.com is born

I have now switched fully over to the NEW Jazzturtle.com site.  This will be your one stop for all Jazzturtle info.. workshops, festivals, events, press and links to shopping- as well as my bloggy ramblings (which I promise will be MUCH more frequent).  I will keep my etsy shop stocked with textile couture, handspun art yarns, felted soaps and fibers, but will also be rolling out a new bigcartel shop as well with more yarn, fiber and other goodies.

LOTS is in store for JazzTurtle this fall.... lots of festivals, teaching and even a spot in an upcoming MUCH anticipated book (more on that later...)

From now on, please go to www.jazzturtle.com for all your updates and information!  This blog will be used only for archival purposes from now on.
Thanks so much!! See you on the .com!
xo
Esther!

Going to MARYLAND SHEEP and WOOL FESTIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it myself! I've been floating on a cloud since I found out!!  Jolene, from the wonderful Cloverhill Yarn Shop in Cantonsville, MD asked me yesterday if I would like to be one of the Independent Artists that her booth showcases at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! 
This is THE biggest sheep and wool festival in the country! I'm so excited that I have a chance to get a feel what it's like to work in a booth before I have to manage my own. Maryland is SAFF on steroids.. and so getting an idea of what I'm in for before I get my own booth is going to be a huge asset! By being featured in the CloverHill booth I'll get my foot into the door of the festival.. which is known for being one of the most difficult to acquire a booth!
I'm also excited to get to be a 'shopper' in a wool market this large!! I'm really hoping to score some yummy spring fleeces, while meeting people and just general fiber mahyem!  I did promise Lexi that I would help her out in her educational booth for a couple hours one day..  so I'm looking forward to quite a weekend!!
My husband also just reminded me that Columbia MD (where my hotel is) is where Merriweather Post Pavillion is- where we saw Phish on our second wedding anniversary.  We also ate that day at the MOST AMAZING restaurant- Clyde's in Columbia  So not only do I get to go to Sheep and Wool, I get to eat the BEST CRABCAKES in the same weekend!!
Happy Happy me!!

There also may be a 'pre festival fiber party" in the way of a couple workshops the Friday before the festival!! The word on the street is the Funky Nuno Felting workshop paired with the WildCarding...  I'll post more info as details solidify!!

YAY Maryland is going to get JAZZY this year!!

Teaching in South Carlolina- The Carolina Fiber Frolic!

Where have I been the last month?

Well.. Getting ready to vend my first spinning retreat and teach a couple workshops!! It was really overwhelming getting it all together. I learned a lot about what to do for my NEXT vending!! (maybe at the Carolina Fiber Fest at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh at the end of May.. but more about that later!) I had to build inventory for vending (Whew.. carding over 40 new batts!!)



Bryan and I loaded up the car with fiber, yarn and my wheel..



He was amazed I fit it all in.. but I learned how to pack from my Mother.. she's the best there is.

Off we went to the Middleton Place Inn and Plantation, just outside Charleston SC. I was really excited because I've never been there.
We arrived in time to unload and then had the evening to play. Wow.. what a place!! The plantation is from the mid 1700's and has the oldest landscaped gardens in America. We stayed in the inn.. that had beautiful rooms! The wall facing the river was all windows..
And it had a wood burning fireplace!!

And even MORE fun.. it had a 150 GALLON garden tub!! It was like a mini pool!!

It was really beautiful!! We were on the second floor so our view was like we were in a treehouse..


In the evenings the Lodge hosted some appetizers, wine and beer.. so we stopped by there before going into Charleston for dinner-
The walk from our room to the lodge was breathtaking!!




We ate both free nights at Hyman's Seafood House in Charleston. (they are open until 11pm.. and we didn't get out of the Inn until past 10 each night.. and the food was STILL amazing!!) OMG.. the shecrab soup.. and the crispy fresh flounder.. and the mussels.. oh the mussels!!

The next morning we set up my booth.. It looked great.. except I forgot my sign! Can you believe it! LOL!!
I loved having the laptop there!! There was wifi so people could pay with paypal, and I had a looping slideshow running of photos of previous batts and yarns!
The garmet rack was SO useful for hanging shawls, cloudspun yarn and specialty art yarn sets!
BATTS galore! These cubbies are a PITA to put together and take apart.. but they were really useful and made the booth look great!! I'd like to have one more set for more batts for future shows.

Ta Da!! Everything looked great!!

I taught my workshops on Friday!! My first was a 3 hour workshop called "Creative Corespinning" where I taught the basic corespinning technique, with focus on spinning a balanced yarn. I taught how to add in objects while spinning.. flowers, sequins, cocoons, beehives.. all sorts of goodies!! The second was an hour and a half workshop "Unwinding with Coils" teaching supercoiling and other art yarn plying tricks!! It was SUPER fun and everyone picked up the skills really quickly!! I felt like a proud parent!




Bryan and I also took some time to walk around the gardens. It really is an amazing place..The Middleton house after the main house was destroyed in the Civil War, and the original springhouse.
Spanish Moss swaying from all the trees so peacefully. I'm totally inspired to spin a yarn!
Amazing Camila blooms in the landscaped gardens.
H U G E trees.. from the 1700's!! So different than the Huge redwoods of Cali.

These were MONSTERS! The trunk was over twice Bryan's arm span.


We FOUND the hidden Dharma Initiative Gardens!! LOL!! You know how into LOST! we are.. so when we saw there was an octagonal garden.. we knew it was a sign!! LOL!!

All in all it was amazing weekend!! I made new friends, got a couple invitations to teach more workshops, scheduled some private lessons sold some fiber and MOST importantly made some alpaca and mohair locks connections with some local farms!! HURRAH!! AND even more importantly my hubby and I got to get away for the weekend and have some relaxing fun!!

SO if anyone wants some private lessons, or for me to teach my corespinning or superpcoiling workshops at their LYS or a guild meeting just drop me a line and we'll set something up. I have a couple workshops in the plan, so as they are finalized I'll post info about them here!!

AND watch for an announcement about JazzTurtle Creations vending at a local fiber fest near you!!