Busy, Busy, Busy

Well isn't that just life? Busy, Busy, Busy. I don't think I'd really have it any other way, otherwise I'd never have a craft closet that is currently spilling out into nearly half the room! lol. It probably stems from Mom always telling me as a child that busy hands are happy hands. (Although I think she kept the four of us girls busy so she'd know where we were and to keep us out of trouble! Smart lady!)

Although I've been busy with fiber lately, I have no new photos of what I've been up too. I finished washing the mohair I was gifted, but took no pics. (How many pics of that do you really want to see??) I've also dyed some more mohair, and a sample skein of cheingora. Also, I've gotten carded most of the mohair that I've dyed. (I'll get some pics of that posted soon as it came out very interesting.) While carding the fab mohair, I determined that the dog slickers I've been using have just about bitten the dust! As they are so small, the carding takes FOREVER and I keep catching my thumb on one of them. Results are tired hands and shredded thumb. I've also determined that if I keep up in this fashion two things will result. 1- I will still be carding the mohair until around the time that I turn 90 --or the padded wagon comes to take me away.(It's a sure bet the padded wagon will show up first.) And 2- I will no longer have a thumb on my right hand which will seriously impare my spinning, typing, scrapping, hitchhiking.....ect. lol. So once again.....the job has come to my rescue. One of our vendors is a vet supply company. While the rep was in the store yesterday, I recalled that we used to , years ago, get wool "carders" in for our sheep people. These are the type that are used to groom out sheep for showing. There are MANY options. After a quick call to the warehouse to determine which I could use for carding fiber, a pair were ordered. They are not the prettiest things, but I'll save about $30 and they will work MUCH MUCH faster than the current dog slickers. (*big sigh of relief from the right hand thumb here.*) I still plan on buying a drum carder, as hand carding out the current 12 fleece I have will be a study in insanity, (Watch it...I know what you are thinking!) and I still have about 16 lbs. of mohair to card, blend and do with what I want. ;) OH the joys of a growing stash!

The pics posted are of beaded (duh!) bracelet/earring sets that I made a bit ago. Well, over a year ago, I guess. My how time flies! Please excuse the "lint, dust and fiber" on the black background.....I guess I need to clean the "closet" out! ;) I havn't done any beading or jewerly making in ages. I havn't touched my scrapbooking stuff in months either! Seems I've been caught up in life and have squeezed in fiber stuff here and there. I will be making forays into the other craft areas of my life soon though as it's my turn to host the scrap party! I think I need to step into the craft closet and get a bit more organized before that happens tho. Oh and I'll need to hide the fiber "stash" a bit or the gals with think I'm certifiable! (Again, hush!)