In other spending news, I made a huge leap (business investment!) and purchased this little guy:

It’s a Schacht Spindle Co. 4-Shaft Wolf Pup, and  I purchased it from a really delightful company called United Art and Education. I want to give them a big thumbs up because they offer great discounts and from my experience, they have a super customer service team. In 2-4 weeks, this little baby will be mine.

And with good reason. Two looms will will increase my productivity and will help me be a better weaver. Currently, with one loom + too many projects queued up, sometimes I find myself rushing through things to get myself to the next warp. I make changes for the sake of finishing something faster, and while my vision is never the same from start to finish anyways, I often wonder if my work suffers because of this. Two looms means more projects getting done more quickly, so I can work on production and personal work simultaneously.

This is all leading up to the answer to the question, why do I need to be more productive all of a sudden?- It’s Time To Mark Your Calendars!

Saturday, June 16th
Pile of Craft
2640 St. Paul, Baltimore

I have the distinct pleasure of having been juried in to the Charm City Craft Mafia’s annual Pile of Craft. I am very excited and honored to have the opportunity to sell my work alongside many Baltimore artists and crafters I’ve admired for years. It’s a little over  a month away, and it’ll be here before you know it!

July 20-22
Artscape
Brown Center, MICA, Baltimore

This is the second year the fabulous MICA Staff and Faculty will be selling their handmade wares during Artscape, Baltimore’s annual huge, free, fun arts festival. What makes our group the best, besides all the awesome stuff for sale? You can shop in sweet, sweet air conditioning in MICA’s Brown Center.

More updates leading up to these great shows will follow, as well as hopefully a few more exciting announcements.

Happy Spring!

I was very honored to wake up this morning and discover that I had been chosen to be the featured artist of the day over on TheCraftStar’s Facebook page.

TheCraftStar is a new online marketplace for handmade goods and supplies. They have yet to launch, but you can read more about the service by following the link above to Facebook or by following them on Twitter @TheCraftStar.

You can purchase the featured fabric here, and more is always available upon request!

Click above to view the project blog. It will only be updated as often as I get submissions, so submit away!

The Project

A separate blog for the project is on its way!

I am so excited to share this new product in my Etsy Shop! Each fabric covered button uses a remnant of my digitally printed fabric, both from my Circus series and my rug prints.

Each aluminum button is backed with a wire shank and is safe to throw in the washer or take to the dry cleaner. I’ll be making a lot more soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

If any of my readers are on Pinterest, please feel free to follow me and let me know if I should follow you too! (Click on the picture above to see my pin boards!) And don’t be shy- if you see something on my site or my Etsy that you like, feel free to pin away!

Four strand braid.

Ends and closure secured by wrapping and weaving thread around the leather. The loop is just tight enough to ensure the bracelet won’t slip off, but it’s easy enough to put on by myself.

Leather, linen, and wax linen thread.

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Add a little charm…

I had a little late night inspiration after I completed the bracelet earlier today. I bought this little turtle in a boardwalk bead store many years ago. I think he is well suited to top off this project, don’t you think?

If you follow me on Twitter, then you know that I’ve been very excited about Whimseybox for some time now. If you haven’t heard, Whimseybox is a fairly new subscription craft supply service. For $15 a month, the fine folks who thought up this brilliant idea will put together a box containing small samples of a variety of craft-goodness and mail it to your door. Whimseybox encourages sharing of project ideas through their website and blog, pooling from user submissions and craft projects across the web.

I’m so excited about my February box! Between my full time job at the library and my weaving business and my determination to do everything, I can get a little overwhelmed.  And when that happens, well, I have a tendency to shut down. Sometimes it’s good to just curl up with a book for a day, or eight, but finding the balance between that kind of relaxation and the relaxation that comes from making can be difficult.  I’m sure I’m not alone in this.

I am hoping that Whimseybox will help bring some balance to my life. By doing smaller, more quickly completed projects, I will seek to challenge myself and have fun. These are materials I would never pick up on my own; I buy yarn, I weave, I paint, I draw, I sew. Glitter? Leather cord? So out of my norm, but I already have a million project ideas running through my head. (Like using that fabric to make yo-yos for my collaborative quilt project? You betcha!) Things to do to wind down on the weekdays after work, or to take a break from the loom. Ways to always have my hands busy. More making, less internet!

So far, I’m killing it in 2012, but I know there’s a lot more I could be doing. Like finally using my serger to do some good.

Baby steps!