What I learned on my winter break

  So- it was good to have closed for the winter when I did because it was an extremely cold December here in Ouaquaqa . I set about my Christmas decorating, cookie making and movie watching hunkered down by the fire.
   I had been itching since last Christmas to learn how to do punch needle. This is an old world tradition craft that you have to be out of your mind to do. It's so time consuming it took me 15 hours to do a 2.5 x 3.5" project, but yes that's me. I also treated myself to a weaving loom and learned the weaving basics. Again- more complicated and time consuming than I ever thought possible. I thought I'd show a couple pictures of what I made.
Punch needle looks like a pen with a needle on the end of it that you thread with 3 strands of embroidery floss- you then poke it through the fabric ( which is in an embroidery hoop) and make a design. You work from the back and your design comes out on the front and it looks like a tiny rug.

2.5"x3.5"- Sorry this is a little blurry.

about 4" round- can you see the little bumps? It's like a tiny rug.

The abstract flowers on left is my 1st attempt to learn how- peace- my 2nd- little snowy house my 3rd and welcome is in progress.

The back.

Kind a cool - huh! I have no idea what to do with these silly things- but it's one more for the bucket list.

This is called a rigid heddle weaving loom. This can weave a piece of fabric to about 31"wide and mmm 6-8' long.

I made scarves.

The green one was my practice piece- I learned how to control the Heddle to get a pretty good weave- it's only about 45" long. The purple is about 80" and I learned how to make plaid. My husband got a striped one and my brother got a pretty brown one for Christmas. I then proceeded to make several disaster pieces which go in the rag bag.Hopefully by next fall I'll have mastered this and have some great scarves for sale in the shop.

Which brings me to my next subject- Buttercup will be making some changes this spring. I'll be focusing my efforts on ladies accessories. After taking inventory I have come to the realization that what I sold most was jewelry and scarves. As much as I like to make the baby things, wreaths and soaps- the truth is they just didn't sell well. So... there will be a bigger variety of handbags, scarves and jewelry.
I'm planning an April 1st opening shindig. Details to be announced but I can tell you there's going to be door prizes, food and fun! I know you're all waiting with bated breath- but don't buy your spring/ summer handbag till you've seen Buttercup's new selections.
Till next time... Over and Out