Crafty Swap, BBQ (picnic) and Yarn Drive 5/12 Anderson Park

The crafty swap at Anderson Park in Redmond was a success! Good weather, yummy food, great company, lots of swaportunity, amazing weather and a lovely backdrop provided by Suzanne Tidwell's Artificial Light project were just the ingredients we needed for a good swap. Here are pictures from the event:

Artificial Light

Nestled in Redmond's Anderson Park and snuggled in custom made sweaters are some very warm, colorful and grateful trees. They've been given special treatment thanks to Suzanne Tidwell's Artificial Light project. It's a temporary project by nature because it stays on the move. The sweaters have been wrapped around trees in several locations in the Puget Sound before landing in Redmond. Designed to make people stop and take notice, the sweaters are crafted in bright and contrasting colors; just the thing to get spectators and the trees through a gray and cloud spring.

Tidwell measures each tree, designs the 1000 row panels and produces the colorful blocks on her knitting machine. She uses reclaimed acrylic yarn (i.e. from thrift shop finds) to make the sweaters more durable. Each panel is hand sewn onto the trees. It's a process that takes weeks to complete and she has learned the hard way to only work on the installations when the temperature gets to a comfortable level.

"You either love it or hate it," Tidwell says of the public feedback so far. "People talk about it and sparking conersation about art is a powerful thing. We all have a favorite sweater or blanket that we wrap ourselves in for warmth and comfort." Tidwell says she jumped on the 'yarn bombing' bandwagon when she started this project. She's not sure what her next project will be but she's pretty sure it will be something she can do indoors.

Artificial Light is part of the City of Redmond's 100 year anniversary. See the artwork at Anderson Park through June 3.

YARN BOMBING: A graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn rather than paint or chalk - Wikipedia

Crafty Swap and Gift Exchange

The first EtsyRAIN event of the New Year went off without a hitch. There were fabulous prizes, delightful treats and great stuff to swap on Saturday, February 4 at the Crafty Swap and Gift Exchange. Thanks bunches to Thea Starr, aka number 17, for taking pictures at the event. We hope to have another Crafty Swap over the summer and make it a BBQ this time with a fabulous and challenging twist. Stay tuned!

The weather outside is frightful, is your crafting so delightful?

We’re in the middle of one of the biggest snow storms this area has seen in quite a while. Most of us are used to given the snow report in inches (2, 3 or 4 really) but more than a foot of snow in some places? Wow! So, we’re trapped in with a limited agenda. Perfect conditions for crafting efforts, right?

Cari, who is just North of Poulsbo says she’s already cranked out several new pillow covers for her shop Seclusion Cove. She’s finalizing details of custom orders and gearing up to take some pictures of her latest work …after a short break, “My "snow day" project should be tidying up my workroom and re-doing some product photos, but now, I'm snuggled under a quilt and finishing a good British mystery novel, with a cup of tea close at hand.”

Amy Harris of Solstice Designs couldn’t make it in to open her shop at the Pike Place Market but says she’s sewing away at home in Burien, “It’s a crafter’s paradise,” she said via text.

That’s not the case for everyone. Keri of UPTown DownTown is too busy babysitting her grandson to get anything done in University Place where seven inches of snow fell.

Thankfully, a warm up is coming and that much needed run for supplies, whether it's food or crafting supplies is right around the corner.

Post Holiday Blues?

Through the months of November and December the number of crafts fairs, holiday bazaars and Christmas shows shoots up exponentially. The Puget Sound offers at least a dozen each weekend to help Christmas shoppers cross off their lists, buy a few treats, pump up their winter accessories and wardrobes and complete their decorating efforts. Also, internet sales skyrocket too, sending many crafters on multiple trips to the post office. It’s a prime opportunity to sell your product to the masses. We lug around tables, display gear and our carefully made items …some have it worse than others. It makes for a busy holiday season that requires lots of energy and a never-ending smile.

Now that the season is behind us, it’s not unusual to feel a bit of a lull. The lack of activity can leave some feeling without purpose and possibly a little lost. That’s normal. It will pass. Many crafters see it as an opportunity to recoup and refuel.

Dawn of  http://www.scarywhitegirl.etsy.com/  says, “I used the time when I wasn't as frantic with my crocheting to start planning the new things I want to do this year, to organize my craft room, and to look at the massive quantities of yarn that have somehow ended up in my closet."

Planning for the next year is a great way to focus your newly found free time. Reflecting on the good moments of the busy holiday craft season and doing your best to correct the not-so-special things.

“I have to admit that the lack of sales can be a real bummer.  The spigot totally shuts off.  It takes me a little while to re-train myself to stop checking my various online sales venues looking for activity," says Anne Sylte Bloom of http://www.seattlesundries.etsy.com/.

Anne uses this time to make a lot of changes to her product line. She creates new soap varieties, changes labels, and experiments with completely new items.  “It’s really the most creative and rejuvenating time of year for me.”

Taking time away from your craft is another way to recover from the holiday rush.

 “For me things tend to pick back up in February so I enjoy this time after the extreme craziness post holidays. In this time I catch up on side projects like knitting & quilting which isn't my "professional" craft. It’s like a nice diversion to do other things,” says Thea Starr of http://www.theastarr.etsy.com/ .

Good luck, keep crafting and Happy New Year!