Sew Happy to See You…ODBD Release!

Hello and welcome to the ODBD September release! The breadsticks have been busy creating a variety of awesome
samples for you….

Enjoy!!

Prize Information:
Three winners will be randomly chosen from the comments left on the designers blogs to receive a $15 Gift Certificate to the ODBD Store, to be used toward the purchase of ODBD Stamps found in the "stamps column" of the website. You have until September 2, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. EDT to leave your comments! The Winners will be posted on the ODBD Blog on September 3rd, so be sure to check back there to see if you won!

For my samples today, I used

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used our Tri-Shutter Card, stamping Birthday Doily in Adirondack Shell Pink on white cardstock for a background. I cut the pieces to fit then started adding all the fun stuff!!

The beautiful Doily Dies are great alone or sponged while still in the die as I did here.

Using Vintage Flourish Pattern, and Recipe Card and Tags, I stamped the verses and stitched frame from Birthday Doily and Sewing. 

My next card features the Hand Knit set with matching Knitting Basket and Yarn dies.

And…I just thought it needed something ‘hand knit’! I used size 0 needles for my handspun llama, single ply then transferred to toothpicks for the card.

Lady provided the fiber

The verse is stamped on the Doily and layered on the new paper, Soulful Stitches Collection. Sew perfect for your stitching and handmade card projects!

Now, for lots more September release inspiration, please visit my sister sticks!

Chris * Grace * Julie * Cathy * Lori * Sandee * Paula * Lisa * Silke* Wanda * Angie * Sabrina * Audrey

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Dawn

 

October On The Farm

I had a gorgeous day yesterday to sit, spin and share the llamas.
For the past 5 or so years I've been going to Stoltz's Apple Farm where they open up the farm for a day of fun. I get some much needed spinning done and people get to see, pet and feed the llamas an apple slice or two.

I didn't get many pictures, but thought these were worth sharing.
First this little girl had so much fun feeding Shadow.....
and of course he enjoyed every minute!

And, this is Paige, one of the Stoltz grandchildren.
She and her brother Brandon are my righthand kids every year!
They help us set up and tear down, clean the pen, walk the llamas, and keep me company. This year I took my drum carder and let them card some fiber for me. I managed to get a full 4oz bobbin done!
Aren't she and Diego cute!

For those following my spinning/dyeing post....I'm just about done!
I managed to get a Tucked Scarf, Mittens and a Hat from that ball of yarn!
I should be ready to take pictures in a few days.

thanks for stopping,

Dawn

A Wool Gathering

Last Saturday I spent the day in a large tent surrounded by sheep, goats, llamas and hundreds of people! This wasn't just any gathering...this was a gathering of FIBER!

Whether you wanted to make something and needed to buy the yarn, or wanted to spin, felt or whatever, you could have found it here! Or maybe you wanted something already made, yup... lots of vendors for that too!

There were sheep shearing demos, weaving, spinning, knitting, rug making.... all you had to do was ask and there was someone who could tell you about FIBER!

My tent showed people just where wool and fiber comes from and the process to get it to you! I answered questions for 8hrs and spun for about that long too!

I thought it would be fun to post a few pictures from the Wool Gathering, then show you just what I did with the fiber I spun!

We took 3 llamas, Diego, Fusion and Shadow.
Here's a closeup...the white, fluffy piece I'm holding in my right hand is "roving". Roving is done by carding the fibers, aligning all the hair in the same direction. My bobbin and flyer are moving very fast, that's why it kind of looks blurry. I'm not spinning the fiber, I'm just guiding so it's even consistency . I'm pretty sure this fiber is from Fusion.


This is Jenna and her ewe, Bacardi. Diego wasn't quite sure just what this was! He had to sniff and sniff.


Here is the full bobbin, single ply. I used a ball winder to take this off of the bobbin, then spinning from the ball, made it 2 ply.

Here is the finished yarn. Now, it could be made into something right from this point, but I thought you might like to see how I dye my yarn *wink*

Yes, Kool-Aid works as a dye! Now you know why mom always told you to stay OUT of the living room when you were drinking it!

The yarn was wet thoroughly with warm water, with about 1/2" of water in the dish. Then the fun part!! There is no rhyme or reason, just sprinkle the powder over the yarn. Sometimes I dye the roving first (in the same manner) then spin it.

Now, I'll add a little more water, smoosh (technical term) the Kool-Aid into the yarn, and pop it in the microwave. I let it "brew" for about 5 minutes at a time, checking frequently the color of the water.

I can hear you saying...HELLO! You just put red and green in there...what color do you think it's going to be!! LOL
But, when the fiber has absorbed all the dye, the water will be clear!

Pretty cool,huh! The water in the spoon is clear! So now I can rinse the yarn in cold water, squeeze the excess water out and hang to dry.

This is the dyed, dried yarn....say that 3x real fast! This is a 2 yard skein and weighs 5 ounces. I would have liked a little more green, but that was all the "green" flavor I had! I'll wind it into a ball and start knitting something. When I get it finished, I'll post pictures.

So, there you have it....that's what I do with my llama fiber! If you get the chance to visit a fiber festival, do it! I guarantee you'll be amazed.

Thanks for stopping!!

Dawn