Sunday, November 27, 2011

Featured Products: Specialty Batts

Featured Product
Sunday, Nov 27-Saturday, Dec 3, 2011
10% off, this week only


The link above takes you to the category in our Shepherd's Song Creations Studio where these batts are listed.  Each one is different (this picture is just a sampleof what they may look like) and I may only have one of each available.  Prices will vary depending on what fibers are in each item and I will begin listing them at noon today.

The batts may be a blend of wool (several breeds are options and I will be specify what is in each batt), alpaca, mohair and/or other add-ins.

In the newsletter I listed these as ranging from 3-4 ounces.  I greatly appologize for my typo, the listing was supposed to say 'ranging from 2-4 ounces each'.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Featured Product: Simple Baby Hat Pattern


Featured Product
Sunday, Nov 20-Saturday, Nov 26, 2011
10% off, this week only
Sale Price: $1.80
 
 

 We have posted our first pattern on the Artfire Studio.  It is a very simple hat for babies and toddlers.  There are three variations to the brim, and two options for embellishing the hat.  The hat is knit in worsted weight yarn, at a gauge of 5st/in.  The samples were made with Knit Picks Swish and one 50gm/110yd ball makes one hat with a little yarn left over.
This is a digital pattern that will be emailed to the address given when the order is placed.  If a buyer needs or would prefer a hard copy of the pattern instead of the digital, please include a note to that effect when ordering and arrangements will be made to accomodate that request.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Featured Product: Stitch Markers

Featured Product
Sunday, Nov 13-Saturday, Nov 19, 2011
10% off, this week only
Sale Price: $4.50
 


These are made with glass beads and will fit needle sizes up to 10 1/2.  The marker with the blue dangle is designed to be used for marking the beginning of a round.
 

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Featured Product: Alpaca Sampler

Featured Product
Sunday, Nov 6-Saturday, Nov 12, 2011
10% off, this week only



Alpaca is a wonderful fiber!  It is soft, silky, and even warmer than wool!!  It takes a little more twist than wool to hold it together, and it doesn't have the elasticity of wool, (One of my friends call this 'sproing'! =) ), but it can still be used for a number of handmade items.

This item is a small ampler of different colors of alpaca, and you will find that they each have a slightly different quality.  One reason I am offering this item is because not all alpaca is the same.  It has different grades to it, just as wool does.  One fairly simple factor that can affect the quality of the fiber is the age of the animal.  It is my hope that by having the opportunity to handle these samples of alpaca, a spinner, especially a new spinner, will be able to learn a little more about the fiber, and it's characteristics and qualities.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Product of the Week: Loose Mohair

Product of the Week
Sunday, October 30 - Saturday, November 5, 2011
Sale price: 10% off

available by the ounce

This is a lovely, soft white mohair with a staple length of 5"-6".   I have washed and combed these so they are ready to be added to your other fibers for a luscious blend, or spun as they are.  There is a little discoloration on some of the tips, but they over dye very well, and I don't think it really shows in the yarn if spun as they are.  I have about 5 oz of this prepared right now, but I am working on more.  As it is ready I will add it to the listing.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

It's Been One Year!

Wow!  Shepherd's Song Creations is one year old!

To celebrate, we are having an anniversary sale at our Artfire Studio.  Beginning Tuesday, November 1 and running through Monday, November 14th, 2011 you can take 20% off your entire purchase by using coupon code ANNIVONE.

Friday, October 21, 2011

New Item: Product of the Week

I had marked this item on sale in the Artfire studio a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't able to post this notice on the blog or put out the newsletter due to the problems we were having with our ISP.  So, this is sort of a repeat, but also possibly new news to some of you! =))


Product of the Week
Sunday, October 23, 2011 to Saturday, October 29, 2011
Sale Price: 15% off the regular price






Ingredients: Beeswax, Olea Eurpaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, 
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, 
Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame)Seed Oil
Flavoring: Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Mentha Spicata 
(Spearmint) Oil, or Natural Vanilla Oil

I mentioned a few weeks that I have been making lotion and lip balm for our family and as gifts for friends for several years, and we are now offering them for sale in our studio.  We introduced our lotion products the last week of September.  This week have the lip balm for you.  I have several personal tubes of these that I have stashed in my purse, knitting bag, desk drawer and on my nightstand.  I like to have a tube handy when I need it and not have to go hunting through my purse when I'm climbing into bed and just realized I need to coat my dry lips before doing so.
With the cold, dry winter days on the horizon, now is the time to stock up on lip balms so you are ready!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

We're Back!

An ISP tech came yesterday and hooked us up to our new internet service!  We are now back online and ready to go.  I have lots of things to catch up on, but I will have a new Product of the Week this week.  We also have our first anniversary coming up next week.  There will be new items in the studio and some specials to help celebrate.

Shepherd's Song Creations is on Ravelry!

There is now a group on Ravelry for Shepherd's Song Creations.  We have just started but have lots of fun things planned for over there.  
And.....starting the first of November we will begin offering patterns through Ravelry!  Best of all, some of them will be FREE!!   If you are on Ravelry, come on over, check us out and join the fun!

Monday, October 10, 2011

INTERNET PROBLEMS

We have been without internet for over a week.  At this point I don't know when we will have service again.  Until this is resolved I will have to temporarily suspend the Product of the Week since I can't upload and make changes to the studio.

I will be checking into the studio twice a week so I can fill orders and hopefully upload a few items.  A friend is graciously allowing me to access via her internet connection, so I'll do the best I can.

Thanks for your patience.  This is one of those unfortunate circumstances way out of my control.

Friday, September 23, 2011

A New Product: Lotion Bars

On Sunday we will be introducing a new product to our Artfire Studio Page.

Product of the Week: 
Sunday, September 25-Saturday, October 1, 2011
Sale Price: 15% off 

Lotion Bars
Available in Lavender, Vanilla or Unscented

Ingredients: Beeswax, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, 
Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil,
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
 Fragrance Oils: Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Natural Vanilla Oil



I have been making soap, lotion bars and lip balm for many years and for several reasons.  I don't like the feel of paraffin on my lips.  It's too heavy and the taste is awful! And as far as lotion goes, almost all commercial lotions have scents that are very distasteful to me, as well as way too many chemical names I can't pronounce.  If it isn't a natural oil or wax, I don't like to put it on my skin.  When I lived in WI I found a lady who made and sold natural lotion bars and lip balms made with beeswax and other oils.  After moving hundreds of miles away from there, that source wasn't available to me anymore, so I developed my own formulas.


I have given these as gifts to several people who really like them and have suggested I sell them.  I have sold the soap in the past, but am only beginning to market the lotion bars and lip balm.  Since the lotion bars are a new item, they will also be our featured product next week, and will have an introductory price of 15% off the regular price.  The sale amount will show on Artfire, no coupon is necessary when checking out.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Our New Look and Product of the Week

After many hours of computer work, (we won't talk about how much frustration went with that!), I have all our sales moved to the Artfire Store, and the new informational website up and running.

We'd love for you to take a moment and check them out!

I still have some details to add to the web site, and of course more product information.  But that is an ongoing process anyway.  At least most of that kind of work is done and I can go back to spending time with soft, luscious fiber, and have more new items for sale in the studio.




Our featurd Product of the Week beginning Sunday will be a 1.9oz braid of hand painted Navajo-Churro roving.  This braid will be on sale for 10% off the regular price from Sunday, September 18 through Saturday, September 24.  The price will be reflected in the studio.  No coupon is necessary.

The wool came from a local breeder who had it commercially processed.  I have dyed this using drink mixes as the dye stuff.  And how did I come up with the name 'AfterBurner' for the colorway?  All of our children have nicknames and this is one of them.  Yes, this child did help choose the colors and they very aptly reflect his personality, as does his nickname.  He's 7! =)
It is the first colorway I developed in 'The Tribe' color series.  And where does 'The Tribe' come from?  That is the name by which our children are collectively known on the fiber social media where I am a member.  It seemed like a great name for a color series since I'm using nicknames for the colorways.

Navajo-Churro wool has traditionally been used for rugs, blankets, and saddle blankets.  It is also a great wool for tough wearing boot socks, and gloves and mittens.  This wool is not superwash, so it must be hand washed and dried.

Hope you have a great week!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Product of the Week: Pink and Blue Rag Rug

Things are moving along nicely with the changes being made at SSC.   My first newsletter being published through MailChimp will go out next week.  If you are not already on the email list to receive these, there is now a link in the left side bar to sign up.  The newletters will go out twice a month and will include the latest happenings, as well as information about items that will be 'Product of the Week', and what sales will be coming up.



This week, our featured product, which will also be on sale for 10% off the regular price Sunday, September 11 through Saturday, September 17, is a handwoven rag rug.  The yarn used for the warp is 100% cotton carpet warp.  The filler is a combination of rags from old clothes and bedding.  These have been cleaned and then cut into strips.  The strips are sewn together and then woven into the rug.  This rug is 24" wide by 37" long and has 3" fringe on each end (making the total length 43").  It is machine washable and dryable.

Friday, September 2, 2011

A New Look...a New Store Site...and Product of the Week!

I had to make some major business decisions lately.

Due to an inability to contact my web host, for 5 months (!), I've decided to make some changes to the presence of Shepherd's Song Creations on the web.

As you can see, this blog is still here!!  Do you like the new look?  I decided to make it 'cleaner', and have the graphics for all my web pages/sites match.

There will still be a ShepherdsSongCreations.com.  I'm in the process of changing hosts for that site, making it an information site only, at this point.  All product sales have been moved to an Artfire Studio.  You can find that at http://ShepherdsSongCreations.artfire.com.

And now.....for a Product of the Week!

For the week of September 4 I am highlighting one of the fiber blends I had a lot of fun making.



Whipped Cream Blended Roving (app 2oz), is a hand pulled roving of lovely wool, alpaca and mohair.  The wool is a mystery breed, my source didn't know what it was, but I'm sure if it's not Merino, it's a Merino Type.  That basically means it is such a soft wool that it could be 'mistaken' for Merino, and is just as luscious!

I aquired each of these fibers as raw fleece, cleaning and processing them myself.  They were washed with Kookaburra Wool Scour,  (Only a little drop was used for the delicate alpaca and mohair!), then rinsed and dried.  I hand combed each fiber individually, then I layered each of the fibers on the hackle, starting with the wool, then the alpaca, then the mohair.  I pulled this through the diz, then wound it up into balls!  So far I've managed to resist spinning this one up myself! =)

For the week of September 4-10, 2011, this product will be on sale for 10% off the regular price.  No coupon necessary!  The sale price will show on Artfire.

Thanks for stopping in.  Hope you have a great day!!