Calamity Kim

merino wool roving dyed with jacquard acid dyes

merino wool roving dyed with jacquard acid dyes, originally uploaded by calamity kim.

Here's a photo of the merino wool roving that I dyed Monday with Jacquard Acid Dyes. The colors are so vivid and intense! I can't wait to spin some of this to see what it looks like transformed into yarn!
weeeeeeeeee!
what fun!
those little sheep on the edge are getting ready to be stitched onto a new apron....go, go calamity go!!!!

calamity kim national apron day may 10 giveaway on my blog

calamity kim national apron day may 10 giveaway on my blog, originally uploaded by calamity kim.

Here is the apron/smock I will be giving away on May 10th to celebrate National Apron Day. Sign ups will begin on May 3rd so don't forget to come back by then to sign up. More info later! Happy Gnome Apron Day!
xo, kim

Fairy Gown and Spinning Fiber Fairy Tales

Up with the sun.

Coffee warm and delicious.

Thinking about the day ahead. Remembering the day behind.

This bag came back from Somerset Studios last week. I had sent it in to be considered for Haute Handbags and it was bumped and then finally sent back- long months of thinking it would be published. It was like seeing an old friend. I will probably put it in the Etsy shop, but not today. Today I have a sewing job to do and then tomorrow I spin to be ready for a workshop that I am taking this coming weekend with Jacey Boggs of Insubordinknit.

Every year my Knit & Bitch Group (from Picasso Moon) goes on a retreat to Anna Maria Island. We rent this huge house and spend several nights and days knitting, cooking, talking, playing mahjong and spinning. Last year was when we learned to spin- some of us, anyway, and as you know, my life hasn't been the same since!

Yesterday I dyed some roving with Jacquard dyes and it was quite a learning experience. I enjoyed it- but what a lot of work! I don't have any photos- it's still drying. Today I need to get busy sewing.But, I wanted to share a few things that I have been working on since I last posted.

This is a Fairy Princess Gown I made from a size 8 Jessica McClintock gown. I cut and burned and painted and stitched and glued and am still not finished! It will get more lace and tulle and silk added to the ragged hem and then I plan to make wings and a crown.

I have had the dress for a long while and spent a lot of time thinking about how the fairy dress would be. Imagining a fairy seamstress sewing a gown for her Princess using bits of things found in the forest and treasured hand tatted lace and sacred glass buttons and beads is pretty easy for me. As I was working on it my husband came through the room and said two things to me- first he said I was going to burn the house down (the dress was actually smoldering and I saw the glow of ashes burning and had to pat it quickly to put it out!!!) and then he said the nicest thing- he asked why I didn't just make fairy gowns for a living? What a compliment! I would love to live in a gypsy wagon and roam from Ren Faire to Ren Faire selling my gowns and wings and crowns. He said he would sell "things on a stick"- food items- like steak, possum, raccoon and squirrel. Local and organic. yum. He is so funny.

Last week I was so busy- I used a photo from Jacey's blog to create a book cover and used my new book binder to make spinning notebooks for the chicks who are taking her workshop. I don't want to spoil the surprise but Deb has some niiiiice swag bags for those chicks and I think everyone is going to have an awesome time!

Making anything x24 is certainly a big job and it took me about 12 hours to make these notebooks but they will be great to use as journals for our weekend. I am bringing some glue and some pens and pencils to try to write in mine while we are there- between bites of Belgian waffles and spinning art yarns! I will take the camera and try to get some pics. It should be a blast and I know it will be over all too soon.

Did I ever show you the beach bunny I made?

Simple and sweet from a Martha Stewart pattern- I used felted sweaters to make him nice and soft. It was one of those projects I dropped everything and had to go make! I am doing mermaids and mermen and boats next week and will have pictures to share from the retreat. I wish there were more hours to each day- I really do! anyway- have a lovely day and I hope to be back soon with some good stuff to share.

Thanks for stopping by!

xo,

Calamity Kim

National Apron Day is May 10, 2010

Celebrated the Monday after Mother's Day, National Apron Day is a yearly celebration dedicated to preserving a fun, nostalgic way to display your favorite apron.

Wear your favorite apron all day long!

I will be doing an apron giveaway here on May 10 to celebrate this fine event so tell your friends and be sure to bookmark the date and come on back here to enter to win!

Share the button:

Check out the apron links on my side bar - I borrowed this image from Apronicity which links to all good aprony things!

I'll try to get a button made for the calamity kim apron giveaway and post it here soon.

Have a great weekend!

cxo, calamity kim

Certainly Woolly Fabulous!

One more mushroom arrangement, originally uploaded by woolly fabulous.

Odile Gova of Ontario, Canada makes the most wonderful wool and zipper creations. I keep an eye out for new things in her Flickr stream and check her Etsy shop often. I am lucky enough to own several of her brooches with wool and zipper owl, bird and heart and always receive the nicest compliments when wearing them.
This creation knocked my socks off and I just love her imaginative way with zippers. Part of recognizing good work is always getting that tiny surprise which makes you see things in a new way and I have been gathering zippers to play with someday soon myself.
Thank you Odile for the constant inspiration and beauty you share.
Have a woolly weekend everyone!
xo, calamity kim

Painted by fairies

in the yard, originally uploaded by calamity kim.

And though you should live in a palace of gold, or sleep in a dried up ditch,
You could never be as poor as the fairies are, and never as rich.
~Rose Fyleman

Thinking about the day ahead, what I need to get done, schedules to keep. Taking a moment to capture the amaryllis blooming, before it's faded and gone. Simple, small joys that create a happy heart.



Got most of everything crossed off the list yesterday- tonight I will be the speaker at the Venetian Society for Basketweavers Guild in Venice- a Guild I help found so many, many years ago. I am going to demo spinning art yarn and kusadama flower folding and show off some of my aprons. Skipping through the week towards another weekend- can't wait to go see Kick Ass and laugh a little. Can't wait to make mermaids and sign up for a soldering class. So excited about making something new each day...the dye is waiting for the wool...found a coffee grinder to chop up the indigo and start the vat working. Tomorrow I get started on a recycled prom dress and will be transforming it into a fairy gown for our Guild's fashion Show- please come back and see it...until then...
have a good day filled with small joys,
calamity kim

What to do today

I know, it's still early, but I have crossed off one thing. I went to Mary Jane's FarmWebsite and signed up for a Farmgirl Chapter under the Calamity Kim Farmgirl title. Thanks Elizabeth for the nudge. We were discussing making badges for sewing, embroidery, knitting and spinning. Girl Scouts led to Farmgirls and naturally to Mary Jane and maybe making bags to put badges on.

Sometimes the ideas flow. All you can do it take your oars outta the water and hold on for dear life as the creative current washes you downstream.

Happy Wednesday!

Calamity Kim

In Love with Julie Whitmore's Pottery

I recently found a potter over at Flickr that makes the most magical things from clay that I have ever seen. If I could make pottery I would try to make things the way she does. It's almost as if she looked in my heart and saw what I desired most and then created it from clay, fired and glazed it! 

The Fantastic Mr Fox with a home for a handle is on the look out for chicken tenders and pies left cooling on window sills, unattended.

Her name is Julie Whitmore and I wish we were neighbors! I can see myself coming over to her house to have a cup of tea and chatting about aprons and flowers and me admiring her work and trying to talk her into making a gnome cup or maybe a gnome with a Chinese lantern like this rabbit out for an evening stroll.

I love the way the clay is still very raw- not overworked and smooth. I like the imperfections and earthiness. Julie's figures come to life as she paints their features and some of the Farm Girls seem about to speak or smile as I longingly stare at their faces, waiting for them to show that they are real and alive.

Flowers grow off handles and when she makes beads and birds I want to laugh out loud with delight!

Barn owls are some of my favorites and their heart shaped faces are so sweet- especially when rendered in clay.

They remind me of Beatrix Potter and Tasha Tudor illustrations, except in 3 dimensions. I can't wait to see what she adds to her Etsy shop and I actually have her on my toolbar bookmarked to see when she adds something new. I usually get there too late to actually buy anything but I have hope that someday I will be in time to find a perfect little something waiting for me.

Something sweet and whimsical and happy.

Something about tea parties and fresh, clean laundry on the line; drying in the warm sunshine that brings back memories of my childhood.

That's me, by the sea with my favorite hand painted parasol. No, not really, but it is in my imagination. Taking a stroll by the sea with a fish for a handle and nibbling scones from the nest plate while rabbits look on as they smell buttercups. That's where my mind will be today as I go about the house getting the bed made and folding laundry, I will be daydreaming of Julie's pottery and wishing I had a cupboard full of it!

That's part of the joy of the internet- to be able to find artists all around the world who create things that are beautiful and enhance the lives of others with their work. Having tea or putting jam on toast isn't just the mundane task or dull routine when the tea is sipped from a mug like this:

or a jam pot like that:

So, bookmark Julie's Blog and make her Etsy shop a Favorite and keep an eye out on her Flickr but be warned- she will steal your heart and you won't get it back anytime soon!

All photos are by Julie Whitmore and used with her kind permission.

Thanks Julie for a virtual day at the farm. I feel refreshed and able to go do some work now.

xo,

calamity kim

Garden of Calamity Fabric Flowers

This week I have spent some time making flowers. It seems like such a zen process once I get my mind in the right place.

It's difficult to sit still for long periods and not be at the sewing machine or spinning wheel. I have so much to do and it seems like these flowers take so much time. I cut each circle from tulle, chiffon or organza and as the candle's flame melts each edge I do become tranquil and mellow.

The rhythm of the movement and repetitive motion is comfortable and sometime I stick myself with the needle or burn my finger and that wakes me right up! But as I construct each flower, layer by layer, petal by petal I have time to think about other things I want to make and my mind drifts and daydreams.

Next week I will be showing a fairy gown I am working on for my Surface Design Guild's Fashion Show and I think I will make a crown with flowers as well as a pair of wings. I made a few smaller roses to turn into a neck piece to wear with the gown and I have findings to make matching earrings.

I think I need some darker green chiffon for leaves and maybe a butterfly on there would be nice.

So that's what I've been up to- along with taking walks and bouncing on my new mini trampoline. Yes, really! It's fun and a great way to get your heart rate going! The weather outside is so nice and the sunshine is warm and lovely. I feel like going to the beach but I have to "grow some flowers". I don't run a sweat shop- I run a hot house!!! Yes- I'm hysterical I know!

I will be down in North Port this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the Spring Fest Art Show with my Surface Design Guild's booth if you'd like to come on down and see me and my flowers.

Have a Happy Weekend and Happy Springtime!

xo, Calamity Kim

For the Love of Gnomes

Here is an update on my Row 10 quilt. Remember when I explained that I was doing a quilt row swap with 10 friends from Flickr and we started a group to share the pictures and discussions in?

Well, I finished my own row and received two more and only need the remaining 3 to have them all and begin quilting!

I love the red and aqua together and it looks so happy together all laid out on the bed. It's pretty amazing that the colors go so well together- from 7 different sewing room stashes- that's so cool! I imagined I'd have to use some sashing and I still might- some black and white polka dot maybe to have a tiny break between rows or maybe just white?

I love it that everyone used the gnome and mushroom patterns by sonjaartisania or was inspired by them and free pieced- it was a difficult challenge to make the snails too- Check out Sonja Callaghan's Blog here and look for her free (awesome) patterns if you want to try your own gnome and mushroom making skills! The snail pattern is by Jennifer Ofenstein and you can check out her blog with awesome patterns here.

The funniest story is by Tia (campfollower baglady) who had a dream about gnomes, Michelle Obama and Michael Jackson and Michelle stealing her rice the night before she started working on her row for me and so she included them as gnomes and it just makes me laugh every time I look at it! Thanks for such a creative and funny story, Tia. She also used some Heather Ross gnome fabric that was printed up over at Spoonflower- I find that the most wonderful thing that heather would add her gnomes and mushrooms and other designs to Spoonflower so that we can purchase them- they are so expensive and hard to find on eBay or Etsy.

So I'm off for a day of adventure- gonna go learn how to train a dragon- a girl's gotta keep up with her skillz- right? Have a Happy Easter tomorrow btw- I am celebrating with a new juice machine- so here's a carrot/apple/melon smoothie for ya!

Love and marshmallow covered eggss!

Calamity Kim