Back to Work and Doing Well....

Greetings to All!

Well, I am on the mend and back to working again. I am trying very hard to finish all of the orders that came in in the past month or so, but I certainly have room for more.

The cheery sunflower shown above was from a photograph that a customer took and wanted transfered to a spindle so she could enjoy her work while she spins. You can always feel free to send me jpgs or actual physical photos for spindles. I may have to tweak them around to get them to fit, but usually I can work with most anything.

Once again, I have to thank my patient customers who waited while I healed from the latest horse related injury. Well, that's three now so I should be good for awhile! Please, everyone think good thoughts in that direction for me. No more horse .... or any other injuries!

Peace & Joy,

Jen

Injured and Off For a Bit...Again

Okay, you can all blame the horses. I am once again on my back and nursing an injured knee this time. For some weird reason, my horse thought it would be a good idea to bite my daughter's horse on the butt. Her horse did the logical thing and tried to kick my horse...and missed. But he succeeded in kicking me...in the knee! And yes, we were both on our horses when all of this happened.

So I am stuck with a very painful knee that needs to be iced and elevated for a few days to a week. I also had one of the same paramedics out at the barn because someone called 911 since I was down for quite some time before I could get up and walk. I am really annoyed about the cut up jeans and long underwear. I did turn down the ambulance ride and went to my orthopedist today for a check up on the pelvic fractures (which are healing well). They did x-rays and I am so happy that nothing was broken or fractured in my leg/knee.

The horse managed to kick me in just the right spot so as to only cause soft tissue damage. It still hurts ... a lot, but nothing more than bad bruising. Again, I was extremely fortunate. Had that hoof hit even a quarter of an inch differently, this story would have turned out a lot worse.

Needless to say, I won't be working for a few days to a week. Please, yell at the horses, not me. Hopefully this will be the last injury for a very long time.

Peace & Joy,
Jen

Now Offering Gift Boxes...

Jeanette's Spindle Gift Box

Both Boxes Wrapped and Ready to Go

Billy's Spindle Gift Box

Above are an example of two gift boxes I put together for a couple of children for Christmas. Their aunt contacted me about making painted spindles for them and we worked out an arrangement where I would package up complete gift boxes, wrap them and do hand calligraphed tags. I am so happy with how it all worked out that I am now going to be offering this service year 'round for any and all customers!

Included in a Custom Spindle Gift Box are:

• One standard, hand painted spindle.
  
• Your choice of design on the spindle. (Complex spindles may cost more.)
• 3 oz. of easy-to-spin, super soft, natural wool fiber
• One lavender sachet
• The Interweave Press Spinning Instruction Flyer
• Gift wrapping
• Hand Calligraphed and decorated gift tag
  
• Priority Shipping within the Continental U.S. (I will quote shipping to other Locations)
  

All of the above for only $45.00! What an easy way to send a gift to a fiber friend, relative or anyone you would like to introduce to hand spinning! Please give me three weeks lead time on these orders. If you do have a rush order, write and ask about it. I may well be able to fit it in.

Peace & Joy to All!

Jen

What Would You Put on YOUR Drop Spindle?

"Here There Be Dragons"
(Spindle shown was sold on Ebay for $46.75 on 12/9/05.)

There are a lot of spindle makers out there and they make gorgeous spindles! I have seen some spindles from other companies that I just love and I really need to start collecting more of those spndles. But there is one thing you can't get anywhere else; a completely custom spindle with anything painted on it that you'd like. Crowhill House Fiberworks is the only place I know of that creates one of a kind, made to order fine art spindles.
So if you were going to buy a spindle, what would you have painted on your spindle?

I have had requests for pets, fiber animals, logos, a glow in the dark solar system and so very many other designs that are special to the spinners who purchase these spindles. Each time they pick up their spindle and spin with it, they see their very own pet or favorite flower or landscape. Personally, I don't think you can beat that. For me, it makes spinning so much fun and people always ask about my spindles if I am spinning in public. Each one has a story all its own to tell.

So tell your story with a custom painted spindle. What would you put on your spindle? Let me know if you have an idea, a picture a vision that I can help make a reality on a tool you will use and enjoy for many years to come.

Just click on the e-mail link to your right and send me your requests and to design your own custom fine art spindle. Tell YOUR story as you spin your yarns!

Peace & Joy,

Jen

How To Buy A Custom Spindle

(Click on Image for More Detail)

I get number of messages each day asking how to order a spindle so I decided to post a bit of information on the details. First of all, pretty much any image can be painted on a drop spindle. You can send your photos or find an image online that would be similar to something you'd like. I have to respect copyright laws, so any image that is copyrighted will be modified to do so.

I would then put your order in my queue. I do spindles in the order in which I receive requests unless there is a pressing deadline such as a birthday or holiday. Then I try to fit that spindle in to make that deadline. Basically, I work extra one day so that it can get done in time for you to gift it to your special person.

My spindles start at $25.00 for a custom order with an additional $2.00 for shipping within the continental US. I am happy to ship overseas and can quote a price for shipping for these orders. Anytime you order more than one spindle at a time, additional shipping for each spindle is only .25 per spindle. So it saves you a bit to order all of the spindles you'd like at once.

Once your spindle is complete, I will send you a pictue of it for your approval. Only then do I have you pay for the spindle via PayPal or check or money order. If you do not like the spindle, you are not required to purchase it. I have never had this happen, but I like to keep that guarantee in place so you can rest assured that you will get what you want.

That's it. Pretty simple!

One last note. The spindle pictured above is called, "Angel" and is up for auction for the next 6 days on eBay. I do post spindles there from time to time, so that is another way you can purchase a spindle if you do not want to order one.

As for me, I'm doing okay. I'm getting back on my feet gradually since my accident and I'm working each day when I'm not on vacation for the holidays.

A happy holiday to each and every one of you!

Peace & Joy,

Jen

Spindlicity Prize Spindle...

"Moonlit Birch Grove"
(click on phot0 for larger view)

The spindle that is posted above will be a prize for a drawing that will be held for the kick off of a new website called "Spindlicity" at www.spindlicity.com . Please visit this site which is set to go live the first of December and register to win this and other prizes.

I'm really excited about this site that Janel is putting together. I think she's going to do a great job connecting spinners with each other along with having interesting articles and listing vendors. Of course, I'm always interested in new and fun spinning websites as I'm sure all of you are also!

Peace & Joy to All,

Jen

Landscapes and More Holiday Spindles...

When a customer asked me to paint landscapes for her, I was a bit skeptical. I wondered how they would translate to such a small palette as a spindle. But, as you can see above, they translated pretty well. I was very please with these two spindles and hope to do more landscapes in the future.

I have also been having fun with a whole bunch of holiday spindles. Two of them are shown below in addition to three others that were featured in a previous post.

(Note: You can click on the photos to see more detail.)

As for me personally, I am chafing at the bit these days as recovery is slow. I have to keep all weight off my left leg for another two weeks and then I can walk a bit in the house on a limited basis but still have to use the crutches when I go out. All told, it will take 4-6 months before I'll be able to walk normally again. I count my blessings though as this could have been much worse!

Luckily, I am back to painting. My shipping is a little slower than normal as I have to wait for someone else to get the envelopes to the post office and that usually means waiting until a Saturday since our post office closes at 4:30 p.m. and no one is off work by then. So please bear with me on any delayed shipping. I'm trying to work that one out. I should be able to start getting out a little easier and doing shipping once again soon.

Peace & Joy to All,

Jen

Not a Good Fall....

Hello to all of my friends out there.

I'm afraid I have suffered another fall "disaster" of sorts. While out riding my horse yesterday, one of the stable hands rustled through some bushes. My horse spooked and I managed to stay on and was recovering from that spook when the man actually stepped out and spooked my horse again. I was unable to recover the second time since I was already off balance.

I was thrown from my horse and landed with all of my weight on my lower back/pelvis (sacrum). Luckily, my daughter was with me and had a cell phone. We called up to the barn and a trainer came out in her truck to the place where we were in the field. She called 911 and we had an ambulance there in about 10 minutes. Good thing we were not out in the woods!

Anyway, after being strapped to a backboard and transported to the University of Wisconsin ER, going through numerous x-rays and waiting around I found that I have a fractured sacrum (back section of my pelvis). I was truly lucky that I have good bone density or I may well have had a shattered pelvis considering how hard the gound was and how I hit. So even though I am in constant pain, I am counting my blessings. I was also wearing a riding helmet, so my head was safe from injury! YAY!!

Needless to say, this is going to slow me down. I am looking at 2-3 weeks of being very immobile and in a lot of pain that really cannot be treated with anything other than ice and painkillers. I'll be spending a lot of time laying down, but I do hope to work something out where I can do at least one spindle per day starting early next week.

Full recovery will take about 2 months and will probably involve some rehab. I will not be riding again until after the first of the year.

The ironic thing is that right after the ambulance was called out to our stable for me, they received another call out there for a woman who fell off her horse while jumping. She landed flat on her back in the arena sand. Her helmet split open in the back (Thank God she had a helmet on!) and she likely had at least a concussion judging from what I have heard. She also ended up in the same ER I am told! They must think riding is horribly dangerous from what they saw yesterday!

Since I have been at this stable, I have not known of anyone being taken to the hospital or of any ambulance calls being made. Then we have two in one day! It simply must have been a bad day for riding.

Anyway, I ask all ofyou to be patient...once again. Seems this fall has been fraught with occurences that are laying me up. I will keep in contact and try to fill your orders as soon as I can. I do have some finished, but I have to have help getting them out the door and shipped. That's my goal for this weekend.

Thank you all for your support! This will be, as the ER doc put it, "A long, painful road", but I know I will heal in time and be back on my feet.

Peace & Joy to All,

Jen

"Fez" the Llama...

"Fez" belongs to a customer who wanted him immortalized on a spindle. She requested that he be posted on the website. So here's to Fez!

I am working on my Llamas and Alpacas. I really am much better at flowers and plants and landscapes and such. Animals are always a challenge for me. So Fez came out pretty good. He looks a lot like his picture, but I feel like I still have room for improvement.

For some reason, I am feeling exhausted today but I spent part of the day painting spindles anyway. So anyone who has orders in I am working on them! I can assure you that you will get them by the time you needed or wanted them.

As always, I am am happy to take orders at any time.

Peace & Joy,

Jen

Holiday Spindle Peek....

I just wanted to give everyone a peek at the holiday spindles I have been working on over the past few days. The spindles shown are all sold already, but you can always send me your ideas or have a spindle that is similar to one of the ones pictured made if you like. (Click on the photo for a close up.)

Hope all of you are well an happy and keeping warm on this Monday afternoon. Back to the paintbrush!

Peace & Joy,

Jen

Busy, Busy....and Interesting News

Greetings to all on this glorious fall day! This little guy you see above was inspired by the birds in my woods out behind where my painting table sits. He's an Evening Grossbeak and he's up for auction on eBay at the moment.

Life is busy here. I have lots of orders keeping me busy and there is always my human family and our horses, cats and dog. All of them need attention on a regular basis so my time is at a premium but it's a good life and I am enjoying it!

A few little tidbits of information. First, there is a new on-line magazine that is going to be launched on the 1st of December called "Spindlicity" at www.spindlicity.com I am told by the founder of the site that there will be prize drawings and all sorts of wonderful things for the launch! I will be donating a spindle as a prize for the site's grand opening, so bookmark the URL and watch for developments!

Next, I may be offering a higher end line of spindles soon. I have entered into talks with another business who produces spindles for the retail market. We are hammering out the details and I am really excited about the possibility of new woods, different weights and types of spindles to paint. I'll keep everyone posted as we move along through this process.

I hope everyone is enjoying the last remains of autumn before winter arrives! Once the weather gets cold, I will be busy making spindles all the time so place your orders for the holidays now.

Peace & Joy,

Jen

"Mabon Night"..Up For Auction NOW!

Just finished this spindle! I love this little guy! He's up for auction on eBay for 6 days starting at only $15.99! Click on the "Auction" icon at right to get there. More spindles coming soon!

Peace,
Jen

Pixie's Fiber Creations

Hi All,

I just wanted to point out a new site created by my 12 year old daughter. It's called "Pixie's Fiber Creations" and the URL is www.pixiesfibercreations.blogspot.com I hope to get a link up soon. For some reason, my link that I created isn't working.

Please go take a look at the fiber batts that Ciaran is creating. She has a great eye for color and her blends are really lovely! If you see something you like, she can create batts for you and give you a price quote for whatever quantity you might need or desire. Ciaran creates batts on our Fricke's Finest carder and sells them to help support her horses.

You can either e-mail me through the link here on my site or contact Ciaran directly at horseychick@gmail.com She should have an e-mail link on her site soon also.

A side note to those awaiting spindles. The end to last week and this weekend were not particularly kind to me. I had my car battery die on me and had to purchase a new one. Then my refrigerator went out Saturday, my car had a flat tire the same day and I was run over by our youngest horse. I am okay, other than a few bruises. The next three days are going to require I be out at the barn meeting with our vet, farrier and chiropractor. For some reason, they are all coming within the first three days of this week. As you can imagine, my time is getting sucked up by these life occurences and I have not had a lot of time for spindles right now. By Wednesday, I should be back up and working. For some reason, October has been a really rought month here...not much different that September in some ways. Here's to hoping things get better!

Peace,
Jen

Moonlit Subjects are Fun to Paint....

I love working on spindles that have a black background and moonlight. They always seems to come out so well. I have found that I have to be really minimalistic on some of the details though. Like the thistles in this spindle. Anymore detail or paint would have ruined the effect. I also love how things like moth wings tend to look truly realistic and transparent. I'm hoping to get caught up and get more spindles posted on auctions soon. I am still taking orders and working one day at a time to fill each order. Everyone who has ordered spindles has been just wonderful about the delay that happened. Thank you again!

Peace,
Jen

Thank You for Your Patience..

Hi all. Thank you for your patience during this time while I have been ill. I am up and around and feeling much better. I am also back to work on spindles. The spindle pictured above is the first one I've done since I've been back to work and is called "Bittersweet Autumn". It's currently listed on eBay for the next 6 days. I wanted to get back into the swing of painting before working on comission pieces, so this spindle was a kind of fun way to do that.

I absolutely love autumn, so expect to see more spindles of this sort for awhile along with any special orders that have been on hold through my recovery.

Peace,
Jen

Slowing Down a Bit...

Just recently I have had a pretty serious relapse of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue so my production has slowed down to whenever I can sit long enough at my table painting without being in pain or falling asleep in my paint!

I am hoping that catching this early will help to shorten the duration of the symptoms for me. It's something I have had ever since I can remember and there is no rhyme nor reason as to why it comes and goes as it does.

Right now, I have a few good hours in the morning and then need to sleep in the afternoon. I have another few hours in the afternoon and then the evening tends to be when the pain flares up. The exhaustion is pretty constant.

So for those of you waiting for custom spindles, please be patient. I will get to them as I am able.

I just wanted you all to know that I have not forgotten you and your orders and that I am slowly working on them.

Peace,
Jen

Three Spindles for Sue...

Here are three custom spindles I just finished today for a very nice lady named Sue. She wanted "realistic" looking paintings and I think I suceeded in giving her that. I'm very happy with the results.

You may have noticed that I am now painting the flat side fo the whorl. I have found that this gives me more room when doing really detailed work and I also think the spindles spin even better! I'm still happy to paint them the other way also though!

Warm Regards and Peace to All!

Jen

End Result.....

Here's the resultant haircut from today. Ciaran's hair is on it's way to make a wig for the Locks of Love program for another child in need now. I think the cut is terribly cute, but I'm biased!
Peace,
Jen

A Tribute...

This post is a tribute to my daughter, Ciaran who is 12 and will be donating all of that gorgeous blonde hair you see to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a program where hair is donated to make wigs for children who have lost theirs due to illness. These kids are ones who could not afford to buy a wig so these wigs are made for them free of charge. I think it's a pretty big thing for anyone to do, but for a 12 year old girl it's a really big sacrifice for another child in need. I am really proud of her. Small deeds are what makes the world a beautiful place and holds humanity together.

Congratulations Ciaran! I love you!

Mom/Jen

Prayer Wheel Spindle

So after writing the blog on Spinning and the Sacred, I started thinking..."Why not a prayer wheel spindle?" Above is the finished product.

It has the mantra, "Om Mani Padma Hum" on it which is the mantra that is put into prayer wheels. The tradition says that as the prayer wheel spins, it repeats this mantra over and over with each rotation. Consider spinning with this spindle, and that's a lot of mantras!

I believe this is one spindle that I WILL duplicate so that as many as possible can go out into the world. One need not be Buddhist of have Buddhist beliefs to use a spindle such as this one. At it's basic level, the mantra simply asks for more joy and compassion in the world.

There is much more to this mantra and you can explore it at these websites:

http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm
http://www.circle-of-light.com/Mantras/om-mantra.html
http://www.buddhasvillage.com/BuddhasVillage/teachings/lzbenefits.htm

Blessings and Peace to All,

Jen