New paintings

Paintings of home

I am back from my week long Christmas vacation. Had a great time with the family. Always so much fun with the three little kids. It was a white Christmas, and cold for a while. But turned really nice and was 57 for the drive home.

I have been working on landscapes of home. Bright colored abstract oil paintings of the Sandhills, and some of the plant life. Makes me wish for spring. At least the days are officially getting longer, if only by a few minutes.

Better color

The color is much richer and truer with natural light.

Photographing artwork

I have been working on rephotographing all my artwork, and rugs and everything. It is quite a daunting task. I have learned that natural light is the absolute best lighting. Outside on a cloudy day is the best. Of course it is sunny and about 20 degrees right now, so I was experimenting inside by my south windows. It is the best with the indirect light. Also set your white balance on your camera to natural light and don't use a flash. Do an experiment and take a photo of something inside with a flash and then take it outside on a cloudy day. Then compare and see how much better the colors are with the natural light. I am trying to retake every photo I have on Etsy. Maybe that will help my sales!!!!

How to get a treasury on Etsy

I started trying to get a treasury last week, and now I'm on my second and I am hooked. Basically it's like being a curator at a museum or gallery and you get to pick all the items. What I do is think up a theme. This week it was purple and teal what a deal. Then I scour Etsy for twelve items plus four alternates. I keep track of all those item number and then the waiting starts. The treasury has to hit 332, so you just look at what number it is at now and then count backwards to see when it will hit the magic number. Then you sit and wait. And don't refresh your screen. When it hits 332 a little box will open at the bottom for your title. Then you just need to enter all the item number and viola your done. It's quite fun. Go to http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=26487 to see mine for this week.

I finished the rug!!!

I finally finished the rug!!! It is massive, 58 x 75 and heavy, almost 10lbs. But it is beautiful and worth the time it took. It was quite the challenge because my loom is only able to weave 36 wide so I had to make two pieces the same size and then sew them together. I do absolutely love it and I hope the woman that wanted it really likes it too.

Measuring on a Loom

I am weaving this large rug on my loom and trying to measure the length was really difficult until I read this great tip. The rug is wound on a bar so before I was using a measuring tape and wrapping it around and I was having difficulty. Now I measure 20 inches and mark it with a stick pin on the side then I know the length easily. So much better.

Wool

Wool is a very wonderful fabric and has been around for a very long time. Wool will absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling damp. Most fabric like cotton absorbs less than 15% and starts to feel damp. It's also dirt resistant and flame resistant. Woolen fabrics are soft and heavier. Worsted wool creases better and is less bulky. Tartan's are plaid that come from Scotland and were used to identify clans. Tweeds have little nubs of color throughout the fabric. Gabardine is tightly woven with diagonal ribs. Jersey is lightweight with knit stitches on one side and rounded stitches on the other. And Merino is made from Merino sheep and is of the highest quality said to resemble cashmere. There are more kinds of wool too. Check out www.denverfabrics.com, and www.fabric.net/wool for lots more info.

New exciting projects

I am working on two new challenging projects. The first is a wool cloak lined in cotton. It has been a while since I worked with wool. Wool is a wonderful fabric, but I just don't have much access to it where I live. It is a custom cloak and he found this wonderful olive green fabric called cactus. With a cotton lining of burgundy or tan. I need to see the fabric before I decide on the lining. The other exciting project is an 5 x 8 ft rug. My loom is only 36 inches wide so then I have to weave two pieces 8 ft long and then sew them together. It will be a very exciting project. It's going well right now. I have the fabric all cut in strips and ready to go.