Long Ranting Post on Learning and the Economy / I Have a Dream

First I want to honor all the hours of work, paid and unpaid that go into every fiber festival, workshop weekend, sock summit, fiber shopping extravaganza, guild gathering that thousands of participants enjoy every year and that support the fiber habit of all of the teachers and vendors.
I have been teaching (and shopping) at several of these gatherings for the past few years, including 30+ years of volunteering at Maryland Sheep and Wool and I found time to take a class at this fall's SAFF in Asheville, NC.
This past week I started to get emails asking for my class proposals for 2013 and I find myself honestly not wanting to apply to any of them.
Truth is I don't enjoy teaching or learning at these events.

 Most learning, these days comes in bits and pieces;a class here, a Youtube there, written pattern. this is very different from the way I learned and the way I want to share with others.
My expectation of our time together is that you leave understanding what we have shared- even if you only make 1"-fully understanding how you got that inch and full of excitement to go home and figure out how to make more.Process.
Festival organizers and  participants( I am talking in generalities here) seem to be  looking fo project classes where you can complete a finished project in the allotted time period, even if you  have no clue how you got there.


I had the priceless opportunity to gain my skills and knowledge all of a piece. I learned by being with the women(and some men) in my family and community . Growing up, my play and work and learning and family and community were all intertwined into one wonderful( mostly) life.
I learned to love learning and how to apply what I knew to new situations,maybe the best knowledge to have of anything I have ever learned.
Sitting at the feet of people who wove their creativity into their daily lives, everything is art. Each meal is finely crafted to nourish, delight and satisfy all who come to the table.
I could learn in my own time, when I was ready to receive, rest when I was tired and watch and watch and watch and listen till I got what I needed and wanted to know.

This is True economy .
Everyone getting and giving what they need, when they need it. Everyone having enough.

Festival classes tend to be in poorly lit,noisy, over or under heated and cooled rooms, with finite beginning and ending times.
Participants -bless their hearts- are over subscribed, overtired and over stimulated, wanting to pack in as much as possible into the few hours they paid for.
I have to pack and bring everything with me- always forgetting something( airline baggage not appearing)-as well as anticipate the things others will forget to bring .

I find, healthy rested adults can learn for about 2 hours.
Actual instruction time, new material that you can absorb is about 20 minutes and the rest is practice and questioning and me spending time with those who are having a hard time getting it and feeling guilty that I ignore those who are faster learners.
I leave exhausted, hoarse, and always wishing I could see the group next week so we could continue our learning journey together.
My classes are almost always filled and the evaluations very complimentary.

With deep humility, I want to tell you, I have a skill set and knowledge that I passionately want to pass on to all who are interested and I want to show you the joy of learning, creating, making a mess, cleaning it up, watching, listening, making mistakes, finally getting it !!!!!! and the joy I receive watching your faces as you get it and want to learn more. I do the best I can in the few hours we have at the festival and then...

 Here is my big question.

Why are all my classes under subscribed in my daily offerings?
At Nice Threads (and other fiber shops) I ( and others) offer scheduled classes as well as pick  your own time slot classes, in a comfortable well appointed and well lit studio. I am here after class to answer whatever questions come up. We have the supplies and answers you need to take you where ever you want to go on  your fiber journey.
And you can just hang out if you don't want to go anywhere.

Why will thousand of folks sign up for festival classes and we fiber folks doing our best to be here for you six and seven days a week  are finding it tough to fill our classes?
Nice Threads would love to offer more classes and week long and/or weekly intensives and I just don't know if anyone would come.

My dream is to be able to share with you the way I was shown.

Please leave a comment and let me know your fiber dreams and how we at Nice Threads could help to make them come true.

FAQ

I had planned on having a few days off to enjoy finishing works in progress and a friend got ill and I went into town a few days to keep the store fires burning, do inventory, help customers. Meanwhile, this is what happens to a desk when you have more ideas than time to spend with them.
So you know good stuff is coming, it just might be awhile.
Reminder-the Quietfire Queen of Hearts Challenge is Feb 14-so get your hearts on now and be sure to post to win prizes and look at all the posts for inspiration.
I got a few questions about the box :
Why do you need to make the cuts?
You don't. The box can be folded with the corners as a reverse inverse fold. I find making the cuts makes it easier to fold,and if you are going to put a box inside a box they fit nicer.
What kind of paper do you use?
The weight I like best is calendar pages-about a 45-50 lb paper. Experiment.
How do the butterflies hang from the box?
I die cut the butterflies and strung them on gold thread with beads as spacers- take your string back through the bead to hold it in place. I tucked the string underneath the triangles where the sides of the box meet and held it in place with a piece of double stick tape and folded the sides on top and they stuck to the tape as well.

The main question on the lumenaria is when will I post the video!
All I can say to that is soon, so stop by often to see what is up here.

Please also visit me on FB at Nice Threads and to read what is on my heart at Still Waters Refuge.
I truly value and appreciate each one of your comments and hope I answered all your question.
Thanks for journey my creative journey and inviting me along on yours!

And the Winners ARE...

The winner of a $50 grab bag of Quietfire Rubber is
CraftyJo said...Fabulous projects - I love them both and will certainly try making a box or two, thanks.

Be sure to send your contact info to Suzanne here(Her email address is in the sidebar of the Quietfire Style blog)  Quietfire Style


The winner of the Butterfly box is

cindy b. said...
Absolutely love the projects! cindy b

Please send me your mailing contact info by Jan 23 or I will have to pick another winner . My email is on my Blogger profile or you can leave it as a comment.

Thanks all for the kind words and I will be back later today with answers to many of your questions.

Welcome to the Quietfire Design Butterfly Blog Flutter!

 Quietfire Design would like to introduce you to the new Butterfly Circles stamp set! 

Welcome to Day 3 of the Flutter!

Each Design Team member will be randomly choosing a winner from their list of comments, so make sure you’ve commented on each blog.{I am also choosing an additional winner- be sure to read to the end of the post}

All winners will be posted on the Quietfire Style blog on Saturday January 21^st. If you are one of our lucky winners, please contact Suzanne privately with your snail mail address within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen.  (Her email address is in the sidebar of the Quietfire Style blog) 

Here is our schedule:

Sunday, January 15th: Yogi  

Monday, January 16th: Suzanne

Tuesday, January 17th: Robyn   (YOU ARE HERE!) 

Wednesday, January 18th: Monica  

Thursday, January 19th: Wanda  

Just comment below and you will be eligible to win a grab bag of Quietfire Design rubber stamps valued at $50!   We will be giving away five grab bags in total and all the names will be drawn on Friday, January 20^th at midnight PST, one name from each blog, so you have lots of time to enter!  Tell your friends!

The Butterfly Circles rubber stamps will remain on special at 20% off throughout the Blog Flutter! 

Happy Fluttering  and good luck!!

Here is my first project using the new Butterfly Circles.

If you did your homework, you will have made your own paper ready to create this easy kiragami box.
Keeping to my NYR use it or lose it, this box is constructed of beautiful vintage wrapping paper from my stash, with butterflies on it. I did add the flourished stamp. I made a separate square for the top and heat embossed the Quote and made the butterfly from the Butterfly/Dragonfly plate.

The box opens to reveal this refrigerator magnet, a pile of butterflies ..................

and some flutter in flight

 This butterflies were die cut from an old Spellbinder die called Bugs.

My first box looked like this:


and below is one done with



my background from the last post

this








to

Here is a video to show you how to fold-forgive me in advance. It's my first instructional video and my camera file won't fit into my editing software. Where is Santa when you need him? Shout out to Leslie at  Nice Threads-camera woman.

I forgot, when you cut out the triangles, you also make 2 cuts on opposit sides from the end into the center square-the dotted lines on this photo.
                    

Leave a comment if  you need more info- and to win prizes!

My second project is another cut and fold, luminary.

Below is how they look with a tea light inside

 The punch is an EK Sucess.
You  start with an 18" square,and then cut and fold. You can decorate your paper before you fold, or fold and unfold to place images in cetain positions.

Video is for another day. I'm open to suggestions for cameras. Leave a comment.

Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered in the Quietfire prize drawing and also I will be giving away the first project- the box, to one commenter on this blog.

Thanks for looking and I hope you will post your creations made with Quietfire rubber!

The Quietfire Design Butterfly Blog Flutter*** January 15-19

Quietfire Design would like to introduce you to our new Butterfly Circles stamp set!  Each day one of our designers will be posting brand new artwork they have created using this set.  

Visit their blog on the day of their featured project,

{HERE--Tues January 17}

post a comment on their Blog Flutter project post and you will be eligible to win a grab bag of Quietfire Design rubber stamps valued at $50!   We will be giving away five grab bags in total and all the names will be drawn on Friday, January 20^th at midnight PST, one name from each blog, so you have lots of time to enter!  Tell your friends!

 

The Butterfly Circles rubber stamps will remain on special at 20% off throughout the Blog Flutter!

 

Each Design Team member will be randomly choosing a winner from their list of comments, so make sure you’ve commented on each blog.

All winners will be posted on the Quietfire Style blog on Saturday January 21^st. If you are one of our lucky winners, please contact Suzanne privately with your snail mail address within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen.  (Her email address is in the sidebar of the Quietfire Style blog) 

 

Here is our schedule:

Sunday, January 15th: Yogi  http://yogiemp.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 16th: Suzanne http://quietfirestyle.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, January 17th: Robyn  http://rainbowweaves.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, January 18th: Monica  http://blackcatscolortrails.blogspot.com/

Thursday, January 19th: Wanda  http://artbywanda.blogspot.com/

 

Happy Fluttering  and good luck!!

If there was no change...

There would be no butterflies.
We'll transform the energy we save by resting the weekly Challenge to amaze you with Hops and special themed Challenges.
I'm all about butterflies this week and the new Quietfire Butterfly Rubber. I also used the Butterfly/Dragonfly
This post is a bit of a tease and it has homework.
Soon we will announce the Blog Flutter(lol) showcasing the new rubber.
To make my creations, you will need background papers.
Make a lot- their fun and additive one you get started.

Start with a big sheet, so you get the edges covered and you can cut out the parts you like.

This one I sprayed on glimmer mists and wiggled it around a bit.You can also put ink on your craft mat, spray with water and mist and move the paper around in it.
Play- experiment -make a mess- make a lot of papers!

this one on the right is painted with water colors

Let everything dry really well and then get our your stamps. Stamp the largest ones first and then move on to fill in the spaces with the smaller ones and flourishes. They can be bold

 or subtle

Below left, is one I stamped after I folded it- take note-
For my blog hop creations you will need 2 sheets 81/2 square and one sheet 18" square.
And a bunch of papers that you don't like for your first tries at the fold.
When ever I learn a new fold I use whatever I have around and fold once an hour the first day. Second day at least 3 times, then once a day, one a week and once a month till I  have it.
So be prepared- order your stamps, get your backgrounds ready and stay tuned for Blog Flutter dates!

Thanks for your comments and Create without Limits!

Quietfire Design 3rd Annual Queen of Hearts Challenge

Two years ago byhandartist Judy Lawton suggested we should have a Valentine's challenge with a Queen of Hearts theme.  Now it's become an annual tradition!

Here is what you do:

1. Create a piece of artwork using the theme Queen of Hearts (just make sure it's got a heart somewhere!). It can be a card or an atc or a tip in for your altered book or a journal page or a canvas or whatever you are working on these days. You do not have to use Quietfire products to play (although we'd love to see your artwork using them!).
2. Post your creation on your blog.
3. Then come to the Quietfire Style blog  on February 14. There will be a special blog post just for it.
4. Add a link to your blog post displaying your Queen of Hearts artwork to the special Queen of Hearts blog post here! Easy peasy! Addition of links will be cut off at midnight (PST) on the 14th, so make sure you add it in so you can be eligible for the draw prizes.
5. Prizes, you say Suzanne? Yes! We'll have draws for bags of rubber stamps! Three randomly drawn lucky people will receive $50 worth of rubber stamps each! Spread the word to your friends! The more the merrier!

Don't have a blog? Come join us at Quietfire Creations, create a page and add your photo there! (but don't forget to add your link back to your artwork.)

Create without Limits!

In With The New

Change is good.
Breathing is good.
Remembering to breathe during change is very good.
We are going to a take a breather on the Created Byhand Tuesday Challenge.
I will continue to post as often as I can to keep you updated on what is new at Quietfire, so follow me, and Like me and Quietfire on FB and subscribe to the Quietfire Newsletter to stay current.

We could love to see you post all your creations with Quietfire rubber to Facebook and Quietfire Creations forums.

Don't leave till it's time to go-this weeks theme is "In With the New/Layered Die Cuts'.
The Quote is thermal embossed Versa fine Deep Lagoon, and the dies are all Spellbinders Nestabilities Star. I shaded with Distress Tumbled Glass and added rub on metallic and stickles and Stardust pens.
Leave a comment if you want more details.

Here's to breathing early and often in 2012.
Thanks for looking, comments and creating without limits!

Blog Hop announcement for the new Butterfly rubber coming soon!