Darlene Carman interviews Annie MacHale

Hello World!

Wouldn't you want to learn more about our team members? Would could be better than watching a video with one? Well, of course, meeting in-person would be the best... But for now - this media would do just fine -

we have a rare occasion to see an interview with our very best - Annie MacHale, the owner of the ASpinnerWeaver store on Etsy.

Annie has been taking care of our Facebook page and blog updates. And now we get to really learn about her, the art of inkle-weaving and broaden our horizons in the world of weaving (and happiness!)

Enjoy the video!
Thank you, Annie, for sharing!


Alvant
Captain of Etsy Weavers team

Interview with Etsy Weaver from Missouri

This week we present you the story of the designer and weaver from Vienna, Missouri, USA - 

Sherry Bingaman

Sherry has joined our team not a long time ago, but she is a great addition to our team, both for her weaving experience and also for other techniques and designs that make her creations so interesting and unique!

Read on and make a new friend!

Sherry Bingaman with Etsy store Nueva Vida http://www.etsy.com/shop/sherrybingaman

Here is her story: 

My love of making and selling my textile work goes back to my childhood. When I was nine years old, my mom received eight free sewing lessons with the purchase of her new sewing machine. Since Mom was already an expert seamstress, she let me take the lessons. Aprons were the first things I learned to make. A little nine year old going around our neighborhood selling her gingham aprons must have been hard to resist, because I sold as many as I could make! I trace my passion for making and selling to these first sales.

My parents were artists and I grew up surrounded by the materials and inspirations involved in their paintings and commercial art. I was especially fascinated with the paper doll books they made and I designed dresses for my own paper dolls.

My love of fabrics continued to grow, and in 1967 I entered Iowa State University as a textile major. When I took my first weaving class, I went nuts! The excitement of actually designing my own fabrics was an explosion of fun for me. I changed my major to applied art with an emphasis in weaving and have ever since been obsessed with everything woven. I always enjoyed selling what I made, and parting with my treasures was easy – I was in love with the process, and the more I wove, the more ideas that came to me for the next project.

 

After graduating from ISU and my husband’s 3-year stint in the Navy we returned to my home town of Kenosha, Wisconsin, where I started participating in art fairs in the communities between Milwaukee and Chicago. This area was rich with shows, and I had some great initial success. My husband, Jim, encouraged me and soon quit his job to work with me. We continued to make our living as designer/weavers for 15 years, having two daughters along the way. We moved to rural Missouri to be centrally located and more accessible to shows all over the country and to experience “country living”. Our older daughter, Kate, went to many of the shows with us, and our younger one, Kory, still regrets she didn’t get to go to as many shows as her sister. They both loved the excitement of meeting artists and their work and grew up to become successful artists themselves (http://katebingamanburt.com/obsess , http://www.korybing.com/about .)

Eventually, to add more stability to our income (college costs were lurking in the near future) I got my art education certification and began teaching at K-12 at the local school and also continued with our weaving business. Working with students of all ages was a lot of fun and also added to my design inspiration resources (kids have a unique creative perspective!). Jim continued doing shows on his own for several more years while his interest in computers developed into a passion and new career.

I taught for 15 years while continuing with shows in the summer. I always kept my love of weaving alive and expanded into dyeing, both my yarns and now fabrics. Creating my own colorways became another obsession. My weave structures are pretty basic and nothing fancy, and my one-of-a-kind colors are my signature. Silk is my favorite material, both silk yarns and silk fabric for my scarves. Dyeing silk yields wonderful subtle color blendings very reminiscent of a watercolor painting. I love the unpredictability of my dye process. No two pieces are ever the same.

My main sources of inspiration are ethnic textiles, especially those from Mexico and Central America. I have traveled to Mexico many times and treasure the rugs and embroidered textiles I collected there. The colors and textures from these cultures continue to excite and inspire me. 

I have been an elementary principal for the past five years and continue to do shows and sell my work through my ETSY shop that I opened in 2006. ETSY has been great for me both as a sales outlet and a resource for materials. I am inspired by the work of other artists here and am so pleased with the growth and effectiveness of ETSY. My work can be seen at www.sherrybingaman.etsy.com and www.facebook.com/pages/Nueva-Vida/267437229990162?ref=ts

My advice to those new to ETSY is to be patient and persistent. It can be difficult to find the time to list often, but when I do the effort is always reflected in my sales. The search ads have been great for boosting my sales, too. I include my ETSY website on my business cards. At shows, I notice more and more customers are familiar with ETSY and do much of their shopping here. Yea!

Celebration Treasuries!

Today would be the perfect day to announce the winners of the Celebration treasuries contest for Etsy Weavers team.
The air is full of happiness and joy - Christmas is here, Hanukkah is here! New Year is almost here!
And our Etsy Weavers team is over the 200 mark!

We had many amazing treasuries created by our team members, celebrating the works of our team and colorful creations of others. It was a pure joy to see them:

http://www.etsy.com/teams/7451/etsy-weavers/discuss/9462149/page/1

Today we announce three winners who have collected the most amount of views, clicks and admirerers!

#1 is unbeatable Patt, representing AllMyCreations store, with remarkable Celebration treasury
www.etsy.com/treasury/NTc5NzE2N3wxNTIyMDgwNzQw/celebration

If you haven't checked it - you will have lots of fun with the items Patt has chosen.

#2 treasury belongs to Elizabeth, our GreenwoodWoman! Here is the link to her treasury
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTU2NjkyOTd8MTUzMDg4NDM0MA/celebrating-weaving-and-the-love-of

# 3 proudly goes to Bridget representing Biggie store - Another amazing collection
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NDEzN3wxNTMwMTk1Njc1/celebration

But the right thing to say would be this - we all win because we're together in this CELEBRATION!
Congratulations to all of you! Happy Holidays! Happy Weaving!

Alvant
Captain of Etsy Weavers team

Interview with Sayward 'Say' Johnson

Welcome, welcome, welcome back!

It has been a long period of silence, but this interview is more than timely - a true gift for the upcoming Holiday season!!!

We have many talented artist-weavers from Canada, Say is definitely one of them!

Enjoy this unique interview with

Sayward  'Say' Johnson from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Say represents Etsy Store "Art and Woven Things"

URL location on Etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/saywardjohnson

 

Random Facts about You

I love Star Wars, cats and I tree-planted for fifteen years. I am originally from the town of Danvers, Massachusetts. Danvers' claim to fame is that it was originally named Salem Village and is where the infamous Salem Witch Trials began. I came to Canada for university in the 90s, married a Canadian, and have lived in Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax and Montreal over the last fifteen years. New England is still one my favourite places in the world though. I will always be a New England girl at heart. I would run away and live in Vermont or Maine in a heartbeat if it were practical.

How long ago have you started weaving?

Since 2005

What got you started weaving?

I actually started out as a knitter. I taught myself to knit when I was in my mid-20s. It was not my first attempt but it was the first time I had buckled down and forced myself to do more than knit and purl. At first, I was obsessed with sock-knitting, but eventually I decided that I wanted to learn how to weave. That desire drew me to textiles program at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD). My first warp was white, green and purple 8/2 cotton. The first time I threw my shuttle through the weft I had a wonderful moment of aha! I pulled my beater and then I stopped and looked at my warp because I knew I would never forget that moment.

Any particular technique(s) that you enjoy the most?

When I am working with copper, I love undulating twills, modified overshot patterns and satin weaves. I also love to hammer and dap woven copper. I remember a metalsmithing instructor saying that the reason copper moves beautifully beneath a hammer is that it is porous; my weavings are simply more porous. I also love patinas - to me copper is most beautiful with a patina. When it comes to embroidery, I am currently obsessed with French knots and cross stitch. Last but not least, I am addicted to knitting small sculptures out of copper wire.

Waiting, 2010 (detail) Hand-woven copper in undulating twill with patina

Lace Cups, 2011. Hand-knitted copper with patina and shellac

                   

What part the process makes you the most passionate?

I enjoy the planning and brainstorming phase but I always have about a dozen projects on the go because I find it impossible to work in a linear fashion. Often pieces need to go away and 'rest' for a while before I can finish them. Many of my patinas take several weeks to develop. When I'm working, I'll have pieces patinating, pieces resting, and pieces beside me at various stages of completion.

I most enjoy moments of rediscovery, where I pick up an unfinished piece and suddenly know how to finish it. I love when something becomes its own work, not at all what I had envisioned at the start.

Nostalgia 2011 (detail) Hand-woven copper in braided twill with patina, salt, pencils and embroidery

What is your source of inspiration?

At the moment I am obsessed with lichens, old, crumbling walls, rust and boreal forests.

http://uwstudentweb.uwyo.edu/A/AGIVAN/El

Where do you sell?

At Etsy, at locals shows, through my website and in person.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I am mom to a nearly three year old who already knows how to help full scarves and happily narrates while I warp my loom; "you take a thread and put it through the heddle, then you slide it over. You take another thread and take another heddle...." 

Sigourney at 2, at the weaving bench

 What first made you want to become an artist?

Honestly, growing up I never thought I would be an artist. In my mind, art equalled representational drawing and painting and I didn't have the 'drawing' gene. When I attended NSCAD, in order to go through their textiles program, I had to learn how to draw and paint and open myself to all kinds of new ideas. I loved it. Attending NSCAD was truly life-altering for me. I felt as though I was exactly where I was meant to be and doing what I was meant to be doing. Art-wise, I feel like I am only at the beginning of a long and wonderful journey. It is both exciting and daunting, but mostly exciting.

Please describe your creative process

Usually I will weave a long copper warp and then cut it into sections. Out of one warp I may wind up with four or five different pieces. For my copper pieces, the weaving is just the beginning – it's like making my canvas 

I try to soak up new techniques whenever I can and try them, so all of my work is part of a constant, fluctuating process. I weave with copper, patina it, embroider it. Sometimes I embed copper in wax. At the moment I'm taking an introductory paper-making class at the Ottawa School of Art so I've been pressing weavings into hand-made paper. Everything I do or try bleeds over into a different technique. I would describe my creative process as experimental and happily chaotic.

Sunburst Lichen Study, 2011

Study in Encaustic No.5, 2011

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

A Raku style coffee mug from my cousin. She studied pottery for two years and then decided to become a lawyer. She graduated from Yale with honours – she would have made an amazing studio potter!

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

Be open-minded, explore and take good photographs.

What do you like about Etsy?

It's flexible, I can edit anything instantly and it's easy to connect with people.

How do you promote your work?

Online and through shows.

What weaving activities or guilds to you participate in?

I'm a member of the Ontario Craft Council and plan on joining the Ottawa Weaver's Guild this year.

Do you have a website, blog, Facebook page, or other online endeavours?

www.saywardjohnson.com

Encroachment, 2011

Interview with Etsy Weaver - Meet Bobbie Bridgeman

The time has arrived for us to visit Sunny California and our talented Etsy Weaver in San Jose - Bobbie Bridgeman, representing panthapyre store on Etsy.

It is hard to say what comes first - the TALENT or the NATURAL SURROUNDING, but California is known for it - gorgeous nature, the climate that is so welcoming, and people are so open-minded and receptive - all of it and ... maybe something else that make an everyday into something really special... And today is such a day - with Bobbie!

See for yourself!

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 - "My greatest source of inspiration comes from Indian and Hindu art and culture"

How long ago did you start weaving and what got you started?

I started weaving during my senior year of high school. I was set to take independent study in fine art that year but due to class funding they cut the freelance course. I had taken all of the other offered classes in art at the school except one. I admit I wasn't looking forward to it. It was Fiber Arts. At the time, I had considered it below other fine arts like painting and sculpting but I set out to do my best and enjoy it! Little did I know that in that class I would find a few passions of mine, sewing and weaving. My first woven piece was an awful rendition of a peacock with cheap department store yarn. 

Any particular technique(s) that you enjoy the most?

I love to hand embroider. My favorite stitch has got to be the French knot! I put those puppies on everything! When it comes to weaving I enjoy a simple lap heddle loom. There is something magical about using a technique that humans have been crafting with for centuries.

What part the process makes you the most passionate?

I am addicted to hand spun yarns. Etsy has helped fueled that habit. How did I ever get by on commercial yarn?? The best yarn out there has got to be made by the amazing moonrover.etsy.com. She has made the most awesome custom colored yarns for me. I often keep yarns around for months before I actually use them. *Hoards hoards hoards!* I have the same problem with buttons and stones, I keep them around in overflowing boxes and baskets.

What is your source of inspiration?

My greatest source of inspiration comes from Indian and Hindu art and culture.

I can sit around for hours drawing paisley and henna designs. The majority of my paintings are inspired by the vibrant colors and patterns. I also take a lot of creative energy from nature. I grew up in the Midwest surrounded by miles of corn fields and flat scenery. How bland and dull!

About 6 years ago I relocated to the West coast and fell in love with the ocean and mountains.

The terrain in California can vary so greatly in just the span of a few miles that it boggles the mind. To the east, there are dry brush hills. To the south, there are towering majestic redwoods.

To the west, the endlessly blue Pacific Ocean. One cannot help but being empowered by the daily scenery. When I am finding myself in a creative slump I will turn to my zen gardens. I have a table set up in my third floor studio next to the window dedicated to my ever changing zen garden collection. Most of the items that dwell in the sands are ones that I have scavenged on beach combing expeditions: beach glass, skipping stones, shells, sand dollars. 

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

As my day job, I work as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic. I have loved working with animals since I was a child. I got started in the veterinary profession at the bottom of the ladder doing down and dirty kennel work. Thank goodness I don't have to do that anymore! Hah! Though I do like working with dogs, I have always been a cat person. They just seem to gravitate to me. Maybe they can sense a sucker when they see one hmm?  I have accepted that one day I will be a crazy cat lady!  My collection has started with our rotten black domestic short hair named Vincent. Another hobby of mine is gaming. I have wasted lord knows how many hours of my life sitting at my computer playing video games. I was turned into a gamer at a young age. My father and grandmother were always playing video games and it rubbed off on me early. I can still remember how mad my mother was when my father brought home our first computer, an old Tandy, when I was in elementary school. My love of sewing and weaving has even leaked over into my gaming! My mage troll character in World of Warcraft is a tailor! RAWR!  For the Horde!

What first made you want to become an artist?

I don't think there was ever a conscious decision to BECOME an artist. You just are an artist! Since I was old enough to hold a pen I have been drawing or painting or otherwise filling my space creatively. I still have My Little Ponies that I decided were too plain and doodled on from when I was a little girl. All of my poor toys ended up with a new paint job or hair cut.  It's been downhill from there!

Please describe your creative process

The creative process for me is spectacularly random and fractured. I often start and finish pieces months apart. Nothing is ever completely finished either. I can weave a scarf and a few months later it will be deconstructed into something else. A water color painting can end up being stitched onto the cover of a journal. Weeks can go by where I don't touch anything and then I suddenly have a spurt of productivity. I hate to measure and cannot cut a straight line to save my life. Many thinks that I sew never start with a predefined set of measurements in mind.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

 When I first moved away from home and into my own apartment I was pretty poor. To pass the time my friends and I came up with some pretty creative ways to entertain ourselves. One of those ways included covering my boring wooden paneled kitchen in scads of coloring book pages. We would use everything from the basic crayon and markers to puffy paint and nail polish to color outside the lines and make one of a kind masterpieces. By the time I moved out the entire room was filled floor to ceiling with them. I took them all down and bound them into a keepsake book. There are many of those friends who are now gone and I feel like I have a little piece of their imagination still alive with me.

What do you like about Etsy?

Buying things. I admit it. There are so many original artists on Etsy that it can boggle the mind.

Do you have a website, blog, Facebook page, or other online endeavors?

I have a Facebook fan site http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Jose-CA/Panthapyre/186951301321623

"Weaving sort of found me..." - inside of skiingweaver store...

Hello all!

Today I wanted to share the story of a talented weaver from New England, US - Kristin Kelley-Munoz, the owner of the Store skiingweaver

I hope you enjoy our interview with Kristin as much as we did!

 Kristin threading her little Harrisville loom at home

(picture taken by her daughter)

 ------------------------------------------------

Your location

    I live in Chelmsford, MA (about 30 NW of Boston) and my studio is at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, MA (http://www.westernavenuestudios.com/) - the building used to be a textile mill and it's on a canal!).

Random Facts about You?

I'm a former lawyer (IP litigation, but please don't ask me about copyright issues). I'm much happier now. :) I found out *after* I learned to weave that my Quebequois maternal grandmother was a mill-girl weaver here in Massachusetts in the early 1900s! I really am a fanatic skier - Stowe, VT and Alta, UT are two of my favorite places to ski (hubby and I downhill, cross-country, snowboard and telemark - and the kids are following in our tracks...). I envy my daughter's gorgeous red hair. And my hubby, Carlos, is my best friend in the world.

Kristin and her daughter on the last ski day in 2010

How long ago did you start weaving?

I taught myself to weave in 2001 - I bought a little 4-harness loom form Harrisville Designs and built it over a weekend with much swearing and banged thumbs. (Harrisville, BTW, is a really pretty town in NH, and their intensive workshops are supposed to be huge amounts of fun.)

What got you started weaving?

I just knew I'd like it... A college friend taught me to knit and I enjoyed that, but I picked up a book about weaving one day and knew I had to get my hands on a loom. I bought that first Harrisville loom when I was still working as an attorney and I'd never woven before then - I'd never even seen a loom in person at that point!

Any particular technique(s) that you enjoy the most?

Hard to choose... When I was learning to weave, I was a structure person. Now I think I'm more interested in how color affects structure and vice versa. But true to my structure roots, I love designing new patterns. Fiberworks PCW is such fun to play with! Most of my designs never get woven at all, and the ones that do are usually just one-offs that I weave for fun and that never make it into my Etsy shop or a show booth. I'm also getting back into dyeing now the my kids are getting beyond the toddler stage (finally!).

What part the process makes you the most passionate?

Oh, all of it. I love it when a design surprises me - when something looks very different after wet-finishing than I expected, e.g. I actually love warping, I really enjoy the feel of the fibers running through my fingers and threading heddles. Selling is probably my least favorite part, though I do enjoy talking with people that come to Open Studios at my studio building and explaining how looms work (everyone is interested when they see my two big looms at my studio - a 60" 12-shaft LeClerc Colonial and a 48" 16-shaft Weavebird/compudobby).

What is your source of inspiration?

I just keep my eyes open. Kids put colors together in amazing ways, they're fearless. I also think it's really important that the finished fabric be appropriate for its intended function (scarves should drape, rugs shouldn't). I also tend to group cones of yarn together in interesting colorways and let them sit there for a couple days, to see if I still like them, or maybe swap out a color or two... Design ideas seem to strike when I'm throwing the shuttle - I keep a little notebook in my loom bench to jot ideas down. Too many ideas, far too little time at this point.

Where do you sell?

I started selling only online but that's by far the smallest piece of my business now. I sell at a couple of large local shows every year, through Open Studios in my studio building on the first Saturday of every month, through a couple of galleries in New England and through the deCordova Museum store (by invitation). I participated in my Guild sale for a couple of years, too, which is a great way to get your feet wet!

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I'm a board member of the Weavers' Guild of Boston, and I teach classes and lead seminars for area weaving guilds (I'll be leading three seminars at NEWS - the New England Weavers' Seminar - at Smith College this July, in case anyone is in the area!).

Outside of the weaving world, I'm a stay-at-home mom of two (our daughter is 7 and our son is 4 - so, in other words, I'm done with diaper duty and starting to feel like a chauffeur instead), an avid newbie gardener (I'm over-run with arugula and spinach at the moment! tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and broccoli are getting planted soon) and I love to bake bread. We ski in the winter and surf, kayak and bike in the summer. We love to travel and are planning to spend a year abroad about 5 years down the road, if things go according to plan (Spain or France - hubby Carlos' first language was Spanish, and I speak very poor French... Though we love the UK and Italy, too, and I would love to take a jacquard class at Fondazione Lisio in Florence... Hmm. Maybe a couple months in each!)

Kristin and her kids from two years ago

What first made you want to become an artist?

Weaving sort of found me... In high school and then at MIT and later in law school I didn't have time to take art classes and since I can't draw my way out of a paper bag, art school was never really a consideration for me. I've always loved working with my hands though - probably a legacy from my father, who was a baker (and made the best doughnuts ever!). I got my independent streak from my dad, too, I was never particularly happy in an office environment. I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of my legal practice, but the billable hours grind was awful (I worked for two very large firms). Making the leap into being a weaver was a pretty huge decision for me. Thank goodness for my very supportive husband!

Please describe your creative process: how, when, materials, etc.

One nice thing about weaving is that you can stop and start - which is pretty necessary when you've got two little ones to take care of! I try to spend two mornings a week in my studio, while my son is in preschool. And I often spend one weekend day over there as well, if I can manage it, though I do miss my hubby terribly when I do that.

As for materials, I lean towards luxury fibers, and fibers that don't make me itch. (Although the fact that cashmere makes me itch like the devil makes me want to cry. It's such lovely stuff.) Tencel and silk both take dye just gorgeously, and I like working with bamboo, too. Zephyr is another favorite of mine (50/50 wool/silk blend, made by Jaggerspun). Stainless steel/wool, paper, glow-in-the dark yarn, silk ribbons - all intrigue me and are on my (long) list of fibers to experiment with.

older shot of part of Kristin' studio in Lowell

Process-wise, I like playing around on Fiberworks PCW. I *love* browsing through the huge library at my weavers' guild meetings. And I like looking beyond the weaving world for ideas, too - the artists in my building are amazing (there are about 200 of us at this point). On the weaving-process front, I warp at most three scarves at a time - only about 9 yards. I've found I lose interest when warps are longer than that (short attention span, I guess). I play around a lot with things that never make it into my shop - just because I enjoy making a project once doesn't mean I'll want to weave a bunch of them for my shop or a show, or that it would fit with my current shop aesthetic.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

A linen cut-work tablecloth that my grandmother not only embroidered herself, but also grew the flax, spun the linen and wove it herself. That's pretty intense (processing flax is difficult work!). I've also got a quilt that she made from remnants of fabric from the textile mill she worked in that I really love.

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

Don't get caught up in the numbers game! I see so many people get caught up in how many sales they have... I'd much rather have one $75 sale (and one trip to the post office) than five $15 sales... Besides, as weavers, it's hard for us to keep up with the sheer volume that other types of sellers can put out. Apart from that - Etsy is a very different place now than it was when I joined back in the dark ages. It's a lot harder to get seen now. I think that local shows and marketing are even more important now to start to build a customer base... Otherwise, great photography, excellent workmanship and a unique product are all important! Learn to develop a critical eye for your work - you don't have to put *everything* you weave in your shop, and I've found that having a coherent look really helps - both for your shop and for show booths. On the photography front - do a search for items similar to what you make, then really take notice of which thumbnails attract your attention (in a good way!) and why. Take all advice with a big heap of salt (including this advice! lol!). What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for anyone else. Figure out what works for you and be happy doing your own thing. And also know that you can step back from it whenever you want - if things get too crazy, it's ok to take some time off.

What do you like about Etsy?

It's so easy! You post things, people buy them. Neato. I also love that my work lives all over the world thanks to Etsy. And I've met some really interesting, kind, generous people through Etsy - and I found my studio thanks to an Etsy-friend who has a studio a couple doors down from me.

trio of bamboo scarves

How do you promote your work?

I don't. I sell at local shows, which helps a lot, and always hand out tons of cards and postcards. Having the monthly Open Studios helps, too. I seem to get a lot of first-time buyers on Etsy, and a steady trickle of custom work through Etsy as well (people find things they like in my sold items quite a bit, so I'm happy I keep good notes on past designs). Sooner or later I'll get coordinated and start a mailing list and follow all the advice in books like "I'd Rather Be In The Studio" and "Craft, Inc." but for now I sell basically everything that I can manage to weave (and then some, it feels like sometimes) so I haven't focused on promoting much at all. I am really picky about what shows I apply to, though, which helps.

What weaving activities or guilds to you participate in?

I'm a board member of the Weavers' Guild of Boston. I'd love to join a smaller guild or two, but I just don't have the time right now (having a high tech startup-founder hubby means I'm focused on the kids for the most part!). This past January I took an advanced weaving class at the John C Campbell Folk School in NC - what fun! An entire week thinking only of weaving, what a treat. (We worked on dyeing and creating crimp cloth using polyester yarn and woven shibori techniques, which I had played with for dying but not for crimping - sooo much fun!)

Do you have a website, blog, Facebook page, or other online endeavors?

My website is:    http://www.skiingweaver.com (I don't update it as much as I should and have yet to put a shopping cart on it...)

I've got a shop on Cargoh and get lots of views but no sales yet. My blog is pretty much defunct now. I spend too much time on Facebook (trying to cut back)! You can find me as myself and I have a Facebook page for my weaving, too:  http://www.facebook.com/handwovenbykristinkelley 

picture of a shawl that the Store @ the deCordova Museum featured on its website