Spirit Cloth

Selling, Sharing and Common Sense

It's been a while since I focused on selling my stitched work. It is everywhere here.

Because I like that really, being surrounded by the history of process. 

It's time to let some stuff go.  I sell/offer the work that is closest to me in order to share something deeper about self and process, maybe just the time it took. And I sell stuff when I need to. When I need money, when I need to clear my head. And clear some space. Right now there is a little bit of all of that going on. I will be closing the Spirit Cloth shop. I left that place for larger works but I doubt I will ever let them go. Or finish them even. Supplies and Small Stitched Works will be available in the ThreadCrumbs Shop.  I think I will skip a lot of the official announcing of shop updates. Perhaps just a whenever dribble might work at this point. Just stop by if you are curious. I do an occasional shout out on Instagram and Facebook.  But not here really.  Let this just be about the going. 

Selling can be confusing. Especially pricing. I have often been "accused" of selling myself short.  It is important for you to know that this selling thing is more about sharing than what I might deserve.  Sharing is what I do. The best I can. Because I can. I put a lot out there. I feel good about it, even though some days I find myself disappointed in how others behave in the context of my sense of community... Sharing openly takes trust. I do not ask for much. And I don't like much that I need to put this here again, but after some shitty stuff this week, here it is:

Some days I can't keep my cool. I get knocked off balance. I think perhaps, well I would like to believe, that most hurtful stuff happens in some innocent way. Still, misunderstanding can never be prevented/resolved without dialog (we might say that about everything). I just recorded a rant to relieve some stress, but then I remembered a calmer time during PatchWork in Perspective-part 1 when I was Thought Catching and addressed a question about the copying issue with more composure. And I listened and I said what I still might say.

 

 

Here is a video link if you see no player above. Videos from this series are not public but I opened this one because it seemed to fit to the day. Of course some of you were right there. 

Getting There

day 20? I will lose count soon.

In the Same Boat

I went with a cleaner edge on this one, not sure which day that happened. Maybe a clean break from the past was on my mind. Just a temporary frame of mind, but it changed the look and feel of it.

I'm still at it, unrolling, hanging, touching, changing. Maybe I will just take a break I thought, could get a bit boring till I get through it. And I'm a bit dizzy from it. But I need to do it.

I have thought to use the Spirit Cloth Shop to catalog all of this stuff, make it both a Gallery and a Shop. After long studying I found a way to mark the unfinished stuff as "still under the needle". This way I can  organize it all for viewing and keep track of my stacks of chaos, marking the finished items available when completed. Or simply let things go at any stage, or remain for viewing, should I disappear. I've loaded a few things in as a test. Something like this...

 

 

Basically a pretty way to keep changing my mind. Collect stories. And get a grip on it. Free my mind.  I am working toward at least getting it all documented by the first day of Spring when I will reopen  the shop/gallery site.

Of course when I get there, there will be no there there (as Dad used to say) and then we'll see. Like we do. At least I will know what's here.

I'll be back to Patchwork in Perspective with Spring also, but I just do not have a clear picture on how I will handle it yet.  I need to look into the Feel Free Site. It is costing me money and I am still not happy about it.

I am in the process of undoing that studio room, the one with the window that is too high to look out of. It's not working and I don't need it.  I will move it all to the basement.  It will be close to 70 here today.  Maybe I will just go outside. Yes, enough.

Oh ha!  There it is, the Big Laugh.

Where are We?

All of it is very complicated  but then very simple.

I've placed this little place that I love in a place. Thinking about that. How places are nested.  How can place really be defined? By your heart ultimately which is your center of the universe. That is not a selfish thing. It is a big responsibility.

So

 

audio link of you see no player

Considering 66 (and 1/2) years

 

Considering self and age.

And more than 10 years of blogging.

Considering teaching, the nature of that. Selling and the nature of that.

People, considering them. Self. Not self.

That's what I've been doing.

Remember this? Magic Cloth 2. It goes round and round. Like most of my large cloths. They spin. They are baskets. Just that. I unrolled this one this morning and I remembered that. Felt a renewed sense of that.

One more time I will explain the Threadcrumbs Game. Because this is it, really, with the shop/selling thing. It will be this way and I'll stop fiddling with it. Stop talking about it. Just let it be.

Here goes. Because there have been so many questions. I used to have 2 shops. One for stitched work. One for supplies.

And now there is one. For both. Threadcrumbs. I guess I need to clarify again what will now be going on there.

There are 3 kinds of buying situations regarding the listings. Let me explain how it will work after some trial and error.

When you go to the shop you see pictures. In the upper right hand corner of each image you see text describing it's status.  I've changed a few things to make it clear.

AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE. Simple enough, click the image, read the details, add to cart to purchase. Or not.

 

PLEASE CONTACT ME. Click the image. Read the details. Email me at [email protected]. Do not use the contact form. My brother and I manage this shop together and the contact form will send you to him.  Include the name of the item you are inquiring about please.  Allow me a few hours to respond.  Inquiries are handled in the order received. I promise.

 

PLAY THE THREADCRUMBS GAME. This is new. For the non hovering types of folks. And after a test run I have decided to make it an open permanent lottery.  Anything that pops up marked like this is a game of chance. To play this game is simple. Enter once and your name is always in the basket. You need not do anything else.  READ THE DETAILS HERE. If you already emailed me to add your name to the hat which is a basket, you are already playing this Endless Wishing game.

 

And then, of course, OOPS! SOLD OUT. That means gone, Poof! No longer available for any action to be taken.

 

PS. How I list things is according to mood really. I reserve that right to be how I am at any moment in time.

And that's it with the wordy posts for a while. They wear me out, especially trying to find typos. Comments will be re-enabled tomorrow.

Always only just begun.

 

What Guides us?

 

There sure was a lot of wishing in April.

There  was, finally, (1)The Star with a Way Through It. (2)Old Feather Brows appeared. (3)And Suddenly a Tree! There were, as always, (4)Growing Pains. And ultimately a (5)Coming Together.

These are for sale. The star $25. The strays $75.00. They are not quite done, but will be soon.

Shipping is free in the USA. $15.00 everywhere else.

 

 

A Little ThreadCrumbs Game...it's more fun this way.

 

Pick one.

 

Send me an email.

Names in a hat Basket.

 

 

I'll be in touch on May 1 if your name was picked. I accept personal checks (USA only) and PayPal.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

 

How Early April is...

No matter how I try to keep winter simple,

by April there are just piles of stuff. Pushed out of the way to make room for smaller going, fire building, whatever it is that winter takes. The studio needs straightening. There has been sorting that just generated the need for more sorting. My mind remains clouded as I search for a way to put things in perspective.

How wet it is. Biggest rain last night.

Good weather for reflection. I am enjoying the imaginings of how to use reflection as a kind of field of vision, applying that as a space filler in terms of composition.

He curled into a coma while taking the picture. Too wet for outdoor napping. Notice the brown in him. He, like we, are not always as we seem. We are all mixed up. Which makes us all the same in a way, if we look closer.

I'm on the edge of a new season. In so many ways.

I have, of late, just been stitching wishing stars and strays. Because they allow lightness of heart while considering things that weigh more heavily. I find comfort that way. How a bit of slow stitch changes a cloth and a mood bit by bit. I plan to sell the small cloths at Threadcrumbs for now, priced for sharing as always, to help support Feel Free. I will be closing the Spirit Cloth shop for now. I imagine I might reopen it as a Gallery and a way to sell some larger works. Maybe next year. Please note that if any items are marked "purchase by inquiry", you must contact me at spiritcloth at gmail.com, to get the details for purchase.

I'll be a lot busier with a lot of stuff this spring, so although I might still be posting and developing Feel Free, my presence will seem a bit thinner in terms of the wide web conversation. I will be changing the blog format a bit, to make more room on the main page.  The Travelling Companions list will move to another place called Community. There are so many folks really, I would like to open it up and ask that if you feel you would like to be listed as part of this community  just ask.  I don't want to decide or even make it seem closed in any way. I only ask that you have an active blog or a public Instagram account (since many folks have moved there) and that you interact here now and then. For those of you without internet presence, I will open up a community blog for you to post work to, if you would like to play show and tell with us.

Old Feather Brows has spoken this morning. That square up top will surely transform into another wish.

So just putting my strays in a row and getting back to it all.

 

Just Today

Soul-O. The magic cat. He sleeps there now. On a patchwork pillow. As close to me as he can be without actually being in the bed. I discourage that because he is an outside cat and there are often stray ticks looking for a free ride.

On the floor, my yoga mat from Woven Yogi. I roll right out of bed onto it. Greet the day. I posted it here, hanging between uses. Kristin is an old friend. I know her as just one of those people who has no agenda except to be the best she can be. I thank her for that.

I am still trying to transfer my links from PlaceKeeper. I have just added Woven Yogi to the Being Mindful in Business list which is now in the sidebar. Folks I know,trust..soften these hard days.

Sorting through old cloth today.

When sorting though old cloth, which I am doing, because it's an easy thing to do while waiting for spring, and it feels like I am staying close to cloth even when I am not stitching, I often make rainbows. Personal ones.

I'm floating.

Horrified by many things. Trying to figure out how to balance them.

Audio and Autumn

So the big storm brought no rain but chill on the wind.

The temperature might drop into the 50s. Tonight.

We are going. Though it seems the same, it's not.

Right now it is hard to capture the subtle change in the surroundings. The edge of season is like looking through one to catch a glimpse of another.

I'm adding a circle to Autumn Eyes. Continued from here. The circle and the nine patch is an old favorite. I like how the layering divides the space and creates a natural Oneness. And it forms in my mind like this. Like a bubble. An invisible basket? Floating across my field of vision. An elusive (lens) frame of reference. As I wait for it to settle in. Hoping to get a clearer view. It might be a Dream Catcher. Another kind of eye.

Tomorrow I will update the shop, though I've already lost interest in any kind of schedule. In Between is taking hold. Over the weekend I will do an Audio Test for Sun Moon Stars. Talk a bit about that