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Vintage leopard fur brim hat,carding wool,smashed finger, knitting with cotton, some old photos of me in hats.
A carded batt called Vegas Lady, old photo of me & my friend Sarah, and my Mom, another wool batt called Sea Cave, new studio addition, recent sewn pillows, and a hat I made custom recently.
I've been carding fiber batts, listing them on Etsy. Suffering through some triple digit heat. Fouth of July was uneventful. My husband wasn't called out for any fires. Not at all like last year.
I woke up today.....and my husband told me our friend Forest's house had burned down. It's just across the county map where our town's fire crew can go. The *paid* fire crew from Lewiston showed up, and only had 400 gallons of water. They couldn't pump water from my friends 17,000 gallon cistern. My friend lost everything, including his car & truck.
His house wasn't insured for fire. It was a really old farmhouse, with outdated knob & tube wiring. The few insurance agents that came out refused to insure him. Terrible thing is, our local fire crew (my husband is on it) could have pumped from the cistern. If only they had been called. The fire crew on site didn't call! It makes no sense at all. My friends are homeless, and living in a 5th wheel trailer. At least they have that.
My most recent collection from this spring, on my workbench. I only made 14 hats, which is micro-small. I usually make about 30 pieces.
My hat display at a recent show. I've been dividing my booth in half to refelect both interests. One side is hats, the other yarn and fibers.
My studio addition is fully sided. It needs decorative siding to match the rest of my studio (aka refurbished 220 square foot shed). The roof needs to be swept off, leaks fixed. Wiring, insulation, sheet rock & paint to come. Landscaping will come after that! Camper shell, and satellite dish don't make the studio look so great either. It's a work in progress!I am temporarily closing my Hatdiva Etsy shop. I admit it, my attentions have wandered. I am putting more energy into my Atomicblue fiber shop. At the moment, it's more rewarding. I do like making stuff for both shops.....it's just that I'm caught up in wool. I have been conflicted to a certain degree. Hatdiva was my fist shop, it is hard to divide time. It is easier to a certain degree to make fiber batts, and spin yarn. It's process oriented like anything else, though the results seem to be more immediate. Plus it's what really is working for me right now, with a busy three year old underfoot.
A fancy hat can take up to 3-4 hours to craft. I've been known to spend half a day on a very elaborate hat. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that inspiration hasn't been as available as I would like. One factor is space. I'm working on that, with the studio addition. When there's a place for everything, and everything in it's place it will be good. I'm excited to be so close to finishing with the addition.
The other thing is, if you're going to do anything it shouldn't be half way. So these next few weeks will be focusing on making some new hats. I'll reopen the Hatdiva shop soon with a new made over look!
From "for sale", to ownership. We'd driven by this storefront many times.
It's an older building with a big old facade. Kind of old town, old west looking. 
Our town even has a really cool old style street lights. I like them alot!
Off to the side, there's a grassy yard, with pathway to an apartment. 
One bedroom studio apartment, with laundry.....and a storage shed!
Cool news! After all that freak out of banks going....hubs and I bought a building. We'd had some savings left over from selling our 50 acre ranch property. Thankfully we sold it last August, before the real financial paranoia began. Needless to say, we freaked with the rest of the general public, and pulled out the cash. We plunked it down on a piece of main street. Main street + a studio rental, with yard! It's rented, so it's paying for itself. The building has a storefront. Potential.
Our town isn't cool, hip or even largely populated (think 189 people). So a down home cafe won't fly. One walls of the store is lined with shelving. So I got to thinking. Storage? Seasonal yard sale? I'm not up for running a store. With a 650+ square foot house, we'll use part of it for storage. A place to put the treadmill? Definitely. We're not new to commercial property owning. We own a large turn of the century brick building in another town. It houses three main street stores, and five apartments above. I have to help fund my fiber lifestyle somehow!
I managed to pull off a custom hat in a bonnet style, recently for a local lady. She's wearing it to a pioneer days event. 
It had a lined brim.....which was, um difficult. Not impossible! I should have ruched the fabric, but needed to keep it simple. It's hard to hide stitches when lining a brim!
Handmade flowers are always a nice accent. I feel the frayed edge adds a bit more to the vintage feel. Plus, that's my style. (more photos in my Flickr, click the photo gallery widget to your right).
I think I've reached the point where I actually miss the old 900 sq ft studio! I don't miss where we used to live, just the space. My new little studio (well new for the 20 months) is busting out with stuff. Well, not stuff, wool! I've been buying local fleeces like it's going out of style. About 3/4 of my space is taken over by carders, and wool. The good news is.....my addition is going great!
I can't wait to tape and mud the sheet rock! My husband bought 4 windows yesterday. Ouch, $700. Low E stuff isn't cheap. Major bummer too, part of the big six footer broke. The slider inner glass went kaput in transit. We've ordered a replacement, tho a bit of a drag. I'm leaning towards laminate for flooring as it's super durable. Tho part of me wants to spring for the bamboo I saw at Costco. Laminate would be better for the addition, as I'll be felting and dyeing in there. Maybe laminate that looks like bamboo? It'll be nice to have real flooring instead of sanded/painted plywood. Easier to keep clean!
The T-111 is just the sheeting. We're going to go over with some older reclaimed wood when we can find it. Luckily we'd had the press board siding laying about. It's now $$$, we bought it when it was $.
Well not totally. My mother in law is coming from California to visit us on Thursday. So I'll be scrambling about cleaning up the house soon. I am one to put off housework! After all there's more important things to do (like garden, make hats, & card wool!). Not that the house is a shambles. It just needs a quick vacuum and the floors a once over with Mrs. Meyers. Which by chance we're out of. So I'm considering going to town. Either today or tomorrow....today? Can't make up my mind. I am such a Libra! I want to also get a kiddie pool and swimsuit for the kid. Her other pool was deluged by some mud this spring. I haven't bothered digging it out. We had a real wet Spring!
I want to get one of those pools with a mini slide attached. It'll be nice to use once we get our patio finished. I found a great source for pea gravel, just $10.75 a ton! Tho, I need weed block, and help with getting the pea gravel here. Turns out our new, totally awesome car seat doesn't fit the truck. So if I were to go get pea gravel it's a no-go. Since the little one is pretty much my shadow. Plans to use the VW for gravel procurement are slim to none...never mind that it's a hatchback wagon! Oh boy...I wonder if the kiddie pool would fit in the car. Oh boy.
The latest stack from the amazing Erin McMorris, a truly wonderful artist with color! Available here 
Various psychedelic patterned fabrics from Erin McMorris that I am flipping out for! I ordered some of these the other day and can hardly wait to get my hands on them!
This green one totally reminds me of the prints from the 60's & 70's Used to be you'd only see this in double knit from the thrift store.
Anna Maria Horner's Cathedral pattern in Royal. Isn't it spectacular!
Anna Maria Horner's Fortune in chocolate. From the Good Folks collection. Yum, yum, yum delicioso! (ok, we watch too much Dora).
I get weak kneed and my pulse speeds up when I get around fabric. Especially brightly colored pretty fabric. It's in my blood. I can't help it! I have memories of going under the round fabric displays at the fabric store. I clearly recall my Grandma telling me to stop. She was an avid quilter, and crocheter. She taught me how to sew on her 50's Singer slant needle (which I now have!). Like I said, it's a genetic thing. Fabric, it talks to me. It whispers......buy me. It demands to be made into a cute summer dress. Curtains, cut me, sew me! Some of the latest fabrics are just astounding. They are super creative, colorful, and nostalgic, yet modern.
My fave fabric enabler is: Fabric Worm! Cynthia is based in So. California, and is just now opening a shop! She's also the mom of two boys, which is really cool. I love mommy entrepreneurs. Fabric Worm is just an all around fun site, easy to navigate, and compare fabrics in your cart. She also has anEtsy site. Oh my....she's up to 10,000 sales on Etsy! Could it be the fabric. Maybe. You just have to go see for yourself. Even if you don't sew. They make stitch witchery fusible seam stuff after all! *Fabric photos used with permission from Fabric Worm*
Posts
A carded batt called Vegas Lady, old photo of me & my friend Sarah, and my Mom, another wool batt called Sea Cave, new studio addition, recent sewn pillows, and a hat I made custom recently.
