Natural Wool Scarves

While at the Fibre Art Faire, I worked up a few scarves using Icelandic wool roving from a local fiber processor, the Argyle Fiber Mill, in Argyle, Wisconsin. These scarves, like my vibrant colored ones, use about an ounce of wool, so are light and airy to wear. The wool is not dyed but rather the natural color of the sheep, so the scarves have gorgeous muted tones of ivory, browns, and grays. Never having been dyed means the wool fibers have not been damaged by the chemicals in the dyes and are very soft and smooth. These scarves have a luxurious feel that makes you feel pampered and special when you wear them.

Septermber 25 and 26, 2010

Next weekend, La Bella Vita yarn and fiber shop will be hosting a Fibre Arts Faire, and I will be there demonstrating felting. I will be demonstrating live at the show at 109 Commerce, which is block downhill from my gallery, while friendly helpers run the shop! These are examples of the felt scarves I will be making at the show.

Felted Vessels

A pair of felted vases I made last summer.

Woodburned and Painted Boxes

My friend Susie does amazing folk art painting and I hope to have her work at the gallery SOON. One of my favorite things that she does is these heart shapes that have bold geometric bands of black and white and assorted vines and berries. She woodburns the designs first, then paints them. I have had these wood boxes stashed for a while, and Susie's art inspired me to do some woodburning and painting of my own. Instead of opaque paints, I used calligraphy ink so that the wood grain shows through. They are lightly varnished to protect the artwork.

Cooler Weather Ahead

The dropping temps remind me to tell you about these sweet fingerless mittens that Jenny Lund makes. They are great for dog walking and driving. You can curl your fingers up inside for more warmth or when you need, you can fold their ends up to have freer use of your fingers.

Fragrant Soap

Prairie Oak Artisan first rented space from a dentist, where we carried fragrant soaps to hide the medicinal smells of our landlord. Now that we have our own lovely building, we would not need fragrance in the shop, but we have a few regular customers who ask for it. And it is nice to walk into a space that smells nice!

But I have not had the best of luck with soap vendors. One quit selling soap to specialize in soap making supplies and others have become too successful selling it themselves to deal with small orders from others. When our family was visiting our oldest son at college, we went to the Tucson Farmers' Market where we found this vendor, who agreed to ship to me. He even came up with a special wrapping for us! My favorite is Lemongrass, but now that it is fall, the Pumpkin Spice is appealing to me.

Wooden Postcards

These wooden postcards are sized to mail and sturdy enough to make the trip. Computer printed and hand embellished, they are made of paper-backed wood veneer, and each is one of a kind.

Pewter

Thomas and Patricia Hooper specialize in pewter for Revolutionary and Civil War re-enactors, and also tour at select art shows. I had purchased some of their beautiful candlesticks and a lovely vase, then asked them to make me a mug that would be appropriate for use at the pre-civil War 1840's farm where I give prairie tours. So when I opened the gallery in an 1820's/1830's building, it seemed a natural to carry some reproduction pewter by the Hoopers.