Every spare moment of my life right now is spent at the loom, weaving my way to Christmas Showcase in Little Rock. Not only do I feel very honored to be in this prestigious show, but Shawn and I are going to be right inside the front entrance, so our booth has to be full.
He and Lena have been tying brooms like crazy, after having a very good October, so that half of the booth will be full with colorful, creative brooms. I'm a wee bit competitive, so I want my half of the booth to be as fully and beautifully stocked with rugs, shawls, hats, scarves, felt balls, spirit bells and maybe, if I can get to them, a few handwoven handbags.
This is about the time before every show that I always remember, these things not only have to be designed, created, made and finished; they have to be tagged, bagged and presented in a pleasing manner.
Shawn is working on the biggest part of that equation, building a wood framed, fabric lined 10x15 foot booth that will make a great display space. And I've located and purchased several hat displays and I'll use my rug ladder and old spirit bell display. But I still have to tag everything!
For my commercial yarn shawls, I've started recycling greeting cards that I've received. I cut the front off and fold it into a triangle. Then I hole punch the corner and write a bit about the shawl, its name, the fiber content of the shawl and care instructions inside the tag. I put the price on the back.
For my handspun shawls and fleece rugs, I am developing a new tag. We've had several types of tags in the past. I used to have a slick, colorful tag with a picture of our Grand Champion ram Broken O Caruso on the front with Fleecyful Wool Rugs at the top and care instructions on the back. For the last several years I've used a home-printed on parchment type paper tag that has a line drawing that Shawn did of our homebred Jacob Sheep ram LHF Dogwood. Inside I hand write information about the sheep or goat that grew the fleece in the item, care instructions and a bit about my rug making process. They are nice tags and I may use quite a few of them for this show.
But I keep having people ask for pictures of the sheep and goats that grew the fleece in the item they are buying, so I've started making tags with a picture of the animal on front, printed information about them inside and care instructions on the bottom. I really like these tags, but right now it is taking me almost an hour to create each tag, and that's for the critters I already have pics of. As time goes on, I plan to do one for each piece I make, as I finish it, but there will only be a few on some of the new rugs at Christmas Showcase.
And now, back to weaving.
He and Lena have been tying brooms like crazy, after having a very good October, so that half of the booth will be full with colorful, creative brooms. I'm a wee bit competitive, so I want my half of the booth to be as fully and beautifully stocked with rugs, shawls, hats, scarves, felt balls, spirit bells and maybe, if I can get to them, a few handwoven handbags.
 |
| This rug of Dapper Dan's fleece has the picture of him below on the tag. It also has the Scrappie dog seal of approval. |
This is about the time before every show that I always remember, these things not only have to be designed, created, made and finished; they have to be tagged, bagged and presented in a pleasing manner.
Shawn is working on the biggest part of that equation, building a wood framed, fabric lined 10x15 foot booth that will make a great display space. And I've located and purchased several hat displays and I'll use my rug ladder and old spirit bell display. But I still have to tag everything!
For my commercial yarn shawls, I've started recycling greeting cards that I've received. I cut the front off and fold it into a triangle. Then I hole punch the corner and write a bit about the shawl, its name, the fiber content of the shawl and care instructions inside the tag. I put the price on the back.
 |
| LHF Dapper Dan, our Jacob Sheep herdsire. |
But I keep having people ask for pictures of the sheep and goats that grew the fleece in the item they are buying, so I've started making tags with a picture of the animal on front, printed information about them inside and care instructions on the bottom. I really like these tags, but right now it is taking me almost an hour to create each tag, and that's for the critters I already have pics of. As time goes on, I plan to do one for each piece I make, as I finish it, but there will only be a few on some of the new rugs at Christmas Showcase.
And now, back to weaving.
