For the L-O-V-E of wool

Happy hand-made Valentine's Day

 

Etsy.com  is seriously an intense business venture. I was happily enjoying my New Year's bliss when I began to notice that EVERY OTHER SELLER out there had already tagged their items appropriately for Valentine’s Day! That’s seriously calling the Early bird...early. Anyway, all of this got me inspired to re-do all of my photos and make my items look and feel like those candy hearts that say “I love you," “sweetheart,” and "Darling up-cycled handmade wOOly things!!"

I have three items to address in this addition of all things wOOly:

1.        All who love the wOOly owl need to go to FB (like the wOOly Owl first) and add Boutique Challenge Group http://www.facebook.com/BoutiqueChallengeGroup?ref=ts#!/BoutiqueChallengeGroup, then find my blue NB Wool Diaper cover and VOTE ON IT in the Baby Boy Challenge!!

1. 2)  Trial Moms: I have one mom testing my Organic Alula Sling Shawl and will have her input within the next week or so!!! Stay tuned for a hopeful addition to all things wooly; my other mom will be testing my wool diaper inserts and a wool Diaper cover!

1. 3)      Lastly, I will be submitting two wOOly sOakers to be reviewed by Crazy 4 Fluff http://www.facebook.com/BoutiqueChallengeGroup?ref=ts#!/pages/Crazy-4-Fluff/173843015973046 a mom who is eager to promote all things eco and good! I look forward to a good review! You should check her blog out: http://crazy4fluff.blogspot.com/

So The New Year has begun and I am already swamped in heaps of hOOter heaters and Nesting Blankets. I have to say however, I am thoroughly excited about my new wOOly addition:

wOOly diaper covers:

wool soaker and diaper cover

Wool Diaper Cover - Up-cycled wOOly soaker and cover - Eco alternative

Up-cycled wOOly diaper covers for cloth diapering are naturally water resistant and therefore prefect as an eco alternative to plastic covers. Wool also regulates the temperature of baby's urine, making it ideal for night time use so that baby (and parents) sleep through the night. Easy on and off with Velcro tabs that have a Velcro safe option while washing.) It has been said that babies who are cloth diapered are more likely to potty train sooner than those who go disposable!

wOOly diaper covers are hand-crafted from available 100% up-cycled wool and are two-sided for maximum absorbency and use. It is so important to ensure that the closest things to these gentle bodies are natural and made with love.

Get this...When the natural lanolin in wool comes into contact with urine it creates a chemical reaction.

Urine + Lanolin = lanolin-soap
(This has an antibacterial effect, making the wool self-cleaning!)


The unique thing about up-cycling is that once the reclaimed wool is made into something, it is almost impossible to recreate the exact same item! Adorable in style, yet strong in their design, each and every wOOly cover is one-of-a-kind.
From my hands to yours.

Covers have been soaked in a lanolin bath to restore the natural moisture, stain, odour, wrinkle and comfort characteristics of wOOl

up-cycled wool diaper cover

Last Item to recognize:

I am also submitting my application for the Gravenhurst Summer Farmer’s Market, I even plan on having an on-the-side cloth diaper workshop available in booth. I am so excited; this will be my big break!  

up-cycled wool fitted diaper cover

From my hands to yours,

{o,o}  The wOOly Owl

                                                             |)__)

                                                             -”-”-

OOpsy Owl wOOly bibs

Prevention of those nasty snack trails from sabotaging your baby's sense of style.........

OOpsy Owl wOOly bibs are hand-crafted from available 100% up-cycled wool and replicate the silhouette of an owl’s wise face (turned upside-down!) A personalized and unique little owl is sewn into the left-hand corner and adds a simple, yet whimsical detail of hand-made charm. Velcro tabs on the back are sew-in strong and are very convenient during mealtimes. One-of-a-kind, your OOpsy Owl wOOly bib was created from available up-cycled 100% wool. The unique thing about up-cycling is that once the reclaimed wool is made into something, it is almost impossible to recreate the exact same item!

OOpsy Owl wOOly bibs have been pre-soaked in a lanolin bath to restore the natural properties in wool such as stain, moisture and wrinkle resistance.

Visit my Etsy shop to see all of my OOpsy Owl wOOly bib collection!!

From my hands to yours.

{o,o}  The wOOly Owl

|)__)

-”-”-

Baby wOOly Owlet skirts ~ Every handmade item has a story

Every handmade item has a story and Baby Owlet skirts are no exception. When I reclaim unwanted sweaters for my wOOly items, there is always a back story to where and who the material belonged to. For example, a sweater that belonged to a lady named Helen was passed along to me to be remade into something useful. This particular lady, who visited a many ashram in her day,  spent four long days this summer explaining to me her whole life story filled with love, mystery and desire ( I was helping her with yard work). While making the Owlet Skirt, I thought of her and the skirt took on an identity of its own.

I think that when an item has a story attached to it, it becomes that much more valued and special, even if some of that story is somewhat embellished:)

I hope you will enjoy the introduction of Baby wOOly Owlet Skirts,

From my hands to yours,

{o,o}  The wOOly Owl

|)__)

-”-”-

Broken Heel = Better success!

What happens when you fall off of a 6 foot high reinforcement wall? You break you heel.

Yes it can be done, your heel can break and I have to warn you it is not a very pleasant feeling.

I remember catching my foot on the edge of the flower box and falling to my heel bone’s demise. I have been off work for a month now and just starting to get back to my sewing table. With Christmas coming I was so disappointed to have had to miss my greatly anticipated Craft fair on the 13^th of November. Days leading up to the event, I tried to accommodate my foot by keeping it above my machine and sewing in an awkward position, yet the disadvantage was that I could not move to and fro and I do in my creative state going from one room to the other to create patterns and fetch buttons, or to find my missing sewing needles. I also have not been able to scavenge the second hand stores for my wOOly gold nor find hidden treasures of reclaimed lace or silks. But from all of the forced relaxation and seemingly house arrest, I have found the pleasure of impractical perfection........

Breaking my heel has forced me to slow down and look at the finer details in my life. Do I really need to clean the house spotless every day? NO, Things can get a bit dusty if it means I rest and elevate my foot for the required 8 months. Do I have need to stress about craft fairs and the ever approaching holidays? NO. To be frank, I am actually thankful that I had to miss the Russel Craft Fair.  

For the last four weeks I have taken this opportunity to start up my new wOOly Owl Etsy shop.   http://www.etsy.com/people/thewOOlyOwl I love it. At first I avoided the whole Etsy community, thinking that everyone sold their things on Etsy, I tried to be the renegade and forgo the online opportunity to reach more potential customers. Then in my haze of stay home injury fever, I sign up and have been loving it ever since. I have even joined a team, Ohcanadateam, which encourages and promotes Canadian-based venders to better sell their items to customers looking for more local products. I have to say that there are so many talented individuals out there doing an amazing job selling their things. If you have the chance, check out a few of my favourites:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/bumbleebuck

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ForStrangeWomen?ref=pr_faveshops

 and http://www.etsy.com/shop/paintedturtlewt

I love how each shop embodies the character of the owner and how even the photography of their items becomes almost more desirable then the items themselves. Brilliant. The hours I have been able to venture into these cyber shops has left me with the knowledge and inspiration on how to make my wOOly things that much more beautiful. Thanks to my broken heel, I now have creatively tagged my wOOly things with a unique little owl, Have packaged them in a fitting wrapper and tied them with the best and most ideal bow I could find......... Bring on the Holidays baby, The wOOly Owl is coming to town!

wOOly Nesting Blankets: the straw bale home collection

wOOly Owl's nesting blanket: The straw bale home collection

Inspired by my husband John, this collection is a reflection of our future together. After searching for the past year, John and I found a beautiful piece of land where we intend to build a sustainable existence. I have always wanted to live in a way that if I take something from the earth I can return it as easily as it had been extracted in the first place. 

To achieve this dream, we plan on building a sustainable Straw-bale or cordwood home,  a garden for self-sufficiency,  grow winter vegetables, mushrooms, farm bees, raise chickens and goats, preserve and can our goods, and live as off grid as we can

I am looking forward to that cold winter day when I am sitting in my studio in our hand-built home. I will be sipping my own organic handpicked tea and creating all that is wOOly. 

To this Dream,

       I offer my wOOly Nesting Blankets: The Straw bale Home collection

The Straw bale Home Collection is an amalgamation of every aspect of who I am and what I want to achieve. By taking fragments of up-cycled wool, I have quilted them together and created images of Straw bale homes nestled in Muskoka landscapes. 

100% up-cycled wool, 100% certified organic cotton, and 100% handmade with love from me to you.

Until our next chat,

{o,o}  The wOOly Owl

|)__)

-”-”-

wOOly Soaker

                            Toddler size soaker

                   Corresponding owl and soaker

Pretty tO lOOk at wOOly Owls

                    Reclaimed clay button eyes and Alpaca batting

                            Reclaimed lace collar wings

The Lack of wool

Visiting some of the local second hand stores in search of my media, I have come across the startling fact that the majority of sweaters are made with synthetic fibres such as acrylic, Rayon, and polyester. While these fibres have their own pros, in terms of sustainability,  fire repelling and moisture properties, Wool as a natural fibre far surpasses them all. 

"Natural fibre, any hairlike raw material directly obtainable from an animal, vegetable, or mineral source and convertible into nonwoven fabrics such as felt or paper or, after spinning into yarns, into woven cloth,*  vs a synthetic fibre born from the result of a chemical process.

If you compare the impact on the environment, although synthetic fibres last longer, when placed in a landfill, synthetic fibres take longer to breakdown as their bases are not that of a natural foundation. Wool however can be added to your compost pile for later use in your garden. To think that something which came from the soil, into the  grass, into a sheep (or lamb), became the sheep's clothing in winter and into spun wool come summer, became your sweater and then will break down into the soil that it came from at the very start. Full circle.

In terms of safety, wool is again being used as type of insulation (bonded with natural rubber) with a potential r-value of 23. Wool is considered to be fire-resistant as it burns slower than synthetic fibers and will usually quit burning once the flame is removed. (Important when you and your baby are wearing and playing with wooly things such as my wOOly pretty to lOOk at Owl, or my mOmmies washable wOOly breast pads.

One of the most important facts about wool is its natural tendency to wick away and resist water...... oh yeah and that it is temperature regulating. My wOOly diaper cOvers hold in your baby's urine while keeping it at body temperature to ensure a uninterrupted sleep, (which means you sleep more and the whole family is happy again!!)

So I love wool. Hopefully my findings are a result that people realize wool's audacious characteristics and thats why acrylic teems within the second hand world as people clutch lovingly to their %100 Wool Sweaters.

{o,o}  The wOOly Owl

|)__)

-”-”-

*http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/406148/natural-fibre

All those golden autumn days the sky was full of wings

When I was younger I was enchanted by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Her stories of living in the woods and hearing the wolves, bee keeping and the sort, how the winters were quiet and the summers were spent growing veggies and such and all in preparation for the upcoming winter. "Fall is a very busy time, because the harvest from the garden and fields must be brought in as well".

To me, Fall is the beginning of great abundance. Today, September 22 is the 2010 Autumn Equinox and is also the beginning of my new buisness The wOOly Owl.

I have been searching for my trade. A craft that I could use my hands and work as hard as I decided too. A hobby that would get me by and allow me to follow my own dreams of living in a small house in the big woods.

As I started sewing, I realized that I wanted to move forward in a practical and sustainable way. Working at Hip baby in Victoria, BC, I was exposed to all things mom and baby and the importance that Wool has to play in the grand old world of cloth diapering. Wool is temperature regulating, water resistant, natural and sustainable. It comes from gentle creatures and or from Good Will...... I decided to gather and reuse 100% wool sweaters (called up-cycling) to help further reduce waste of existing wool. From there I began designing different goodies for mom and baby that I know are going to ruffle your feathers IN A gOOd WAY!!

Moving out from British Columbia to beautiful Gravenhurst, I noticed that there was a huge need for all things organic and good and decided that yes, my calling is to create, and thus The wOOly Owl was born.

With Autumn comes time for abundance, and today I continue to gather and sew goodies so that, come christmas and spring, I will have a good supply of goodies to offer.

In the meantime, I hope your Autumn brings you the opportunities and experiences needed for great change and abundance in your life

Until my next blog,

Let All those golden autumn days be a crisp sky full of wings.



{o,o}  The wOOly Owl
|)__)
-”-”-