Come on over to my new blog for details!

http://poppyflowerfibers.blogspot.com/2009/06/beautiful-roving-giveaway.html

Hi Everyone!

I have decided to offer a monthly fiber club. The Uberlicious Fiber Club! What I will be doing is offering a particular fiber (mainly luxury) for that specific month, open a limited number of spots, and ship by the 15th of that month. The colorways will be brand new and will be guaranteed not to be replicated for at least 6 months.

This month you will receive at least 4 ounces of sumptuous 80/20 Merino/Silk combed top. I will only be offering 12 spots. The price for the combed top will be $22 with U.S. and Canadian First Class shipping being $3 and International shipping being $6. It will be shipped to you no later than July 15.

Slots are available on a first come, first serve basis, with slots opening on Etsy at 1pm EST today, June 15.

Thanks all! I am very excited about this new venture! :D

xo Lisa

http://poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

I'm in the process of movin' on over to blogger, little by little. Here is my new blog url: http://poppyflowerfibers.blogspot.com. I also have a new webpage. It's very minimal at the moment, with just two links, one to my store and one to my blog. It's http://poppyflowerfibers.com.

It's been fun around here, I'm just feeling a bit limited by the layout features. Hope those interested will come on over to blogspot and follow my boringness there.

I am so happy that my strength has returned and that I am able to dye again. I had so much fun with this lot. Here are some pics of what I will be offering in my store at 9pm est tonight.












You can see more pics on my Flickr page. :)

poppy flower fibers

currently recovering from surgery and going a bit stir crazy. i'm supposed to rest for 4 to 6 weeks and i don't know how i'm going to do it. just these last two days are making me feel batty.

found out today that my other dog, now the solo dog, miss poppy flower, has heartworm. seriously? wtf? so i had a bit of an hysterical episode and am now trying to re-center. the dog has been on heartworm prevention for the prescribed months here in CO, so i just don't get it. taking her in on monday for x-rays and other testing. hoping that the heartworms are at a "minor" stage and that she is strong enough to withstand treatment.

i can only shake my head and laugh through the tears. boggles my mind.

snow this weekend, so that should be pretty.

unfortunately the pics are not the best, but i love the way they look in person.

just finished my small dye session and feel like i am finally on "vacation". even though it's really medical leave, it's still some time off and i'll take it!

so i'm feeling better. will post the last of the fiber tomorrow, ship Friday, clean the house and tie up loose ends over the weekend, and then take my leave on Monday.

oh, and i placed an order for a cherry matchless. should be ready just in time for me to be back on my feet again. happy, happy, happy!!!

i have been feeling emotionally overwhelmed due to recent events and my break can't come soon enough. i'm just drained, drained, drained. although my break is due to medical reasons, i believe it will be the perfect opportunity to rejuvenate. and restructure.

i have been thinking about restructuring, or should i say *structuring*, my dyeing technique for some time now. i do not write down formulas because it interrupts my "flow" while dyeing, but if i'm going to be limited in what i do for a month i figure it would be a good time to create some repeatable formulas and write them down. this way it won't really be "interrupting" anything but bed rest and that i can deal with. i'm pretty excited about the possibilities of translating repeatable colorways to sock yarns as well.

pondering, just pondering...

off to a doc appt then back home to dye some fiber for tomorrow evening's update.

So here are some of the Colorway Compilations I was talking about earlier.





available as my store as usual, http://poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com :)

Hi Everyone!!

I am very excited to introduce a new project I've been working on called Colorway Compilations. It will be limited edition for now until I decide whether or not to bring them back when I return in May/June. I am pairing multiple coordinating colorways together in groups of 4 which will yield yarns of great complexity and depth. At last count, there will be only 24 Colorway Compliations available in 6 different combinations. I will be photographing them today and plan to load them to my store some time between 5pm and 8pm MST. Sales will be on a first come, first served basis.

Please join me for this exciting new addition!!!

Cheers!
Lisa

Poppy Flower Fibers
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com
http://twitter.com/PoppyFlowerFibr

here are some i dyed up recently that are now in my etsy shop.



I'm kind of glad that my surgery is only 10 days away. I can feel myself reaching burnout. Should be able to get in a couple more batches of dyeing within the next few days before I need to stop for at least a month.

http://poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

feels good. think i'll have 9 pounds dyed by the end of the day, to be posted for my update tomorrow. hope i get it all done before Lost tonight.

after a couple of years of printing my own labels in greyscale, i have finally gotten around to sending the file to a professional printer for some lovely labels. i'm very excited about it. now i'll labels that match my business cards, avatar, and banner. can't believe i haven't gotten around to it sooner.

still haven't done any dyeing. maybe tomorrow. i really have to kick it into gear because i only have two full weeks left to dye before taking my leave.

i've been busying myself with cleaning. somehow that distracts me. i'm scared that if i turn on the music and start painting some roving that the floodgates are going to open and i don't want that. i've let them open enough over these last few days and am trying to remain steady. i've noticed that my jaw has been clenched shut. just some observations.

but i *need* to get back to work. i have packages to mail and bills to pay. but i'm so scared of creating again. this probably sounds very irrational to many and i hope it is not coming off as pretentious, but the truth of the matter is that my brain is in a very different state when creating than when doing busy work. grrrrrrrr, i just don't want to go there. not sure what to do about this. wondering when it will pass and when i will no longer be afraid of dyeing. ugh, this sounds so ridiculous. completely over the top. it may all just be in my head and maybe making stuff *won't* bring up emotions, but it's just how i am feeling. obviously venting now. *big sigh*

off to do trivial things like buy batteries, vitamins, and dishwashing liquid.

hope all who read this are well. and please don't let this post bum you out. it's Spring. a beautiful time of year. :)

26 hours left with my 16 1/2 year old lunagirl. she has an appointment with the vet tomorrow at noon. today we are making the best of it. i purchased some yummy dick van patten's natural balance gourmet foods. this morning was "irish stew", tonight will be "southern style dumplin's with gravy", and tomorrow's breakfast will be "hobo chili with chicken and pasta". she loved this morning's breakfast so i am happy she is enjoy her last meals. also purchased some "human grade" buffalo chew treats. the idea of these totally grosses me out, but she's never had them before so i figure she might as well experience all she can in these last few hours.

took her for a nice drive this morning where she got some time sticking her head out the window and enjoying the breeze. today is a beautiful day, so i expect her to do a good bit of sunbathing on the deck which she loves.

i also purchased a big fat stuffed squeaky toy for my other dog, miss poppy flower. she will be given this when i take luna to the vet tomorrow. i am hoping it will make her happy enough to distract her. she has *never* been separated from luna in her 12 years of life and i know she cries if i even take luna outside the front door for a moment without bringing her along. the vet thinks it would be best to not bring poppy to the euthanasia because she is highly intelligent and sensitive (border collie) and it might really depress her and she might associate the vet's office with the loss of her friend. so she will be staying behind.



luna and poppy

I've been playing around with my dyeing techniques because I get bored and have to shake things up a little bit. Here are the results:







I'm looking forward to spinning some of these up. I'm sure they will yield soft and subtle yarns which will be a nice change of pace.

Also, I now have a Ravelry group! devittles, http://www.flickr.com/photos/10373502@N05 , started it up for me. here's the link and all are welcome to join. =D

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/poppyflowerfibers-creations

to be uploaded to etsy tonight, 7pm est. falkland.

here are some colorways that will be added to my store tonight at 7pm EST. They are all Merino. I still have 3 Falkland colorways that are still drying and will add pics later.

sock yarn.  hmmmm....  pondering the possibilities.  

i used to dye sock yarn some time ago and am thinking of getting back into it for my knitter friends.  creating a solid palette from the dyes i use for my spinning fiber.  hmmm.......

 

 So yesterday I ended up popping some pain pills, Vicadin, for the first time in my life and man did it work.  I was able to dye 24 rovings with no pain at all.  But when those pain meds wear off, oh does it hurt.  I'm in severe pain again today and hate the idea of popping pills on a regular basis, but I need to get things done today.  I need to get things done EVERY day, so I hope my back fixes itself soon.

I'm very happy with the colorways I dyed up yesterday.  They are almost dry and I will photograph and load them to Flickr hopefully by 2pm MST today.  While on Flickr they will be available for reservation and will then move on to Etsy.  I'll post some pics here later today.

Hope everyone is having a good day today and getting some Spring weather!

A night of insomnia for me and the old dog.  The younger-old dog, Miss Poppy Flower, was sleeping just fine until we woke her up.  So we took a moonlight stroll and are now back.  Awake.  

I'm also in quite a bit of pain, I think from working so much lately.  I can't take Ibuprofen or any NSAIDS due to my upcoming surgery, so the doctor prescribed Vicodin last week. I haven't picked up my prescription, but WILL today due to the pain I am pretty much having all over my body, but most severely in my back. I hope it doesn't make me too groggy. I need to be able to function.

Still working out the store kinks. I'm trying not to stress over it too much and just do my thing and hope for the best.

Plan is to dye 24 rovings today, provided I'm not too high on Vicodin. Do you even get high on Vicodin? Or dopey? Or sleepy? It will definitely be something new. Altered states, not so much into.

I hope my Merino gets here soon. I'm almost out of Falkland.  :(

I've been getting some feedback lately that customers are having a real hard time picking up fiber during my updates and are becoming a bit frustrated. I don't blame them. Etsy's system of putting something in your cart and the probability of that item being snatched up by someone else before checkout is not the best. So there are a few possible solutions I am mulling over.

1. Dyeing up a higher quantity of the colorways I think might be popular for the updates
-currently I only dye 2 of each colorway and I am thinking of bumping this up to 4 or 6.

2. In addition to having one main update (Thursday at 5pm MST), also posting fiber to Etsy randomly throughout the week.
- I figure this could give people an equal opportunity at getting the fiber.

3. Having two updates per week with about 30 rovings per update.
- not sure about this one. It might be nice to have two updates instead of one, but would it really give people a better chance at fiber and less frenzy? One update of 60 pieces or two updates of 30?

4. Creating a Fiber Club which will enable anyone who wants to pick up some of my fiber to do so.
- I think this could be very helpful to buyers. Maybe a month by month club or a 3-month club?

I would love to have some feedback over the options or combination of options. I really want to come up with a solution that would satisfy buyers so any input would be greatly appreciate.

Time to start my Saturday now. Walking the dogs, packing and mailing orders, dyeing, and then some highly anticipated catch-up on my fave programs. This weekend I need to catch up on Lost, Survivor, 30 Rock, The Office, and a week's worth of The Daily Show and the Colbert report. Phew! Thank goodness for no long commercials on the internet playbacks.

Have a good one everyone!!

after 5 days of this dog not being able to get up on her own and looking in so much pain that the vet agrees it's the end of the road, she wakes up just fine and dandy this morning. not that i'm complaining. it's not the first time she's fooled me. just when i think it's time to put her out of her misery, she comes back. my family jokes that she must know what's coming and pulls herself together just in time to avoid the needle. i love this dog so much, so she can keep faking me out all she wants.

a day of dyeing in store for today.