Woven Cards for the Kids of FestivALL!

I am happy to have finally made an example of this woven card to show you. It's a great example of what the woven cards that kids of any age will be creating by hand at FestivALL! I am really excited to be working with the kids and this is a free activity in the Children's "Make and Take" tents. I will be demonstrating on Saturday the 26th of June from 10-6 and then on Sunday the 27th of June from 11-5 in Charleston, WV in front of the library downtown.

I start from a simple card that comes with an envelope. I then cut 1/2" inch slits horizontally in the card so you can weave paper vertically though them. I have cut the papers down to 1/2" strips. Here is the basic example:

I am also cutting a frame to go around the woven area. Or I may just cut paper so kids can glue stick four different papers around as a frame. Might be easier over all to just plan on the latter.

To also give it a nice finish there will be a blank sheet we place on the inside of the card to hide the woven paper from the inside.  Here is just a small example of the papers from which the kids get to choose.:

A lot of the papers are hand-made and have glitter, too. It's a fun and quick project that I hope just let's kids play with paper and learn to simply weave. You can use it as a thank you card, birthday card, etc.

Hope to see you there and can't wait to be in the tents!

Remembering Fall Wall Hanging - Hand-dyed wool yarn

When I was in grad school I had the wonderful experience of taking a spinning and dyeing class. What a world of information I learned, and was completely turned on to dyeing yarns. The class focused on wool, and I was amazed at the amount of colors we came up with. This is nothing new. People have been dyeing wool and other fibers for centuries, but what fun it was for me.

Here are some examples of what I learned. I created these cards as a recipe box to keep, and glad I did that I seeing I want to do this again soon!

Hand-dyeing yarn is a slow process, but a very rewarding one. You don't have to do a project like this one where I used many, many colors together. You can simply dye one skein of yarn and weave, knit or crochet a scarf or any project you choose! With dying your own yarn you get the exact color you like and that is the benefit once you know the technique of which natural dye to use. No one else's art will look like yours because you benefit from the knowledge you gained in dyeing wool. 

"Remembering Fall" is simply an elegant addition to your home. Creatively hand-woven in an eight-harness twill pattern. Each color has been dyed individually by me to achieve the color palette I desired. I designed the weaving as I wove it grabbing the color I thought I wanted to go next to the other and so forth. I finished the wall hanging by twisting the tassels.

The color palette is reminiscent of the soft dull hues of fall. Think of walking through a field, forest or along a pond for color inspirations for this art piece during an early fall day.

This should be hung in your stair well or on a wall away from direct sunlight or artificial light so that the colors do not fade. It could also be a wide table runner or placed over another piece of furniture like an upright piano as a runner. "Remembering Fall" was lovingly created to enhance your home and bring joy to your life every day.

The size of this wall hanging is 22" (approximately) x 72" (approximately - tassels included).