All is Right in the World of Fuzziness

On June 5, The Fuzzy Bunny participated in the Wayne County History Museum's Artisan's Faire.  This was a craft show with a twist, where each artist demonstrated their craft in the actual museum.  I met some great local artisans, learned a bit about local history, and hung out in an old jail.  There's no better place for a craft show than an old jail, right?  The museum is actually the old jail/sherrif's residence.  I was set up in the weaving/fiber room, but the jail was fascinating in a creepy, dark kind of way.

The show led to lots of requests for our attendance at other local shows, which is fantastic!  It's always nice to have my work appreciated, and I would love to stay closer to home for shows than travel constantly.  More time for the making of things!

Everything is coming together.  Exciting business opportunities are coming my way and I was just offered a fantastic job as an attorney editor.  It took a long time to sign all the paperwork, but I'm almost an official employee!  After working full-time for the past month or so in a temp job, I'm confident I can keep up a full-time job and maintain The Fuzzy Bunny.  I can't think of a better way to spend my time, dividing it between legal work and using my hands to make practical objects.  On that note, my latest project is a pair of fantastic baby duck socks for expecting friends.  So cute!

Best Smellers

When I left Vermont, I was disappointed to move away from the creative community that I had become a part of.  The other night I participated in my first event since the move, and it was really good to do a show in New York again. I'm happy to find myself part of a new creative community, full of artists and fine creaftspeople who are proving to be resourceful and supportive.

The other night's event was Art & Whimsy, which was a fundraiser for the Empire State Lyric Theatre.  There were lions flanking the entrance, a lemon-themed decor, and spectacular live music throughout the evening.  I failed to take any photographs of the venue, but you can take a look at Stefani Tadio's blog.  Stefani was set up in the same room as I and proved to be an excellent vending companion.  Her specialty is hand-stitched paper art, which is really intricate and pretty.  I couldn't help but pick up a few of her sticky notes; they will make excellent gifts (excuse the plastic, I should have photographed them without it...).

I was so happy to see two artists from Second Storie!   Shanna Murray and Vicki Hartman both set up tables full of goodness.  Shanna had new wall decals, which I loooooved.  There were lambs, and birds, and oval-shaped garlands in different color options...amazing!  It was hard to resist the lambs, but I though this sparkly gold swallow would go well with my very favorite screenprint (for scale, the frame is 22" x 28").  I'm pleased with how they look together.

                           

Vicki had new ceramic houses.  I already regret not getting one that evening!  They were so unique and had an earthy, organic sort of element that drew me in.  I did, however, get this nifty soapdish that my mother pined for at Second Storie.  Now I can finally make my mother's favorite soap (scrubby oat bars with ground oatmeal and spices), put it on this dish, and surprise her with her favorite things.

Back to Phat Fiber

I'm so, so happy to contribute to the Phat Fiber Sampler again!  Phat Fiber is a spectacular sampler of all things fiber-yarn, spinning fiber, stitch markers, patterns, etc.  March's theme is Elements: Earth, Air, Wind, Fire, Aether.  I wanted to create a variety of samples instead of blending all the elements together, and came up with these blends:

From left to right: magma (wool and firestar), terra (wool, alpaca, and milk), abyss (wool, milk, tencel, mohair, angelina) and stratos (wool, bamboo, milk, soysilk, angora, angelina, tussah silk)

I dyed all the fiber then blended them on my drum carder and pulled the batts into roving.  They all turned out spectacularly and I can't wait to spin them up myself.  These fibers are now available in the fiber shop, or you can nab yourself a Phat Fiber box!

The full size versions:

NYC or BUST! Or both.

On December 5, Travis and I loaded up the Fuzzy Bunny Mobile and headed to NYC for the BUST Craftacular.  I was excited...it was my first time doing a show in NYC, and I was looking forward to showing the manwife the city, especially the holiday window displays and the giant Christmas tree.  I thought it would be a nice little vacation for us, especially considering his grandma had just passed away and we needed to get away from everything.  So, I booked a couple nights at a bed and breakfast and hoped for the best.  Anticipation, though, was about as far as we got.  The trip went sort of like this:
1.  we slid over snowy roads and icy bridges most of the way down
2.  40 minutes in the city and someone smashed in the window and stole the manwife's gear (around 4AM)
3.  I spent hours in the police station looking up garages to fix the window while Travis sat in the breezy car (NYC police officers are awesome, by the way, they really went out of their way to help us out)
4.  I manned the craftacular table in a zombie-like state while Travis again sat for hours in the breezy car
5.  we drove home because no one would fix the car window on a Sunday and we had no safe place to leave a windowless car and all of the stuff crammed in it

I don't think I've ever been so tired.  Or hungry.  All of that was rather horrendous, but the show itself was pretty great (and I clearly have the greatest manwife ever for willing to sit in a freezing cold car for many, many hours while entirely sleep-deprived and robbed of his reading material).  I just wish we had been able to sit at our nifty table together and enjoy it.  This was the view from The Fuzzy Bunny table, note the tiny dog on the table opposite us, he was incredibly well-behaved!

I sold/said goodbye to the pom pom tree.  Travis reported from the outside that he could see it going down the street, which must have been an interesting sight in NYC, seeing as how it resembled a Dr. Seuss tree.  I could see Pistachio Press in the distance, behind all the hats (Rachael, of PP, is part of Second Storie Indie Market in Rochester, NY)

Finally, a glimpse of a work in progress.  I just started spinning this green faux cashmere in a super-fine single.  Soon it will be plied and added to the vegan yarn section of my shop.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and provide me with a day of nice light so I can take glamour shots of all the new yarn.

Pictures!

The bunnies and I are finally all moved to New York! Previously, all moves had taken place during the middle of sweltering summer, usually with rainshowers thrown in for fun. I've decided moving in subzero temperatures is much, much better.

As promised, here are photos from the Second Storie Indie Market in Rochester, NY, which proved to be an amazing show, as usual: fantastic people, lots of fun, and ideas for new projects. The screening of Handmade Nation the night before the show started was a great addition to the festivities. It was inspiring to see people succeeding in the DIY movement.

Happy shoppers underneath festive handmade banners hung inside the Visual Studies Workshop.

Chey helped me set up and proved to be an excellent salesperson.

I was lucky enough to sit next to Tara Hogan of INK+WIT, who creates beautiful letterpress designs.

There were amazing hand-bound books by concepcioun that I covet.

I ran into the ever-awesome Mackenzie and Tyler of Secret Pocket again. They were our neighbors last year and it was great to see them again.

Abby Try Again trekked all the way across the country for Second Storie. Her photographs are beautiful! Someday soon I plan to buy this print as a present to myself. I just love the colors.

Drew of The Maple Ridge was another neighbor of ours last year who returned with his awesome little couples, creature blocks, and drawings. I traded for some of his awesomeness and cannot wait to see the manwife's reaction when he receives said awesomeness for his birthday.

Shanna Murray, one of the members/organizers of Second Storie, had the cutest rabbit (along with a really neat collaborative effort and unique tea towels). I looove her font (this may just be my obsession with fonts...I've been meaning to watch Helvetica for some time now).

BUST photos coming soon!

A Spark of Optimism

The past few weeks have been...challenging. A death, a break-in, continued unemployment, and an impending move to another state have made life a little more uncertain than usual. However, today has been a spectacular day, regardless of the -14 degree weather. I set up at the Montpelier Farmers Market, met a bunch of fun Vermonters, bartered soap for cheese, had tea with a friend, then called my Dad, who gave me a long I'll-support-you-in-whatever-you-decide-to-do kind of talk (thanks Dad).

So, I've decided that my first months back in NY will be spent trying to get The Fuzzy Bunny up and running as a full-time gig, and not spent trying to find mediocre jobs that I'm not particularly interested in. With access to high speed internet once again (not so readily available where I've been living in the mountains of VT), 80+ pounds of spinning fiber to work with, a fancy new advertising campaign in the works, and loads of new ideas to try out...well, what the heck, I'm going to go for it.

I'll post pictures (finally!) of the Second Storie Indie Market and the BUST Craftacular as soon as I'm back in the realm of high speed internet. Until then...enjoy the holidays!

Second Storie

It's time once again for my favorite craft show of all time! Every Thanksgiving weekend is made better by the fact that Second Storie Indie Market exists. This show is phenomenal, Second Storie knows how to put on a good show and invites absolutely amazing people with great work. They entertain us with live music, feed us, and even give us time to mingle and shop amongst ourselves (yay for getting holiday shopping done without ever stepping foot in a big-box store!).

This year I will be joined by Chey (sister of the manwife) and my Mom (who will be celebrating her birthday on Sunday while she's at the show!). Stop in and say hi!

Saturday, November 28th, 11 am - 6 pm

Sunday, November 29th, 11 am - 4 pm

The Visual Studies Workshop Auditorium

31 Prince Street, Rochester, NY 14607

And, have a fantastic Thanksgiving!