I'm back!

A few days rest, lots of liquids and sleep and I feel much better now. I have not been completely idle though. I have spent two evenings stitching and slowly my piece comes alive.


I love the bright colors here combined with the black. So vibrant. I have thought of this as a belt the whole time. I think I might have made it a little too wide for that but maybe not.

I also worked on some dyeing yesterday. These are the results.

A smoky black swash with touches of cobalt and violet
and a delicate crackle blue like an iceberg.

A lovely rosy garden of color.

I used the last of the velvet so this is it until I receive my new shipment. I ordered more about five days ago...who knows how long it will take to get here. Last time I ordered my suppliers were away on holiday to China and I didnt see my shipment for almost a month!

Winter Hues

I also had a bit of a set back this week. Night before last the hard drive to my computer crashed. I am on D's computer right now. Fortunately most things are backed up, he has taught me well. One thing seems to be missing though and it almost makes my heart stop with the thought. My entire folder for my website is gone. I have been working on building a web site for awhile. I already have my domain name www.cymberrain.com and I even have a server for it as D has a good friend who rents one and gave us space on it. I have been working on the graphics bit by bit for it. I had most of the templates done. Also all the text for the various pages. In fact, it was very close to being ready to put together. Now I cant find it. I could have sworn I stored it so it would be safe but that doesnt seem to be the case. This is disheartening. I only hope that if it is gone that in redoing it I will do a better job than the last time.

I hope you have all had a wonderful week...soon the week end will arrive!

In the doldrums

I have been scuffling around here for days now. D took me to the loiser creatif expo in Grenoble Saturday and even it didnt get me out of my rut. I woke up this morning and realized. I'm sick. NO wonder I havent felt creative. No wonder I am so tired. I have a fever and my sinus are screaming. Sorry to be so quiet but I'm going back to bed!

Celebrations

HE GOT THE JOB!!!!!!

Finally he received official notification. We will be moving in April. I even get movers! I have NEVER had movers before. I feel so spoiled!! This is going to be a good move, I can feel it.


I finished up some floss the last few days. I will be listing six new colorways in the shop. I also put some more velvets to stew...thats all I have been up to lately. Lots of dyeing and photographing.


I havent picked up my stitching for days but it's starting to call to me. I can never stay away from it long.

New Velvets

I just finished up a yummi new batch of 10 velvets...with more to come later this week. I will also be adding some new floss colorways. As always, I love the colors!



Also my velvet is shown in a post by Jude Hill on her Spirit Cloth blog. She is going to be using it in her new project 'magic' and I am so excited to see what she does with it. She was the inspiration that started me back into fiber art and I am thrilled to see her working with my cloth!

Quiet Weekend

It's been a quiet weekend here. Spending time with my honey. He came home Friday night and informed me that he was told he has been hired for the job, although he has heard no 'official notification' that it is fact. Part of me feels a big excitement stirring inside, another part is holding it down in case some unforseeable event prevents this from coming through. "Don't count your chickens before the eggs hatch", I hear my mother saying in my mind.


I did do a few things to keep my mind off it though, when D and I weren't doing things together. I finished mixing up all my dyes. Everything is ready for another big dye lot tomorrow. So look forward to lots of new velvets and floss coming to the shop this next week. The light was bad all weekend preventing me from getting any pictures taken but I do have about 5 pieces of velvet ready to list in the shop as soon as they are. Also some floss is done. It's been very grey here though.


I made some great homemade crackers this weekend. Fun recipe to try out and great results. Pepper, Smoked Salt, Parmesan, Comte and Pizza. Now tell me...why did that picture turn out so good?

Reweaving & Reknitting

This Christmas when D's family came to visit my MIL brought along a sweater from her cousin in Paris. She asked if I could repair it for her as she had snagged the sleeve with a bracelet and created three holes. I jumped at the chance.

I know this sounds crazy, since I did wear myself thin with it, but I MISS reknitting and reweaving. Especially reknitting. I absolutely love taking someones treasure that has somehow been damaged and making it like new again. I love watching the holes disappear. The piece becoming 'whole' again. I still find the whole art fascinating even after all these years and love being able to do it.

Unfortunately for me, since I am in France I dont see a way of ever putting my craft into practice again. It seems that even when I use the french word for it 'stoppage' no one here has ever even heard of it. ON top of that D says he has never heard of a business sending piece work out to people. When I had my own business in Seattle I was sent clothing from the department stores and customers referred to me on a regualr basis. I guess the department stores here dont do that sort of thing. With my level of french being abysmal there is no way I could work outside of the home with customers.

I really wish I could figure out a way to be able to do this once again, if only in a limited manner. I would love to accept peoples work from the US but have no idea how to get the word out even. It's not like I could sell this craft in a markeplace. The thing is I KNOW there are people out there right now who would be thrilled to find someone like me. I cant even tell you how many times someone came into my shop in Seattle and said 'Thank God I found you!' What I did was a dying art...and much treasured by those who need it!

I once repaired an antique cat doll that had fallen off the shelf and been mangled by the lady's dog. She came in desperate, in tears, telling me her mother was coming to visit. See, the cat was given to her by her mother, valued at over $12,000 and her mother had a heart condition. She was afraid when her mother saw it she would have a heart attack! I took old fake fur and tea dyed it. Then distressed it with sand paper and wove the fabric over the holes, reconstructing several portions of the head. I can't even explain how good it felt to see the look of relief on that womans face! That was what kept me going in that crazy non-stop business.

I don't miss the grind. I dont miss the unbelievable CRUSH of work. Sometimes I was so overloaded I couldnt move in my shop. I do miss that joy though, of knowing I fixed something precious to someone.

Suspense!

The suspense is killing me! D flew to Strasbourg Monday to interview for the job at 5:30 am. Four taxis, two trams and two airplane rides later he arrived back home again. Late. They hesitated at his salary requirements. He did not back down. I am so proud of him sticking to his guns like that. They are a huge company and used to rolling over people. They already asked us to move here at a moments notice. They also pulled a snafu at the contract signing and pulled a surprise pay reduction... at the last minute. So no more letting them get the upper hand. They need someone up there fast...if they want D then they will have to meet his requirements. Otherwise we stay here and they can go to the expense of looking for someone else. I really would like to know where I will be living in two months though.

Now we play the waiting game...

More stitchin'

Yesterday was the perfect day to curl up in my chair and stitch away the afternoon. The snow came down all day at a fast even pace and covered my world with an even deeper blanket. Everything looks so clean and fresh. No one walks though the back area where our windows face so its beautiful pristine expanses and I love it. It was so bright last night when we went to bed that D exclaimed it looked like day out and took a few pics. This was taken at 1am!

Granted it looks darker as a pic, but you can just
imagine how bright it was to get this pic at night.

I am quite pleased with the new additions to this piece. It is starting to come along quite nicely I think. I do love things bright dont I?

Hope you and yours are having a great weekend!

Stitching Update

Hey all! I have been meaning to get a few pics posted of my latest piece but I'm afraid I got distracted with this....


I buy big bags of mixed beads and sort them out myself...I know, I know...crazy! I like a large variety of beads when I work though and love the huge selection I get when I buy them this way. I find so many beads I would have never thought to buy otherwise, and often I only need three or four of a certain bead for what I am doing..


I really havent had much time to stitch on this but the bits I have done have made my mind run on...and I have many ideas that were not planned for it perculating away now.


I also have been dreaming colors again...so I guess I will be dyeing again soon. I have to admit I have been putting it off a bit as the mixing has been difficult for me. Wearing the mask and bent over the mixing table has been too much! Last batch I mixed up had me hurting for two days. Good news though is that I went to the hospital yesterday and had lots of pictures and sonagrams taken of my shoulders, neck and back. Soon I will know what the main problem is and hopefully be on the road to recovery. My wii that I received for christmas has been wonderful. I have always wanted to do yoga but never did get to a class. This seems the perfect way for someone like me to break into it. The wii fit plus gives you detailed instructions on the yoga poses and the balance board lets you know if you are using the right posture. I'm not sure how that thing works but it's doing the job. My muscles are feeling looser than they have in a long time!


I woke up to a flurry of snow this morning and looked outside to see that it had snowed all night it seems. On top of what we already had...we have at least 6-8 inches more. The grocery store called to inform us that they could not deliver my groceries today. Unfortunately I have been stretching food out for the last three days to make it till they arrived. Not sure what we will eat now!

Have a great weekend!

Dye Experiments

I've been thinking a lot lately, about what direction I am going in. Exactly where do I want to take this? I love my dyeing. I can see myself getting lost in it. I love my stitching. I can see myself getting lost there too. I have tried to combine the two and somehow generate a little income with it but it's all still a big question where it is going.
My stitching is so time consuming and intricate that I really couldnt make enough money to justify doing it full time unless my work was in high demand and I could command the price it deserves. My dyeing on the other hand can but I really dont have the facilities to dye enough to do that either. Worst of all though is the fact that every time I go to the dye table lately I just want to play. I want to throw color around and make grand statements with it! I have done several experimental pieces recently. This is what gets me excited!


First off was this...I have been wanting to work with pieces laid flat. I simply couldnt figure out a way to do so though. I have looked all over for flat trays to work in with no success. Then when I was pulling down wrapping paper one day I noticed the roll of florist plastic we had bought to wrap a gift basket. "What if I taped up the corners and made my own trays?" I asked myself. It worked perfectly and I painted away on this piece. It is a bit amatuerish but I like it. It showed me new possibilities and thats what I needed.






Next I delved into pointillism I guess you would call it...but on a large scale *grin* I love this piece! It looks a little redder here in the second shot than it is. The red jumps out to the camera for some reason. It was another step in my learning process and one that really got the cranks turning in my head. This first shot is it dry with the dye in before washing, the second is after the wash but the colors are really somewhere between the two shots. Velvet is SO difficult to shoot!


Thirdly I tried the finngerpainting method...yes people, I did this with my fingers. I added a little dye thickener to my colors and slopped away. A little rough for my taste but a method I could use for sure....


because after I went on and made this with it...this piece has not been washed out yet and so the color is not definite. but usually if I lose anything its a slight toning down of the color and this picture is lighter then the real thing...so probably close to the final product. I am quite excited about this last piece. It says so much to me!


Last but not least...a few pics of wonderful snowy trees for you. These both get my creative juices flowing...but in a completely different directin than the dyes.


Hope you all are having a good week. I will post some pics of my stitching soon.

Another step in my journey

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a peaceful holiday. I had ten wonderful days with my hubby and it was so good to get to see him relax. He works so hard. We also had four wonderful days with his family. Even grandfather came and it was so good to get to spend some time with him again.

I did take the time to read a few blogs during my break and found many a resolution among them. I am not much for New Year's Resolutions. I've never been able to keep them so I quit making them. I do have a wish for this year though. I wish to continue to heal. I came to this country from a shattered life. I came with hope though. I continue to hope and believe that things can only get better. When I thought I had nothing and nowhere to go I found a loving partner and a safe haven. Since then I have healed. I have learned to look on this world with new eyes. I believe things can only get better.

We have many changes coming in our future but I see them as stepping stones towards better things. D leaves for his interview next week. If all goes well we will be moving and another step will be taken. I want to thank you all for coming along with me on this journey. I appreciate each and every one of you.

I have done a few things creative this last week. I hope to get pics up and posted sometime this week.

Until then I hope you all have a wonderful start to your new year!