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Penland

By Stef | June 25, 2009

I’m getting very excited about my upcoming trip to Penland.

One of my first entries here on this blog is about my journey to Penland to take a weaving class with Liz Williamson. This was my first visit to Penland and I fell in love with the place.

Keith and I went to Penland together in 2003, while we were in the process of selling our first house. We sold the house “by owner” and the purchaser had a dishonest realtor. Needless to say, this created a lot of stress for the two of us and did not allow us to fully enjoy ourselves. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

This trip will be very different. I’m traveling with my mother this time and I’m not in the middle of selling or purchasing real estate.

This time I’m taking an enameling class rather than a weaving class. I am very, very excited. I’ve been trying to learn how to bezel set things in anticipation of the class.

Here’s an example of an enameled piece that I’ve set with fine silver bezel wire.

I think I understand the process, but I still need a lot of practice. It took me three tries to solder the bezel wire. I was a bit frustrated.

I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to prepare for the class. I broke out the rectifier last weekend to conduct some electroforming experiments. I’m pretty pleased with the results, but haven’t had time to take pictures yet.

I’m also experimenting with ways to combine enameling with fiber techniques and sketching, sketching, sketching. There are so many ideas floating around in my head. I’m hoping that my time at Penland will give me an opportunity to bring some of them to life.

Topics: Jewelry, Metals | No Comments »

Featherstitch Fantail

By Stef | June 16, 2009

I received this package in the mail last week.

It’s the Featherstitch Fantail brooch!

It’s even more beautiful in person than it was online.

Thank you, Bridget!

Topics: Life at Home | 1 Comment »

work in progress

By Stef | June 10, 2009

Keith’s surgery went well and he’s at home recovering. Whew!

I’m back to work and trying to finish some things before I leave to run errands and check in on Keith.

I mentioned that the website is a work in progress, right? Well, this really became apparent to me this morning because we use Internet Explorer 6 here at work and the banner is completely crazy - things floating all over the place. In case you’ve come to my blog using IE 6, this is not how we intend for it to look.

I’ve asked Keith to take a look at this when he emerges from his deep slumber, but I’m guessing that I’ll have to live with a crazy banner until he feels up to the task of fixing things.

Topics: Life at Home | 1 Comment »

A new look!

By Stef | June 7, 2009

After nearly two years of darkness (black background, white text), I finally have a new look for my blog. Keith & I designed the site and Keith built it for me. (Thank you, sweetie!) I’m so happy to have a different look.

There are still some kinks to work out, but I think we’re on the way to a real site. I’ve still got to get some content together and choose some pictures for the gallery. Very exciting!

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Oh. Speaking of exciting, how about that hockey game last night? Red Wings 5, Penguins 0. I was so engrossed in the game that I didn’t even pick up the embroidery once.

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So… Keith’s having surgery tomorrow. It’s minor, but we’re both a little nervous because he’s going to be knocked out for an hour. I’m hoping to get some fun quotes from him as he emerges from the anesthesia. He still teases me about the things I said after surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed.

I’ll be doing nursing duty for the next couple of days, so it’s unlikely I’ll be on the internet much.

Topics: Life at Home | 4 Comments »

farm share, week two

By Stef | June 5, 2009

Today is a day away from the office. I work a 9/10 schedule, which means that I work longer days for 9 of the 10 and have alternating Fridays off. I love this schedule (4/5 would be better, but I’m not complaining now). Usually I am a flurry of activity on these days off, running errands and doing other chores that I haven’t been able to do during the week.

Today, however, is a lazy day. I slept in late and cooked breakfast. Now I’m sitting in front of the computer with a cup of coffee…after I finish typing, I’m planning to go out on to the deck for a little bit of outdoor embroidery time.

I’m hoping to see this little family of Sandhill Cranes again today (I snapped this picture before I left for work yesterday):

This is a picture of the cranes in March when they had just arrived. I believe they were scouting the property for a nice place to raise a family.

The second week of our Tantre Farm Share consisted of lettuce, lettuce, and more lettuce. We also received a variety of greens, spring onions, radishes, and strawberries. I cooked the greens with garlic in brown butter with a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes. We ate them this morning with eggs from Len’s ladies. Mmmm…

Buster enjoyed the photo session.

Topics: Life at Home | No Comments »

Featherstitch Fantail! Bead Style!

By Stef | June 4, 2009

I just discovered that I was a winner of the Featherstitch Fantail giveaway.

I rarely enter giveaways, but I couldn’t resist this one. The composition of these little birds, the beautiful colors, and the careful embroidery…well, you should see them for yourself.

Bridget Farmer, the creator of these beauties, is extremely talented. She blogs about her creative process here and you can purchase her work at galleries and through her Etsy shops: bridbird and bridgetfarmerprints. She’s got drawings, etchings, print gocco (gocco prints?), all with a very distinctive style that is quite different than the whimsical style of the featherstitch fantail embroidery. Bridget is obviously a woman of many talents!

I’m very excited to have won this giveaway and I can’t wait to see the little brooch in person!

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I also recently received an email from Lorelei, who informed me that she used one of my beads in a project featured in this month’s issue of Bead Style.

It doesn’t surprise me at all that Lorelei’s work is now appearing in magazines. She’s got a wonderful talent for putting things together. I’ve told her more than once that I wished she lived nearby so that she could give me some tips about combining disparate elements into beautiful pieces.

Lorelei works a full-time job, but still manages to make time to create stunning jewelry using artisan beads and findings. Before you purchase any mass-produced jewelry, you should head on over to Lorelei’s shops to she what she has available. She’s recently opened a shop, Jewelry by Lorelei Eurto, at Artfire. There are also many pieces available in her Etsy shop.

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I also recently discovered that Bonnie Tarses of Weaving Spirit has opened an Etsy shop in celebration of 50 years of handweaving. Incredible!

I have to say that I laugh every time I get a JJill or Anthropologie catalog in the mail and see the jewelry and accessory offerings. There are so many creative, independent artists out there who are selling their work at reasonable prices - there’s just no need to purchase mass produced jewelry and weavings at the high prices offered in the catalogs.

Just head on over to Etsy or Artfire and take a look at what’s available - you’ll be astonished.

Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Midwestern Rhythm

By Stef | June 2, 2009

I don’t typically name the pieces I create. However, this is the name that has been rambling through my mind as I work on this embroidery. I began working on the first of nine pieces at the beginning of April.

It’s now the beginning of June and I’ve gotten six of the nine pieces to a place where they’re ready to be placed next to one another so that I can evaluate the final composition.

As I’ve been working on this piece, I’ve been thinking about the effects of the economy on the people in Michigan and the Midwest (and the world in general, for that matter). It’s difficult not to think about this due to the nature of my employment. I often go to a quiet place for lunch to work on the embroidery after a morning of hearing about the tragic effects of layoffs and business closings.

So…this embroidery is a bit different to me than my prior pieces. I feel a bit awkward saying this, but I’m trying to infuse the piece with positive thoughts so that when I hang it on my grey government walls, I am reminded of this during my work.

Topics: Fiber | 2 Comments »

Farm share, week one

By Stef | May 28, 2009

In response to Kate’s post about her Tantre Farm share, I’ve decided to take pictures of our weekly shares. Well, I took pictures of our first week’s share. I’m not sure whether I’ll have the energy to keep this up (I may need it to prep all of the delicious vegetables).

We split a farm share with our friends last year, but they decided to get a full share this year. It’s probably for the best - it was quite a pain to split one melon or four asparagus spears.

Keith & I have committed to picking up our vegetables on Wednesday evening and prepping them on the same day. Time will tell whether this is too ambitious. I just don’t want any of this lovely organic produce to go to waste.

I didn’t have time last night to arrange all of the vegetables we received in our share. The over-wintered potatoes were in the pot before I thought to grab the camera.

I boiled the potatoes and we ate them with a drizzle of Pasolivo olive oil, grey sea salt, and ground pepper while we prepped the rest of the vegetables. They didn’t have the opportunity to pose for a photograph.

Beautiful asparagus and radishes.

Due to the farm share split last year, I didn’t have an opportunity to taste Tantre Farm’s asparagus. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever had anything but grocery store asparagus. I cannot believe how different it tastes. Much more assertive than the asparagus I’m used to eating. I lightly steamed the four stalks and we ate them just that way. Plain. Mmmm….I do love asparagus.

We received four small stalks of rhubarb. I made a little compote with rhubarb, brown sugar, a touch of cloves, lemon juice, orange peel and a teensy bit of vanilla. We haven’t eaten this yet, but I think it would be a wonderful accompaniment to grilled chicken. I think we’ll probably eat it with whipped cream or swirl it into cottage cheese for breakfast.

The rhubarb peels are beautiful.

Rhubarb peel.

Rhubarb peel and radishes.

The radishes from Tantre Farm are wonderful. My favorite way to eat radishes is with a butter and sea salt. However, I’ve never eaten cooked radishes, I thought I’d use one of the bunches for a braised radish recipe.*

Observation: Braising radishes causes them to lose some of their radishiness. They were tender-crisp and colorful, but the really snappy peppery taste had all but disappeared. The sauce is a reduction of the water, butter and shallots used to braise the radishes. I would make this dish again, but I’ve since seen a recipe online that uses chicken stock for the braising rather than water. I think this would provide a richer flavor, so I’ll probably try this next time. Or, in the alternative, I’ll try the recipe Kate posted for roasted radishes with radish greens. Sounds yummy!

Oh, and to wrap things up… here’s a picture of the morels we found in the front yard last week. This got me thinking about purchasing my own morel growing kit. However, a couple of our friends told me that this is unlikely to work very well. Anyone out there have experience growing their own morels?

I’d love to have more of these beauties. They’re so delicious.

Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Copper & Resin Necklace

By Stef | May 28, 2009

resin and copper pendant

Originally uploaded by distracted muse

This is a picture of the necklace that Keith and I gave to H. this past weekend at a gathering in her honor.

I made the pendant from a copper pipe and silver tubing. Imagery of a bird is covered in hard resin and embedded in the pendant (a picture of a tree is on the reverse side). The pendant is suspended on a piece of yarn that I’ve dyed by hand and crocheted with small beads.

Keith fabricated the clasp. He has a talent for wire wrapping, which is a skill that I have yet to develop fully.

I hope H. likes it. I’m happy that the pendant is going to a good home. I feel like I’ve barely done anything since we returned from Scotland, so it feels good to finish something.

Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Islay (and stuff)

By Stef | May 18, 2009

016 Islay Highland Cow

Originally uploaded by distracted muse

So… Keith is still sick and I’m not feeling great myself. Just haven’t had the energy to write about our trip. I may just have to post more pictures on Flickr and leave it at that. It was a wonderful trip.

We took over 1300 pictures and have narrowed our slideshow to 200 of our favorites. I took at least 150 cool shots of textures for textile inspiration and another 100 or so of landscapes for my mother to use as painting inspiration. Too many pictures, too little time!

On one hand, I’d like to document the trip on this blog with pictures and narrative so that I can remember the little things that happened on the trip.

On the other hand, I’m ready to post pictures of my embroidery adventures and write about my upcoming trip to Penland (I can’t wait).

I may do a combination of vacation pics and crafty things…or I may just post a picture of this Highland Cow and disappear for another week or two.

Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »

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