Bye Bye Beautiful Fluffy Coats

Today was a busy day! We spent over two hours clipping the rabbits.  I have plucked Lola before, but today the scissors came out.  It was just too hot for those thick wool coats anymore.  Both Lola and Chip now look like freshly sheared sheep.  I now have two Walmart bags full of angora wool, and Lola and Chip look much cooler and happier. However, my back is killing me! I must have stayed hunched over for way too long. 

101 Degrees, 118 Degrees Heat Index

"Man the fans, ice bottles now!" This seemed to be the motto of our morning until I could not stand it anymore.  "Bring them in," I said. So... Lola, Chip, and even Winnie(our ancient mini-lop) all came into the cool.  We dumped out Christopher's toy totes. We filled each with shavings and lined them up beside Carolyn's guinea pig, Rosie.  They munched on Timothy hay and a bit of cucumber through the afternoon without a care.  I have just returned them to their pens with refilled water bottles for the night.  Tomorrow we will follow this same indoor routine as the temperatures are supposed to skyrocket again. 

Time for Better Housing

Well, it is definitely time to build something better for our bunnies.  Let's put it this way - I am tired of constantly cleaning cages.  We need an old fashioned hutch with a modern twist that will let the rabbit poop and pee fall freely through.  I have been looking for plans on the internet that were not too involved or that would not be too costly.  Today I stumbled upon what I think will be just the ticket- PVC hutch plans.  I ordered the ebook and we are now ready to attempt this project.  I will post pictures as things begin to come together.

We love to make things from wool!

Carolyn was the reason we started working with wool.  She and I have enjoyed making scarves and needle felted sculptures together.  She is now working on making jewelry too from wool and I have started making bowls.  I have always loved to crochet.  In fact, I think I was Carolyn's age when I first learned.  It took forever then to finish anything and more often than not I didn't finish.  Since then I have made numerous afghans, scarves, and even stuffed animals.  I had never really used wool before.  I had always used Red Heart from the local Walmart.  Oh boy, what fun it is to make something and then felt it until the stitches are no longer visible and what is in front of me has been transformed into a thick sturdy piece.  I have now made two bowls.  The first one is more lightly felted and the second very tightly felted.  I am amazed by how nicely they hold their shape.  I see Christmas presents for family members and friends when I look at them.   Plus, I have added them to our Etsy store.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/kiomade

Chip is NOT a boy!

Carolyn sold two of her felted scarves to some teachers at school back in the spring to pay for her newest angora, Chip.  He was to be a buck, a boy so she could begin her breeding program.  Well, as fate would have it, there will be no babies for our Lola yet.  Chip is a girl!  I have checked and checked.  No signs of male anatomy anywhere.  He is now 5 months so certain things should be apparent.  Oh well...I guess we should call her Chipette!  However, we still love him...er her.  I don't know if we will ever get used to calling him a girl.

Carolyn's Blue Morph Butterfly

Carolyn made a butterfly for her 2nd grade teacher as an end of the year present.  She looked at pictures of the Blue Morph butterfly on the internet and recreated her interpretation of the butterfly. She needle felted the body and wet felted the wings. I then sewed a barrel clasp into the back so her teacher could wear it or even pin it to a curtain in her house.  I also sewed two seed beads for eyes and, believe it or not, a black plastic broom straw for antennae. Her teacher was so touched by the gift that she cried.  Mrs. White, her teacher, loves butterflies and her favorite color is blue so this was indeed the perfect gift.  A week into summer vacation we go to the mailbox to find a thank you card from her teacher.  Carolyn just beamed!

Carolyn's Baltimore Oriole Sculpture

The Baltimore Oriole is a small bird found in North America whose colors resemble the Coat of Arms of Lord Baltimore, hence its name. It lives in trees and shrubs, and eats insects, berries, and nectar.

This sculpture was made by Carolyn  using a process called needle felting. Needle felting is the process of poking a 3 inch barbed needle in and out thousands of times into clean, dyed, unspun wool. The wool is compacted and shaped until it resembles the vision of the bird in her head. It takes many hours to finish a needle felted wool sculpture. In fact Carolyn worked on this one for a week! I am always amazed by the dedication she has for working with wool.  Way to go honey!

The sculpture measures 5.5 inches from beak to tail, 2.25 inches tall, and 3.5 inches from wing to wing.  She has it for sale in our Etsy store. http://www.etsy.com/shop/KioMade?ref=seller_info 

The money she earns from selling her wool items goes towards taking care of her chickens, angora rabbits, and leasing a horse called Sparky.
 

Opening an Etsy Store

Well here we go...the store is called Kio Made.  I know, it isn't Funkytown Furballs, but it encompasses a variety of things we make: Carolyn's scarves, Shane's feed bag wallets, and my photography.  Hopefully people will like what they see.  We are not looking to make a fortune, only to earn enough to help offset the costs associated with raising Angora rabbits, chickens, goats, etc.  Plus, there has always been a part of me that felt the need to be validated by having someone buy something of mine. 

Selling Scarves

Carolyn donated one of her felted merino, silk, and angora scarves to our school's Junior Beta Club.  They were holding an auction to raise funds for a trip to their national convention.  It was quite exciting the day the auction came.  The auctioneer asked Carolyn to bring her scarf up on stage for the audience to see.  She told them a little about how she made the scarf and then the bidding proceeded.  I thought she was going to jump through the roof when her scarf sold for $115.  The gentleman who had bought it even wanted to take her picture holding the scarf so he could show his wife the child who had made the scarf he had bought.  Wow!  Now Carolyn even has teachers at the school placing orders for scarves.  Of course she is selling them for only $30, not the $115 it brought at auction.