First Craft Show

Crooked Wood Designs and Kyla's Country Crafts teamed up over Memorial Day weekend at the Open House of Steffi Heuss, silver and crafts maker in Irasburg, Vermont. Her are a few shots of our crafts such as Terra Looms, RootTrees, Sock Monkeys, and planters and bird houses. We plan to have another go at this in July when the Irasburg Church Fair is on, across the street from Steffi's house! We did sell a loom, several sock monkeys and other wooden crafts. Steffi did well selling her wonderful jewelry.

Beach Gems

After tumbling, here are a variety of stones from the beach. Some beautiful blacks, grays and greens here as well as reddish brown. I'm sorting right now to make some earring sets. They make very elegant earrings. The solid color ones are nice, as are some of the speckled varieties. I'll post some finished jewelry in a few weeks.

Seashells

I have just finished an order for a set of cards and a shirt featuring seashell motifs, and thought I'd share some photos before sending them off in the mail. Thinking the carved potatoes might be of interest, I've included them too!

NEK Sock Monkey is HERE!

Some say, why did you do this? It had to be done, I say. After a instructional session with crochet sculptor and fiber artist, Nancy Lewis, www.medusahats.com, at the new fiber arts gallery in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, I knew the secret to making moose antlers for Jocko. Here he is wearing his proud moose antler and NEK hat. He is ready to meet the public, don't you think? In the future, there will be other monkeys in the NEK series, wearing festive northwoodsy colors. He can be seen May 29-30 in Irasburg at the Open House of Steffi Heuss, silver and crafts maker. Other crocheted pieces will be on display along with the debut of the Terra Looms and Root Trees. We are "in production mode" from now until then.

Terra Loom Weaving

I had so much fun weaving some fabric scraps, ferns and dandelions on a finished table top Terra Loom. I can change out the flowers, and add other things, like feathers, fleece, dried grasses, anything that you can hook into it, and then I can take it off and hang it up.Kyla and I are working hard to prepare for the state of Vermont Open Studio Weekend, May 29 and 30. We will have Terra Looms and RootTrees on display in Irasburg at the studio/home of Steffi Heuss, a fine artist and silvercrafter. Find out more about the Open Studio Weekend at
http://www.vermontcrafts.com/links/open.html .

Sock Monkey II - Jocko

Jocko has joined our growing collection of sock monkeys. I prefer the rag sock style and will add the sock heel pattern under the tail for a more authentic look. This one will change when I redo the arms in the rag sock colors. They are so endearing and soft, the appeal is obvious. We have other monkeys in soft pastel, solid colors. Leftover yarns somehow make it into these monkeys with predictable consequences....running out! Always, always have enough yarn or know where you can get more. Jocko will make some child happy, I know.

Sock Monkey

Socko, the first of many sock monkeys that we will add to our crochet inventory as we prepare for the summer craft fairs in and around the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. He was a joy to make and Jessica my daughter named him Fred . As Socko, he will be joined by the next one, Jocko, that will look like a rag sock.

Spinning Away

There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the pile of unspun wool shrink in size. It's exciting to see the color and appearance of the final yarn, too. It's been a great activity during early spring rainy weather!

Newspaper Pots for Seedlings

Is it just me, or do you all agree this winter has gone by fast? I can hardly believe it's already time to start this year's garden seeds. Rather than using my old plastic pots again, I decided to try this approach of recycling old newspapers and making them into pots for my tomato and pepper seedlings. It's easy to do with this nifty little wooden apparatus. I'm curious to see how well they hold up until it's time to transplant into larger containers.

Terra Loom

This is our first Terra Loom  made from peeled cedar posts and some twine. Kyla wove in some twigs for the birds to stand on and some popcorn, apples and berries for them to eat. Add some grass and ribbon for color. When it is a little bare, weave anything you like into it.  Remove the tapestry to hang on a wall or porch and make another one. We will be making more looms of birch, unpeeled cedar and beaver chewed wood. A smaller table top version called a Dream Loom, is underway. These will be ready in time for the summer. Contact us if you are interested in a purchase.