zebisisdesigns

Supercard Arrival

2009-02-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

Here she is! The box of joy arrived several days earlier than I expected it to.
The first step was to remove all of the giant staples from the box.
Then there was a "pocket" in the cardboard that held the burnishing tool, batt lifter, doffer, fine fiber felting tool, padlock, keys, rove guide and instructions o how to remove a 25 foot roving directly from the drum, and extra fuses.
Another pic...
Then I had to cut down all four corners-C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y.

First view!

The plywood that the carder was secured to for shipping was removed and upcycled to the top of a solid cover for the Strauch's Finest, as I had to relocate it to a place where little fingers could get themselves into trouble. I am keeping the Strauch- for Crazy Isis Art Batts.

A detailed pic of the extras.
In her new home.
What a beauty! It cards fine fibers like bamboo and silk like a dream- and makes a perfect, big, long amazing batts- and it truly is for the perfectionist- which I am. It was worth every penny. All 270,000 of them.

2009-02-09T21:17:00.000-08:00

This is what my heroine is working on- hand painted kids chairs! They are awesome... I am trying to convince her to start an Etsy shop- and I thought I would teach her how to paint fiber, or yarn, as I think she would do fabulously with dyeing as she is a color consultant by trade.
She has always been a big inspiration in my life and is the reason I am an artist. I would love to help her reinvent herself and start making some $$ doing the things she loves. I love her so much and she really deserves to be happy in her life... Comments on the chair!! Please!!

PS- I am getting a PAT GREENE SUPERCARD!!!! Oh yeah, baby! Pics to come!

Tomorrow I will be getting a box of fiber- inside will be:

5 lbs of 50/50 SW Merino/Silk
5 lbs BFL
8 lbs Tussah Silk (extra bleach)
3 lbs 50/50 Merino/Bamboo
3 lbs Tussah/Merino/Seacell
3 lbs 70/30 Silk/Camel

Soon after that will come 5 pounds of fine gray Shetland, 10 pounds of silk top with noil (30 pounds of that, actually- just 20 of it comes a little later)- and then I will place another order that will include 5 pounds of Superwash BFL, and at least 5 pounds of something else. Last will be 11 pounds of the mulberry silk I carry.

I am saving the two immaculate cormo fleeces and the 17 micron first shearing baby alpaca to card into my own luxury blend on my Cadillac of carders when it gets here. Tick tock!

Finally- the Silk is Listed

2009-01-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

Ha! I finally got the silk listed- I even spun up samples of 3 of the colorways! I haven't posted the "Atlantis" colorway here, because both 2 oz listings sold immediately. People love the blues!! I always seem to have to throw in a little purple, though... ;)

I am working on all 17 of the spindle/fiber club shipments right now- and will start shipping a few each day on Monday--- well, that is the plan!! So all of you in the club can start stalking the mailman sometime around the latter half of next week.

Fresh Silk

2009-01-03T22:07:00.000-08:00

I came up with a new method to paint silk- and I am so pleased with the results!!
The three on the right are silk top with noil- makes a beautiful slightly textured thread... a little smoother than spun silk hankies. The four on the left are bombyx silk top- the top is a little thicker than a pencil roving, making it easier to draft and spin.

Pic to the left is a Crazy Isis Art Batt.

Chewed Up and Spit Out By Christmas Insanity

2008-12-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

I have had a week. To say the least.
Isis was sick for Christmas- the few days before through until the present, and she is still snotty and is coughing some. She was pretty lack-luster during a good part of the gift opening. Yours truly got to wrap all of the presents, again- as Daddy thinks that is my job. I guess I should count myself lucky I don't have to wrap the gifts that are from him for me... he manages to do that... I wish he was more into Christmas as I am a Christmas freak. He played online poker while I stayed up all night Christmas Eve and the night before wrapping gifts and intermittently nursing Zeb back to sleep- and not doing the shipping I needed to get done for the shop. For anyone still waiting- forgive me, anything that needs shipping will go out tomorrow, with an extra in each box. I am not that far behind- but that kind of stuff keeps me up at night.
I really got chewed up and spit out by the whole Christmas thing- but I still love it and will never lose my zeal. I have several years of magic left with my kids and Santa and all of the excitement. It is worth every hardship, stress, argument with the DH, (dear husband or dick head, depending on the hour...) worth getting a little behind in the shop- and I will never stop doing everything in my power to make it as special as my mom and grandmother (especially) always did everything they could to make it amazing for me. I truly thank them for making me appreciate the joy of the Christmas holiday and recognize how magical it can be.

Zebisis Designs Ravelry Group

2008-12-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of having graphic design done so I can start the Zebisis Designs Spindle and Fiber Group on Ravelry. One of my favorite things is seeing the fiber I have painted, silk I have dyed and batts I have carded worked up into yarn and eventually knitted or crocheted into finished objects. This will be a place that people can post their works in progress, yarns and finished objects as well as ideas and suggestions, requests and anything else people want to talk about regarding the shop and it's goods.
I am really exited to get it going! pomegranateink on etsy is doing the graphic design for the banner and badge for the group. I asked for it to be done in a short time frame- and she took it on. I can't wait to see what she comes up with. I will post her finished work here when it is finished!
Feel free to post here in the comments if you would like to be invited to the group when it is up and running. I can also be contacted through Etsy and Ravelry.

Zeb's First Smile Caught On Camera

2008-12-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

Zeb's First Smile Caught On Camera

Man, I love this little guy.

New Fiber

2008-12-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

My new colorways in 50/50 superwash merino and silk, and the buttery 80/20 superwash merino and cashmere were finally dry enough to list...
The top one is called Hannah's Story (cashmere blend), then Velvet Dusk, and Pandora's Smile.
Both blends are just TOO luxurious. I have 2 more pounds all soaked and ready to be painted- I can't wait for Zeb to go to bed... maybe it will be an early night!

2008-12-20T00:46:00.000-08:00

Four membership levels of my new silk club have been listed in my etsy shop. Use the code "SILKFIVEGIFT" in the message to the seller at checkout, and I will refund 5% of the club's cost through paypal.

Crazy Isis Art Batts

2008-12-19T23:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a little preview of some of the batts I am listing...

New Things for the New Year

2008-12-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

I am always trying to find new, exciting, better and exceedingly interesting things to incorporate in my shop. This keeps my customers interested, and keeps me inspired to keep creating. If I get myself into a production rut, I get bored quickly, and that is terrible. I may have a project or two lying around abandoned and unfinished due to unbearable repetition. I have gotten to know myself well enough to avoid sabotaging myself in this way.
So- some new things for the new year will include:

* Rose gold hooks, along with the tried and true silver and yellow gold
* Crazy Isis Art Batts
* Zeb's Island (Well Behaved) Batts
* More Luxury blends Cashmere/Merino, Merino/Silk, Kid Mohair/Nylon...
* Silk Hankies
* A 3 month silk club
* A "zebisisdesigns" Ravelry group

And lots more- but surprises are good!
I am doing a big shop update right now... hopefully Zeb will sleep for a good stretch so I can really get some work done!!

Spindles, Fiber- Batts,Christmas and Cashmere

2008-12-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

I recently got in the mail a box of ten pounds of 50/50 silk and superwash merino, and 80/20 superwash merino and CASHMERE. I am just itching to paint some up- but I only have one club shipment left to put together and HAVE to do that first. Soon, soon... The cashmere blend is so soft- when you touch it, you can barely feel it. I want to make a big nest of it, and sleep there like a giant fiber obsessed bird. Crazy? Definitely. I must dye it up for the shop though... maybe when I win the lottery.
Speaking of birds and nests of fiber- I was thinking about putting together little balls of brightly colored tufts of fiber and glitz, like angelina and firestar and maybe some little colorful strips of fabric, aqnd putting them in my shop for folks to offer to their local stylish bird community. In the spring you can put them outside for the birds to sample and use to build their nests- then you can look for bright fancy nests throughout the summer. I USED to dry my fiber outside in the sun (in the summer of course) until I noticed that they were somehow getting damaged- like something was pulling chunks of fibers out of the roving. I had mu suspisions, but knew for sure when I saw a nest in a tree outside my window that was BRIGHT PINK! I thought the bird had great taste- but wasn't so sure I wanted to share hunks of the roving I intended to sell- so decided to put together some offerings for the stylish nest builder. I think I will put some in the shop in late winter.

We got a Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago- and Jeremy, my husband, convinced me to buy LED lights. He said we could leave them on all the time- because they use very little energy. I was distracted at the time, with both kids at Target on Black Friday- what was I thinking?? I said sure- grab them. Yuck, yuck, yuck. They are lifeless, depressing lights. I am into saving the planet- but I just cant do these awful things. Christmas as a child, for me, was always very magical. I loved the little white lights casting their soft light in the dark living room. They were mezmerizing, and filled me with exitement and a feeling of safety. They had a calming effect, and they are in essence, Christmas to me.
I am a christmas freak- I love it to the core of my soul- I have my Mom to thank for that- and her mom as well, as my grandmother instilled the Christmas love in her. When the lights go up on the tree- my Christmas spirit really swells, and it feels like the beginning. But these other "energy saving" lights went up, and I felt nothing. I didn't even want to be in the room. I didn't want to decorate the tree, no exitement. No joy. The tree was there, there were lights, but it was all wrong.
I had enough, and tonight I pulled out the box of regular lights. They are almost all up, and the feeling is coming back. I shouldn't have waited so long, but I feel so much better now.
I guess, for me- Christmas is not Christmas without the sights, smells, memories and traditions of my childhood. I want my daughter to develop the same love and thrill that I have always felt toward Christmas. I want us to make our own memories and traditions, and if I don't have the spirit and sparkle in my eyes- she will not find it. She is almost three, and this is her first Christmas where the magic really starts. I have to do this right.
I am so glad I put up the other lights. We will decorate the tree tomorrow.