A Word From Claudia

Gold Bracelet Collection Notes from the Plane

2012-01-27T12:51:00.000-05:00

Golden bracelet:By today some of you will have received the gold thread bracelet collection. We didn't include instructions, which might be an issue for some of you, so I've decided to use my time on the plane wisely (well, after having watched "The Help", which Elena directed me to download from iTunes . . . a first). Now I shall be wise and talk you through a weaving with gold thread. First of all, let it be known: it is fun to weave and there are all sorts of possibilities. I have as of yet just explored straight lines but I have curves and leaves and patterns zooming through my brain ten thousand feet above the ground. The process of weaving straight lines is simple so do not panic. First, set your loom up for the no warps weaving. I am leaving about six and a half inches between the bars. Measure your wrist and see what you get. You want a little area in between the two ends of the bracelet for your clasp. I have woven one and three quarters bracelets thus far. The second one is on a mini-Mirrix buried in my luggage somewhere below me right now. I had planned to take it on the plane, but decided most likely I would not use it and my backpack is so filled with computers and beads and cords that even the mini was not going to fit. Also, this is a night flight and the thought of trying to wrangle with beads and gold thread in this light was a bit more than my imagined patience could handle. The first bracelet is only about an inch wide. The second one is about half again as wide. I think I prefer the wider format.First thing: weave in a couple of rows of seed beads. Or even just one. This is your design. Next prepare your gold thread. I used three strands which I then threaded into a tapestry needle and then doubled. I found it helpful to knot the end to keep things tidy before weaving. I took the needle and wove it under the first warp, over the second, under the third, etc. Before heading back in the opposite direction, catch the thread from the beads under your gold thread so that it runs up the side of the piece. That way, once you weave the beads again the bead thread will not show. The wonderful thing about wire which I am now discovering is that it does not pull in when you weave fiber over it. So this is a great piece for those of you who are still learning the ropes of fiber weaving. Weave a few rows of the gold (or however many you want to weave) and be awe struck but how much the gold section looks like gold. Well, it is gold. But I am still amazed by the shine and brilliance of it all. When you are done weaving the gold, thread some more beads on the bead thread and catch the thread behind the gold, again so that the gold thread travels up the side of the piece and doesn't loosely hang on the side. Keep weaving in this fashion until you get to the end, which should be just beads. I like to end with a few rows of beads. Remove your piece and sew in the two warp ends or use them to create a clasp. After I finish the piece that is in my suitcase I plan to create a piece that has shapes. In my mind these shapes look like leaves. I think I have figured out how this can be accomplished. I am hoping Elena gives me time tomorrow to play with these ideas. I she has lots of plans for making videos tomorrow, so I might have to survive the videos before I can follow my golden heart's desire.I also plan to take many photos of Sam-I-Am, Seattle, and everything Mirrix and loom-ish. So looking forward to week of working with Elena in person. Skype is wonderful and I am ever grateful for it . . . but being in a real room with someone is still best.

Gold thread bracelet, loom stand and some thoughts

2012-01-24T15:47:00.001-05:00

You know you are in trouble when you look at past habits and think: "Wow, I am really kind of weird." Let me explain. I decided to rearrange my studio. Again. Before Elena's wedding in August I had to basically empty out my studio/office. It was extremely cathartic if not a bit disturbing. Ultimately, I was glad I had to do it. To clarify: my studio/office used to be a dining room. It sits smack in between the kitchen (also known as the home of the espresso machine) and the living room (which is a huge space designed for parties that I am sure the last owners never got around to having). The reception was to be in all three places and so I had to get out of Dodge. Once I returned to Dodge, to this newly painted and very clean and beautifully lighted (by the great outdoors) space I could put anything anywhere I wanted. So I left out all the ugly stuff. The two black filing cabinets remain hidden in my husband's cave (he could care less). I got rid of an awful huge table, thinking I had given up efficiency for beauty. Not the case. The awful huge table had just been a place to spread stuff and it turned out I never really needed it. I made a circle of my desk, a nice table and my drafting table. I put my favorite rug (we have hard wood floors to rugs are important) in the middle. I very slowly hung up a few tapestries, pieces of art. Only bookshelves I liked remained and only stuff that was pretty or essential was put on them. The lovely wood cabinet could hide all the supplies and stuff I wasn't keen on looking at all day. The ugly but so necessary plastic things with the million drawers were placed below knee level so they are still useful but you don't see them. My gorgeous trunks got center stage. I put the purple love seat I don't much like but love sitting in by the windows in the corner. All was good. No more bulletin boards. I have my huge slate blackboard. One marble top table, a weaving bench and lots and lots of looms.

But why did I stick this other table in a far off corner and place this lovely wooden cabinet with all the drawers on it when 1) it's almost impossible to get to; 2) I never actually sit at that table because it's in exactly the wrong place. And why was there no loom stand in sight? Why was it in the living room, where I never weave. How many years would it take me to get it that if it isn't in range of my desk I will not use it? And why buy this little wooden cabinet with all the cute little functional drawers and slots and holes if I was just going to pack full of stuff ans stick it far away and never use the stuff? I do things like that. I take something I really like, I really want to use and then I stick it in left field never to be used. Am I saving it? Is it a future reward for being a good girl? Who the heck knows. But look! Isn't that sweet? The little wooden thing and my baskets and trays and that gorgeous cat in the back ground sitting on the trunk making sure all is well. Don't you just want to sit there and weave my gold bracelet for me?

So I put the little cabinet on the table I always work at which is at right angle to the desk that holds my iMac which I am always sitting at. And I dragged the loom stand to sit in between that table and the drafting table (before the wedding the drafting table was in the living room and I hadn't used it in about ten years . . . now I use it all the time). I am weaving a no warps ipod case on the Laniloom and because I can't advance it, when it sits on a table, the top part is getting a little hard to reach. The perfect solution would beto use a stand where the surface can be adjusted to exactly where I need the top to be. Duh. Really Claudia? And where would you find such a stand?

I found such a loom stand. Gee, go figure. And now I can weave comfortably on that piece and the piece next to it, which you can barely see. Chances are that now that the stand is within two steps of my computer, I will always have looms on it, freeing up a ton of table space. Plus I love the way the tray holds the beads. I have lined it with a cut up bead mat. Perfect. I guess I had associated the stand with tapestry weaving and not with beads. What the heck was I thinking? It's perfect for bead looms. Plus you can put two on at a time.

And there is that beaded case in progress. The solid areas are gold thread. Have I mentioned lately how in love I am with using that gold thread?

Change of Subject:

I am addicted. Mini Mirrix with no warps to weave in kit and another bracelet made from gold thread and size 11/0 beads. This is going on the plane with me this Thursday when I fly to Washington and I am sure it will get used plenty while there. The gold thread looks like, well, gold when woven in solid areas like this. It's amazing. It's gold!

Below is kind of the circle. (I just jumped back to original topic of rearranging my studio.) The three pictures make three sides of square in this order.

And there is Ms. Chloe making sure it all works okay.

And there is my other love, Shasta the pony, trying to soak up some sunlight on this very cold day.

Gold Thread and Bead Bracelet

2012-01-19T15:22:00.000-05:00

This was so much fun to weave. The gold thread looks like pure gold when woven on a wire warp. It's just absolutely gorgeous. The second I send this post I am going back for round two. Will turn this into a kit, but if you can't wait for the kit you can use the 11/0 seed bead permanent galvanized bead soup and our gold thread and ultra-suede and http://www.mirrixlooms.com/softflexwire.htmlsoftflex wire our no warps to weave in kit to make your own. Simply weave the beads using the traditional method of bead weaving and weave the gold thread by threading it into a tapestry needle and needle weaving. Here is the result:

Gold thread and bead weaving

2012-01-18T16:59:00.003-05:00

I am taking the opposite approach to the concept of weaving fiber and beads. Rather than set up the loom for tapestry and weave beads using the shedding device, I am setting up the loom for the traditional method of bead weaving and needle weaving in the fiber. I am using just gold thread as my fiber in the two pieces I am working on. I am very pleased with the results. I spent two days pondering this option before I finally got down to work and got something tangible on the loom.

The following piece is going to be a smart phone case:

And this one is going to be a bracelet:

I will have the bracelet off the loom and finished by tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Finishing Techniques for Tapestry and Books you must own

2012-01-18T12:28:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness there are great tapestry books out there. In almost all of the tapestry books you will find information on how to finish a tapestry. I suggest that anyone embarking on a journey of tapestry weaving invest in some good tapestry books. Tapestry is not that simple. It involves a lot of techniques which are not always intuitive. I wish any of the books I am going to mention had been around when I began weaving tapestry more years ago than I would like to say. We recommend all of the following three books for both covering almost every aspect of tapestry weaving and finishing. There is something new to learn in each book and you will want to use them again and again for references.

In 2007 Carol Russell published the second edition of her "Tapestry Handbook." Well worth every penny of the $60 cover price, this book should be a staple in your tapestry book library. The photos of tapestries in this book are breath-taking and the detailed attention to technique is clear and inspiring. As for finishing, on pages 164 to 172of the book, Carol includes a chapter called Blocking, Finishing and Mounting. Her methods for finishing are detailed and perfect. She works harder at this process than I ever had and I am sure her results reflect this indulgence in perfection.

Published in 2002, "Tapestry Weaving" by Kirsten Glasbrook really set the tone for an inexpensive ($22), softcover tapestry book filled to the brim with color and technique. I love this book. All of the images in this book are of the author's own tapestries, whereas Ms. Russell includes a broad range of tapestry images from both the best modern and not so modern tapestry artists. Fortunately, Ms. Gladbrook has a great grasp of color and design and it is feast for one's eyes to look at the photos in this book. And photos there are aplenty. Pages 66 to 69 address comprise the Mounting and Framing chapter of her book. I have actually used her method for finishing more for bead tapestries than for fiber tapestries. They seem to lend themselves more to small tapestries. When you are done you have a piece you can either frame or hang directly.

The third book we highly recommend is Kathe Todd-Hooker's "Tapestry 101" published in 2007. Ms. Todd-Hooker mainly weaves miniature tapestries the images of which are pretty much absent from this black and white book. However, despite the lack of Ms. Todd-Hooker's wonderful tapestry images, this book is crammed with both simple and complicated techniques. Another must-have for your arsenal of tapestry instruction, finishing techniques can be found in Chapter Seven which begins on page 84 and ends on page 95. She deals with finishing of a tapestry in greater detail than the other two books. Ms. Todd-Hooker is big on detail making this another book you must own in order to fully cover all the aspects of both tapestry weaving and finishing.

Finishing Techniques for Beadweaving

2012-01-17T11:49:00.003-05:00

The following is a list of ways to finish a bead weaving that has been woven on a Mirrix Loom:

-Pulling the looped threads so that they are flush with the piece (sometimes known laughingly as "pull and pray."

Rather than rewrite something has been documented well by someone else (although this piece was not woven on a Mirrix Loom) I am directing you to the following link: http://www.renzocrafts.com/weave_beads_on_a_loom.htm Click on her "book" link which is a PDF file. She has used one of those small metal looms where the warp is tied to a screw on either end. With the Mirrix (and this only really works well if you are not using the shedding device) do not cut your piece off the loom. Rather, release the tension and remove the warping bar. Then follow the directions in this PDF. I have had mixed success with this method. When weaving the piece you have to make sure you do not pierce the warp threads with your weft thread when sewing back through the beads.

-Weaving a header and a footer.

This method can be used weather or not you use the shedding device. Once you've finished weaving your piece and before you cut it off the loom, weave a header and footer using a needle and warp thread. Simply weave under and over the threads, going back and forth until you've created about a third of any inch of fiber weaving. This site has a good tutorial on this method: http://www.renzocrafts.com/weave_beads_on_a_loom.htm
Once you've woven your header and footer, remove your piece from the loom and tie overhand knots with pairs of warp threads. I like to weight my piece and stick a needle in the overhand knot to guide the knot as close to the body of bead woven piece as possible. Once you've tied off all the warps, trim them to about half an inch. Fold the header and footer to the back of the piece and sew them so they remain there. You will either have to back your piece with something like ultra-suede or attache it to a cuff or, if this is a beaded tapestry, attach it to some kind of backing.

-Sewing in your ends.

This is a method I do not employ because I find it tedious and rather difficult. Although with a thin piece and patience, it can be accomplished. See this link again for instructions: http://www.renzocrafts.com/weave_beads_on_a_loom.htm

-No warps to weave in method.

If you use our no warps end kit you will have no warps to weave in when finished. For pieces woven NOT using the shedding device this is a great option. Search this blog for examples of this method.

www.mirrixlooms.com

No warps bracelet now available in blue/green

2012-01-14T11:20:00.002-05:00

Just finished the blue/green version of the no warps bracelet. Watch for its imminent arrival on our website (today or tomorrow) in this spot: http://www.mirrixlooms.com/nowarpstoweaveinbraceletkit.html. And even more exciting, we are going to sell a kit that includes both the golden and the blue/green bracelet. So the options will be the golden bracelet and the blue/green bracelet kit, both of which provide enough material to make two bracelets or a combination kit which will allow you to make one bracelet of each color.

And remember, we will be teaching this class at Bead Fest in Philly: http://www.beadfest.com/beadfest/phl_instructors.cfm This will be a three hour class on Friday August 19th from six until nine p.m. We will also be teaching the bead cuff bracelet that day starting at eight a.m. until four p.m. It's going to be a long day but fun.

And now for the cats. You haven't seen them in a while.

Maia in a basket!

Chloe saying "I want to get fed . . . again!"

And Chloe again in my office looking fuzzy and adorable as usual.

Weaving a city of gold

2012-01-08T12:32:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year to all of you.

Except for the absence of snow (I ski, well not this year) things have been going pretty well thus far. My resolution was to weave every day as much as possible. I had focused so much on making things to sell in galleries that I lost sight of making things that inspire me. One fun thing about last year was coming up with new designs to weave on the Mirrix. I will continue to do that as much as I can this year. But I also want to weave pieces that have been living inside my head and need to get out. I started the below piece just before New Year's day.

It's woven on the McKinley Loom. This is the first time I've actually woven on this loom. I thought my first piece on it would be a table runner. In fact, I warped it to weave a table runner and after about an inch of weaving I took my scissors to it. I just was not in the mood to weave a table runner.

The next day I put on a linen warp. Linen works great on the Mirrix because it requires perfectly even tension. Putting a linen warp on a loom where you have to tie every thread pair is very difficult. I explored my yarn stash and came up with: a ball of natural hemp yarn, a ball of thistle yarn, some rafia, a bunch un-dyed silk yarn as well as dyed silk. I also discovered some lovely fine wool in earth colors. And then I found my pot of gold. This is where I stick all the gold scraps left over from various projects. Who can throw away gold! I stuffed it into the shed and let some of it spill into the front. I will take more pictures of this as the piece progresses.

The theme of the piece is: city of gold. The "city" is made from the hand-dyed silk yarn. The gold is all the rest. I guess I am almost imaging a city springing up in a desert. Whatever is stuck in my head seems to be happening in the piece. I hope I can keep it going in the right direction. There is nothing more exciting than heading in the right direction. But it's awful when things go south and you've got to get those scissors out!

I also plan to put a warp on a smaller loom and weave a similar piece. Something thin and long. It's in my head. And it will be good to be able to go back and forth between the two especially if I get stuck.

No warps loom woven earrings

2012-01-02T15:03:00.001-05:00

Little rectangles woven on the Mirrix Loom using the no warps kit http://www.mirrixlooms.com/nowarpendskit.html become simple, elegant earrings. Just takes on our of your time including warping and finishing. Setting up for the next pair take only a few minutes.

I made mine out of rhodium and 24 karat gold plated beads in a rectangle inside a rectangle design.

I am thinking maybe a longer, thinner piece (or maybe two combined) would make great earrings.

But these little guys would make nice components for a bracelet or necklace. I would be a lot more creative with color and combine pieces that were very different.

My stash is a little low. I might have to go bead shopping. What a shame!

Hope your New Years has started well and that all creativity is flowing.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-26T15:11:00.000-05:00

I actually feel relaxed. Thanks to the amazing folks at manufacturing and a lot of effort all around (Elena, take a day few days off, please . . . you make me work too hard!) we got all the looms out in time for the various holiday celebrations. Ones we even said "no way, can't do it, it will never get there in time," did, amazing the customers and those who received the loom gifts in time. Of course, a certain amount stress goes with this. Okay, a lot of stress. And now I am de-stressing, although it's hard to imagine that I really don't have to do anything today. There is of course always something to do. I could tackle some accounting, design some new kits, order some beads and thread and yarn and all the supplies we have almost out of. Or I can just chat away on this blog and relax, go for a long walk, hang out with the family (if I can find them), visit friends . . .

I wanted to share a picture of my son and Chloe which I took Christmas eve.

Zach and Chloe

Maia and Christmas tree (we went for a planted tree this year . . . it has a ways to go!)

In the spirit of making things for presents this year, Zach made pottery. Here is the line up and some detail. We spent forever picking who should get which one.

And of course I did finish my beaded smart phone case and I will be giving it away to a dear friend some time this week.

Whom did you give your purse to?

This and That now that I have a few seconds

2011-12-20T11:35:00.000-05:00

So in the middle of chaos yesterday I decided: why not come up with a new bead mix. So I did. I used all those gorgeous permanent galvanized and gold iris seed beads (size 11/0 only) we put in the tapestry bead cuff kits. The great thing about this mix is you can experience the full range of the permanent galvanized beads without having to buy all of them. The price is great too: $10 for 15 grams. 15 grams is equal to two of the normal tubes these beads come in, so it's quite a lot of beads. In fact, after I write this I am going to see how those beads look using the no warps method. Might make a kit out of it if I like the results. Will post that tomorrow. You can find it for sale at: bead soup. But for now, here is just the bead soup:

Remember we are still promoting the gold thread at the very low price of $65 for nine 24 yard three-ply skeins: gold thread. And if your purchase of other stuff (and that can include this deal) is more than $200 we will throw in a skein of this beautiful stuff for free. That deal ends on Saturday.

Okay, back to my loom and packing the last of the holiday orders. Geez, I am exhausted (but the Post Master says I should not complain, and he is right).

www.mirrixlooms.com

What I would want for a Present from Mirrix!

2011-12-13T12:57:00.002-05:00

Obviously, this is not going to happen. I don't need a present from Mirrix. Good thing, because my husband insists that sporting equipment is the only kind of present there is. My kids and friends are not nearly so narrow in the their present giving ideas (thank goodness). For example, my husband gave me a helmet and a climbing harness (that would be a rock climbing harness and helmet to protect my head in case I fall!). Touching. This year I've asked for a particular present: a kick stand for my Vespa. She just has a center stand and I just do not like hauling three hundred pounds of bike onto that stand. My arms just don't seem long enough. So kick stand is on my list this year. Guess what: he won't remember. He'll probably buy me a climbing rope and maybe some really fashionable climbing shoes. Gotta love, but not for his present picking skills.

So what if I didn't own Mirrix and what if my husband was capable of buying me something other than sports equipment/clothes for presents. What would I want?

Used to be I would have said the ZachLoom. It's my perfect size for tapestry. Not too small, not too big and easily hauled around. I just love its shape, its form. It's the one I always head to for tapestry weaving. But that was before the McKinley loom was born. Even though I have not had the time to use my McKinley loom, I stare at it in awe all the time. After the holidays I plan to weave a woolen table runner on that loom. He's a little taller and a little wider than the Zach. The proportions are geared toward some great height. Perfect for making a small rug or large runner and of course great for tapestry weaving. The jury is out. I might still want the Zach if I could have only one loom. But maybe not.

And then there is the issue of bead weaving. Recently, my LaniLoom is always warped. Sometimes I use the shedding device and sometimes I use the no warps kit (an essential item for anyone who owns the 8, 12 or 16 inch loom because it's so much fun). I have been making the No warps to Weave in Bracelet Kit like it's going out of style (and the way they have been flying off the shelf, I doubt they will ever go out of style). But I am also weaving the beaded smartphone case on the 16 inch loom using the shedding device. What fun.

And of course, there is always gold. With the great deal with have going on now for this gold thread, I would ask for that.

Midas stopped here.

Beaded smartphone case . . . how can you not want to make that?

I have made about six of these bracelets (and lots of friends!)

Nothing prettier than the sight of a Mirrix Loom

I am going to check back tomorrow with some more thoughts on what Mirrix item I would want for a present!

Guest Blogger: Anthony Locane

2011-12-12T19:23:00.003-05:00

We're fascinated by the amazing work that our customers produce every day. From fantastic bead weavings to stunning tapestries and innovative art spanning many mediums, we want to hear from our customers about what they create. Beginning with this guest blog post by the artist Anthony Locane, we'll periodically be featuring guest posts from our customers. Do you have a suggestion for a guest blogger who weaves on a Mirrix? Let us know by emailing elena@mirrixlooms.com.

RELATIONALshifts: Digital Woven Art by Anthony Locane

I call my art "Digital Woven Art" because it combines two of my favorite things … weaving and digital art. More on the RELATIONALshifts aspect later.

BACKGROUND:

I fell in love with weaving back in undergraduate school when I was an art major at Buffalo State College, part of the State University of NY (SUNY) system. The Design in Fibers class covered weaving (both floor and frame tapestry) along with all other fiber arts (macrame, stitchery, quilting, etc). Since that moment, I have never lost my love or enthusiasm for weaving.

Fast forward many years and I was a graphic designer, having taught myself how to design on the computer. During those many years in the corporate design world, I always dreamed of living the life of a producing artist; but time and work always seemed to get in my way. Then in 2004, I changed my life.

I quit my full time job in marketing and decided to fulfill my dream. I knew I wanted to somehow combine my love of weaving with my digital skills. I started by painting and drawing, in Photoshop, over a digital photograph of my friend. I manipulated the photo and created many variations until I had about 20 images. After a few days of wondering what I would do next with these images, I suddenly had the thought of weaving them together into a new and different image. But how could I weave paper; unless I resorted to a method I remembered from my elementary school days of weaving paper strips against each other?

PROCESS:

Having determined that my work would best be suited for an upright tapestry loom, I decided on the Mirrix loom because of its metal construction that would hold up to the rigorous tension demands of my warps and its unique shedding system that facilitated weaving with my paper strip wefts.

Back in those days, I would print out each version (sometimes 20-30) of the digital image I created, cut each version into strips and weave selected strips from the various versions to create my new image. Needless to say it became a very expensive process as many strips lay unused. After several months of experimenting, I developed a proprietary method whereby I can actually simulate a weaving on the computer screen and experiment with selecting strips from my various versions. I save tons of paper and ink now and often only need to print out 1-3 versions of an image to create my final piece. As I weave, I often deviate from my planned image to find that my intuitions and spontaneous decisions lead me in new and more interesting directions. Today, I employ three graphic software packages in designing my pieces; each forming one step in my design process. I still start with a digital photo that I manipulate by painting and drawing over; but often I will paint on the final woven piece after it is removed from the loom; or I will go in and remove ink from the piece by bleaching and painting over with water or rubbing out areas.

After a one-man show in 2007 and my first group show earlier this year, I became interested in working in metal. My Masters Degree is in sculpture and I have always wanted to go back to my 3-dimensional roots. I since have purchased a large-format Epson printer with the capability of printing on metal sheets.

My warps are now wire … usually in the 20-30 gauge size and either aluminum or copper. My wefts are specially treated aluminum and copper sheets that accept Epson pigment-based inks that are archival; meaning they will last 75-120 years if framed or enclosed in plexiglass or glass and not subjected to direct, intense sunlight. Weaving metal wefts against wire warps allows me to manipulate the pieces into 3-dimensional forms after removal from the loom.

DESIGN INSPIRATION:

My work is all about relationships to people in my life, places, and ideas and concepts. I first began with portraits (FACEscapes) since I have always been obsessed with faces. Next came my LANDscapes and then my abstracts that I call my MEMORYscapes. Each has transformed as I progress with my art. My earlier portraits were very personal, as were my landscapes. My new work, while still very personal to me, exhibits a more universal quality. Portraits illustrate more of a greater human condition while my MEMORYscapes are leading me into areas that push my boundaries or preconceived notions of my world. I am currently working on my Beholder's Eye series; exploring the concept of and what constitutes beauty.

I am currently part of a group exhibit, the National Juried Small Works Show, at the Windsor Whip Works Art Gallery in Windsor, NY. 56 artists (primarily painters) from across the U.S. were selected to present their best works. I am delighted to announce that I won 1st Place: Best in Show for my piece, "Beholder's Eye: Sea Urchin." Not only is it validation of my work, but also that weaving has a place in the fine art world. True, my work is not traditional tapestry; yet I cannot help think that with intention and imagination, anything is possible. The medium does not determine criteria in categorizing fine art. My computer and looms are merely my tools.

My work may be viewed at www.anthonyjlocane.com

Four legged family friends and members and then there is the fox

2011-12-08T12:22:00.001-05:00

How can you resist that face! Chloe is enjoying her new life outside the woodpile where we found her.

Our boxer friends visited over the weekend. They were rescued from a kill shelter down south by my dear friends Joni and Pat. Sophie (on the right) was about three and skin and bones with hardly any hair. She had been living in a breeding factory and lived on a cement floor in a metal cage. She was timid and afraid but not anymore. Zoe was eight months old when she was adopted (at the same time as Sophie). We think she is Sophie's daughter. Because she was so much younger and had not yet been bred she pretty much acted like a puppy from the get go.

As you can see they feel right at home on my studio couch. No complaints from me!

Now this is amazing. Chloe is on Pat's lap and she appears to be purring. That is the first time we've seen her near a dog. Normally, she hides until the dogs leave.

And then this morning my husband Rick declared that there is a fox in our pasture. And sure enough there was. Meet our fox.

That is one large fox.

No warps necklace

2011-12-03T11:29:00.001-05:00

Had to try it! I can't stop playing with the no warps kit. It just fascinates me as does weaving on wire, which I've never been able to do before. I took the beads from the no warps kit and used them for a necklace. The piece is only four warps (three beads) wide. I made it 14 inches long.

Here are my results:

It's kind of a choker style piece. I used a glass button to finish it.

I love those magatamas although I can't stand their name and I always have to look at the package to spell the name. They carry color differently from round seed beads. Maybe it's because they have so much surface. I am fascinated. Okay, so it doesn't take a lot to fascinate me when it comes to color and beads!

Here's where you can get the bracelet kit and just use it to make a necklace (or two) instead.

http://www.mirrixlooms.com/nowarpstoweaveinbraceletkit.html

Or just buy some soft flex wire:

http://www.mirrixlooms.com/softflexwire.html

Looking for your own stash of magatama beads? Check out Caravan Beads. Since they import directly from Japan, they always have the full range of all Myuki Beads. Candy store here I come!

http://www.caravanbeads.net/

Busy weaving and busy talking to all of you!

2011-12-02T17:29:00.001-05:00

Not at the same time. I can't talk and weave at the same time. One is right brain; one is left brain and my right and left brains are NOT attached. At all, it seems.

I am going to post the eyeglass case I made out of the small purse kit. It was fun! Can't decide if it's okay to give to my brother-in-law because of the beads. But why not? Please, someone weigh in on this? Can guys carry around eyeglass cases with beads?

Let me show you the piece.

Sewing her sides up.

Covering up the sewing with beads.

Done!

I love the silk lining.

Another angle.

Please check A Word from Elena on Sunday for more about this and the weave-along. We will be doing week four of the latest weave-along.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Soft Flex Again and and another no warps bracelet

2011-11-16T14:29:00.001-05:00

I can't stop experimenting with my Soft Flex wire with the No warps to weave in kit. It's not only fun and quite fast but the final product is amazing. I think these bracelets will last forever. So whether you are making them for yourself, your friends or to sell, I think you will be thrilled with the results.

This piece was made from rhodium and 24 karat gold plated size 11/0 delica beads on a Very Fine soft touch warp. I used C-Lon beading thread for the weft.

New No Warps Bracelet one and two

2011-11-15T15:49:00.001-05:00

Daggers and size 8/0 seed beads on a Soft Flex copper wire warp

This was fun and easy and we now have it in kit form: http://www.mirrixlooms.com/nowarpstoweaveinbraceletkit.html

I also am weaving another bracelet with a slightly thinner Soft Flex Warp and size 11/0 Delica beads in a rhodium and 24 karat gold finish. This one is still on the loom.

I will get back to you tomorrow with a better picture and final results of this bracelet.

Tomorrow's Weave-along

2011-11-12T11:04:00.001-05:00

Getting ready for the beginning of our two weave-alongs due to start tomorrow. Have no fear, if you haven't ordered your kit(s) yet you still have time. Tomorrow will be set up day and the results will be posted at http://awordfromelena.blogspot.com/ and will remain there for as long as Mirrix exists. Both these pieces will take quite a while to complete. Whether you give them away as a gift or keep them for you own personal use, you will be thrilled with the results.

I have NOT given mine away. I use the bead pouch all the time to hold my cell phone I find myself constantly touching it because the texture is so smooth and amazing. I also find other people wanting to touch it and keep it. I take it almost everywhere my cell phone goes whether it gets shoved in my purse or my pocket or my backpack. It is my cellphone home and I adore it. I am looking forward to weaving my third beaded cell phone pouch (the first is owned by Elena). I know I will give it to someone, but I don't yet know who. A lot of love and time is going to go into that piece so it surely will be someone very special.

And then we've got the wool purse/pouch. Call it what you want, but I call it just perfect for carrying around a few things like a credit card, some cash, and even my cellphone if I dare to remove it from the beaded pouch. I did do that while away for the last few days. I used it for those three things and it worked great. The only thing I will change on my next purse is to make it one inch taller. That's all, just one inch. In fact, I think the instructions have the right height but I got all excited about cutting it off and just couldn't wait to weave one more inch. My cellphone is just a tad too tall for it so I have to put it in my purse side ways. My cellphone is not an iPhone. Not because I don't want an iPhone but because I can't get service here. My cellphone is a little taller and a lot thinner. It wants a slightly taller purse in order for the flap to close properly.

So if you haven't signed up already, you still can. I do have kits here waiting to be mailed priority mail. You can get them in three days. Check out the links below and even get a 25% discount! Participate in this weave-along and you might win the Ott-lite: http://www.ottlite.com/ How can you lose!

http://www.mirrixlooms.com/wovenpursekit.html

http://www.mirrixlooms.com/beadedpursekit.html

New Mirrix Products and the motor scooters

2011-11-05T16:13:00.004-04:00

I thought it would be fun to line up some of the new products we've created here at Mirrix during this autumn. It's kind of stunning and now I know why I really could use some sleep. I believe Elena feels the same. And now as I think about and that picture I just took I even left out some stuff.

Let me list them, all of them:

The shedding device for the eight inch loom
The McKinley Loom (28 inches wide and 44 inches in possible weaving length)
The kumihimo on-the-go kit
The small tapestry purse kit
The tapestry cuff refill kit
The Just weft Yarn kit
The No Warps to Sew in kit
The 24 karat gold thread
The silk yarn selection
The ultra-suede
Tulip bead weaving needles
New Bead Soup

As well as a bunch of loom starter kits sure to keep you fascinated with weaving throughout the cold or wet winter months.

We welcome new suggestions and if we can and think it will work, we will try to create it or find it for you. We want to become a place where you can shop for all your weaving needs, or at least a lot of them. And we want to continue to find beautiful fiber for you to weave. We love doing it and hope you love what we do!

And now the pictures you've been waiting for: Vespa and Buddy! They are really quite beautiful and I wish to heck winter was not a reality here so I could actually ride them more than twice before I have to pack up their batteries and winterize their gas.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Just Weft kits

2011-11-03T14:45:00.004-04:00

Want to follow your own tapestry design but don't have enough weft colors? We just came up with a kit to solve that problem. It contains Seventeen 20 yard skeins of 100% wool yarn. That's it. It's up to you.

If you've already purchased our small purse kit, you can use the leftover warp with this yarn or buy a 100 gram tube of Navajo warp. In any case, you are bound to have fun with all these great colors. We suggest using either a 12 or 14 dent coil, every other dent.

Wintober 2011

2011-10-31T13:39:00.000-04:00

Autumn leaves bright on the branches of the trees surrounding the pasture. Sunlight bouncing off everything . . . ah, but something is wrong What is that white stuff? What is that 28 inch pile of white stuff?

From my studio window. That fence is two feet under!

That fence is still two feet under!

Yes, the birds are gone but who is going to shovel their roof?

Pepper and tomato plants on the porch are still bearing fruit. Go figure.

Those are flowerpots underneath those lumps.

McKinley Loom Baby Pictures and Autumn bracelet in winter

2011-10-28T16:44:00.001-04:00

The photographer came yesterday to photograph the new McKinley loom but since he left his camera here I won't have the pictures today. I took my own unprofessional shots so you can at least get an idea of how beautiful he is.

He's long and sleek and perfect for table runners. He measures in at 28 inches wide giving you a 25 inch weaving width and a 44 inch weaving length.

So yesterday I took a picture of autumn not really believing today would be winter. But as you see, it kind of is.

From my studio window.

I hope the birds have flown south!

I am going to break up winter with my autumn weaving I finished today. It's done with soft flex wire and the No warps to weave in kit. Fast and fun. I am thinking of making kits with soft flex wire so you can weave this too!

Shasta, my horse, sunbathing.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Softflex weavings and autumn

2011-10-27T13:25:00.000-04:00

I am finishing up the fourth bracelet for my guest Soft flex blog. These bracelets use soft flex wire and the no warps to finish kit. Really fun and fast. For this one I am using autumn colors. It's a random pattern I am making up as I go along.

Soft flex wire and delica beads necklace with no warps to weave in kit. Can't see it, but it's being done on a 16 inch loom.

Ah those closeups that aren't really close!

A wet pumpkin I just photographed in the garden. Maybe I should pick it?

I walked by and she growled at me. Chloe loves to growl. She is so amusing.

The woods beyond are really very dense but it's hard to tell. The leaves are going, going, almost gone. I will miss them.

Where I am supposed to be weaving that bracelet. Back to it.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Thoughts from this morning

2011-10-24T21:48:00.002-04:00

I woke up this morning (several times) with thoughts about what I was going to make, how I was going to design certain projects, colors floating through my head. I do this a lot. I wake up with a certain problem in mind that I need to solve and then I float images of it in my head. Sometimes I fall asleep again and just sort of dream about it and then that dream moves into another dream. But all of it is magical and I love it. I get to see things in my mind before the day has worn away at my creative side. It's easy to get sucked into the days work and problems and tasks and to let go of that space in your head that wants to dream about color and form.

I did finish the elegant cuff last night.

With the flash, really captures that gold.

Inside the cuff!

In all her glory. I love those 24 gold plated beads.

I have been so busy getting together kits, thinking about kits, thinking about new kits, ordering the materials, etc. It's really fun but kind of stressful. I am coming up with formulas for writing instructions and trying to get everything organized and systematic. I look forward to the system being in place so I can dream up new projects.

So I got it in my head that it would be fun to weave a thinner tapestry cuff and just sew ultra-suede to the back. I am going to try that tomorrow. I think I will even leave a button hole in the cuff so it can completely close. I think it will feel really great on one's wrist and it might be something a man would wear. I know I make endless gold and silk braids for my husband to wear around his wrist. The pile keeps growing because he never takes the off. It's kind of sweet.

So tomorrow I finish making a bunch of kits for the next weave along and weave a thin tapestry/bead cuff and also work on the guest blog which softflex is waiting for their blog about using their wire with the No Warps to sew in kit. I have three pieces I've woven but want to do one more before I write the blog.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Elegant/Wedding Cuff Final Weave-along

2011-10-23T13:05:00.000-04:00

The final week of the elegant/wedding cuff bracelet weave-along is upon us. Whip out your patience and your scissors and your glue and your beads and your needle and let's put this all together. First you are going to need to weave a footer with the warp thread. Mine was about ten passes (five to one side and five back). After that, it's time to chop, chop. Don't be afraid. Just make sure you leave at least four inches of warp so you can easily tie it off in overhand knots. If you can, leave more than four inches.

Waiting to be set free.

Close up of the footer.

Taking a little rest before we continue with surgery.

At last, she has been set free. Look at all those messy ends! Thank goodness all the yucky stuff is going to be glued to the brass cuff so you'll never see it. Trim the back ends to about half an inch in length. You basically want them to get out of your way.

To tie warp pairs, start with a the kind of knot you use to start tying your shoes before the cute little bow.

Tighten that knot so it's tight against the weavings edge.

Then tie an overhand knot.

Stick a needle into the knot so that you can push it close to the edge of the weaving.

Once you've got the knot in place, you can remove that needle and to to the next pair of warp threads.

Warp ends all tied!

Trim ends to about a quarter of an inch.

Hair cut finished.

That's the glue I use. You can use anything that works on fabric. I like this stuff because it's fairly slow drying and allows me to adjust the piece on the brass cuff before being permanently stuck to it. Yes, it's smelly. The odor goes away in about 24 hours.

Glue dabbed on back of piece. I've try to push all the ends into the center where the glue keeps them in place. This keeps them out of the way when you attach the piece to the brass cuff.

Put tapestry on cuff folding over the ends as much as you need to. You want them to reach just slightly past the cuff so you have ample material to sew into. Too short is not good and will make you want to tear your hair out.

Attach the ultra suede to the back of your piece. Again, you want the ends to be long enough that you can easily sew them to the tapestry.

Sew to the tapestry and ultra-suded together all around the cuff.

Now the fun part . . . adding beads. Pick up one 15/0, one 11/0, one 15/0. Whip stitch between the tapestry and the ultra suede doing your best to make sure you've covered any sewing thread that might be showing on the tapestry. Don't worry so much about how the back looks. Your goal is make sure the front is beautiful.

See how pretty!

Almost done.

One more picture of it.

We will post our finished cuff on Facebook later today! We are hoping you will do the same. And then we will throw all your names in a hat (we will give you a few days to post) and randomly pick the winner of the OTT light. What lucky person that will be.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Last Day of Current weave-along but new great ones to follow

2011-10-23T12:29:00.001-04:00

This is the last day of the elegant/wedding cuff weave-along but we have another two great ones to follow. The new one starts November 15th and includes two projects. One is the beaded iPod kit and the other is the small purse tapestry kit:

http://www.mirrixlooms.com/beadedpursekit.html

and http://www.mirrixlooms.com/wovenpursekit.html

You can weave them at the same time on one loom. There will be a slight modification since the beaded kit requires the 12 dent coil using every dent and the purse uses the 14 dent coil using every other dent. You can use the 12 dent coil for the purse using every other dent. Just modify it slight by putting on six fewer warps. Or simply, make sure you put on enough warps so that the width measures six inches.

Or do just one or do both but on different looms. In any case, you are going to want to participate in this weave-along because it will serve as a great learning experience for using the Mirrix Loom and shedding device.

And remember we do now have a shedding device for the eight inch loom: http://www.mirrixlooms.com/sheddingdevice.html allowing you to weave the beaded purse on the eight inch loom. The wool purse is one inch too wide for the LaniLoom.

And yes, an active participant will be eligible to win a fabulous floor OTT light!

Order your kits soon because we are having a hard time making them fast enough to keep in stock.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Kumihimo Disk

2011-10-21T12:48:00.003-04:00

I own two Marudais (braiding stands) but portable they are not. And I always need a portable version of whatever I am doing. For example, you can't just have a Mirrix Loom that lives in your house. You need once to take on the road or literally in the car. (side note: my husband and I always fight over who gets to drive . . . actually, more like who doesn't have to drive . . . I usually win.) Same goes for braiding, which I like to do because I can produce lovely straps for my handwoven purses. I can also make some fun stand along pieces like my version of the friendship bracelet (lots and lots of gold thread and with a little bit of silk thread thrown in).

The reason I love the Kumihimo braiding disk so much is that I can easily throw it in my purse (and with those wonderful bobbins nothing comes undone) and whip it out anywhere at any time for some instant gratification. I try to become invisible because the reality is I don't want to have to explain myself. I just want to braid (or weave or whatever I am doing in public!). I can also transport it easily from room to room. Not so much for the wooden stands because the bobbins jump all over the place and it can be a mess. So I am very excited that we are now able to offer these fun tools for your braiding pleasure.

Let me show you some recent braids I've been working on:

This will be the strap for the weave-along tapestry purse.

Multi-colored silk braid waiting to become a strap for something.

Black silk and gold thread braid.

There is a gold plated wire in here as well as tons of gold thread and three colors of silk yarn done in a flat braid. It wants to be a bracelet.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Small Tapestry Purse

2011-10-20T15:48:00.001-04:00

Done. Finally. Made some changes along the way and added some things to the kit today. I added some additional threads for the strap. I didn't like the way the wool looked in a rope. You are welcome to add some wool to your rope, but it's best not to make it all out of wool. The extra threads are novelty threads and rayon. It took me three tries to get them the right length. In other words, I made two ropes that were too short. The kit contains enough thread to make the correct length rope. I also had to think about a clasp. What I did was added a loop of beads on the flap (actually, I've added three rows of beads to the loop so it's very attractive and sturdy.) Then I had to come up with a button. I settled on a semi-precious stone. Worked great.

The beads are permanent finish galvanized and pick up the rich colors of the purse because they are so rich. I loved the effect. And the lining is to die for. Nice weighty duponi silk with a lovely texture. Heaven!

I am very pleased with the final product. It took a while to get it just right, but I am glad I ripped out and redid a bunch of times until it was right.

Okay, here is the picture of the finished purse:

Color Block Tapestry Purse

The pieces of the kit

www.mirrixlooms.com

New Small Tapestry Purse

2011-10-19T18:20:00.002-04:00

I keep getting torn in a million directions so actually finishing anything seems impossible these last couple of weeks. In the middle of it I managed to rescue another cat, of course. She was abandoned and living in my friend's wood pile. She's about three and a complete love. I can't imagine anyone wanting to give this sweetie up. We did check everywhere and she was not reported missing. She's got four double paws so they almost look like snow shoes!

Chloe

The purse is coming along very well. I now have most of the silk lining on it (oh did I pick some gorgeous silk for the lining!). Since the piece incorporates slit tapestry, I did sew up all of the longer slits. I timed myself. It only took a half an hour. I had thought about using beads to sew up some of the slits. I even tried it. But because the pattern is so intense the beads looked really bad. I will use beads (and include them in the kit) to sew on the strap.

The strap can be made two ways. You can use a braiding disc and material other than the wool included with the kit to make a strap. I am making one from rayon floss and novelty yarn. But that will be for the weave-along piece because this strap is going to take a while to finish. Fortunately, I can just throw the disc in my purse so while I was at the dentist today waiting to get my teeth cleaned I whipped out that disc and got at least two inches done. For this purse, which I will finally be able to post tomorrow, I will use whatever yarn is left over from the kit (we are including one extra skein so don't fear that you will come up short) to make a rope and turn that into a strap. Ropes are easy to make. You just twist a bunch of yarn together and then fold it in half back onto itself and let it twist. It's just like plying while spinning.

Okay, now for the one picture of the piece close to completion:

Right before I cut it off the loom.

Taking a lithe rest before being tied and sewn and all that stuff.

www.mirrixlooms.com

This and that

2011-10-18T08:43:00.000-04:00

AS some of you might recall, last November I traveled to Cincinnati to appear in the 1400 series of Beads, Baubles and Jewels: http://www.beadsbaublesandjewels.com/shopping.htm It was a lot of fun and I met some great folks there. I was told it would air in May and I promptly forgot to check if it did. This series does not air on all public television stations. If you go to their website you can find listings for your area. So I went there: http://www.beadsbaublesandjewels.com/getlistings.php And to my surprise, it is airing this month. I don't think it aired anywhere in May or June or July! So check it out and see if it's coming to a television station near you. Our episode is 1410 Texture and it shows me making a tapestry/bead cuff. See it there on the cover of the DVD!

You asked for, and now we are making it. A shedding device for our eight inch loom: http://www.mirrixlooms.com/sheddingdevice.html

Yes, we ran out of that gorgeous gold thread. But after weeks of waiting for a shipment from Japan, the good news is we found some more. It will arrive in the next few days. Get your orders in early before this stuff is all gone: http://www.mirrixlooms.com/goldthread.html

Up and coming . . . a new Mirrix Loom. This one will be perfect for weaving table runners. She will be 28 inches wide and will weave a piece up to 44 inches tall (weaving width will be 25 inches). We are so excited about this new loom! I personally cannot wait to use it!

LaniLoom now has a Shedding Device!

2011-10-15T10:52:00.003-04:00

She still doesn't come standard with a shedding device, but now you can buy one for your LaniLoom. The cuff bracelets became so popular that folks who had never dreamed of weaving fiber, were suddenly weaving fiber. Lots of people wanted to know if you could weave the cuff on the eight inch loom. Well, you can, but you also have to needle weave in the fiber which takes a lot more time than letting a shedding device do the work for you.

But to say that is the reason we finally designed and made available the shedding device would be patently untrue. We blame the LaniLoom shedding device on two wonderful people: Mac and Sue Murry. They very sweetly asked us if we could produce a shedding device for the LaniLoom. Maybe it was the way they asked: in a long and beautiful email stating the reasons why such a device would greatly improve the quality of their lives and their weaving. Or maybe just because they are such great people and although my first instinct was to say: No, No the LaniLoom is supposed to be like every other bead weaving loom (in a way) and besides because it has just one leg it couldn't possibly work with a shedding device. Or could it?

By the time I had formed my answer in an email I had already written to manufacturing and asked if they could make me a prototype. Sure, they could. A few days later I had it. And now you can have it too.

I didn't think the LaniLoom would look cool with a shedding device but boy does she look cool!

Moral of the story: always listen to those brilliant customers because often they know better than I do. Mac and Sue were also wondering if we could make a loom between the sizes of the 22 and the 32 inch loom. We are thinking about that now too: a 28 inch loom anyone? Maybe a limited run of 20?

Now for the glorious pictures of the LaniLoom and her new get-up.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Dyeing! And the newly invented small purse kit

2011-10-05T12:45:00.002-04:00

What can I say. I have spent the last two days dyeing. At first my husband was concerned when I said "I think I am going to dye today." He couldn't see the "e". When he came home, there it was: spread all over the kitchen. Not soup in those pots. No way. Color. Lots and lots of bubbling color. Should be ready for tapestry/bead cuff kits in a day or so. We will also be creating silk color refill kits. See some of the results:

Hand-dyed mulbury silk ready to be put into cuff kits as well as refill cuff kits.

As I was weaving the new small purse kit for the next weave-along it struck that the purse was anything but small and it could take a really long time to weave it. So I cut off and started a new one, as is my way. This one is a couple inches less in width and hence will be less in height and we may all complete it in time for the holidays, which was one of the points. I am having as much fun weaving this one as the first one, maybe more because I worked out a couple of glitches. It's interesting that the colors in the purse (it's wool, not silk) look surprisingly like the silk colors above. I did not intend that. So here is a sneak preview:

The small purse kit in the making. Loving making this!!!

www.mirrixlooms.com

New Tapestry Purse Kit

2011-10-01T17:57:00.002-04:00

I've rethought the old version of the tapestry purse kit that we will be using for our next weave-along. I wanted to come up with something that would both be great for a beginner weaver but not be at all boring. One of the most difficult things to accomplish when weaving one's first tapestry is getting the edges to not pull in. Even with the great tension of the Mirrix Loom, you can still botch this one when you first start out. And it is frustrating. Another really frustrating error for the beginning tapestry weaver is to end up with unevenly spaced warp threads. Usually, this manifests itself by having the warps in the middle of the piece closer together than the outside warps. It's hard to fix after the fact.

These errors happen for a reason, but even if you know the reason, if you are not experienced at tapestry, they can still happen. They can even happen for experienced tapestry weavers sometimes when one is not paying attention.

The scenario where this won't happen is when you are: 1) only weaving narrow areas of weft, and 2) weaving slit tapestry so that the space between the areas of weft can take up the slack and not put so much pressure on the outside edges.

One of the most interesting techniques to learn for tapestry is the art of weaving with opposing wefts so that you can cross into another color area and be in the right shed. You will learn all this when we do the weave-along for this project, but for now you get to see a picture.

www.mirrixlooms.com

No Warp Ends Kit

2011-09-29T13:12:00.001-04:00

No Warp EndsKit Instructions

Contents of kit:

4 yards of texslov cord

2 thin metal bars

100 paperclips

The concept is very simple. We’ve provided a lot of cord to allow for a bunch ofdifferent options for the length of your piece. First, cut the cord in two identical length pieces (twoyards each). The holes in the cordare large enough to fit the metal bars.

The following photo illustrates how you want your loom tolook once it is warped.

How to put the cord and barson your loom.

1) Slide the required number of paper clips on eachbar. If you don’t put enough on,don’t worry because you can always add more while the bars are on theloom. If you put on too many, youcan slide the clips to the side. In this example, we used five clips on the top and five on the bottomfor a piece that will be nine beads wide.

2) Loop the two pieces of cord over the top of theloom. Stick the ends of the topbar through the loops near the end of the cords. Take the other two tales of the cord underneath the loom andup to the top bar. You will beattaching the cord to that same top bar (the bottom bar gets insertedlater). Make sure each cord is thesame length. It does not have tobe tight. The tension will beadjusted later.

3) To attach the bottom bar, first measure down from thebottom of the paper clips of the top bar to the place on the cord that is thelength of the piece you want to weave PLUS the length of the paperclips on thebottom bar. So if your piece isgoing to be six inches long, you will measure down six inches plus the lengthof the paperclips. Simple stickthe bottom bar into the two cords at this place. It will easily slide into the holes of the cord.

4) Refer to first photograph. In order to warp the loom, simply tie to either a top orbottom paper clip and then in a zigzag pattern slip your warp through the topand bottom paper clips until you have as many warps as you need. Tie off on final paper clip.

5) Slide the cord that is on the outside of the top bar (thecord that runs the same path as your warp) off the top bar. Now you just have warp between the barson the front of the loom.

6) Evenly space the paperclips. Apply tension on the loom. Begin weaving as you normally would. The beads will space the warps asnecessary and the paper clips will make sure warps do not tangle or cross.

7) Weave until you have a space one bead wide on top toallow for shrinkage once piece is removed from the loom.

8) If you plan to weave another piece of the same length,replace the cords on the top bar so that when you remove your piece the barsremain attached to the loom. Reduce the tension on the loom and slip your piece out of the paperclips.

9) The only remaining finishing will be to weave in the twowarp ends.

www.mirrixloms.com

Delivering Mirrix Looms to WEBS

2011-09-28T20:08:00.003-04:00

Today my friend Lisa and I drove to Northampton, MA to deliver looms to WEBS. Here is proof (that I have a friend and that we did deliver looms there):

And there are more pictures!

That's Barbara: she and her husband started WEBS

That's where the Mirrix Zach Loom with tapestry will be hanging out for a while, right by the front door and the check out counter. You should come visit him!

That's Karen. We will be working with her a lot.

And that's me, Claudia, in front of a sea of goodies (yarn, yarn and more yarn!)

www.mirrixlooms.com

Softflex wire bracelet with No Warps to Sew in method

2011-09-27T12:38:00.000-04:00

The next step in the exploration of this new method of weaving on the Mirrix Loom where are no warps to sew back in was to try it with wire. I dug into my wire drawer and came out with a spool of soft TOUCH size .010 in. diameter wire. Warped my loom in about ten seconds with eight warps. The advantage to using this method with wire is two-fold. Wire loom work is hard to finish and wire is expensive and it's wasteful to have a lot of long warp ends. Both issues were immediately solved with this method. I love my new bracelet!

www.mirrixlooms.com

Free Form Bead Weaving on the Mirrix Loom

2011-09-22T12:03:00.001-04:00

I was in one of those moods today. Just didn't feel like doing anything I had ever done before. I decided to use the new "New Warps to Sew in" kit to weave wire. Unfortunately, I failed because I don't have the right wire on hand. That experiment will have to wait until I can gather the right materials. I am still contemplating what they are.

Frustrated because I hadn't broken any new ground (at least new ground for me) I randomly decided to put a warp of magenta hand-dyed silk on an eight inch loom using the new kit. Wasn't really sure where I was going to go with that until I dug into a basket of beads and came up with some magatamas (4 x 7 mm), some size 8/0s and some triangle beads. I also dug out some gold thread. This thread is flat and gold plated on both sides. It fit inside the eye of my tulip beading needles so it was a go.

My goal was to let the beautiful silk thread show. This thread would have been impossible to weave in after the weaving was done hence the use of the kit. Another goal was to let the beads speak for themselves and not try to speak for them. What I mean by that: I wanted the piece to be playful and somewhat random. But not bead soup. And as I wove it I realized it was actually free form bead weaving. I don't know if that is a term already in use, but if it isn't, it should be, and this is what it is!

The piece took me all of thirty minutes to weave (about five minutes to warp) and when it was done, it was done. If it is to become a bracelet I need to think about a clasp. I am leaning toward threading beads on one of the two silk ends to make the circle of a clasp and creating a peyote tube to be attached to the other silk end. This takes care of the ends and the clasp but I suppose one could just add a standard clasp by using the silk ends.

Seems to me that the possibilities are endless for this concept. I think I got outside my box today!

The piece in progress on the Mirrix Loom

Close up of that gold thread

Finished Piece

www.mirrixlooms.com

Tapestry for WEBS

2011-09-21T15:23:00.001-04:00

WEBS is going to be the latest dealer for Mirrix Looms. We are thrilled to have our looms in their store and available through their web site. They asked me to pick out some colors of their Berkshire Valley Yarns and weave a sample tapestry on a 22 inch loom. I used their Linen Valley yarns 8/2 for warp. Using linen warp on the Mirrix Loom is a pleasure because the tension is so even and strong. It's difficult to warp looms with linen when you have to tie on the threads. A continuous warp makes warping with linen so much easier.

This is where I am at. I have an inch or two to go before weaving the final linen hem. And then off it goes to WEBS in North Hampton, MA to go on display. We hope you have a chance to visit this wonderful store. It's huge and filled with all sorts of wonderful stuff . . . and now the Mirrix Loom and warp and weft yarn to make your Mirrix sing.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Someone else has another way of weaving with paper clips

2011-09-16T13:05:00.003-04:00

Check this out: http://warpsbead.blogspot.com/

I vaguely remember seeing this before. It's also a great idea.

www.mirrixlooms.com

No Warps to finish part two

2011-09-16T09:16:00.002-04:00

The sun is here this morning. I finished the piece yesterday but it was dull and rainy and I knew I would not get a good photo. So here it is finished on the loom. Notice that I had removed the two cords in front because they were not allowing me to get the tension I wanted and they were getting n the way. I would suggest replacing the two cords when you take off the piece because then you can start another piece right away without having to set up the cord and paper clips again (which actually is not such a big deal). On a larger loom you can do several pieces at the same time. I know one person asked yesterday if you can do little squares with this method and the answer is a resounding YES. What a great idea too to be able to weave a series of little squares without any finishing. It makes the concept viable finally because otherwise for such a small piece you would be doing so much finish work. With this method you have to weave in four ends: the weft tails (unless you've dealt with them while piece is not the loom) and the two warp ends that were tied to the paperclips.

The piece is completely flat. There is a tiny loop of extra thread where the paperclip was inserted. This turns out to be a gift since that thread is taken up by the slight shrinkage once the piece is removed from the loom. So the whole concept is perfect, works, is amazing and I am wondering why we didn't do this ages ago!

Finished piece on loom with front cords removed.

Close up of end of piece.

Ditto

www.mirrixlooms.com

No Warps to Finish Bead Weaving

2011-09-14T17:23:00.000-04:00

I have had this idea in my head for a very long time and a bunch of you have been patiently waiting for me to finally give it up, figure it out, take pictures, post it and finally make the kit to make it happen. Today, after Elena asked me for about the 30th time to do this, I finally went down to the tool room, cut up some metal bars, dashed upstairs, found some other stuff I needed (including paper clips) and warped up an eight inch loom. Now why didn't I just do this weeks (months?) ago? It was so easy I almost cried. I guess it was the lack of the correct size bars that was stopping me, but there is nothing a hacksaw can't do to correct reality.

It works! I mean it really works! And once you've set up your loom for, let's say, a certain size bracelet, you can leave everything in place and just start mass producing them. I am serious. But why believe my words when I've got photographs to prove it.

This is how it works. The kit will include two thin stainless steel metal bars the weaving width of the loom. That fun texslov cord will be provided. You attach this very much the way you attach the extra warping bar kit. I wanted to make a short piece so the bars are in the front of the loom. By the way, you do not put in a spring. It will have no function. The bars are so thin that they slip into the ladder like holes of the thin metal bars. But before you slip the bars inside the cords and wrap around the loom, you might want to slip some small paperclips onto the bars. That's right, small paperclips (we will include them with the kit as well).

Put on as many as you need or more than you'll need in case you want to weave a second wider piece. In any case, it's easy to slip on the clips even after you've put the bars on the loom. I know because I forgot to put them on first!

To warp all you do is tie to the bottom of one clips, slip the warp through a clip on the opposite bar (by just sliding through the clip opening), then back through a clip on the other bar. Go back and forth until you have as many warps as you need. Tie off on the bottom of the last clips.

Start weaving at the top of the bottom clips. Weave until the very bottom of the top clips. Untie the warp from the two side clips. Release the tension on the loom. Remove the the piece from the clips. Sew the two warp ends into your piece. You are done! That's it. Just as easy to finish as peyote or any other off loom stitch.

Wow!

Part two: http://mirrixlooms.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-warps-to-finish-part-two.html

www.mirrixlooms.com

Beaded Smart phone case done!

2011-09-06T13:50:00.001-04:00

I finished it. What a great project and what a great product. I find myself taking it out of my purse just to touch it and admire it. I love the silk lining (future kits will have a solid green or salmon . . . very thick, beautiful silk).

Wow

2011-08-30T07:43:00.000-04:00

So much going on I sometimes find myself walking in circles because I cannot figure out what to start or finish first. I am getting used to my newly arranged studio. Haven't yet put up paintings or tapestries. Just not willing to put holes in the wall yet and afraid I might hang something in the wrong place. So I will sit with it until something speaks to me. Unfortunately, what is really speaking to me is weaving a huge multi-panel piece. I just don't have time today!

Meanwhile, little steps.

We at Mirrix have decided to do our best to fill in our online store with all the "stuff" you could possible need. Hence, we were so excited to run into the tulip beading needles. Received my first order the other day and did not waste time breaking out a needle and breaking it in. They are indeed beautiful, functional and they don't bend easily. I can even thread them. What is more they seem to be able to squeeze through tiny bead spaces again and again. I was amazed. So whether your are using the shedding device or not (and especially when not) these are the needles for you. They come in a nice little package to keep them safe.

Second thing we are adding to our online store. Yup, I am finally willing to part with some of this gold. We are including it in the elegant and wedding bracelet kits, but we thought you might want to buy some of it for other projects. We've combined three strands of gold. They are all slight different colors so the total effect is perfect. The gold skeins are each twenty-four yards. It's hard to photograph. Will take a bunch of photos today to come up with a clearer depiction of this amazing thread. Sneak preview:

Have you heard? The weave-along after the September one (which will be the elegant or wedding cuff bracelet) will be a double-header. Yes, you will have the option of weaving a wool tapestry cellphone case or the beaded one. Both cases are large enough to hold the largest smartphones. Also could be used as a purse for other small items. Let me show the pictures of the beaded case which is not yet put together completely.

This is the piece right off the loom. I used the shedding device and the piece smooth and perfect. Not one mistake. I was so proud of myself!

I tied overhand knots to finish the warp threads, trimmed them and then folded over a couple of rows of beads and glued it down. Easier than having to sew it down.

Sewed Duponi silk to back before folding it up and sewing it together.

Will show more pictures later. Right now I have to finish those bracelet kits.

Welcome back to me!

2011-08-16T13:58:00.000-04:00

I have been here all along but blogging was not in the cards. At least Elena was blogging and we were both working on the tapestry/bead cuff weave-along that she has been posting on her blog. We were in the same house, which is not the usual configuration, because, as you probably already know, Elena married Alex and the reception happened here! Okay, I'll post a picture (credit to Jonathan Webb, the most amazing photographer ever):

Okay, yes, gorgeous. The wedding was held at the Meeting House two miles down the hill from us. As you can imagine by the name, this building has been around for a very long time. The reception was held in our home. The space I normally use for Mirrix is huge . . . more than 1,000 square feet with a ceiling that peaks at 22 feet. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided it was time to paint this area. It was much in need of such a face lift (last paint job to this space was done before we moved here in 1996 and it was done badly plus sad cobwebs were attached so high up I could not swipe them down no matter what big stick and ladder I used). Months before the wedding I had been trying to figure out how exactly I was going to dismantle Mirrix and still run it. I basically shoved a lot of it into my husband's office (he could have cared less), into my bedroom (which also is quite huge and can absorb a lot of stuff), into closets and upstairs where we created a sort of temporary office. It was a mess but somewhat under control.

Okay time for another photo of the gorgeous bride walking down (or up) the steps of the meeting house.

So, for five to six weeks my Mirrix life was in disarray. Meanwhile, Elena and I were working on the tapestry/bead cuff weave-along. The day before and after the wedding we were working on the weave-along. Either we were getting our minds off the wedding to work on the weave-along or getting our minds off of the weave-along to work on the wedding. In the end, it wasn't so bad that both happened at the same time.

I now have a beautifully painted, newly organized studio/office. I would take photos but of course my camera battery is dead. So instead I will upload another wedding photo. This is of Joni (second wedding Mom because I needed help with that job), Elena and yours truly, the human garden.

I am charging said battery now. I am also working on the second weave-along, which will be a rather elegant black silk, gold thread (real gold thread), with a couple of additional colors small purse intended to hold a phone, a key, a credit card, etc. We will be exploring some interesting tapestry techniques with this new piece. I should have the whole thing figured out by next week with kits to follow shortly. This weave-along starts in September. The exact date has slipped my mind. Will have to check in with Elena.

Two new finished formal/wedding cuffs and a little white water

2011-07-09T11:23:00.000-04:00

If only I had an iphone. Sure the Samsung thing I have is fine, but having wasted a lot of time over the course of two days trying to get pictures off it from my little camping trip, I am ready to dismember it. We don't get service for an iphone here. I have one lousy photo to show you:

That's the white water. I couldn't believe the blue of it, which in real life looked exactly like that with the exception of an extra dash of purple. The weaves at times were several feet high and there were rocks everywhere, but we prevailed although I used up my monthly allotment of adrenalin. Yes, we wear wetsuits and helmets and footie things so if we go over we won't freeze to death or have our skin peeled off by the rocks. The goal is to never go over.

If finally finished the two cuff bracelets woven from silk, gold spun on silk and 24 karat gold plated beads. A kit is in the making.

For the black one I used a variety of techniques including pick and pick, wavy lines and blending by weaving with a thread of silk and gold.

This one is very simple. I spaced the rows of woven beads by one inch. I simply combined a thread of silk and gold and just wove back and forth. This could very much be a beginner project because it is so simple.

Tapestry weaving looms and why you want a Mirrix

2011-06-22T17:34:00.000-04:00

Tapestry Weaving on the Mirrix:

If you've ever tried to weave tapestry on a loom not intended for weaving tapestry, you understand how frustrating it is to not have the kind of tension necessary to weave a tapestry that will not look like something you imagine might have emerged from weaving day at summer camp. Tapestry is a demanding medium full of must have requirements. If you give her what she wants, she is as lovely as can be. But if you deny her the simple requirement of a dedicated and worthy tapestry loom, she can be quite the adversary. Forget even selvedges unless you are some kind of magician. Forget evenly spaced warps. And if you have an inferior shedding mechanism or none at all, forget your sanity. It's bound to march off to the wistful world or potholder looms while slashing the warps on your inadequate loom with a sharp and deadly scissor.

Good tapestry looms are necessary for weaving tapestry. Period. Four harness jack looms don't work. Rigid heddle looms don't work. Flimsy portable wooden tapestry looms don't work. Little home-made frames work for about two rows and then you might as well just stop because it goes downhill after that and you won't be hanging that thing on anyone's wall.

So what are the exacting requirement of a good or even great portable tapestry loom? (The same requirements apply mostly to a floor loom but since you won't be hauling a floor loom around the house or to your next workshop which is necessary to be called a portable loom, we will leave them off this list. Okay, here comes the list.) We are talking portable looms here.

1) Provides great tension. No compromise on this. Shall I say that one more time? Okay, you get it.

2) Provides some kind of shedding device that is easily operated and keeps the shed open without you having to do a series of cartwheels first. Having to stick a stick (say that ten times fast) into the open shed to keep it in place isn't so much fun.

3) Stands sturdily in place either on a table, in your lap or on some kind of stand.

4) Can provide the kind of length you need relative to the width you know you've got.

5) The option of a variety of reeds for various warp setts because not everyone wants to weave at six ends per inch.

6) The ability to add a foot treadle is a huge plus. And it's rare, so if you are looking for that stop your search because you've just found it.

7) A guaranteed life time of use. Yeah, that's important. Who wants to waste money on a piece of beautiful (that's the last requirement) equipment that falls apart before you've abandoned it for other tapestry weaving lands?

8) Beautiful. Indeed it should be beautiful. Afterall, tapestry takes more time to weave than most of us are willing to sleep in a day, so if you've got to look at that loom for hours on end you sure want it to be beautiful. Remember that little saying of ours: Because the loom you weave on should be a work of art? We are sticking to it.

Other things to consider:

What size loom do I want and what can I get? Having a nice range of sizes is very helpful because some of us like to crawl into bed with our looms and others like to make a big spectacle of their creative moment with something huge and grand like the Zeus loom (okay, it's not that huge, but as far as portable tapestry looms go, it's pretty darn big as was the dog we named it for). Some people love a size so in between the two that they can even tell you exactly how many inches wide they require or would like. We might not have the exact size loom for everybody, but we come close. And no one is saying we won't special order one for you if you just can't live without a 23 and a half inch wide loom! We've done it before. That's how the Zeus loom came into existence.

What do I want to get with this loom? You need to make or buy heddles. Easy to make and not so cheap to buy. But it's your dime.

Are you weaving sewing thread at 22 ends per inch (a halo comes with that request)? If so, you might want to spring for that bottom spring kit. It helps keep all those thinner than thin threads orderly while you remind yourself why you have agreed to such a task. And speaking of springs, you need to know which warp sett you want. The tapestry looms all come with four different springs (8, 12, 14 and 18 dents per inch) which allows for quite a variety of weaving setts. We have filler springs (10 and 16) if you just have to march to your own drummer. And we've got those two tail end springs for those of you who can't bare to weave with anything thicker than sewing thread and itty bitty spun silk threads.

Now you can decide which size is best for you!

Blog Post on Craftsy

2011-06-22T12:04:00.002-04:00

We were featured on the Craftsy blog post! Check out the blog: http://blog.craftsy.com/. Soon we will be running classes through that site. Stay tuned!

The West Coat!

2011-06-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

Returned home a couple of days ago after spending twelve days on the West Coast. Our main goal was to have a booth at the Northwest Weaver's show. And indeed we did. What fun. First of all we got to hang up our cool banner that Elena designed. That wasn't so easy. We arrived an hour before the vendor hall opened. We were missing some essential tools for both hanging up the banner and setting up our booth. Who knew? This was our first show. After balancing on folding chairs and getting slightly sweaty, we finally managed to get the banner hung. Oh, but since it took us at least ten minutes to find our spot, we were not going to get opened on time. Our customers didn't care. They came anyway. Turns out that the biggest flow of customers was in the morning, at lunch time, and just before closing. The rest of time we spent bonding with other vendors and our looms.

Elena, happy we are finally set up although the next day we will have changed everything around.

Claudia also pleased to be done with set up

And that is Kathe Todd-Hooker, the big bonus of the whole event because we finally got to spend time with her. What a great lady she is and how happy to count her as a friend. Looks like she's autographing a book but in fact she is taking notes about her upcoming workshop to be held at the New Hampshire Mirrix Studio in October.

The show was great. Lasted two and a half days and we sold everything we had brought. That was the goal. I hate having to pack stuff up and sending it back. Kathe was teaching the only tapestry class at the show. It was one of the most popular classes. She had a few half day classes and then one couple day class (I think). That one had 20 students. I don't know how she does it. Plus, the treadle she brought wasn't cooperating when she tried to attach it to the loom. What a fiasco. Finally, the plumber (that would be me) arrived and a half an hour later, a lot of sweat and a sore hand (I just slammed that thing onto the shedding device with my fist because I was lacking any tools) it was in fine working order.

The vendor across the way was selling gold. I kid you not. I had to buy a cone of it. Just had to. 14k Gold spun around a silk core. It doesn't get any better than that. Our next kit will include this gold and silk threads and 24k plated beads. It's going to be gorgeous. Probably "smartphone" size with a woven strap. I plan to get to work on it today. Would have last night but our power went out just when the light was getting dim so I read a book by flickering candle light which is really hard on your eyes.

Don't you just want to take this home!

I did take it home!

Raven Rocks Studio

2011-05-29T16:31:00.003-04:00

Crossed a little bit of water on a ferry and drove for a little bit as well to arrive at Raven Rocks Studio on Widbey Island in Washington. I finally got to meet Windwalker nad his lovely wife Mary Jo, both amazing artists but also amazing people. Elena had already had the pleasure of meeting them so finally it was my turn! What follows are some pictures from the lovely afternoon.

Raven Rock Studio

Windkwalker doing what he loves to do best. I can sure relate to that!

Pam, a Mirrix Lom customer, standing in back and and Anne, a weaver sho has her work for sale at Raven Rock Studio. Her work is absolutely gorgeous. I showed her how to put beads on a weft thread in order to weave them into her scarves.

That's Mary Jo on the left and Lynn (she works at Raven Rocks and also has artwork there) in the middle.

.

That's a copy of the current issue of Beadwork turned to my tapestry/bead cuff article.

Weaving talk!

Elena working hard on her new beaded bracelet design.

Going West

2011-05-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

Leaving for Seattle in a couple of hours. Bye bye to the beautiful lilacs that have just finally come out.

Maia will take care of the studio.

Butter and Noodle will certainly take over the chair in the sun with the lovely smell of lilacs behind.

The beautiful tree (have no idea what it is) with the canoes.

More beautiful lilacs. They will be gone when I return.

Bear is finally out and about and part of the house not just hiding in our bedroom.

See some of you in Washington, some of you in Oregon. I can't wait. Here we come Elena!!!

Bear and Noodle

2011-05-23T14:56:00.000-04:00

The boys are finally feeling comfortable around here. Took a while because they really missed Julie, the woman who rescued them. They are finally warming up to me. It was worth the wait. What sweet teenage boys they are. I am starting to understand their personalities Bear (the grey one) is very verbal. He yells until he gets what he wants. Noodle hangs back more and watches. If you want to get Bear's attention, just pet Noodle. He goes nut because he wants the attention. So he jumps on Noodle and covers him so that you have to pet Bear.

I left for a couple of days and Bear was so mad at me. I have to leave again in a few days for ten days. I can't imagine what a state he will be in when I return. Julie says she will visit regularly.

So here is the picture I just took of the two new boys:

Noodle is on top.

You can't see it, but Bear has double front paws.

Thank you Elena

2011-05-23T13:53:00.000-04:00

For winning that pendant (http://awordfromelena.blogspot.com/) and inspiring me to weave these two tapestry pendants. Well, it was your idea, after all.

Yesterday, I warped up a sixteen inch loom (could have been a smaller loom, but one with a shedding device) which happened to be sitting empty on my work table. I used an 18 dent spring and some C-Lon beading cord. I made the piece about 24 warps wide. I used 100% hand-dyed silk for one and 100% commercial rayon floss for the second one. There are no hard fast rules for this piece except maybe to make sure you use fairly thin warp and fine weft so that this piece is a miniature and not just a small tapestry.

I finished the two piece by folding over the ends and backing them with ultra-suede. I then trimmed them with beads. I filled each piece with a penny for weight and good luck. Lastly, I sewed a circle of beads for hanging.

I think these pieces would do best on a piece of rattail or a thin strand of leather. A complicated necklace would take away from the pendant. A simple beaded necklace would also work.

Silk tapestry

Rayon floss tapestry

Compare the two!

I threw on a silk cord, but I think I can do better than this.

Picture of Claudia doing Beads, Baubles and Jewels episode

2011-05-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

There are am after ten minutes of filming or maybe before the ten minutes of filming.

Okay, so it's rainy and I just wanted to post something. Tried to post this photo before but it didn't work. Now back to the rain and the fact that my husband plans to force march me up a nearby mountain in the rain because he thinks that sounds like fun. I will be so proud of myself if I come down in one piece.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Beaded Cuff Bracelet finished

2011-05-14T11:49:00.000-04:00

As I promised, I finished the beaded cuff bracelet today. Not so pleased with the results. Pleased with the pattern itself and how it should have turned out, but because I made it too long (did not realize that the 3/4 inch cuff is five beads shorter than the one inch cuff (go figure!). I did remove four three or four rows of beads, but it was still a couple of rows too long. I wasn't able to remove those rows because it was becoming a tangled mess. The result is I did not stretch the piece on top of the cuff and it is bunched up i places. Also, the interface between the ultra-suede and the bead piece at the ends is a little floppy and a tiny bit of thread shows. These pieces really need to be perfect, and I could never sell this one although I could wear it and no one would notice the mistakes that to me are glaring.

There is no sun today (might as well be living in Seattle, where I hear there is sun today) so I had to use my ott light to take the picture. Wasn't bright enough. But it's going to be cloudy and rainy for four days so I will not have an opportunity to take a picture with real sunlight until Wednesday.

The bracelet, imperfect as it is:

See the ripples in the middle there .. . . really annoying.

Looks better at this angle although because of the light not a great picture.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Beaded Woven Cuff Bracelet

2011-05-13T12:44:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I wove one of the monthly free patterns. Discovered a little glitch. Apparently, the one inch cuff is five beads longer than the 3/4 inch cuff. The pattern for the 3/4 inch cuff says to weave the piece 99 beads long. Turns out, you should only weave 94 beads. The directions for the one inch cuff are correct.

That beings said, I managed to rip out a few of the rows although my piece is still a couple of beads rows too long. I will hide that somehow in the final piece.

Will post the final product to this blog tomorrow.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Mirrix projects in the News, sort of

2011-05-11T12:27:00.000-04:00

Got a call from Elena today. "Did you read Beading Daily yet?" I hadn't.

I am including this Beading Daily issue below. Now granted, Jean is using a bead loom to weave fiber and hence does not have the luxury of a shedding device, which I believe is really necessary to make our version of a tapestry cuff. Still, Jean is combing fiber and beads and giving me the credit for doing so. I love sharing and being shared.

At the bottom of this issue was some information about beads, baubles and jewels series 1400 as well. The below picture was included. Nice.

Learn How to Add Fiber to Bead Loom Projects

One of the nicest gifts I've received from a bead friend is my custom-made bead loom, designed/made/gifted by David Dean. It's nice because it's really long so that there's lots of room for hand movement, it has a handmade heddle, and heck, it looks nice on the wall of my studio. I did a few beadweaving projects when I received this mighty loom, but there's been a project sitting on this thing for a couple years now, just waiting to be finished. As most of you know, there are some projects that just aren't going to get finished, no matter how good your intentions are. This was definitely one of them. Just about the time I admitted this and was going to chop the threads to clear the loom, I ran across a project by Claudia Chase that got me excited about reviving this project and weaving on a loom again. In Claudia's project, which can be found on the latest Beads, Baubles, and Jewels DVD (series 1400), she incorporates fibers into her bead loom designs. Brilliant! The resulting cuff bracelets are colorful, textural, and simply wonderful.

So, yes, the thought of adding fiber to bead loom projects made me turn my attention back to my ignored little bead loom project. My project, which started as a design for a book I was writing, was super pattern-oriented. It made me realize that I'm truly not a pattern-follower, and when you're not a pattern-follower, designing patterns isn't really that fun. Anyway, I liked the idea of saving this project with a little freeform fiber addition, so I did a little playing:

1) When I weave beads, I start by stringing enough beads to fit between the warp threads. (The "warp" is the threads I prepared the loom with; just check with your bead loom manufacturer to learn how to warp your particular loom.) Next, I pass under the warp threads, pop the individual beads between the threads, then pass through the beads over the warp threads to keep them in place.			2) To add fiber to the project, I start a separate thread (apart from the beading thread that I've already been using). I can either thread the needle with the fiber I want to use or, if the fiber is too thick for a needle (like this ribbon), I can stitch into the fiber with a small bit of beading thread or use a Big Eye needle to pull the fiber along as I weave.
3) With beads, I pass back through them to lock them in place on the warp as I did in Step 1. With fiber, it's a little different since there's nothing to pass back through. So, to lock the fiber in place, I'll weave over and under each individual warp thread when I go one way, then under/over when I come back. (You can see the over/under, under/over pattern in this photo.)			4) Next, I press the fiber down the warp to tighten it against previous work. I can switch fibers as I go, add a bit of bead loomwork next, then switch back to fiberwork. The possibilities are vast!

I sure liked playing with this idea. Thank you, Ms. Chase. If you'd like to find out more about weaving on a loom, check out Claudia's presentation on Beads, Baubles, and Jewels. While you're at it, view the dozens of other great projects, tips, and techniques that come in every series of Beads, Baubles, and Jewels.

Happy beading!

Beadwork Magazine and beads, baubles and jewels

2011-05-07T11:29:00.004-04:00

Just yesterday Elena asked me when the beads, baubles and jewels episode I was on would be available. The answer was sitting in the mailbox, but I hadn't checked the mail. I did just now because I just received an email from someone who read my article in Beadwork on weaving a tapestry/bead cuff. Oh, I thought, it must be available and maybe, just maybe, a copy is in my mailbox. So I scurried up the driveway to discover that indeed there was a copy of Beadwork . . .

. . . lying right on top of the disc from beads, baubles and jewels. Pay dirt!

For your own copy of Beadwork, check out your local big book store or purchase online at: www.interweave.com/bead/beadwork_magazine/. I am going to see if I can get some copies to sell on our site. Stay tuned.

As for beads, baubles and jewels . . . check this out: http://www.beadsbaublesandjewels.com/projects14.php Scroll down to the 1410 series. Then find out where you can see it. I know that after it airs you can find it on this site. Since I don't have a television, I can't really give you any more information than that.

Now to watch it myself. Egads.

Zentangle jewelry tags

2011-05-01T12:47:00.000-04:00

First the cats: yes they are wonderful and yes they are the most adorable teenage boys you've ever seen. Very cuddly when you can get a moment with them. Currently, they are in hiding. They miss their human Mom who spent the first eight and a half month of their lives with her. So although it's not the same situation as rescuing an abused or neglected cat, but it still will take a week or so for them to trust me. Yesterday, I spent the entire day locked in my bedroom with them. Got to hold each one twice. But now they've snuck out and our house has a thousand hiding places. Just have to wait for them to reappear. I am hoping food will help. But I digress from the topic of this blog: Zentangle jewelry tags.

Since I will be putting my work on our website for sale in the near future as well as taking pieces to shows (I normally just sell my work in galleries) I decided I needed jewelry tags. I have a stamp that says: Mirrix Studio. But just the stamp alone looked really uninteresting on a small square of white paper. So I whipped out my color pencils and a black pen and went to town. Not exactly works of art, but colorful and give a nice balance to the beadwork. At least I think so. Plus, it gives me a chance to scribble.

Here they are:

New Cats

2011-04-28T16:58:00.000-04:00

The local cat lady, this lovely woman Julie who rescues all the abandoned cats around here and finds homes for them, asked me to foster two of her cats, each a year old. They were kittens she was sure she would find adopted homes for but that didn't happen. Not for any fault of hers or theirs. She needed them out of her house so her husband could paint their room (the guest room) to be used for soon to arrive guests. She wanted me to take the cats for a couple of weeks. Sure, why not?

I had been eyeing these guys already. Their picture was posted on the bulletin board at the post office. They were in a ball together. I never called her. I was resisting. But I knew. Yeah I knew.

And then I hooked Julie up with my friend Pam. Pam was looking to adopt two male kittens. She was hoping for part Maine Coon. I showed her some kittens Julie had that were coming up for adoption. We ended up visiting the kittens. Tomorrow these two adorable boy kittens are going home with her. And yes I think these little guys are part Maine Coon.

They define adorable and Pam will be the best Mom.

Okay, but what about the cats that I will be fostering. Sorry, no picture. I did meet them today but I forgot to bring my camera. They were a little shy around me since they haven't known many people other than Julie who has spent a ton of time with them. Bear is grey. He's gorgeous. He has double paws and he's a big guy. Noodle, who actually is his cousin although they've been together since they were tiny, is butterscotch color like Butter, also fairly large with enormous paws. They are sweet and they are beautiful.

I promise to take photos once they arrive and when they let me.

Oh, and this "foster thing." Yeah right. Do you really think I am going to be able to give them back.? And that's the rub. Foster means adopt. So yes tomorrow I am adopting two beautiful year old male cats. They need homes. I have a home. Life is good.

Loom on its way to Mexico

2011-04-28T16:48:00.000-04:00

What a journey.

I headed off for FedEx yesterday finally (it's an hour from here) to send the loom to the

Isla Mujeres Women's Beading Collective. I was told that I needed to send it via FedEx because if I sent it through the Post Office it would not be received. I was so excited to be able to see this loom off to its wonderful and final destination until they handed me the bill. Close to $200 to send a loom that is worth not much more than that. I just couldn't do it. Something inside me screamed: NOOOOOOOO!

So I high tailed it home and scurried off to my local Post Office. Cost to send from there: $55. Chances of it arriving at destination: close to zero. They begged me not to. Packages heading for Mexico cannot even be insured because it is so unlikely they will survive the journey without falling into unintended hands.

I came home and left the loom in my car totally discouraged. I emailed Layna who remembered that her original emails with the Collective stated that if the cost to ship was outrageous they might be able to find a visitor to hand deliver it. Layna emailed them with the new story. Fewer than twelve hours later we were given the address of a woman who lives in Connecticut who will be hand delivering the loom in early May. Our very own personal guardian angel. It figures. I should not be surprised. This whole thing has been blessed from the get go so how could it possibly not work out beautifully.

I headed back to my Post Office with a new address label. They got a good laugh out of my latest story (I am their own personal comedy of errors). Thirteen dollars later the loom was on its way to a certain arrival into the right hands. Thank goodness!

So thank you to all those who made this happen. It's happening!!!

Jewelry for sale on Mirrix website soon!

2011-04-26T14:13:00.000-04:00

With the new website will come a new section in our store where I will be selling my beaded jewelry. To that end I've been taking pictures of some recent work I thought I would share with you. If you can't wait until my jewelry hits the website, you can pay through check or paypal. Email me for details. Shipping in the continental U.S. is free.

Detail of below necklace

Circular herringbone weave and a triangle peyote and herringbone clasp: $169

Circular herringbone: $69

Circular Herringbone: $69

Circular herringbone with triangle herringbone and peyote triangle clasp: $165

Detail of above

Mis-matched triangle herringbone and peyote earrings: $45

Herringbone and peyote earrings: $45

Whidbey Island Workshop Reminder!

2011-04-25T10:05:00.002-04:00

Whidbey Island, Washington 2-day Tapestry Workshop:

Dates: May 28th and 29th, 2011 10 am - 4 pm
Instructors: Claudia Chase: President of Mirrix Looms
Windwalker Taibi: Tapestry weaver, spinner, co-owner of Raven Rocks Studio and Gallery
Elena Zuyok: Marketing Director of Mirrix Looms
Location: Whidbey Island, WA (near Seattle) at Raven Rocks Gallery (http://www.ravenrocksgallery.com/Home.html)
Class Description: This two day workshop will take students through the entire process of weaving a tapestry/bead cuff bracelet. From warping the loom to finishing techniques, students will walk away with the skills needed to use a Mirrix Loom. On the second day, as students begin to finish their bracelets (note: these can be turned into wall hangings and not bracelets if you'd prefer) they will be able to try their hand at weaving with handspun yarn and learn some more tapestry techniques on a larger scale as well as see the process of making handspun demonstrated. Each day will begin at 10 am. There will be a break for lunch (there is a beautiful cafe right nearby, or students can bring their own lunch and spend some time enjoying the beautiful Whidbey Island scenary. At the end of the day there will be a break for wine and cheese.

Cost: $320 + $55 material fee (which includes the fantastic cuff bracelet kit)

Please email elena@mirrixlooms.com or ravenrocks@whidbey.com for more information or to reserve your spot.

After April 15th there will be no refunds.

Made In America!

2011-04-19T08:37:00.002-04:00

Mirrix Looms are made in America. They always have been and they always will be. Even if we could multiply our profits a thousand fold by having them produced overseas, we would not for one second consider doing so.

This whole being in business thing, besides paying those pesky bills, is about fun and joy and a feeling of accomplishment. For us, in particular, because we are manufacturing an item that is a tool for creativity the joy lies just near the surface. We aren't faking our excitement for this product. We really feel it.

There was a six year period when I was heavily involved in politics (as a three term State Rep. . . . I retired fall of 2010). My time was split up in so many pieces, among Mirrix, the State house, my family. I didn't feel like I did anything really well anymore.

The double-edged joy of being able to devote all my time to Mirrix (and artwork) and my family as well as being able to work with my daughter, Elena, our Marketing Director, has given me back that joy times a google, (as we say in our family long before anyone else knew this word because my Dad was a scientist and he brought this word, which is a number, home to us when I was a tiny child. . . . and google-plex, which is a google times a google) . Wow, that was a digression.

What I intended to write about is Made In America. And so I shall continue standing on that soap box for a bit because it is a passion of mine. First a cute little symbol to get me inspired:

It is inspiring isn't it! Our flag. It tells so many stories. My hope is that someday, once again, it will tell the stories of American manufacturing. The question we have to ask ourselves is: why are so many American products made overseas? Could it be greed? The profits of shareholders and CEO's? Yeah, I think so. But when you distill the problem you come up with the disturbing truth: if we send our products over to China to be made by workers who make $1.50 an hour (which has risen from $.50 a hour) what do we really gain? As a country, we gain nothing. It's only a loss. A huge loss. Those products aren't so cheap when you factor in the loss of American jobs, the crippling of our economy, the huge disparity between the very rich and all the rest of us and the loss of hope and joy among those who cannot work a decent job in the good old U.S.A.

If I were asked to find one solution to all our current problems it would be: bring those jobs home. Close your plants in China and bring them back to our great country. Sure, we get paid more than $1.50 an hour and those CEOs and shareholders will have to suffer with a little less. But wouldn't the renewed strength of our great country make up for all of that? Let's innovate renewable energy here (not in China). Let's assemble our American cars here. Let's continue to make our looms here (which, by the way, is still frequently the case . . . not just with Mirrix!)

Imagine a world where those of us who wanted jobs could have them? Imagine a world where we didn't have to replace our appliances every few years because they were made well in America. Sure, they might cost a little more. But since quality control is so much easier when the manufacturing facility is underneath your nose and since Americans are known for their high production standards and because a person who is getting paid a decent wage and can take care of his or her family or his- or herself is a person motivated to perform well . . . well, then the costs of Made in America are trivial.

Recently, Mirrix has been listed on a bunch of Made in America websites. Two sites that sell only products manufactured in America now sell the Mirrix Loom. We are so proud of this and proud to be part of a handful of companies devoted to keeping the jobs here.

A final note. This is not to say that we should not buy products made in other companies. But buy products made in other countries because those products are the best ones. For example, of course I buy all my silk from China. And of course I buy most of my beads from Japan because they are fabulous. I do not buy my beads from Japan because they are cheap (they are not). And clearly no one in America is able to compete with that quality (because they never have). I am not opposed to buying from other countries when clearly the product is either superior or different from anything made here. But I am opposed to American manufacturers sending their jobs abroad. I want to see an Apple computer plant in Detroit!

Now off to look at some American-made kittens that Mirrix might have to adopt.

Off my soap box.

Don't forget to see these American made looms!: www.mirrixlooms.com

A Must read post for pregnant women

2011-04-14T12:09:00.000-04:00

I am making an exception to my rule of only posting about the creative process because I feel that anyone thinking of getting pregnant or already pregnant needs to read the following article. This was reported on NPR this week. It's important for those who might need this drug to know that if your Dr. tells you the prescription will cost $15,000 you can say to him/her: I know it can be gotten for $300. This is such a scam by a drug company even the Federal Government was shocked. And don't be fooled. This drug company did not develop this drug. It's been around forever. They just stole it and then decided that since the cost of a premie (because this drug prevents premature birth) is $51,000 and hence they could charge $30,000 for this drug. They later cut it in half when the Feds balked. Since the previous price had always been about $300 . . . well, read on. Be warned. This is one huge reason why our health care is so expensive.

I've also posted the FDA statement at the end of the article.

Price Slashed For Drug To Prevent Preemie Births

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

text size A A A

ATLANTA April 1, 2011, 05:23 pm ET

The maker of an expensive drug to prevent premature births slashed the price by more than half on Friday, following an outcry over the high cost and moves by federal regulators to keep a cheap version available.

The drug is still pricey at $690 per weekly injection but it is a drastic reduction from the $1,500 price charged by KV Pharmaceutical Co. when it went on the market last month. The company also announced rebates and other steps to give the drug to needy pregnant women at little or no cost.

The price cut came two days after federal officials said they would not stop specialty pharmacies from continuing to make a generic version that sells for $10 to $20 a dose, as has been done for years.

The company got government approval in February to exclusively sell the drug named Makena (mah-KEE'-nah). But the price stunned doctors who prescribe the drug and private and public insurance plans, including state Medicaid programs, that pay for it. The drug is given to high-risk pregnant women to avoid another early birth.

The pricing controversy exploded after The Associated Press reported on the issue early last month, with some members of Congress calling for a federal investigation.

The Food and Drug Administration, which has no say in drug pricing, took the unusual step of announcing that the special pharmacies could still make the cheap version for individual patients if doctors prescribe it. Typically, those pharmacies aren't supposed to make versions of licensed drugs, and KV Pharmaceutical had warned them to stop making the preterm birth drug or face enforcement by the FDA.

But on Wednesday, the FDA said that "to support access to this important drug, at this time and under this unique situation," it would not take action against pharmacies that make the drug.

The agency acted because of the public worries that women won't be able to afford the drug, federal officials said.

The suburban St. Louis-based KV Pharmaceutical had earlier defended its pricing, saying the company is spending a quarter of a billion dollars on the drug's development, including $60 million in research.

Chief executive Gregory J. Divis Jr. had said the $1,500 price was justified to avoid the mental and physical disabilities that can result from very premature births. Preemie care can cost an estimated $51,000 in the first year alone, he said.

KV Pharmaceutical officials were not available for an interview on Friday, said a company spokeswoman.

In a statement, Divis acknowledged that prospective buyers of the drug were not happy. He said company officials were cutting the price because they want to make sure all women can get the drug, noting the "budget challenges facing state Medicaid programs and other payers."

The weekly injection is given for as long as 20 weeks; the price drop cuts the maximum cost of treatment from $30,000 to under $14,000.

KV had earlier announced a patient assistance program to provide the drug to uninsured and low-income women. On Friday, the company announced an expansion of that program, lifting income limits so most women would pay less than $20 per injection. It also offered to cap costs for state Medicaid agencies and health insurance plans.

"They had to respond, they had to bring the price down, because people were so outraged," said Dr. Kathryn Menard, a University of North Carolina specialist who oversees a state program that has been providing the cheap version of the drug to women at risk for preterm births.

She added that $690 is still pricey, and many obstetricians may prescribe the compounded version.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, an early and persistent critic of the original price, called the cut "a small step in the right direction," but said "KV Pharmaceutical is still putting profit over patients."

The company benefited from nearly $21 million in taxpayer money that was spent on early research on the drug, he noted in a statement.

The drug is a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone. It came on the market more than 50 years ago to treat other problems and was withdrawn in the 1990s, though not for safety reasons.

But the drug got a new life in 2003, with publication of a study that reported it helped prevent early births to women who had a history of giving birth prematurely. Obstetricians began prescribing the drug for more women, but it was only available through "compounding" pharmacies.

Initially, doctors were glad to hear that KV Pharmaceutical was licensing the drug. It meant it would be manufactured in an FDA-regulated facility, with tighter controls and follow-up testing to ensure quality and consistency from dose to dose.

But doctors also say there have been no reported problems with the safety or quality of the cheap version. So for many obstetricians, the perks of having an FDA-approved drug may not make up for its still-high price, Menard said.

Also Friday, the March of Dimes issued a statement announcing it was severing all professional ties with the KV subsidiary that is marketing Makena.

The advocacy group was getting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the subsidiary, Ther-Rx. The March of Dimes had celebrated the FDA approval of the drug back in February, and was at first muted in its criticism of Makena's price.

The organization, which heavily relies on volunteers for fundraising and other activities, came under fire from some of its supporters. In recent weeks, March of Dimes officials pushed for a price cut.

"They trusted this company, and any bit of (financial) support they got from the company is not worth what they're going to lose by continuing a relationship with them," said Menard, who is president-elect of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

In a statement, KV called the March of Dimes decision "disappointing."

———

Online:

FDA statement: http://tinyurl.com/fdastatement

FDA STATEMENT

For Immediate Release: March 30, 2011
Media Inquiries: Beth Martino, 301.796.7603, beth.martino@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

FDA Statement on Makena

On February 3, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Makena (hydroxyprogesterone caproate) for the reduction of the risk of certain preterm births in women who have had at least one prior preterm birth. KV Pharmaceuticals, the drug’s owner, received considerable assistance from the federal government in connection with the development of Makena by relying on research funded by the National Institutes of Health to demonstrate the drug’s effectiveness. It also obtained seven years of exclusivity under the Orphan Drug Act, obtained approval under FDA’s accelerated approval program, and received expedited review.

For many years, a version of the active ingredient of Makena, which is a synthetic progestin, has been available to patients whose physicians requested the drug from a pharmacist who compounded the drug. Generally, FDA has exercised enforcement discretion with respect to most products made through traditional pharmacy compounding. This has included products made from the active ingredient in Makena, hydroxyprogesterone caproate.

Because Makena is a sterile injectable, where there is a risk of contamination, greater assurance of safety is provided by an approved product. However, under certain conditions, a licensed pharmacist may compound a drug product using ingredients that are components of FDA approved drugs if the compounding is for an identified individual patient based on a valid prescription for a compounded product that is necessary for that patient. FDA prioritizes enforcement actions related to compounded drugs using a risk-based approach, giving the highest enforcement priority to pharmacies that compound products that are causing harm or that amount to health fraud.

FDA understands that the manufacturer of Makena, KV Pharmaceuticals, has sent letters to pharmacists indicating that FDA will no longer exercise enforcement discretion with regard to compounded versions of Makena. This is not correct.

In order to support access to this important drug, at this time and under this unique situation, FDA does not intend to take enforcement action against pharmacies that compound hydroxyprogesterone caproate based on a valid prescription for an individually identified patient unless the compounded products are unsafe, of substandard quality, or are not being compounded in accordance with appropriate standards for compounding sterile products. As always, FDA may at any time revisit a decision to exercise enforcement discretion.

Tapestry Purse done!

2011-04-13T15:01:00.001-04:00

I spent the beginning part of this morning sewing together the tapestry purse. I actually enjoy this part of the process. I especially like sewing on the beads.

Let me show you the pictures and describe the steps.

This picture of the finished purse was taken on my bedside table before I wandered back to my studio to take the real pictures.

I sewed silk to the back of the weaving before I sewed the weaving into a purse.

I tucked the ends of the braid into the two corners of the purse before sewing up the sides of the purse.

Then I sewed the braid onto the purse with beads on each side of the braid. I then beaded around the flap of the purse. This disguises all ugly seams. And since most of my seams are ugly, beads are definitely my best friend.

This is the back of the finished purse.

Alas, two weavings off the loom

2011-04-12T15:43:00.000-04:00

The tapestry/bead silk purse took a little longer to finish weaving than I had anticipated. Maybe I got distracted. I was anxious to get it off the loom and so as a result, I avoided weaving it. How does that make any sense whatsoever? I also had to finish the tapestry/bead cuff because it was living on the same loom.

Just finished! The tapestry purse weaving did pull in slightly but I can hide that when I fold it up and adorn it with beads. I like the colors. I am looking forward to putting on the braid that I made to exactly match it.

Silk Tapestry and bead weaving on Mirrix Loom

I really do like the color combination.

Another cuff bracelet in the making

Side by side.

The silk braid!

Now to sew this all together!

Non-woven necklace

2011-04-07T13:53:00.002-04:00

I have been weaving a both silk/beaded tapestry bracelet and a cellphone purse, also made of silk. Taking longer than I thought it would. I also made a braid to go with the bracelet. Thought I would get it all off looms by today, but it might not happen until tonight.

Meanwhile, I finished this necklace, no part of which was made on a Mirrix Loom. I will be taking jewelry to the show we'll be doing in Oregon in June. Normally, I sell my jewelry in galleries but I am getting weary of having to up the prices to deal with the gallery commission. So, I am going to try to do some direct sales. We are poised to upload a bunch of jewelry to the website, but waiting until the launch date of the new website, predicted to be end of this month.

What I like most about the below piece (besides the beads, which are gorgeous) is where it sits on one's neck. Just the right place. That's a hard thing to get right. The center piece is also the clasp. I love doing that. Direct sales price for this piece: $175. Email me if you are interested!

Can't always be weaving

2011-04-02T12:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I worked on a small purse and bracelet tapestry/bead weaving for quite a while. Maia, always there to help, watched me from behind the loom the entire time. She has become my weaving cat. Butter, on the other hand, prefers to sit on the top of my computer chair. Guess he's more high-tech. But he does love to play with just about everything on my work table especially bobbins of thread. Nothing is more exciting to him then those.

Maia working hard to make sure I don't make a mistake.

Butter working hard to make sure I write my blog.

This morning I decided to finish a project I had started two months ago. My brother had bought my son, Zach, a soap stone bear. Zach, who also carves soap stone among other things, loved that bear. One day I went into his room to discover the bear in two pieces. Someone had knocked him down. I immediately felt guilty, because the bear had been living in my studio while Zach was in school. He had asked me to keep the bear there for safe keeping. Maybe he knew this would happen. But last summer since Zach was home for the entire summer playing farmer, I put bear in his room. I bought glue and kept trying to pester Zach to fix bear with me. He never did. So after he returned to school after Christmas break I bravely attacked the problem myself without any skill sets or large clamps. Instead of clamps, I used yarn, of course. I tied that poor bear up and left him for two months to heal. Today, finally, I remembered to take off his bonds and believe it or not the glue job worked the arm was flush to the body. However, there were globs of glue and bear looked awful. Three hours later and a bunch of sand paper and polishing thinga-ma-gings that go on the dremel later, bear is looking pretty darn good. A lot better than I had expected. He is dancing again. Say hi to Zach's fixed bear. And you thought I could only weave! The thing is I could have stood there all day polishing this guy. And of course it made me want to grab a piece of soap stone and carve it . . .which I am desperately trying to not do.

New Free Mirrix Bead Pattern

2011-04-01T15:26:00.000-04:00

Our monthly free Mirrix Bead Pattern will be uploaded today. That little circle isn't on the actual pattern. I must have put it there while reducing its size in photoshop. So ignore the circle! Check it out: www.mirrixlooms.com

Transferring a beaded piece from one loom to another

2011-03-29T17:08:00.000-04:00

They said it could not be done! Well, not really. They hoped it could be done.

A while back Fire Mt. Gems asked me to create a bead tapestry on an eight inch loom. The picture was to be somewhere in their catalogue or on their site. I don't remember where it ended up and if it even ended up anywhere.

The other day I was asked if I could whip up a weaving on a loom with a shedding device (they realized they had not pictures of bead weavings on a loom with a shedding device). They needed it yesterday. I told them it would take me at least a month to weave such a piece and that I don't have time to do that but I could possibly transfer the piece that was on the eight inch loom onto a twelve inch loom. They were shocked and pleasantly surprised.

The eight inch loom in question had been living at NOA Gallery for a long time. I needed to retrieve the loom and work my magic. I picked up the loom yesterday. This is how she looked:

Eight inch loom with bead weaving

The transformation is below. Granted, this is not a functional setup. There are half the number of warps one needs to actually weave, but the piece is already woven and all they needed was it to look like the shedding device is functional. Yes, I am endlessly patting myself on the back for this.

The reason I am sharing this is to show you that you can transfer a weaving from one Mirrix to the next or even from another loom to a Mirrix if the universe lines up correctly. I have to say this was even fun to do and I was pleased as can be with the results. Fire Mt. Gems is thrilled.

Transformation complete!

Making a rag tapestry purse

2011-03-23T12:59:00.004-04:00

You can win this purse

I was in the mood to play with something new. Reached into my warp stash and came up with lovely rose colored (they are slightly different in color) very high-quality cotton warp. Rolled the two colors into a ball so I could use a double warp. Without three hands trying to manage those two tubes would have been difficult at best. Warped the loom. Put on shedding device. Used a ten dent coil every other dent. A twelve (six dent in other words) dent coil would have worked just fine. Make it as wide as you'd like.

I have a lovely stash of already stripped "rags." It's actually beautiful first quality fabric but you can use rags. What a great way to use up cotton shirts, etc. that you don't wear anymore. Or you can go to the fabric store and buy something you love. Stripping the fabric is a bit of pain and should probably done outdoors because it coughs up a lot of little cotton fibers you don't necessarily want floating around your house or studio. I did this stripping twenty years ago. I had to dig into that closet to find this stuff. So glad I saved it. In the past I've used these "rags" for table runners that last and last and last. The deal is: if you use high-quality warp and high-quality cotton rags your piece will last for a very long time. I've also made a couple of rugs that unlike commercial rag rugs I've purchased have lasted for twenty years after dozens and dozens of washings.

It took me about four hours to: warp loom, weave and finish purse. Not bad for a whim.

Below is the back of the purse after it was sewn together.

This is the front of the purse. That's the thread I was using to sew it up. I attached seam binding to both back ends to cover up the tied warp ends because I decided not to line the purse.

Below finished purse with soon to be attached braided strap.

This is the finished purse. I added a braid I had hanging around my studio for a strap. I sewed the braid to the outside of the purse and the embellished the edges on both sides of the braid with bead soup. The button is a hand-blown glass button I had hanging around. I certainly was using up leftovers on this piece!

Below and below and below: detail shots of the bead soup edging.

Back of finished purse.

Front of finished purse.

Become a blog follower, sign up for our newsletter, follow us on Twitter or Facebook . . . be our friend and your name will be put in a drawing to win this purse.

www.mirrixlooms.com

Sexy new Mirrix loom pictures: a sneak preview

2011-03-22T13:29:00.000-04:00

The Little Guy Loom at his BEST!

Big Sister looking really good.

Inspiration at Cornell

2011-03-22T11:38:00.001-04:00

Spent the weekend at Cornell visiting Zach, my son. Managed to remember to have my camera on hand. Even remembered to use it a few times.

An Eagle . . . I don't know exactly which Eagle. I do know that he just sat on that branch even as we got closer and closer. Finally, we were about five feet away. At that point he turned his back on us. Guess he wasn't too afraid! He was so beautiful. What a gift. He lives on the Cornell "plantations". I expect there is no hunting there so the wildlife feels pretty safe.

Frank Lloyd Wright . . . but who really made it?

Forget who this is . . . but I love it.

I did manage to capture some of the amazing colors in this even though it was behind glass.

Name the artist who painted this and we'll give you a10% discount off your next Mirrix order.

Love the shape of this.

Can't you just see that woven?

Took a little tour of the campus art gallery. She was our favorite. Her back story: take a real model and put some kind of material over her in sections. Once it stiffens, remove. Then piece it altogether to make a mold. Then fill with some kind of polymer. Add hair and other details. The hair was sewn in one strand at a time. It must be weird to know your exact likeness is sitting in a chair being stared at by the likes of us.

She really does look real. Eye balls are glass and when you are close to her you feel like she's going to slap you because you are staring at her.

And finally a nice meal at the Moosewood Restaurant with Zach!

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Finished Handspun Tapestry

2011-03-15T13:52:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Maia (the shy one):

Now for the finished tapestry. I've taken a photo of the back so you can see how I finish my tapestries. I never sew a solid piece of material to the back because over time that can distort the piece. The strips hold in stray pieces of yarn and give it a more finished look. I usually attach a strip of velcro to the top and the accompanying piece to a wooden strip which attaches to the wall. Because this piece is so small, I didn't bother to do that although I might later.

I've used bead soup to embellish the top and bottom of the piece. I covered up the "house" with bead soup and hung glass leaves around it. This piece is called "Shrine Two", the second in a series of very simple handspun pieces embellished with beads, glass and metal charms. Quick and fun to do and a great way to play with handspun without getting very serious.

Back of piece

Front of PIece

Handspun yarn tapestry

2011-03-14T13:12:00.000-04:00

I decided it was time to play around with handspun yarn and tapestry. I have a very small stash of handspun yarn right now and no dyed fleece to spin. Clearly, I need to stoke up the dye pots and and get some pretty dyed fleece to spin so that I can really play with handspun yarn and tapestry.

I dug into my tiny stash and came up with the beginnings of a very simple piece. I added two bits of commercial yarn as well as some of that railroad yarn mixed with my hand-dyed silk. Still, the colors I needed were missing. I get colors stuck in my head and if I can't find them I get very frustrated. So, I am a little frustrated with this attempt.

Here are the photos of what I've done thus far. That box with a triangle on top looks like a house. Not at all my intention! When this piece comes off I am going to decorate it with beads and charms and I will tone down that weird house shape. It's amazing how our preconceived notions of the world make us see things in shapes that are not at all intended. Ever notice how you can see a face in just about anything . . . a shadow, a cloud, a tree branch. I think we are programmed to see and recognize human faces whether they exist or not.

I will continue with this piece unless it gets me really angry. But, as I said, I need more yarn. This is ridiculous working with leftovers.