Woot!

Yesterday my shop views were WAY above what they normally are, I was confused.  

I found out today that one of my items was included in the Etsy Finds e-mail.  I'm thrilled thrilled thrilled to be included!

This is the item they included,  and it sold! Yay!

Click HERE to see the Etsy Finds list.

Blackberry Dye

Did you know that you can dye fabrics naturally with things like turmeric, acorns, and blackberries?  I have been dying with tea and coffee for a while, but this is my first try with other items.  There are a ton of great resources online,  I found a great list of plants n such all separated into color categories.

This little batch of pinky purple fabrics I dyed with blackberries.  There may be a better way to do it, but I get bored reading lots of instructions, so I just improvised.  

I added to a large pot about one cup of blackberries with about 2 cups of water and 2 Tablespoons of salt 

let it boil for a while 

smooshed up the berries a bit 

added the fabric 

simmered for while

let it sit overnight

rinsed with water and vinegar

let dry

Fabulous!

The fabrics in the photo are (from left to right) cotton, raw silk and linen.

Have you used natural items to dye?

What did you use and how did it turn out?

Etsy Teams

I joined an Etsy team! It's the Treasury Challenge Non Team.....so I guess it's not really a team....but it is a team...whatever.   Each week the winner of the previous week gets to pick one of their own items as the inspiration item.  

This week it's these cute little hand knitted baby socks.

This week is my first week to participate, I made This treasury:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzUyMTY3M3w2Mjc2NzgxNjU/autumn-nesting

It's nice but I'm showing the one below, because I think theirs is better. =)

If you are interested in participating, you can find out how here:

http://treasurychallengenonteam.blogspot.com/

'GoldiSocks and the Three Bears' by tylerja

This team is "just right"....join the fun!treasurychallengenonteam.blogspot.com/

Nesting Bowls - Creamy Milk ... sheilasart $70.00	Sweet Souls Sister Bears - s... weelittlepigs $319.00	Hand knitted baby socks /Aut... eljuks $10.00	Flame Cherry Wooden Spoon burlchaser $40.00
Little Mustard Tank with Lin... joretta $48.00	Wool Acorns, 6 Handmade Neel... Fairyfolk $12.00	California King Toddler/Baby... MustardSeedPro... $75.00	Vintage Rustic Yellow Child&... Thebeezkneezvi... $15.00
Miniature Terrarium Farmhous... iktomi $20.00	Vintage 1960s Wooded Legs Mu... kanomtuay $34.00	v i n t a g e mohair teddy b... buffalowinter $345.00	Antique Vintage wooden Baby ... Yesterdayand2d... $46.00
Primitive Doll Bed for Barbi... QuarterCreek $39.99	Golden Yellow Felt Bow Barre... KamiMono $6.00	Bear Roley Poley Animal ArksAndAnimals $4.95	fall foliage - fuzzy tan fel... thefuzzymonkey $18.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Blackberries!

The blackberries are ripe.

We picked a ton of them today.

We are freezing most of them so there will be a plenty of blackberry pies, jam and scones all winter. I clean them and then lay them out on a cookie sheet to dry. If you freeze them on the cookie sheet before transferring them to containers they won't stick together.

Do you have any favorite berry recipes?

Yum!

Another

Embroidery