DIY Gift Tags

The gift tags made in this tutorial are great for any occasion. I designed these for garment care instructions and holders for extra buttons and/or thread. Let's get on with it!

Dear Readers,

Hello and good afternoon. I apologize for my neglect. On the bright side you will get to read up on a whole lot of new and exciting things.

First of all, we're almost to the new year! Holy cow, we're getting old! Yeah, well so is some of my inventory. If you would like to help clean out my closets, I'm having sale. Both store fronts will be 25% off! Etsy on Sale has been a god send! There are no coupon codes and no more refunds through Paypal! Huzzah! Artfire is the only exception. Please enter 'NEWYEAR' during check out for your discount! Also, I just marked down all Superwash fibers in my ArtFire shop by 10%. You'll be getting a double deal!

In other shop news, I've gotten a few answers back from the survey. There will be some follow up questions for those of you who selected Etsy as your primary purchasing tool. I've got more questions, but for now things will be again changing.

Personal News:

Upping the Ante

For the past week my personal life has been crazy! I pulled a muscle in my leg and glute area. So, my shifts have been limited as well as my boss's patience. It happened at my day job bagging groceries & moving turkeys. For the next week I'm unable to work for more than 4 hours. It stinks, but it's giving me time to work on the advertising aspect of the shop. I've been creating graphics for Phat Fiber and Ravelry. That's right, I just started advertising on Ravelry.

Also, I've been working on what to dye up for the January box. (Hints have been dropped on twitter.) In the mean time I've joined the F.I.X. Co-op. Again, the plan is to start in January. So many things going on, but so little time. In addition to creating items for the box and prize box, I'll be doing a dye/work day today, tomorrow, and Saturday. It should be a whole lot of fun. There are so many ideas buzzing around in my head they need to get sorted and put down on paper. Doing this will give me some time to let the mail carrier bring in the mystery fibers for the Phat Fiber Box. Oh the yummies!

A few months ago I decided to make Spinner's Mates for some of my fiber pimps and friends for Christmas. About 2 months ago I finally finished gathering all measurements, fabrics, thread, etc. Today is the day to get the fabric cut and the preliminary pinning done. Depending on when the mystery fiber from International Fleeces arrives (super fast shipping as always, too) that will stop the sewing and start the dye day process.

My Etsy shop is being used for clearance items only. All updates will be run through Artfire from here on out. There are so many options with ArtFire, which are just starting to be explored by Etsy. My next update should be no later than Wednesday of the upcoming week.

Have a great weekend.
TTFN!

P.S. No giveaway this month. There is a lot to do. There will be one in January after the Phat Fiber Box has been shipped. Yes, I will spoil you.

Look & Feel

First let's take a look as to what my wallpaper has changed to this week.

Shop Update & More...

The first of many things, who won!?
The winner of the September giveaway is ::drum roll:: Little Miss S. Congratulations!! I'll be sending you a message shortly. Thank you for participating, everyone! Next giveaway will be next month. (Hint: Christmas is coming sooner than you think.) Yeah it might be a bit early, but have you ever seen a sheep dressed up as a pumpkin? Hmm...now this gives me pause. ::hamsters are turning the wheels in my head:: 

This past evening was the small shop update. I made the decision late in the game because of another doctor appointment and the events that followed. (Pinched nerve in my neck and back area required xrays. Groceries needed to be bought as well as prescription pick up.)

Grigoriy - SW BFL

In addition to the shop update, I've started a destash on Ravelry. There are some of my hand painted braids that didn't quite turn out the way I planned there as well as other dyers.

Oh, almost forgot to mention the sale going on at the shop. From now until 23:59 CDT on Sept. 23rd, there will be a roving and yarn sale. Buy one get the second half off on all roving. All yarn is 15% off.

This week I will be working on artwork for Peter's, my fiance's, shop called Storm Dragon Creations. He changed it, but I think it works out nicely. He'll be selling his own unique brand of stitch markers, row counters and jewelry. Be sure to read his item descriptions as they will be full of funnies, I'm sure.

Ecology & Me (part 2) will be coming very quickly. Thursday of this week, I will be joining a group of people in town to collect some Ratibida pinnata (Yellow cone flower) seed. My goal is to have some pictures taken during our lunch break for all of you to see.

Until then, have a wonderful weekend!

Busy Busy...

It just continues, but in such a great way! Laundry finished and put away, produce shopping done, dishes put away, the back half of Izzy's sweater knitted with front half being worked on and all destash boxes are packed awaiting labeling.

In the background I'm working another give-away opportunity for you all. Stay tuned for amazing details! Think Spongebob Squarepants and fibery goodness. Imagine it. :)

Then out of the blue I got a convo via Etsy regarding the second part of the sillylittlelady collaboration. Here is a sneak preview of the fingerless gloves to go with that fantastic Pagosa Slouch brimmed slouchy beanie. Isn't it lovely! Even better, sillylittlelady has made the length an option you the knitter decide. How cool is that?

So now here I sit at my computer relaxing for the first time. Praise the gods for air conditioning! It's after 8:30 PM here and it feels like 93 degrees outside. The wind is blowing, which is our only saving grace at this point. The weather is going to be even worse tomorrow, but alas more air conditioning. Praise the air conditioning gods! Hail thee "A" and "C"! Praise the electricity gods, as well. For it is they Com and Ed who provide A and C with the power to bring such wonders to us. They who graced Mr. Edison with the holy concept of electricy are great and masterful. Yeah, I've lost it. Must drink more water and get to some dishes and garbage/recycling collecting. 

Slacking

Yes, I've been slacking on the blogging front. There aren't any images to show you, either. ::sigh:: So what am I blogging for? The past weekend has been rather slow, yet busy. 

First, I opened a bank account for L.M.S. Studio Arts, which includes my current shop. With that I applied for a business credit card with that bank. Right now we're just waiting for everything to come in the mail. 
Next, I finished spinning all the yarn needed for some personal projects. Late last night I started spinning a reserve braid of Magrathean in merino wool. That will be some of the handspun for a shop update later next week. There will be some Sleep Dep, Moonstone and Brass Petals for this week's update. 
Yesterday before heading home from the day job I spent some time in Jo-Ann Fabrics and spent $35 on fabric. What for, you might ask? Have you ever spun a great roving or batt to have most of it end up on your clothing? Do you have pets or small children that love your works in progress a little too much? Does anyone else have the mad hunt for your orifice hook, scissors or oil every time you want to start a project? I've got a handmade solution for you, it's a spinner's mate. This is a no tie apron with saddle bags. One end has up to 3 pockets to hold your scissors, orifice hooks, oil, lotion, tv remote or your phone. The other is a single large pocket to hold the fiber you're working with. It keeps it up and away from dust bunnies and pet hair. Each one is made of 100% cotton and hand stitched with my White sewing machine. The first one I made to my original specifications was way way too big. After sizing it down I have one at 11.5" x 31.25" (28 cm x 79.5 cm) and two 10.75" at x 28" (27 cm x 71 cm). I have enough fabric to make four more tomorrow. Hopefully they will be about the 11.5" x 31.25" size. Wednesday I will have those in the update as well. 
Also, the weather has been nice enough between rains to spend some time outside. We've been doing some outdoor things with family. 
I've been very busy and there are always more things being created and dreamed up. Oh the ideas I have waiting until Peter gets more jewelry making things. If he doesn't want to exploit this idea, I will. Muahahaha...wait, that's not supposed to be an evil laughter. Oh well...muahahahaha! 


Things to expect : 
* more handspun yarn listings
* Spinner's Mates listings
* Custom Order Reiki Distance Healing Doll listings
* pictures!
 

Sleeping In

Hooray for sleep! Three cheers for sleeping in until 1 pm. What no cheers? For the past couple of weeks sleep has been a precious comodity around my apartment. Our neighbor's one year old is still not sleeping through the night. People tell me every child is different. My niece slept through the night by about 7 or 8 months old and so did I. My sister took a little bit longer, but not by much. Peter slept throught the night around the same time as we did. Stephanie even slept through the night before one year. So it's rather aggravating. More so aggravating because other people's children should not be keeping me up at night. Due to that Photos Firday has been canceled. Our living room has been converted into our second bedroom and is in need of some serious cleaning. Right now we need to vacuum and organize. :) 

We're also getting ready for a second and even larger Beltane celebration. Children are not allowed so I can be as tipsy or bubbly as can be. It's been a while and I love mead. It'll have to wait until after the spinning demonstration. We are also selling some handspun yarn and handpainted roving there. 


Today I purchased some unfinished top whorl drop spindles. Within the next month or so I am going to start offering drop spindle kits. It'll be a spindle and 6 oz of fiber broken up into 3-2 ounce bundles. It'll be a sampler of the different wools I carry. The kit will also give a set of instructions and a link to a great group of instructional videos. They'll probably be left unfinished so that everyone can customize their own drop spindle, but Peter might take a couple and decorate and stain them. 


In a few weeks I am going to be working out some business credit lines. This way I can purchase more wool, dyes and other supplies. The biggest thing to come out of this whole venture is the umbrella for all of my little etsy shops, etc. It is LMS Studios. LylianMae Fiber Artistry will be a division of the LMS Studios (Soon to be LLC). Then if I decide to sell ceramics, art, jewelry, etc. later on that can be another division of LMS Studios. Everything covered under LMS Studios will be anything studio art. For instance, I have mugs that were purchased at the Dollar Tree and decorated with Porcelane markers. That would fall under a new branch of the umbrella. Eventually it will happen, but not certain when. Single drop spindles will be another branch. 


Congratulations to mamatwitch! She won the raffle for a Bee Bar from Honey House. The poll closed and Lavender is the herb of choice for the new Reiki distance healing dolls. :) There will be a new poll up later this week.