aqua necklace

aqua necklace, originally uploaded by Marysusan.

My newest creation over at etsy. This felted necklace has been treated so that all those hard edges will remain nice and sharp. The glass beads that I used as spacers are absolutely delicious, and I have to admit that I was tempted to keep them for myself. I also used some cute cute cute green polka dot glass beads around the back of the necklace, so that it would feel nice and smooth against your neck.

There you go. It is for sale in my etsy shop. Go get it.

pink earrings

pink earrings, originally uploaded by Marysusan.

Now hear this: I am branching out into earrings.

I had all these end bits from the felt ropes that I make to create the hard beads for the "Bullseye Bones" necklaces. I finally figured that they would make great earrings.

So here they are...and they are for sale in my Etsy Shop.

They kind of look like tiny hams, don't they?

Drink Green Beer

Yeah, I know that St. Patricks is past. And I pity any of you out there who actually drink green beer on this most co-opted of holidays. What I am talking about is beer that is another shade of green...

In my house, we try our darndest to live pretty damn green. Our electricity is generated by the solar panels on our roof, we don't drive when we can walk, only one of us drives to work ( the other bikes), and we recycle/upcycle like crazy. We also extend this idea to what we eat. We have a pretty large garden that gets more productive every year. We try to grow the majority of what we eat in season, and when we can't grow it, we strive to shop local. And that is what brings me to our topic for today: Greening your beer...

I will admit, I am kind of a beer snob. But when ecology was a factor, it always tended to win over taste. In grad school, my roommates and I drank case after case of Old Milwaukee, because in Kentucky, it was the only beer that would take back the bottles for re-fill instead of recycling. It wasn't bad beer...but I knew that there had to be something better out there.

Now we have great options in the form of micro-brewers. Do a Google search. Go ahead, I'll wait. I bet you can find at least one brewery within 100 miles of you. And if you do...buy your beer from them. It is so much greener than that fancy import from Germany or Holland or Bavaria that you have been drinking, and it probably tastes better too.

Think about the reduced carbon footprint simply by reducing the shipping distances that are involved in getting the brew to you when you purchase local. This is a huge environmental benefit. You also get the added charge of pumping dollars into your own local economy, which can never be bad.

Our local brewhouse is the Blue Point Brewery. We are lucky in that they are only a few miles away. They also are super green, because they give you the option to buy the beer in growlers which are essentially gallon jugs. If you have a couple brewmeisters in your house, this could be a good option for you. The awesome greenness of the growler is that you wash it when it is empty and you can take it back to the brewery (or a couple of other convienent beer sellers with Blue Point taps) for a fill up. You get a little discount on the price of the brew going in the jug, and you get to know that you are keeping a big old chunk of glass out of the recycling stream, by re-using - which should always come before recycling anyway.

(If you go to the BPB, try the Old Howling Bastard...you will never be the same)

So eat, drink, and be merry my friends....but keep it local if you can. You will feel good about it in more ways than one.

New Endeavor

I just published my first instructable:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-wet-felted-wool-curly-que/

I used the video's that I have posted here on the blog, but now they have some written instructions and some additional edifying images.

Enjoy!!!!

fungus among us

fungus, originally uploaded by Marysusan.

Yeah, I know that this isn't a fiber...but I love how this picture came out, so I am posting it anyway. This is kind of the most extreme Macro you can get. What you are looking at here are the fruiting bodies of a common bread mold, stained for visibility and viewed through a microscope at 100x.

I took the photo by fitting the microscope with my digital eyepiece that I bought surplus from Russia. (My school couldn't afford one at the time and I REALLY wanted one) I think that it looks like modern art, and it kind of reminds me of my encaustic flower paintings that I do when I am not wrapped up in wool roving.

Maybe I should blow this up and sell the prints on Etsy...it really is kind of oddly lovely, isn't it?

corriedale 100x

corriedale 100x, originally uploaded by Marysusan.

THE SCALES! LOOK AT THE SCALES!!!

Yup...that is what makes this stuff felt so well....

When you heat these fibers up, those scales flip open and just grab each other like crazy.

LOVE IT.... I really do.

Cashmere 100x

Cashmere 100x, originally uploaded by Marysusan.

When art and science meet.....it can be a beautiful thing. In Forensic Science class last week, I was teaching my students how to recognize different fibers microscopically. While they were looking at fiber samples through the microscopes, I took some photos of thier best samples. I thought that I would share some of the better ones with you.

I took this with my camera, a steady hand, my students and a microscope. Yes, it is green dyed. If you look at the image in the largest format, you can see the cuticle scales on each fiber.

living room shelves: eye spy game and contest

living room shelves: eye spy game, originally uploaded by Marysusan.

Can you spot all the hand made items on this page?

If it is an Etsy item, can you find the shop it came from?

If you click on the photo, it will take you to the original flickr file, where you can add your comments and notes.

I think that I shall make it a contest. Every one who leaves a comment on the Flikr photo, trying to ID an item is eligible.

The prize will be a set of hand felted hairpins, just like the one's I sell in my Etsy shop, ...as well as some possible goody destash items waiting to go in my other shop, toomuchmary.etsy.com

The EYE SPY contest will run until March 8th, 2008.

Good Luck!

I will choose the winner totally at random.

A Dark Confession

nutmeg, originally uploaded by Marysusan.

I have a confession to make.

My husband hates nutmeg. Or at least he thinks that he hates nutmeg. Every time that I make a quiche or an egg dish he complains that I put nutmeg in it. Now I know that I do NOT over season my food, be it with nutmeg, or salt, or anything else. I also know that if you DO NOT put nutmeg in a baked egg dish the flavour falls flat.

So I have started putting nutmeg in everything I cook.

EVERYTHING.

It is only a little bit. But it is going everywhere....all the time.

He has been complimenting me on my cooking more than ever.

What does this say about his sense of taste? What does this say about our relationship? What does this say about his fear of nutmeg?

More importantly, I wonder if he actually reads my blog?

What do you have to confess? Feel free to do it here. I am pretty confident that YOUR significant other doesn't read this blog.