     end_of_the_skype_highlighting o http://twitter.com/circlebalpacas Debbie Brandt 618-401-3398 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              618-401-3398     end_of_the_skype_highlighting o http://twitter.com/circlebdeb

Http://circlebalpacas.com/

http://etsy.com/shop/circlebalpacas

If you are an artist, or know of an artist you think deserves to be featured, please let me know by leaving a comment here.

My featured artists will go on to be featured on one more blog this month. Next on  Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at SlaveToMyNeedles@comcast.net.

~Louise

Have You Met This Artist??? 4/30/2012

Apr30

Oh do I have a treat for you this week!!! May I present: Christiane Knight!

Ok first here is a bit about her and a few photos to drive you crazy with:

I’m Christiane “Xiane” Knight of Threeravens Yarns and Fibres, and I got to this fibery place through an interesting journey! As a DJ with a weekly night club, the co-host of the night and I decided that starting a knitting circle in the slow opening hours would be a fun thing to do. We were both total newbies, chicks with mohawks and bright hair sitting around in a dark bar and dropping stitches. It was fun! I was hooked. This naturally progressed to the realisation for me that, even more than the knitting process, it was touching the soft yarns that I loved the most. I decided that I needed to learn how to spin. This was the best decision of my life. I was a natural, and I slowly transitioned from spinning tunes to spinning yarn.

My claim to fame: ” I blend amazing fibres, colours, and textures into a tactile rainbow of awesome.” Whee!

I favour fun, unusual, and eye-catching colours, textures, and techniques. I specialise in artistic and conceptual yarns, art batts, hand-dyed fibres, and couture fibre jewelry. In other words, I like things bright and shiny and lumpy-bumpy and wild and fun – just like me!

Other fun facts: I have been dyeing my hair funny colours since 1985. I love goats and take weekly trips to a farm to feed and pet some local rascally goat-friends. I’ve lived in three different states in the US, yet I’ve never managed to move above the Mason-Dixon line. I went to college for Theatre Arts with a minor in Dance. I didn’t last a year. I’m incredibly handy at many things, all of which are not very good at bringing steady pay. I was the singer of a Goth Rock band, and a radio DJ as well as a club DJ. [see the last statement about getting paid regularly, ha!]

Here are a few more pictures for you to look at from Xiane!

400
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batts
blue spinolution

 

box-of-crayons-batts-4
collage1
il_fullxfull.98554817
mosaic7b376c51e71a8f1a4d83934a1b5056e03c55cdc2

 

mosaic291aa15b5877883f8d7ca02923c7d519c739d0d8
mosaicf5eab5fbae89cfb1e3345957e287110d39cb6371
necklace
push pop

 

wools 003

If you are an artist, or know of an artist you think deserves to be featured, please let me know by leaving a comment here.

My featured artists will go on to be featured on two more blogs this month. Next on  Karen’s blog, then the Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at SlaveToMyNeedles@comcast.net.

~Louise

Have You Met This Artist? 4/23/2012

Apr23

Here is our Featured Artist for this week! LLRoden Jewelery.

I’m a wife, mother and grandmother.  I have two grown sons and six grandchildren with another on the way.  I live in a small Midwest town in Illinois, north-east of St. Louis. All my immediate family members have several afghans and my sons have taken their camouflage afghans with them to Iraq.  It’s tradition to make afghans for new babies and I’ve made quite a few.  My crochet projects have slowed down simply because I’ve flooded the family.  However, I do have a new grand baby on the way so of course a new afghan in the works. I also use sewing and crochet in my jewelery making.

I’ve been doing handcrafts since I was a child.  My mother taught me to sew, knit, crochet and embroider as a way to keep me busy.  It worked!  I’m almost always busy.  Most of my sewing is for my family.  I frequently make shirts for my husband from funky material we find while browsing fabric stores.  He’s frequently asked where he got the shirt and when he tells them I made it they always want to know if I’ll make more.  I’ve thought about it but usually once I’ve made the shirt that’s all the material and I usually can’t find any more.  As any one that sews knows, material can be expensive and when you add in your time most people wouldn’t want to pay the cost.  With that in mind I stick to sewing for family.  I especially enjoy sewing for my grandchildren and Halloween costumes are a favorite.  My most recent really cool costume was Glenda for my Granddaughter.

My art work is a part time thing.  During the week I’m a secretary in a local accounting office.  This time of year is fairly crazy at work.  My stress release is in my basement with my tools and toys.  My husband frequently complains that I spend too much time in my cave and that it sounds like a black smith shop.  I make jewelery to sell and for gifts and of course for myself.  My jewelery is anything from bead work, metal work, glass work, lapidary and multimedia.  Lately, I’ve been working with copper plumbing pipe to make hammered cuff bracelets.  What I make depends on my mood.  Sometimes a good bout of hammering is just the thing to release daily stress. In my quieter moods I’ll do bead work.  Some of it is simple and some very detailed and time consuming.  I love the mix of colors and textures in the mix of beads, metal and stones.  I’m always trying for the “Oh Wow” thing and always trying something new.  I don’t particularly like following instructions for the jewelery making.  I see instructions as a starting point and will usually incorporate a twist in the pattern.  So many things inspire a new design.  Since I don’t like following instructions I also don’t like to do custom orders.  To me taking orders takes away the fun and brings on more stress.  I’m looking at this as something to do when I eventually retire from the public workforce.

Linda L. Roden

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/bio/llrodenjewelry http://handmadeartists.com/shop/LLRodenJewelry http://llrodenjewelry.blogspot.com http://twitter.com/llrodenjewelry

My featured artists will go on to be featured on two more blogs this month. Next on  Karen’s blog, then the Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at SlaveToMyNeedles@comcast.net.

~Louise

Have You Met This Artist???–4/23/2012

Apr23

I have Desiree over today!

Welcome, Desiree!!!

In 2007 I needed a birthday gift for my very bohemian sister. Being an avid quilter and lover of color, I had a bunch of batik fabric scraps lying around and I got the idea to piece them into a simple tote-all style bag. It was such a big hit I began making them by request and listing them in my etsy shop: Hamncheezr. 

After a while I began to make and list bags at random; sometimes a certain fabric would catch my eye and I’d make a bag just to be able to use it as a lining, or sometimes certain scraps looked good to me.  Making my batik bags is very freeing as no real planning goes into each bag, just a desire to have a well made, beautiful and unique finished product.  No two bags are ever absolutely alike.  Each bag is hand made by me and is machine pieced and quilted on the outside, then it is lined with cotton quilt-quality fabric.  The straps or handles are all different as well, and a lot of times I will create a closure for the bag with a tab and vintage button.

 

Over the years I’ve branched out from just tote bags to small lap or wall quilts and “Busy Bags” as I call them.  Another brain child of a needed birthday gift, the Busy Bag is a small, educational accessory designed for little girls ages 2-6.  The various button, zipper, tie, Velcro and snap features help hone fine motor skills and the cuteness of each bag just can’t be beat!  Everything is very securely sewn on and attached, making these little bags absolutely machine washable.

My family is very crafty, my Mom is an artist and she taught all my brothers and sisters and myself to quilt, sew and knit at an early age.  I craft as a hobby and stress reliever (because as a stay at home Mom sometimes you just have to do something for yourself) but I love that I’m able to share a little bit of my creativity with others and I love when I hear from people who have used and enjoyed my items.

 

Here are a few more pictures of Desiree’s items! All of them are just so pretty and you can tell they are made with love and care! The fabrics are just to die for!!! I love her use of colour as well! If you want to keep up with Desiree and her busy needles, you should definitely follow her blog!

Have You Met This Artist???4/16/2012

Apr16

I have Desiree over today!

Here is Desiree!!!

In 2007 I needed a birthday gift for my very bohemian sister.  Being an avid quilter and lover of color, I had a bunch of batik fabric scraps lying around and I got the idea to piece them into a simple tote-all style bag.  It was such a big hit I began making them by request and listing them in my etsy shop: Hamncheezr. 

My inner hippy wants this bag so bad!!!!!

After a while I began to make and list bags at random; sometimes a certain fabric would catch my eye and I’d make a bag just to be able to use it as a lining, or sometimes certain scraps looked good to me.  Making my batik bags is very freeing as no real planning goes into each bag, just a desire to have a well made, beautiful and unique finished product.  No two bags are ever absolutely alike.  Each bag is hand made by me and is machine pieced and quilted on the outside, then it is lined with cotton quilt-quality fabric.  The straps or handles are all different as well, and a lot of times I will create a closure for the bag with a tab and vintage button.

 

This one is hilarious! :)

Over the years I’ve branched out from just tote bags to small lap or wall quilts and “Busy Bags” as I call them.  Another brain child of a needed birthday gift, the Busy Bag is a small, educational accessory designed for little girls ages 2-6.  The various button, zipper, tie, Velcro and snap features help hone fine motor skills and the cuteness of each bag just can’t be beat!  Everything is very securely sewn on and attached, making these little bags absolutely machine washable.

CUUUUTE!

My family is very crafty, my Mom is an artist and she taught all my brothers and sisters and myself to quilt, sew and knit at an early age.  I craft as a hobby and stress reliever (because as a stay at home Mom sometimes you just have to do something for yourself) but I love that I’m able to share a little bit of my creativity with others and I love when I hear from people who have used and enjoyed my items.

I so love this one!!!

 

Here are a few more pictures of Desiree’s items! All of them are just so pretty and you can tell they are made with love and care! The fabrics are just to die for!!! I love her use of colour as well! If you want to keep up with Desiree and her busy needles, you should definitely follow her blog!

Have You Met This Artist???–4/13/2012

Apr13

OMG!!!! I am so sorry…..I got so wrapped up with Easter and deadlines, I completely forgot to post this Featured Artist on Monday….My sincerest apologies, Arlene.

Here is a very talented woman with a stash game!!!!!

I have Arlene here today! Most of you may know her as the “spinartiste”

She has a stash game going on right now! Go check it out!!!! I nearly almost participated, but will have to wait until later in the year, when things settle down around here. (when DH operations are over and everything) But then: BUCKLE UP! Because I WILL participate and it WILL be super fun! :)

Anyway, here is Arlene!

“Hi, my name is Arlene Ciroula and I’m the owner and publisher at www.spinartiste.com, an online publication that focuses on making and using hand-crafted fibers and yarns.  I started the site about a year ago because I wanted more information about the indie fiber scene (mainly hand spinning) and didn’t feel like there was anything out there giving me what I was craving.  The site includes weekly featured indie fiber artist profiles, a gallery page, free patterns for using hand spun yarns, and an extensive library of links for spinning and dyeing related instruction.

For 2012, we launched a brand new feature known as the Secret Stash Game which is like “Top Chef” for fiber artists.  Every other month, 20 fiber artists have the opportunity to receive a game kit containing very similar materials.  They have four weeks to produce a project and send in images.  They must use something of everything in the kit and nothing is to be added. 

The images are posted for the readers to select their favourite.  The response to the first round of the game far exceeded my hopes and sold out very quickly!  There are many other exciting developments in store for this site this year as well.”

If you are an artist, or know of an artist you think deserves to be featured, please let me know by leaving a comment here.

My featured artists will go on to be featured on two more blogs this month. Next on  Karen’s blog, then the Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at SlaveToMyNeedles@comcast.net.

~Louise