Sophie's Portrait

Here are a couple pictures of the real Sophie. She was the model for the felted dog in the previous post. Husband had me sculpt Sophie for wife's birthday. "She went nuts!" he said. Glad they liked it.

Making Contact

I must hand out 50 or so cards every week at the Farmers Markets. That's putting out money rather than bringing it in, but it's also making contacts and connections. Yes, I do sell some needle felting wool and yarn every now and again and I do get commissions for all kinds of critters, but slowly. I just hope that everyone who took a card to get back to me on a commission doesn't show up 3 weeks before X-mas!!!

I love sitting at my booth, needle felting away and having folks of all types come up to see what I am doing. Some think my work is way over-priced and hurry their children away. Others really get all the work that goes into each animal: feeding the sheep, shearing them, getting the wool washed and carded, dyeing the wool, not to mention the actual sculpting process. Those in the latter category tend to think I'm not charging enough. Interesting!

I'm just grateful that I can make money doing something that combines my love for animals and my ability to sculpt!!!

At The Farmers Markets

I offer my sculptures and wool products at three farmers markets:

Krankies Farmers Market: Tuesdays 10am - 1pm.

Reynolda Village Farmers Market: Fridays 9am - 1pm.

Winston-Salem Farmers Market (Dixie Classic Fairgrounds) Saturdays 8:30am - 11:30am.

Look for more frequent posts here.

Thanks!

Snowy Sheep

Today my 3 Sheeples finally went out to their pasture after a week of being in their shed and small paddock. It has snowed a total of 12 inches in the past week. No grass to be seen until now. And only a tiny bit is peeping through. They'll find it!

Sheepish Times

This is a very sheepish time of the year. I'm showing my jacob sheep at the county fairs and my son is showing Suffolk/Hampshire market lambs at the county fairs. I'm also needle felting little sheepies as quickly as my fingers can go -- or until I get distracted.

Worrying about whether or not my yearling ewe is pregnant out of season and likely to deliver by end of Oct. Previous owner had her and her 1/2 sister together with a ram after they delivered their respective lambs this spring. My ram, Jericho, will be terribly disappointed if he has to wait until next year to breed her... so will his paddock companion Georgie (he's tired of being bum-rushed). I need to sell or trade a 2009 ewe because I can't breed her to her father which is the only ram I have. Could breed her to someone else's ram, but would rather have an unrelated ewe to replace her.

Getting needle felted items ready to be entered in the Dixie Classic Fair. The prize money is pretty darned good in both the professional fine arts and professional crafts divisions. Some more than I would ask for the pieces to sell.

Very rainy. Wet and heavy sheep in the pasture and some wrung out ones in their pen. We coulda used this rain earlier in the summer. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers!

Have some great ideas for needle felted pieces. Need to make the ideas real!

Wool For Needle Felting

I'm celebrating, in a very small way, my very first sale of batts of washed and carded hampshire/suffolk wool for needle felting! I put an ad on craigslist and received an inquiry the next day. The woman is an award winning quilter and machine needle felter who makes her own crafts and teaches classes. She lives within 10 miles of me. We are both pleased to have found one another. I really enjoy washing and carding the wool and am EXTREMELY happy that I'm saving it from landfills!! I sell it for $3.00 per ounce.

In the News! Really! W-S Journal

Michael Hastings Food Editor for the Winston-Salem Journal wrote a very nice article about our homesteading practices and my visual art. Check it out at:

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/jun/17/162050/not-just-a-meal-but-a-new-way-of-living/living/