News

Hi, guys!

I know it's been a while, but a lot of fun things are happening in the studio. I've changed up what was planned for colorways and bases because our situation has changed a little. There are a few personal issues preventing me from doing exactly what I'd like to do.

The studio blog will no longer be hosted on this blog. I opted for a more professional look on wordpress. You can find us at http://lmsstudioarts.wordpress.com.

The www.lmsstudioarts.com link is out of order as I am battling my hosting companies and trying to make the wordpress site the main site.

LMS Studio Arts will no longer be dealing with Supadupa due to low foot traffic and high advertising costs. Therefore we are returning to Etsy.

The scheduled release date is February 1st, 2013.
For more information please visit our new blog.

Thank you and take care!

Long awaited Update

Hello, everyone!

I'm pleased to announce that progress is being made. The vision is insight and the mission set. The mission is to provide quality fiber arts supplies for artists seeking to reclaim the aesthetics of simpler times. Now, I have to decide on whether to keep the name LMS Studio Arts or switch to another name. The debate rests in keeping the name, but I definitely want to keep the other debated name. At least there is an email, etsy, and other social media outlets already assigned to it just in case I decide to do something different. I feel that LMS Studio Arts doesn't truly describe exactly what I am doing. So, perhaps the best concept is to keep the name but do a DBA (doing business as) to cut down on paper work. This way the new name would be a subsidiary of LMS Studio Arts.

Either way there are definitely ways around everything. On the bright side of things I've already got the new line planned. I hope to launch the new line for the 2013 Spring/Summer season. There will be six colorways in two different fibers and two different yarns. All colorways will be repeatable. Wool will be available by the ounce. This way felting gurus are not left out. In addition, I am going to create patterns with my new lines of handpainted yarns. Patterns and finished objects will be available for purchase. There will be no more handspun yarns in stock. All of my handspun is available at Knits 'N Kits of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. However, I will accept custom spinning orders. Secondly, I'm returning and staying at Etsy. Having a small budget requires hosting my items at a place with a lot of foot traffic and cheaper advertising costs. For the $.20 + 3.5% commission, it's a good deal. Where having the SupaDupa site is great for no fees, I have to pay more to advertise my site.

I will keep up my contributions to the Phat Fiber Sampler Box. Hence the reason to have six different colorways.

One downer in this whole situation is in regards to my blog. This will no longer be playing host to my blog and studio site. I'll be moving over to WordPress. However, I will keep this one available for tutorials and other information. I hope to keep some of the fun sheep finds to the facebook page. This is in hopes that you share all the funnies I find with your friends. :)

The biggest obstacle is coming up with unique, yet inexpensive packaging that is like opening a gift. I want all of my packaging to come from eco-friendly and self-sustainable resources. Hence the purchases of muslin and burlap I've made. Yarn and wool is difficult to package in a creative way, but I'm working on it. :)

I cannot wait until this spring!

Ta Ta For Now

Hello, everyone!

July 16^th, I began taking my first online course, Introduction to Business. The most wonderful and terrible topics have led me to make a most drastic decision. It is with deepest regret that I inform you there will be a temporary closing of LMS Studio Arts. Even with the upcoming consignment deal I feel a temporary closing is necessary to improve the company in the long-term scheme of things. Over the next few months I will be experimenting with custom colors, improving my marketing strategy, and creating a new line of yarns.

I greatly appreciate everyone's business over the years. We've had wonderful fun together. Please, feel free to take advantage of this closing with a 30% off coupon, TTFN-30, through Sept. 30^th.

On October 1^st , 2012, the studio will be closed until further notice. Until then please clean me out, and enjoy the sale.

I do plan on updating my blog here as there is plenty of knitting and spinning to be had. :D 

Gratefully Yours,

Emily A. Turner

Bummed, but not defeated

Good morning, everyone. It is unfortunate and displeasing to note that I have dropped out of the Tour de Fleece. It is to no one's fault, but my own. I've over booked myself, which means dates with my Kromski Sonata are suffering. She sits in her case at the foot of the bed all folded up with some fiber I was meaning to spin into a 3-ply sock yarn. Seeing her sitting there at night evokes the feelings of the spouse who continually comes home late from work and never calls. I wonder if she thinks that I'm cheating on her. If so, it is only for a short period of time.

This past Monday began a new era in my education. I am going back to school, again. This time it is for a Bachelor's of Business Administration specializing in Marketing at American InterContinental University Online. Each class is five weeks long. There is a paper due every week by Sunday and discussion board posts throughout the week. I'm also learning to write in the APA style, which is a little tougher than MLA to grasp. Then again MLA style has been beat into the children of Alden-Hebron High School since the fifth grade.

Overbooking is the mother of all my problems.  I am responsible for the following things: cooking three to four days per week, cleaning, weeding, watching my stepdaughter, chair of the church's monthly flea market, attending confirmation classes, occasionally watching dogs, and my business. It's a bit on my plate. Now, let's add everything for just this week alone. My sister-in-law had knee replacement surgery on her left knee, which resulted in being at the hospital for a while on Monday. Courses started on Monday as well. Co-chairs need to be assigned and money deposited for the flea market. Last night we had our confirmation classes. This weekend we are driving up to Steven's Point, WI, to visit my uncle and his girlfriend. Also, we are taking my niece, Izzy, with us because she rarely gets to see Uncle Glen. Keeping in mind that Peter has been working his normal four day and twelve hour shifts plus two more nights just to be back again on Sunday for another three day work week. Yes, the pay check will be fantastic, but I need him here to deal with his child when I'm trying to do school work. There are a lot of things left to get done before Friday afternoon, including laundry.

This blog and the studio are sitting unattended. It adds to the depression. Right now I find it hard to work down in the basement because it is a mess. Peter thinks it's a catch all for the things he doesn't want to look at or put back in the barn. I had to rearrange down there because my parents decided they were going to get a larger freezer. They decided against it in the last few days. Due to lack of time or Peter asleep during the day I have not had a chance to get in there to organize everything. Very soon there will be a mad destash of all sorts of things that I do not use regularly. It's either that or I need to get crafting.

After this weekend I can start to plan some quality spinning time with my gal. The studio will be organized and perhaps even ready to work in. Next Friday, Stephanie leaves for Ohio. There will be one responsibility gone for a time. Duties in the garden and flower beds will still be there, but at least they will be winding down as fall comes into play. Maybe, just maybe, old girl and I can work out an arrangement to be together in the fall and winter. Then she can have some rest and my garden can be my summer lover.

Depending on how school goes, I may have to tone down some of the voluntary things going on. We'll see. I am hopeful that it will not be anything to do with the studio or this blog. Where there may be less postings, at least they will be long and more meaningful posts.

Ta ta for now!
<3

Learning the hard way

Recently I made a floral arrangement for the church with some roadside blooms. The plants included were Ragweed, Queen Anne's Lace, Clover, Chicory, Cat Tails and some yellow flowering plant. This yellow flowering looking plant looked so cool. It would be great filler! Little did I know this little flowering plant was Wild Parsnip!! Yikes!

Shortly after I realized there was a burn on my left hand. I kept trying to figure out where in the heck it came from because I don't remember burning myself. Then my father tells me that yellow plant is Wild Parsnip. He had been clearing out a thicket to be burned by it last year. Wild Parsnip creates a chemical burn, which is quite nasty. Dad gave me some good instructions to get it healed. I've been wearing a band-aid on it when in the sun. Every now and then Calamine lotion and Hydrocortisone is applied to the spot. Thus far it is healing up pretty well.  

It has not hindered my spinning or knitting. Thank God for that one. I'd probably go insane without them. Today I hope to finish the third bobbin and start plying. We may be going to my sisters to swim in her pool. It seems like a good day to do that. Also, I miss my sister and her kids. Maybe we'll get a pic taken of all of us for the blog.

Until next time,
<3

Day 7 - July 6th

It is already the seventh day of the Tour de Fleece. I've been very busy on my wheel. My swap buddy gave  me a 4 ounce braid of BFL/Silk handpainted by Fiber Fancy. It is a really wonderful blend of fiber and color. My plan is for a true three ply yarn. What project I'll knit is a whole other topic. There is a request for a cowl with this yarn, but we'll see. At this moment there are one and one half bobbins full of this lovely yarn.

The technique I'm using is a semi-woolen draw with a clockwise single and counter clockwise ply. Spinning a true woolen single has been a trouble for me, but slowly it will be a technique I perfect. Of course, there are plenty of other techniques in between I've been going back to. The worsted technique is one I just finished. Believe it or not, I finally mastered a perfectly balanced single!

Also, today we bought Bailey his first toy! It "is" one of those toys on a string with feathers and a bell. I only say "is" because he destroyed it within the first hour of playing with it. At first he wasn't sure of what to make of the whole thing. Keep in mind this is his first toy ever. I estimate his age to be three or four years old. This is a big deal who has never seen fluorescent yellow and green feathers. Nothing moves ever that slow, jumps as high, or even flies that slow and low. For him, it was peculiar and scary. That was until I started walking around the yard with it trailed behind me. He then realized I was in control of this "thing". That was this toy's undoing. Some of the feathers came loose. Then the tug-o-war began and resulted in the complete detachment of the toy part and stick. On the bright side the toy part is still well intact. This just means it needs an emergency fish pole operation. Then it can jump further distances and run back at a more controlled pace. Until we can find a pole at Goodwill, Mr. Toy will have to remain in the basement operation waiting room.

That is all for today. I hope to post more this week!
<3

Independence Day 2012

Happy Independence Day, everyone! 

I certainly hope that everyone is having a wonderful day. Although there are a few states prohibiting fireworks displays, it is not the end of the world. Well, at least not for my family. We're being kept safe by our local governments during this big drought. I do not want a fire destroying my personal property because common sense isn't that common. Unfortunately there are people who do not watch the news, and cannot think beyond the tips of their noses. For instance, a gentleman in Colorado threw a fit because he was not allowed to have a camp fire. Yes, ladies and gents. If this man would walk down a few miles, then he'd  have the largest camp fire in the world. There is always the hope for this man to win a Darwin Award for deciding to camp overnight there.

Our state, Wisconsin, is one of those banning fires, fireworks, and other fire related activities. Our last date of rain was June 16th. This truly a very dry place. Anyone can see where the water runs out from our house. It's the only green grass around. We are diligently watering the garden every other night. Our onions, lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and gourds are doing very well. The weeds are loving the water, too. In the back of my mind I hear, perhaps this wasn't the year to start a garden. Oh, well. Not much I could have done to predict this drought.

The last time we had a drought of this magnitude was 1988. I was six years old at the time. My father had just moved to Lake Geneva, WI, while my mother, sister, and I stayed in Hebron, IL. It was a dismal summer. I remember this summer because the trees were wilting and turning brown. All of the grass turned golden brown. Of course, this was way back before we had air conditioning, let alone central air in our homes. We played in the sprinkler a lot that summer. Even where the sprinkler was being run was still brown. I'm surprised our dog, Bo, didn't die of heat stroke. Bo was an American Sheepdog with very long hair. He didn't mind running away in all this heat. I swear that dog lived to run away. In some ways I believe Bo was reincarnated into our second dog, Sparky. May they both rest in peace.

Today our temperature is supposed to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat index extends the temperature to 105. This is the second straight day of these triple digit temperatures. My hope is to have 100% humidity. This is where the temperature and the dew point temperature are the same. For those readers living in the Southeast states, you'll understand why I want this. It means rain and a small cool down. I'll never forget seeing sunny blue skies while it rained in Pensacola, Florida, at NATTC.

While the temperatures soar I intend on spinning. It is the fifth day of the Tour de Fleece. I haven't been very productive this TDF. In fact, I did not spin on the first day. Our family had an emergency. Dear husband's step-mom was in ICU. We went to the hospital to visit and support my father-in-law. I spent time knitting, deciding what to do for dinner, shopping, and then dinner. After dinner our family did a lot of gardening after dinner. I was drained by all this activity. (Yes, these are excuses, but very valid excuses.) Yesterday, I did not spin either. I've been babysitting for our neighbors, and start before Peter comes home with the vehicle. Rather than walking half an acre with my wheel and accessories in terrible heat and humidity I brought knitting. In truth a whole lot of knitting didn't get done either. For some reason, my body is not getting enough sleep. I kept fall asleep while knitting and watching television. So, after I got home it was nap time. From there it was dinner, shopping for ice cream, eating ice cream, college orientation, and zoning out while spending time with the family. The best part of the evening was probably eating ice cream, which was closely followed by my bedtime reading. I simply adore All Wound Up. There are definitely parallels in our lives. Sometimes I wonder if we are distantly related.

Day 2 spinning and plying - 400 yards of BFL/Silk

Pictured above is the pre-fulling and twist setting four ply yarn from Day 2. I had to finish spinning some singles and then ply my arse off! There are some left over singles from my first four ply yarn. Those are being navajo plied today. Yes, today. I fully intend on spinning some new singles today.

This is what I plan on spinning. It's some gorgeous stuff. I also intend on drinking some of that yummy yummy tea! Thank you Kathy for this lovely swap package! I am truly in love.

I hope that everyone is having a lovely day away from the heat. May it be full of fun fibery projects!
<3

Checking in

Lately I've been rather busy. Sunday starts with church and ends with exhaustion after a usually warm farmers market. Every other Sunday I make dinner. Often after the market I am doing other outdoor chores. Monday isn't especially busy, but having Stephanie home makes up for that. I've been trying to come up with designs for a few new products. Tuesday have been days with Peter because they are usually his only day off we have time together. Last week my step-mother took Peter, Stephanie, Izzy and myself to Bong State Park. We had a total blast! Izzy learned the hard way that there were fish in the pond we swam in. One ran right into her. Peter had to relearn to keep moving in the water to keep the fish away. Stephanie is getting better at swimming. Wednesdays are usually work days at the church for the flea market. Afterwards it's outdoor chores. Thursdays have been knitting days with Momma E and Aunt Kathy, but became dedicated to the shop while Peter was working. Recently they have been taken over by the flea market work days and outdoor chores. I'm hoping to get to knitting this week. Friday is time for Bible study and other chores. Saturday is filled with all sorts of doings that are sometimes chore related and sometimes getting other work done. Soon they will be another market day at the Burlington Garden Center.



Peter's schedule is changing again this week. It's the better part of the week, but it means getting used to it again. The best thing about this schedule change is being able to go to Thursday night knitting again.



Last week I was supposed to take the children to see my mother. They were going to see Mr. Poppers Penguins at the Woodstock Theater for $1/person. (Note the word 'were'.) My sister didn't have her vehicle nor Isabella's car seat. So, that was canceled. While waiting to figure out that everything was canceled and my mother-in-law driving up to take Steph overnight I finished reading the Vampire Armand by Anne Rice. That is book number 3 out of 12 on the book challenge. The other two were Spinning: Beyond the Basics by Anne Field and Color in Spinning by Deb Menz. I recently started reading All Wound Up by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. She is a hoot! Her humor is right up my alley and closely seated next to me. Sometimes we have the exact trains of thought.

Saturday I spent some quality time with Carissa of Bumblebee Acres and her family at the Woodstock Farmers Market. It was a great time. She finally was awarded her birthday prizes. We sat down to spin, but she forgot her bobbins. It is so devastating to realize you forgot the one thing you cannot spin without. It's like loosing your first born in a store before clerks brings him or her to the service desk. The lack of bobbins did not prevent me from spinning up the BFL/Silk blend from Cloudlover named Juke Joint. We sat and talked for a good long time. It was refreshing and something we both needed for a while. Stephanie and Peter wound up buying two new books at the used book store in the square mall. After the market we went home to rest up from being in the hot hot sun.

This week looks to be a bit calmer than the last two. It means there is time dedicated to finish this pair of fingerless gloves for a friend. She is trading me massage time for them. It's an awesome trade.

Today I spent the morning talking with our accountant, chatting with friends, watching pheasants hatch, knitting, and hanging out with our outdoor cat. Bailey is a smart cat that can make it back from all sorts of jams. We hadn't seen him for almost a week before he trotted on home. (Yes, I know it is the time of year where the cats mate like rabbits, but it's nice to know he's alive.) We spent some time just laying in the sun. Afterward we went to sit in the swing. Rather than hopping in the swing, which I think he is deathly afraid of and have the scratches to prove it, he plopped down in the chimera.

Bailey is one adorable cat.

So, that leads me to typing this post.

Although the weather has improved from the sticky hot and humid week before, we still haven't seen a whole lot of rain this season. The last time it rained was June 16th. We need it. Please, pray for rain. This week we are expected to reach the 100 degree mark. I am dreading that day. My sister wants to take the kids to the zoo. She is totally nuts! I think we should go to her house and hang out in the pool, but that is just me. If anything I'll be driving out to see Momma E and Aunt Kathy. Even then the day will be maddening in a car without air conditioning.

For now, I bid everyone adieu. It is time to knit. Have a good afternoon!
<3

TDF: Team Phat 2012

 Hello!! If you're joining or have already joined Team Phat for the 2012 Tour de Fleece don't forget to pick up the new Ravatar:

 

What do you have in your stash that you're going to bust this season? 

I'm busting some white Cormo roving, Cloudlover stash, and some of the unseen yummies my stash swap partner is sending me. I love swaps! There are so many fun yummies that are so unseen. I plan on sending my swap buddy a second installment of just locks in the middle of the tour. She's going to be a lucky lady. 

What are your obstacles on the course? Are you planning on learning a different kind of spinning? Do you have a technique you're concentrating on? Perhaps you'd like to learn how to navajo ply or spin in scrap yarns? There is so much freedom and fun involved in this lovely event. 

I'd love to hear more about your ideas and excitement! 

<3

A little dreamy...

Well, I'm going to get right down to it, quick like a band aid. Today I submitted my application to Mission: Small Business. Chase and LivingSocial are teaming up to give twelve lucky small business owners a $250,000 grant! I am going to be one of those twelve. This grant would allow me to pay off the business credit card, open a brick and mortar shop, and become a dealer of fine yarns, fiber, and spinning wheels. It would open the door to the bigger idea of having a fiber arts weekend retreat center. This dream is keeping me alive and kicking! Please, vote for LMS Studio Arts of Elkhorn, WI. I need 250 votes by the 30th of June to compete for one of twelve spaces. Be sure to cross your fingers, too.

There are a few other things to share with you tonight as well. I've been searching for studio space for about a month or so. I'm happy to report that it has been found. Ted of Geneva Street Antiques are going to be sharing their upstairs kitchen space with me. I'm so darn excited! Ted, his wife, and his staff are great people! It's such a wonderful place to be in. I hope to set up camp in a couple of weeks!

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, has wonderful business owners. You can tell they are passionate about what they do. I love the positive atmosphere of this town and its business people. The traffic and parking meters I could do without, but it's not the end of the world.

Keep dreaming, and dream big!
Have a great weekend, too!!! 
<3