www.FiberArtFest.com

The October Workshop page has been updated.  We have some great workshops scheduled.  This year with the ISBONA Sheep Show, we have a workshop specializing spinning raw Icelandic wool.  It is a four hour workshop well worth the time and cost.  Though this is not a class for the new spinner, it is a valuable experience for those who already spin and would like to expand your experiences.

The other three workshops scheduled are equally interesting in their own right.  If time is short, we have a one hour workshop on how to use the hackle.  This ancient tool was used for changing the way fibers are carded and presented prior to spinning.

The sheep show application has also been posted.  I have not put Pay Pal on the Sheep Show page, yet.  However, it is my plan to do so.

The design of the sheep stalls is complete and we plan on start building them very soon.  They will be 3×4x6.  They will hold two adult sheep or three lambs.

It’s been a while since I last wrote.  So, I’ll try to get everything caught up here.

FAAF is on Facebook now and we are posting snippets of different things every day.  It has been great to interact with so many people about their likes and wants about different aspects of fiber art.  I look forard to keeping people up-to-date.

Our June event is growing.  We have been receiving exhbitor’s application just about every day now for the last week.  I expect more to come in as the date gets closer.  Since it is an outdoor event, many exhibitors wait until the last minute to send in their application.  This has the added benefit of knowing (or at least the forecast) weather will be for that day.  However, our spaces are first-paid first-served.  So, those who get their applications in first, get the spaces closest to the incoming customers.

For the October event, we have booked a sheep judge and we are looking for a few good volunteers to assist with just about every aspect of the event.  I should have the sheep show application up on the website in the next few days.

In regards to farming, we have had a wonderful crop of lambs this spring.  Just about every color and shade that Icelandic sheep come in, we seem to have this year.  Definitely more rams than ewes this year.  But, they are all fun to watch.

We started a small brood of Black Australorp chickens too.  Twice daily, I go out and feed and water them in their heated tank.  It will be nice when they can go out and wonder around with the rest of the hens.  They should lay brown eggs throughout their life.

Well, only a few weeks until the June event.  I’m looking forward to it!

The Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America (ISBONA) has decided to have their Annual Group Meeting (AGM) at our festival in October.  This is a great honor and we are coordinating the meeting as well as our new sheep show already.  The classes are being put together now and I am searching for a judge.

The Michigan Llama Association (MLA) has decided to help with our “Llama Show Off” demonstration.  We will have a large outdoor pen with obstacles setup.  Anyone from the public can walk a llama through the obstacles for free.  Of course, we will have handlers available to assist.

We have confirmed that we will have our sheep shearer back in October as well.  This was very well received.  Our entire flock of 40+ sheep will be sheared at our October festival.

For our June event, the City of Marshall has rezoned the river front area near Side Track Ice Cream.  This new zone allows for one-day events and festivals without having to renew or issue new permits.  I have also talked to the owner of the business right next door.  Last year, we accidentally setup on their property and if it weren’t for their generosity, we would have had to move nearly have the exhibitors somewhere else.  This year, we will talk with our friendly neighbors before the event to ensure there are no issues this year.

It is going to be another great year of growth for FAAF.  Both venues are scheduled to run rain or shine.  As always, admission and parking continue to be free.

After our successful first-time October two-day festival (even with the bad weather), we discussed the possibility of having a sheep show in 2010.  We toured the barn and it appears to have everything we will need.  At this point, we are startnig to work with folks interested in putting on a sheep show and working out the details.

On the farm, fall has definitely come in full force.  The apples dropped with the leaves this year.  Our Icelandics really enjoy eating up the dropped apples.

We lost our dear Lunetta with what was likely a bacterial infection.  Harley also appeared to have it as well.  However, since we saw similar symptons in Lunetta, we were able to treat Harely.  He looks a little skinny but appears to be recovering well.

We started putting together breeding groups for the sheep last week.  Moving sheep around is always an experience.  Rarely do they ever go exactly where you want them to go.  If someone not from around the farm were to watch the humans running around herding the flock around, I am sure they would be completely amused.

Our October FAAF is done.  After talking with several exhbitors, we had a great weekend.  The rain certainly had an affect on the attendance.  However, those who did attend were there to learn and purchase interesting items.  We had patrons in booths up until we closed on Sunday.

The Art Quilt Exhibit, Sheep Shearing demonstration and Sheep-to-Shawl event all went over well.  There were people looming over our demonstrators and exhibit all weekend.  We are looking forward to all our demonstrators returning next year.

By Sunday morning, the owner of Turkeyville came out and talked with me regarding setting up next year’s dates.  October 2 & 3, 2010 is booked.  I have already talked to the shearer and will be talking to the others soon to finalize plans for next year.

We had a great first year at Turkeyville.

Over the weekend, we toured the Turkeyville grounds while there were vendors at the site.  We noted uneven terrain and how people were setup.  This is going to help us assign stalls while noting who needs very flat ground and others that can tolerate being a little uneven.  Being that we’re setting up on grass, nothing will be perfectly flat.

We still have room available and have signed up several last minute exhibitors.  The website was updated over the weekend to include our most recent additions.

Our wonderful volunteers will be running around helping folks get checked in as well as working with the sheep shearing demonstration.  Their assistance for our festival this year has proven to be immeasurable and they haven’t even started working yet.  Just knowing that tasks will be accomplished and that I can hand off things to others has been great.  Not enough can be said about these folks.

We plan on bringing our laptop and air card to update this blog as well as Facebook throughout the weekend.

The forecast for this weekend keeps changing.  The only thing I know for sure about this weekend’s forecast is that the sun will rise and the festival will go on.  I am truly looking forward to meeting everyone.

It is hard to believe that our first two-day festival is less than two weeks away.  I have contacted all the exhibitors one way or another.  Check in for exhibitors will be Friday, October 2nd from Noon to 8 PM and Saturday, October 3rd from 8 AM to 10 AM.  Ideally, everyone will be setup and ready to go at 10 AM on October 3rd.  If someone needs to check in at a different time, we are able to make arrangements easily.

The sheep shearing demonstration is set to go.  We have the pen designed and ready to setup.  I’m going to set it up for the most part on Friday morning.  That way, if I forget anything (like my mind), I will have a quick moment to go and get it prior to the demonstration throughout the weekend.

The Art Quilt Exhibit folks seem to be ready to go.  They contacted me a week or so ago to let me know the number of folks attending.  The Art Quilt Exhibit will be in the remodeled granary / barn on the east side of the road.

The sheep-to-shawl demonstrators are bringing seven people to spin and weave their shawl.  This is truly going to be wonderful and am looknig forward to seeing the final product.

To date, we have about 20 exhbibitors signed up.  This is a great turn out for our first year setting up in October.

We’re on auto pilot now, just waiting for October 2nd to arrive!

It is just about a month until the October festival.  We are already seeing some increased trafic on the website along with e-mails and questions from people.  I received two more exhibitor applications the other day and will update the website in the next day or so.  I received a map of the Turkeyville grounds the other day and will be assigning exhibitors to their spaces soon.  There will be check-in time on Friday (Oct 2) and Saturday (Oct 3) morning.  I will be calling some of the exhibitors to see when the best time-of-day for check-in will work for the majority of people.  Please be sure to thank our tireless volunteers.

It is barely three months until the October festival.  It looks like things are shaping up nicely.  I talked to the sheep-to-shawl folks and they are practicing.  They are giong to setup on the big porch to the barn.  As with most barns, the entrance is raised up a bit and people should be able to see them nicely.  They will be right at the entrance to the Art Quilt Exhibit and Workshop area.  Next to the barn, we will setup our Sheep Shearing demonstration.  I think we have the layout of the coral, the tent for our shearer and which sheep are going all figured out.  It will take some effort to get them over there.  It the end, though, it is going to be quite a site.

I have created a Facebook page for the festival.  If you are on Facebook, search for Fiber Arts & Animals Festival in the Marshall, Michigan area and you will find us.  In only the last few weeks since I added the page, we already have quite a few fans.  There are pictures from the June events posted.