A-Glamping We Will Go: 5th Annual National Crochet Month Blog Tour
Welcome to Crochetville’s fifth annual National Crochet Month (NatCroMo) blog tour, taking place each day of March 2017. Join us for a month of virtual glamping (aka glamorous camping), as we visit crochet designers, crochet-friendly local yarn stores, and yarn companies, as well as offer some fun giveaways.
Today’s Posts: Amy Shelton | Kirsten Holloway | Sparkle Studio | Daily Giveaway
Want to Chat about the Tour?
Part of the fun of glamping is the daily round-up around the campfire, chatting and stitching with friends. We hope you’ll join us in our NatCroMo Facebook group, where we’ll be sharing daily camping recipes, campfire songs about crochet, and so much more! We’d also love to hear about your favorite things you’ve discovered on the tour and see photos of your current crochet projects. You’re invited to join us daily for virtual cocktails/appetizers and dinner. (We’ll be sharing links to some fabulous recipes!)
[button-blue url=”https://www.facebook.com/groups/nationalcrochetmonth/” target=”_blank” position=”center”]Facebook: Click Here[/button-blue]
Sparkle Studio
Crochetville is very proud to have Sparkle Studio with us today, March 29, as one of the featured crochet-friendly local yarn stores on our 2017 Designer Blog Tour in honor of National Crochet Month (NatCroMo).
Find Sparkle Studio Online
Website: http://thatsparklestudio.com {coming soon}
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thatsparklestudio
Studio Address/Phone Number/Hours
We hope to open our studio in summer of 2017. This information will be updated once the studio is open for business.
About the Creators: Amy Shelton and Roo Kline
Amy Shelton of Crochetville and Roo Kline of Moonwood Farm are joining forces to create Sparkle Studio. You can read more about Amy in today’s blog tour profile post. Roo is a graphic artist by trade who became involved with alpacas in 2006, launching Moonwood Farm in 2007. She dyes and creates luxuriously handcrafted fibers and supplies for spinners, with a little bit of handspun yarn thrown in for good measure. Since 2010, Roo has been teaching her personal techniques and style to others, especially those who love and/or raise alpacas.
The Meaning Behind the Name
You might be wondering why we chose the name Sparkle for our studio. For those of you who know us, it’s fairly obvious that we both love shiny and sparkly yarn, fiber, jewelry, and other things. While we were running our side-by-side vendor booths at the Oxford Fiber Arts Festival this past January, for some reason, the word “sparkle” kept coming up over and over again all weekend long, in many different situations. We felt it was a sign.
As we developed our studio space application, we kept returning to the word “sparkle” and our belief that many people have lost touch with the sparkling creative energy they felt as children. Our vision is that, as a working and teaching fiber arts and mixed media studio, Sparkle Studio will be a place where people can reconnect with the urge and energy to create that we all have inside us. We hope to inspire people with the projects we will create in our studio space. We want our classes and workshops to guide our students as they get back in touch with their own innate creativity, finding the joy and freedom of expression they had as a child, when learning and creating new things came naturally. We want our studio to be a place where people will feel comfortable to hang out and return again and again to create their own new projects.
As our students continue to develop their creative self-confidence, we see the inner sparkle at the core of their spirit growing ever larger and stronger, creating an energy-filled “sparkle” that will move through all aspects of their lives and our community.
What Happens in a Working and Teaching Studio
It’s easy enough to figure out what a teaching studio is: A studio that offers classes. (Keep reading below for more information on the classes we’ll be offering.) But what is a working studio? You can probably also figure out that we will be working on our own projects in the studio. You might not realize, however, that the studio is also a place where YOU will be able to work on your projects, too.
We’ll have comfy, cozy seating where you can sit and work on your crochet and knitting projects. We’ll even have a limited amount of space for you to bring your spinning wheel or small loom. We hope to have a regular crowd hanging out with us in the studio. But we’re going to offer even more: You’ll be able to “rent” time, equipment, and supplies in our studio when you need space to work on larger projects or when you’re not quite ready to make an investment in expensive equipment. Want to dye a bunch of yarn but don’t have the ability to do it at home? Come use our dyes and dye pots. Want to work on a large mixed-media canvas? Leave your canvas in our studio and come use our paints, fibers, fabric, and other supplies as you work on your project. Want to make a few tri-loom scarves but you don’t have room to store a triloom of your own? Come use one of ours! We’ll have more information on studio space/equipment rental rates after we open.
Workshops and Classes
We have so many plans for enticing classes and workshops to help you on your journey to becoming more creative. We’re chomping at the bit to learn the date we’ll be able to open the studio so you cna register for classes in advance. Let us tantalize you just a little bit with a look at some of the things we’ll be offering.
Types of Classes
You will find a wide variety of both technique and project classes in our studio. You’ll find classes that follow a more structured format as well as workshops that are more relaxed and free-flowing.
Every now and then, you’ll even find some free, short “Sample It” classes and workshops that will introduce you to a new craft or technique. You’ll have the opportunity to see if you like something before you need to purchase a bunch of supplies.
Class Topics
Crochet:
- Beginning Crochet
- Learn to Read Crochet Symbols and Charts
- Adding Beads to Crochet
- Get Squared for the Perfect Fit: making fashionable garments
- Advanced Get Squared Classes
- Poncho Panache
- Many other crochet techniques and projects
Weaving
- Intro to Pin Loom Weaving (4″ square loom)
- Pin Loom Weaving Projects
- Tri-Loom: Continuous Strand Weaving Projects
- Tri-Loom: Cut Strand Weaving Projects
- Beginning Rigid Heddle Loom Weaving
- Rigid Heddle Weaving Projects
- Circular Weaving
Spinning
- Spinning for Beginners (wheel)
- Drop Spinning for Beginners (drop spindle)
- Corespinning and art yarns
Dyeing
- Introduction to acid dyeing (kettle/submersion dyeing)
- Dyeing and hand painting yarn
- Fiber reactive dyeing for bamboo
- Silk dyeing
- Dyeing and hand painting merino top
- Dyeing firestar (sparkle)
- Fabric painting and dyeing techniques
Fiber
- Washing Fleeces
- Carding Embellished Batts
- Creating Roving and Rolags on a Drum Carder
- How to Use a Blending Board
- How to Train Your Fiber
Mixed Media
- Workshops for Children and Adults
- Pretty Hand Lettering Techniques
- How to Make Your Own Paper
- Art Journaling
- Collage on Canvas (paint, fabric, fiber, and paper)
- Watercolor Mermaids
- Half-day, full-day, and month-long project workshops
Products We’ll Carry
Our studio won’t be a full-fledged yarn store, but we are committed to being a reliable source of materials you will need for the classes we offer and as you continue to create new projects with the skills you’ve developed. You will be able to find our own artisanal hand-dyed yarns and fiber, handspun yarn, hand-dyed “additions” for your spinning projects, crochet hooks, books, and tools, project bags, hand-crafted waterproof buttons, fiber-themed jewelry, and a variety of mixed media art supplies.
Special Community-Building Events
Everybody deserves to feel special, and we often don’t have enough opportunities in our lives that make us feel that way. We want our customers to know that they are special to us and that we value the unique things they bring to our lives. We’ll be hosting regular customer appreciation afternoon teas: Indulge yourself by drinking tea from a real porcelain tea cup, with sugar cubes served from silver tongs, while eating scones or other delicious goodies, all while working on a project and enjoying time spent with friends. What could be more enjoyable? We may even send you on your way with a little sparkle of your own!
Our Near-Term Plans
Our soul-deep vision for our studio is to use our love of creating and teaching to develop meaningful relationships with our students that will let us all “Spread the Sparkle” and make this world a better place.
While we are waiting for our studio space, we will be working on a website, using our Facebook page to inspire you, and sending out a newsletter from time to time with updates on our plans.
We hope you’ll join us in our journey!
Stay in Touch
Like and follow our Facebook page
Additional Blog Tour Information:
Links to All the Info
Daily Giveaway Schedule
Daily Designer Schedule
Daily Local Yarn Store Schedule
Daily Yarn & Product Company Schedule
Discussion on Facebook
: )