This is why I went on Vacation!

I have been fortunate enough to go on several vacations and trips this summer. For those of you who don't know, I am a high school English teacher (in my spare time.) Teaching affords me many "luxuries," a long summer break being the best one. So since school let out at the end of May, I have gotten to go to Alaska, Dallas (twice), and a recent mini-vacation to Colorado. You may ask: Why so many trips? Well, for one, I like to go and the other is that I NEED A BREAK!! Just to illustrate why, this is a picture of my 2 year-old daughter. As I was packing to leave for a trip to see my two best friends from college, she got into my make-up bag, and this is the result.



Ah well, they say that they only get to be more of a challenge as they get older. She is such a mess, but I have a feeling she will be worth the trouble! I love you, baby girl!!

Sugi Celebration

With the help of Clare from Silk Cat Design, I got these two scarves. I am so excited and feel like this is now a technique that I can continue working with. Yeah!! I think these two scarves are going to go to my college friends that I am going to go see this weekend.

I have recently been in contact and receiving tips (really lessons) via email from a very talented artist named Clare. She owns Silk Cat Designs and her scarves are breath-taking! She has been kind enough to send some instructions for some of her Shibori techniques and I am practicing at this very minute.

Stop by her site and admire her creations. She also creates beautiful jewelry and other accessories. I hope to share some of her influence when I get them washed and dried. http://www.silkcatdesign.com

We celebrated our 4th of July by setting up shop in Canyon, Tx for their annual 4th of July Celebration. We had a great day and had a great time talking to people about hand-dyeing. But the "hit" of the day--Donna Sharp Tote Bags. I sold tons and I was so happy to see people leaving with stylish and fun bags on their shoulders! I have already placed another order and I hope to have those ready to go for our next show.

Here are a few pictures of our set-up!




After the festival we spent a great evening at my sister's house. She lives right next to the park in Amarillo where they shoot off their HUGE fireworks display. It was like a front row seat. We hope everyone else had a great holiday, too!

ETC First Monday SALE!!

At Etsy.com, I am part of a street team called EtsyTexasCrafters where we spend a lot of time promoting our shops and hand-made crafts from Texas. As a part of this, we hold a group-wide sale on the first Monday of every month. Below is a list of the participating shops and their specials--which last only until midnight today!! Hurry on over to etsy and support these amazing crafters!

http://etsytexascrafters.etsy.com/

Update on 7/12/07--I removed the HUGE list, so visit the ETC store and look at the favorites and watch for next month's First Monday Sale!