Kelly

CONGRATULATIONS!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I had a beautiful, quiet and relaxing day with my family.

Thank you to all who entered the giveaway, there were just over 1000 entries and if I could, I would give each and every one of you a prize, but then that would place me in bankruptcy, so I’m obligated to stick with just one winner!

A big congratulations to Christine Rose, who won the Ashford Rigid Heddle loom and a one year subscription to my Online Weaving School. I’ve been in touch with Christine and she is just thrilled to be the winner.

Playing Santa Claus was fun, I hope I can do it again sometime!

10,000 subscribers giveaway!

by Kelly 161 Comments

Welcome to this very special giveaway! To celebrate 10,000 subscribers on Youtube I have the pleasure of giving away to one of you lucky people, an Ashford 40cm Rigid Heddle loom along with a one year subscription to my Online Weaving School. How exciting!

To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You can choose the number of entries you get by completing the tasks – the number you complete is up to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway will be drawn on December 26th 2017. Best of luck to you!

Weaving for Christmas

by Kelly 3 Comments

My favourite time of the year is coming and what better way to celebrate the festivities than by weaving for family, friends and your home!

I have quite a few free video tutorials to get those creative juices flowing:

Reindeer on a rigid heddle loom

Handwoven No Sew Christmas Hearts

Gift boxes on a rigid heddle loom

Winter Trees

Snowmen on a rigid heddle loom

I also have some festive classes available at my Online Weaving School:

Exploring branoe

Christmas Table Runner

Christmas Bunting

I hope these inspire you to add some beautiful hand woven

Christmas cheer to your home or someone else’s!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

🎄 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

The point at which it gets really hard

by Kelly 8 Comments

It was really hard seeing our normally healthy 17 year old son rushed into the resuscitation unit in a medically induced coma.
It was hard having him transferred to intensive care.
It was really hard when he deteriorated and was placed in a medically induced coma.
It was hard seeing him come out of that coma days later.
It was hard watching as he was transferred out of ICU into the respiratory ward, but didn’t improve as expected.
It was awfully hard signing the consent for surgery to remove fluid from around his lungs.
It was hard seeing him experience the pain and discomfort of having a drainage tube in his back.
It was hard seeing him deteriorate again with fevers and low blood pressure and a high heart rate and having 2 larger tubes inserted in his side.
Today was a really hard day. Waiting for another, more major surgery to remove fluid again, followed by an epidural to numb his body for days (therefore numbing the pain) and then being told at the end of the day that the surgery was postponed to Monday.
Now we wait out the weekend, knowing that surgery is coming.

But you know what? I think all this has been harder on us than on him. Because he is a champion. He has endured countless procedures, needles, drugs, ups and downs without complaint. He always has a cheerful smile for us and looks forward to our visiting. He is resigned and accepting of his situation. His faith in God is strong and simple.
I think I have a lot to learn from this boy.

Please pray for the complete recovery of our son. Thank you to all those who have been praying, messaging and sending cards and parcels. We so appreciate your concern.

I’ve also set up a Gofundme campaign as a special surprise for when he can finally come home. Any donation is greatly appreciated.

Calculating warp for the rigid heddle loom

by Kelly 2 Comments

At a request from a student, I have put together a warp calculations sheet and a companion video. Both are available here. You do need to sign in to access the materials, but I have made these completely free for your benefit. The video can be viewed on Youtube if you prefer.
The printable PDF includes a sample sheet and in the video I take you through another sample, just to make sure you “get it”!
I have already had a huge amount of positive feedback from students who have found these useful, so please take a look if it’s of interest to you.
Happy Weaving!

Three Heddle Adventures!

by Kelly Leave a Comment

I am so pleased to announce that my first stand alone, feature class is now available to purchase!

This is the biggest class yet and involved a whole lot of work. I’m so excited to be able to share it with you now.

This course is a comprehensive introduction to weaving with three heddles. This is an amazing tool to know, as it extends the humble little rigid heddle loom to really show it’s capabilities.

We start with a straight draw twill sampler and progress to the project, which is a beautiful scarf.

I really hope you can join me on this adventure!

For more information click here.

Shop update

by Kelly 2 Comments

I don’t get much time to update my little Etsy shop these days, and I must admit, it’s not my favourite task and gets put off a fair bit. But today I have some new items and they are all beautiful, so please take a moment to browse!

My favourite first – my newest silk scarf, oh boy, do I love this one! A blend of 60/2 silk in purple, fuchsia and orange woven in an undulating twill. Pure luxury!

Next up, hand dyed tencel (you have my permission to drool) combined with mercerised cotton in advancing twill.

Love the colours, love the sheen.

Another scarf, this time in cotton and a beautiful diamond twill variation.

This beauty was a labour of love – woven from my hand dyed, hand spun local Australian merino. The colours remind me of Monet’s Garden.

Is that enough to whet your appetite for now? There are more than what is pictured here, you will have to visit my Etsy shop to see the rest!

Fear of Failure

by Kelly 2 Comments

“I’m scared I’m going to fail”.
A brief pause, a very slight sigh. My husband is used to this. He is strong, trusting and practical. Me? I’m prone to nervousness, flightiness and a sense that things won’t turn out.
It’s one of those late at night conversations, the children are in bed and we have some precious moments to ourselves before we have to sleep.

“Are you scared that you are running out of ideas for classes?” he asks. Oh no, that is not the trouble at all.
It’s failure that I’m afraid of. So often there is a voice in the back of my head saying “what is the point of all this work, you know you’re going to fail anyway”. Sometimes this fear has been strong enough that I don’t try something new or pursue a different idea, fear can be crippling. Many times I have made the decision to give up on trying to make a business, only to change my mind the next day.

I have put so much work into new classes. I have taken the risk of launching on a new platform, it’s a wonderful step to have taken, but it’s expensive and risky.

My sensible and pragmatic husband listens quietly to my concerns as he has done time and again. He points out that you never know unless you try. He reminds me that it’s all in God’s hands and if the business does not succeed, it is because He wills it not to – for His own reasons and because He loves and knows me best.

My husband reminds me what I already know, but find very difficult to live. It is not all about me. Everything is a gift, including my life, and that I must be willing to give back to He who gives so generously.

Giveaway – one year subscription!

by Kelly Leave a Comment

To celebrate the launch of my new weaving school on Teachable, I’m having a little giveaway. The winner will receive a one year subscription, entitling them to access any class, any time for a full year. Head over to my Facebook page to check out the entry conditions and to put your entry in. The winner will be drawn at the end of this week. Good luck!