Announcing - The Naming Contest!

Help us! Name our Penguin

One of the Clay Critters has long been absent from the store's site. Although I added him today, no one can remember his name - not even him! He demanded we give him another name and threatened to summon the his brethren from the Grand Alliance of Penguins if we did not. Not wanting to face the wrath of the already mighty armies mounting to take over the world, we decided to acquiesce to the Penguin's demands. If you do not believe me about the world domination part, I recommend "The Wrong Trousers" (by Nick Park).

We are having a naming contest to appease the Penguin.

The Contest

Entries will be accepted through the end of September. Just contact us with your suggestions.

As the entries are submitted, I will make a list (on this post and a few other places). When the contest ends everyone who submitted a name will get to vote on their favorite. Although you can only vote for one name, you can change your vote until the end of the contest. When the majority chooses a name, we'll announce the winner.

The winner will receive their choice of either two Clay Critters* or a complimentary copy of Orphan Quest. And, of course, credit for Penguin's name.

* - Standard stock only, unique commissions not included.

Current List of Names:
Benjamin. (Suggested by mom.)
Buddy. (Suggested by mom.)

Number 4

He might say "I am not a number!" however Russell is guest artist Number 4!

Our newest featured artist is Russell Boone, a long-time friend who stumbled into his artistic talents. Russell aspires to be a police detective, solving crimes the "old-fashioned" way with some bubble gum and good soles. Yes, he is related to Daniel.

Check out his multi-use sculptures. Created from carefully lined up glass-bricks that were chosen for their sheen and colors, these two pieces can be used as incense holders or candle holders or whatever works for you.

The blue one is reversible.









They are featured on our site (of course) and pictures will be up tonight or tomorrow.

The weekly store update is forth-coming.

Rocking Horse Blues

Six months ago Rascal the Rocking Horse was born, and his original pictures are still on the site. However, part of our most recent commission included a Rascal. So, Crow went about making another one. Her skill with the clay has improved drastically, her style is different and all the Clay Critters have been upgraded (as is evident by the newer pictures).

Making Rascal for the commission seemed, on the surface, a simple task. Build him from our design with newer techniques and better sculpting. What started as an afternoon project has evolved into a two-day process. Re-creating Rascal is not as simple as it first appeared.

Crow started this endeavor last night, working on Rascal's rails and body first... the rails were beautiful. They rocked where the first Rascal's rails do not rock well. She started molding the body then, shaping each leg and body individually. This went well - until she realized she was putting fingerprints on the white clay.

Now rails and body were created, Crow tested Rascal against his rails. She set Rascal on the rails. He was too big. His front hooves touched the furthest edges of the rails, making him look like he was Skiing Rascal and not Rocking Horse Rascal.

Given the choice of destroying her work or starting over, Crow decided to start over - she has a naked Rascal body lingering on her desk. I think that body might be devoted to a new Clay Critter - the first in our up-coming horse series! Or, perhaps another Rascal? Who knows the fate of the naked horse body...

She again built Rascal's body from the ground up, crafting each piece individually... this time he fit on his rails. More fingerprints appeared. Crow added a few minor details and then baked him. Once he was baked, she cleaned him and painted the white clay to clean up smudges and fingerprints.

Baked! Cleaned! Painted!

The mane was next. That was the smoothest in this lengthy operation. He has a bit more of a comb-over rather then the Mohawk-style mane of the original Rascal but it suits Rascal's new look. Individual locks of his mane are now visible.

Next came the torment of balancing. When he was placed on his rails, he fell forward, his head far out weighing his back end.  Should I tell you the secret? A counterweight hidden in Rascal's tail! Crow spent nearly an hour attaching the strands of Rascal's tail, covering the counterweight completely. When sitting on a flat surface, his tail's tip keeps him steady. When hanging on a tree, he hangs evenly.

The saddle went on with ease. After she was completely finished, Crow realized poor Rascal had no hooves. She painted those on. A few spots of black paint wound up on the red rails. She started cleaning up the rails with paint - only to discover the red clay and red paint are drastically different hues. So she has been forced to paint all the rails.

We are, however, finally nearing the end. Once the paint dries, she will have only the glazing left. I'm tired just watching her!

From the Horse's mouth

It is said never to look a gift Horse in the mouth and beware of Horses bearing gifts ... or is it beware Trojans bearing gifts? I forget.

Horse and I were discussing her latest project, which she is threatening to keep and make socks for herself. During our conversation she started using terms I did not understand. As her representative in Mountain View and on the Coyote's Blessings store site, I thought it would be good to learn about carding, spinning, ply and all the rest. So we had a brief interview.

INTERVIEW

Me: Does plying it make it stronger in the long run? Or better for projects?

Horse: Stronger, softer, and much more stable. Hand spun single ply is apt to either kink or untwist itself. The twist just isn't quite stable, it pretty much always ends up either over spun or under spun. Plying changes the twist (you ply in the opposite direction from spinning) and the two strands can balance each other out and help cancel most of the issues.

She mentioned she had more roving than she thought.

Me: Is that a good thing? Having more roving?

Horse: Roving is what you have when the fibers have been washed and carded and are ready to spin. So the more roving you have, the more yarn you can spin from it.

Me: Oh. Good to know. I don't know much about carding and ply and all the technical terms for what you are doing.

Horse: lol. Plying is taking two strands and twisting them around each other. Carding I have posted about in my lair. :) It aligns the fibers so they are all lying smoothly and pointing the same direction, making them fluffy and easy to spin.

Me: Thanks. Would you mind if I used your answers on CB's blog? We did a random interview and I thought it might be fun to put up. If it would be OK with you, I could link to your lair so any potential readers can learn more if they'd like.What do you think?

Horse: No prob :)

As she was about to leave, I managed a few more questions.

Me: Quick question. The stuff you sent us ... is it sheep wool or alpaca wool? I noticed in your lair you're mentioning alpaca. That's the 'in' thing right now, isn't it?

Horse: What I sent you is sheep. Romney is a sheep breed. The dyed stuff I have now is also Romney sheep. I don't know if alpaca is "in" or not, I just know that I got POUNDS of the stuff for free from a friend whose family used to breed alpacas, and it's wonderful stuff. It is actually warmer than sheep's wool, it's also stronger and lighter, plus much softer. And it's hypoallergenic. Total luxury fiber.

Me: People eat it up from what I can tell. If you have 'pounds of it' maybe we can post some on the site? Unless you're going to make socks from it?

Horse: I need to get it spun first!

Me: Haha. Ok.

Horse: Spinning is a slow process, and many times more so when you're on a drop spindle and not a wheel. But yes, that is ultimately what I will be sending down. The scarves were just to use up yarn that I didn't want to toss (and yeah, there are two more - the one that you have now is the least likely to sell). The Romney isn't fabulous spinning, and it's a little coarse. I didn't ply because even unplied it's barely long enough to do a lacy open-work scarf with. The colored Romney will be longer, but I may use it for socks. The alpaca is what I will be focused on.

Me: Cool.

Horse: But I can't do a whole lot of it until we're through the worst of the summer heat - it's next to impossible to card with a fan on you! Fiber everywhere except on the carders...

Me: hahahaha After seeing those pictures I'm not surprised.

Horse: Yup. Anyway, I've gotta scoot...

--End--

Thanks for the impromptu interview! Looking forward to seeing those socks and more scarves.

Would you like to learn more?
Check out:  
Cleaning and Carding
Spinning

Store Update

Greta the Gecko and Gothica the Gator have new looks. Check out the store for their updated pictures. Due to the new look, Gothica lost her title of "longest Clay Critter". Now Greta holds the record, by a nose!

Creeping Caterpillar has, for now, crept out of the store and onto the dresser of our youngest customer - the four year old son of Tina's friend. In the hands of this speedy fellow, all we can do is wish caterpillar good luck! Of course, we will fix our creeper if the young 'un manages to break him.

Notice any difference in the pictures? I'm still updating the pictures with the aforementioned promised borders and more professional styles. What does everyone think about the new borders and look to our inventory?

As always our stock changes fast, so if you see something you want - be sure to pick it up. Or ask about our commissions.Our stock is flying off the shelf. This week, in fact, yesterday we sold Roscoe, Rascal, two copies of Bookworld.

Our upcoming Projects include: Bottle cap madness!

Thursday Night Live!

The Thursday Night Live! event in downtown Mountain View was good fun. Though the sales were slow, the exposure for both Mountain View General Store and your favorite local artist crew was worth it. Two other artists showed up to represent the Local Love of the area.

We gave out bubbles to the little ones and smiled as people passed by. We never did get around to facing paint. Next time perhaps! Nevertheless, a grand time was had by all.

Mountain View General Store is growing every day. Tina now has over fifty local artists represented in her tiny store.

Our booth was at the perfect distance to hear them well.

As the event's title suggests, there was a live band - this week it was the Peelers.

They covered several different bands from the 80's and 90's primarily, though I heard some more recent songs too. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tina created a great lay out of products in our designated area. Each of the artists' work was represented.

Coyote's Blessings represents. Not our best lay out. We made the only sale!

The next Thursday Night Live! event is July 25th. Looking forward to hear what "Daze on the Green" has to play. Hopefully there will be more people and more of a farmer's market as the food was scarce this time around.

Up-Coming Events

The City of Mountain View is holding their annual "Thursday Night Live" events during July and early August. These three nights celebrate summer and highlight the downtown stores. There will be a live band, a small farmer's market and a car show too. These events run from 5:30ish to 8:30ish. The first one is this Thursday and then the next two Thursdays after that. The dates are: July 11th, July 25th and August 8th.

Tina managed to secure the Mountain View General Store with a great spot to show off a selection of goodies. If you are in the Mountain View area or close enough to travel here, consider checking the event out. Sounds like a lot of fun. Who knows, perhaps you'll see Crow or yours truly utilizing our face painting skills on an unfortunate   eager child or two!

Pictures will be forth-coming after the events.

Update Goodness

Hello everyone!

Last week sped by - perhaps it was due to the holiday in the middle of the week (anyone get a four day weekend?) or perhaps it was due to our crew being so busy. As always, new products arrived in the store today. Their pictures will be up in a little while.

A customer from the Mountain View General Store fell in love with Crow's "Mooncat", so we've taken her off the site. She is 'on hold' at the shop and will go home in a few weeks.

Horse found employment in the off-line industry that has been keeping her busy with training. She is also taking classes. Nevertheless, she managed to send us some amazing hand-spun skeins. These skeins are neither dyed nor bleached, though you might find the stray cat hair in them they are primarily made of sheep's wool.  Whether you are interested in starting knitting or already well-established, these skeins are perfect for you.

Check them out:

They are on sale in the store individually or as a set. Please email us if you would like the entire collection so we can offer a discount for "bulk rate". Of course Horse is happy to take commissions!

Over the next few days all the pictures in the store will be replaced with new ones. I discovered an easy way to add borders to them, and Crow likes the border look. Adds more professionalism, I think. Perhaps I'll become a photographer too. Anything's possible!
 

The Official Snat Sponsor

Rascal is back!

Remember the 'Big Commission' a few posts back? That is Rascal. She disappeared off the Internet, raising quite a concern for those who know her. She wandered into the chat room we frequent tonight, much to everyone's surprise. We discovered she was traveling....

Of course the reason for the travels is not surprising - she is the Official Snat Sponsor. So it is her job to globe-trek as she continuously educates the world about snats. Due to the over-whelming need for snat reintroduction into the wilds, as well as the increasing need for information about domesticating these elusive creatures. Her job is demanding, so she asked us to continue critter-sitting her snats until her return, some time in late-July.

Due to the fact she ordered forty snats from Coyote's Blessings we have decided to make her the official Snat Sponser. I have no idea what (if any) privileges that grants her; however with a title like that she's sure to get people talking about it.

Belated Weekly Update

Aside from Tuesday's internet glitch, it has been an excellent week for the Coyote's Blessings crew. The new products in our store reflect our ever-increasing variety of goods. We prepared some fun things for the 4th (see last entry).

Future plans include jewelry from handmade beads and Creature Containers! Although venturing into the jewelry world, we only intend to make a few items. Knickknacks, wind chimes and the like are still our main focus. Creature Containers are courtesy of my group of high school friends. We creature a prototype for a now defunct Creature Shop. Simply put they are creatures made from containers. Retro is in and Coyote's Blessings is following the trend. We'll offer beaded curtains and curtains made from bottle caps (thank the Peace Corps for that idea). Check out next week's update!

Belated Everything

First, a happy belated Independence Day to all the American readers!

Our Window Display at Mountain View General Store

Close up of an American Flag window cling.

Beaded Flag

We created American Flag window clings and beaded key fobs. While the official day's festivities have passed, these clings and beaded art are an excellent way to show your patriotism throughout the year.

The beaded key fobs turned out so well we're going to expand our collection to include different flags for our fans from other nations. Have one you would like to request? Contact us and let us know! When Crow beads more of the fobs, I will add new pictures to the store.

Next Up - Belated Weekly Blog Entry...