No class today!

I got ready for class today, I went and sat at the bus stop. I sat for a long time. My bus never came. I finally broke down and called the hubby at work. "My bus isn't coming for some reason," I said. I heard him turn away and mumble something. "Buses are on stirke," he said. I know this shouldn't have made me happy, but it did. A whole extra day to work this week, yay! Happy about work?!? Why yes, yes I am. I much prefer playing with my dyes and fabrics than travelling on a bus and two trams an hour each way to go to my french class and do drills. Now the french class I dont mind at all and I am sure it is helping me in some way. They arent really teaching me anything anymore but the drills are supposed to make you more comfortable with the test. I think that I will still do fine without this day of drills though....

So what I really wanted to talk to you all about is this: I have decided to make scarves for my shop. I love dyeing. there is no denying it. I could dye all the time I think but the fact is, I only need so much fabric for myself. I have been selling the velvet quarters online and that is fine, but I dont really sell that many of them. I sell lots of floss and I enjoy it too, but I want to branch out. I started dyeing other fabrics and I enjoy seeing how the dye takes differently, how they look, etc. Now I want to make something with them though, and I think scarves could be a good thing. Everyone loves them. Many people collect them. So why not make them?
My main problem is deciding what KIND of scarves to make. SO I decided to ask you, my readers, what kind of scarf do you like? short wispy scarves you knot around your neck? Long slinky scarves you can loop round and round? How about the new infinity scarf? Do you like that?
I thought one thing I would try is long skinny velvet scarves. They can be a lot of fun and if you want them shorter you can double them. I also thought some silk gauze scarves would be yummi. Its so light and floaty and holds the color so well. What do you all think? I'm dyeing to know *grin*

French

Tomorrow i start my last leg of french classes. A week and a half cram course to prepare for my French exam. At the end of it my son arrives. A nice prize for the completion. I will not have much time and when I do I will probably be too tired to blog so you may not hear from me for awhile. Until then, you all take care :)

Shop Update

Hello Everybody. I hope you are all having a pleasant week. We have had a busy week ourselves. First off we had unexpected guests. One of D's good friends has been touring the countryside with a friend. They went to Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary , Austria and Germany and when returning to France they were nearby so dropped in for a few days. It was really nice to see them and they brought along this sweet girl.


She was so much fun to be around, very well behaved and entertaining. We went into town with them last night, their last evening here and we had dinner at a Lebanese Restaurant. None of us knew what to expect but we ordered a group meal which consisted of around 20 small dishes so we could try a variety of their food. Turns out it is very similar to what I consider Turkish and Greek food. Dolmas, Hummus, Tabbouleh, Cucumber Sauce, Lemon Chicken, etc. I enjoyed it thoroughly and we will definitely be back. I really miss Pita and hummus over here so now I know where to find it!

I also woke up a few mornings back to find out I was one of the featured shops with the Firestalkers Guild over on Artfire. I have been working all the last week or so taking photos and getting things ready to list in my shop because I wanted it all to be done when my son arrives. When I heard about being featured I sat down and listed ALL of the floss I have ready, which was around 20 colorways. Talk about non-stop listing. Oh boy! I still have a PILE of velvets and silk charmeuse to list but at least I have part of it done. I am running out of days.

So sorry I havent been writing much but my week has not been that interesting. I havent had a chance to stitch in days. My Ipad covers have come to a halt while I work out design problems and try to locate materials. I have been photographing so much I want to throw the camera out the window. I had thought there was a whole pile of pictures finished then realized those had disappeared when the computer had its break down. I promise I will get back to you soon with more interesting artsy stuff but in the meantime...isn't this colorway just scrumptious?

New Website

I am proud to announce that my new website is up and running! DH worked long and hard to set this up and I owe it all to him. He even translated the entire site! There is still work to do on it so it's not completely finished but it is well on it's way. Please stop by and take a gander. I would love to hear what you think!
www.cymberrain.com

Floss Candy Galore!

I have been crazy busy the last few days with a large dye batch I did. I wasnt planning on dyeing this week but then I received a custom order for some stone floss. That was all the incentive I needed so I set to work and dyed four different sets of stone colors along with another eight colorways besides those. I also did several silk ribbons. It doesnt matter how many times I dye it never gets boring. I just LOVE to play with the colors.


Even with the new studio setup I have been having quite the problem with where to put my pieces as I dye them. When I am doing a lot at a time I run out of space quickly. So I made this stacking box.


I have a ton of boxes from the move and they are fairly sturdy cardboard. I also had a big sheet of double cardboard. So I cut out shelves and mounted them in the box and then cut pieces of cardboard big enough to slide into the shelves as trays. I had a whole role of nice thicker plastic and covered all of the trays with that. Now I can just dye my floss right on the trays and slide them into the box. I was able to do my whole dye batch and had room left over. I love it, even if it is just a bunch of cardboard it works like a dream!

A lovely day in Strasbourg

DH and I wandered into Strasbourg Saturday afternoon just for. It was such a gorgeous day out and we have been missing the sun lately. What a perfect day. They were having an agricultural fair near where we got off the tram so we checked out all the tents. They had lots of baby animals on display. A bee hive, and a stand where you could milk a fake cow. The kids seemed to be having a lot of fun. They also had a huge tent where they were serving fresh flame roasted tarte flambe's which is a regional special here. Its like a cracker crust pizza with a cream sauce, onions, lardon and cheese. A whole tarte for only 5 euros! We couldnt resist and we were glad we couldn't because it was delish!.


After we left that area we came across this industrious crew of two working on this huge mural.

We took a few picks then, and also on our way back to the tram so you can see the progress.

I love exploring this city, every time I turn around I find another great viewpoint.

Peeks into alleys and gardens that are just wonderful.

The crooked rooftops are so enchanting, and the great dormer windows.

We happened upon this huge carousel that had two levels. So enchanting!

There was also a huge protest going on the whole time we were down there against Isreal. There were many youths there wearing flags as capes and parading up and down the streets and giving speeches. The police were out in force but we saw little action.
We came home tired but happy that night. I was so glad the next morning that we had gone on Saturday as we were hit with a HARD storm Sunday afternoon. I just snuggled up and finished my sugar skull...

Imagination Packs

I just thought I would make a quick post since I forgot to tell you all. I now have my Imagination Packs, the Autumn Forest Fiber Arts Fabric and Trims Pack and the Undersea Fiber Arts Fabric and Trims Pack available in my ArtFire Store. I really love this idea and plan on putting together some more if people are interested.

I am also stitching away on this idea.

which will be on the cover of one of the new Ipad covers I am designing. I am trying to come up with a nice design for my covers, something a little different from what is offered out there and hope my idea can be structured that way I want. Right now I'm just having fun stitching this in some beautiful silks I dyed. Wow do I love hand dyed fabric and thread. I dont think I could ever work with flat fabric again. The depth is just amazing!

The calm is finally setting in

I am falling into a routine I think. I am finally feeling at home here. I dont bump into walls in the middle of the night as often. I am finally getting a 'feel' to this house. My mind doesnt feel all cluttered and crazy like it has for the last few months. I can start letting some of the worry and stress go and start concentrating on my new life here. I have decided to spend the next month working hard to make some items to fill up my ArtFire shop We bought my son's ticket this weekend and he is coming at the end of June. I am SO excited! I want my shop running smoothly by then, nice and full of lots of pretties. Then I can spend my time with him having fun and not constantly worrying if I have enough on my shop. I have lots of ideas as always. Sometimes they just overflow my brain and I cant write them down fast enough. Having ideas is never my problem it seems. It is the making of them as each piece I make takes so long.


This piece that I showed you a glimpse of last post has progressed some more. It will be a choker with hand dyed silk ribons to tie it in back. I had in mind an elaborate celtic spiral centerpiece for it but then I saw the most lovely cabachons on an ArtFire store that I would love to feature on it that I am undecided as to what I want to do with it now.


I also started working on this, another of my favorite paisleys...the spiral sun. This will be an iphone cover and I plan on making several of these and/or ipad covers. I find it a perfect canvas for my embroidery and truthfully, I dont care what I make with it after I finish the embroidery. I just love having something to stitch.

I also have a huge pile of velvets I need to list so I plan on working on that this week. After these I am hesitating on dyeing anymore quarters. I havent been selling them much and wonder if the size is the problem? I wonder if people would enjoy my velvets in a larger size? I know the price is reasonable because I actually have it marked lower than other sellers who ARE selling their items. I dont think the colors are bad either so maybe it's just that I dont have the 'Name' that others have, or the contacts...

I just know that I want to get all this in order. So I dont need to worry about it as much. It's been such a disorganized mess since moving to Grenoble, and then on to here. I think once its all put in a managable form it will start running smoothly and I can concentrate more on my art. Because when it all comes down to it, I do this part so I can do my ART.