I have been so busy loving on my new critters that I haven’t even posted photos of them yet… shame on me. Without further ado, here are the newest members of the farm, which we have lovingly named “Dandelion Grove”, in honor of our pasture full of Spring dandelions. Bliss!

So far we have 6 alpacas and a llama – in a few weeks we’ll be adding 3 more to the herd. Looking forward to the cornucopia of natural fiber colors. Time to get spinning!

Since moving back to Tennessee, I have been casually searching for the perfect dog. At first I thought we would go for an Australian Shepherd, but after getting to know Nova, we changed our minds and decided another Blue Heeler would be a better fit. Yet again, Craigslist came thru – we picked up this little bundle of joy in Decatur, AL a couple weeks ago. Her mom is a Blue Heeler, and her dad is a Staffordshire Terrier.

We named her Willow. Although she looks pretty darn cute, she’s definitely a shoe chewing machine!

My birthday is coming up, so my amazing partner made me a spinning wheel to celebrate.

Oh so excited!

2012 is going to be a big year – with the purchase of our mini alpaca herd, we will soon have wonderfully soft fleece that will yield unlimited possibilities. Drop Metal consumed 99% of our energy in 2011 and it was a great success. We are quite blessed to have started a business that has become self sufficient and supports us while we continue to pursue our dreams.

Now it’s time for Drop Cloth to really begin.

I want to produce my own fiber from the ground up – starting with the hay and grass I supply for my alpacas.

This year I am going to learn to spin, weave, and felt… I am not just going to learn to do it, I am going to push myself to actually get good at it.

I already know how to sew and crochet, but I want to improve in those areas as well.

I will start out using synthetic dye, but my goal is to move toward a more sustainable practice by creating a “hue garden” where I can grow all my own colors.

As my dye techniques progress, so will my bag designs. By incorporating felted accent pieces, my bags will evolve from standard products to functional pieces of art.

All this, on top of designing and sewing my best friend’s wedding dress.

Indeed, it is going to be a productive year. Cheers to the progress!

I try not to duplicate photos from the Drop Metal Blog, but these were too beautiful not to share. We spent the weekend in Asheville, NC, surrounded by mountains, inspiring friends, and fabulous food. It was a much needed escape after the hustle and bustle of the holidays…. whew!

We spent an afternoon strolling the River Arts District where we met a variety of residing artists. We picked their brains about local art shows and were delighted to find one that fit into our quickly filling summer schedule. We also uncovered some priceless information that will greatly assist in expanding Drop Cloth. More info to come.. Happy New Year everyone! We’re looking forward to the goodness 2012 has to offer.

This particular Sunday afternoon was spent sneaking into a closed gallery to capture a few shots of my friend’s paintings.

 Ever since we began Drop Metal, I have been able to nurture my growing fascination with product photography – I’m still in the process of figuring out the best arrangement, spacing, and  complimentary background colors…. as you can see in the experimental photos above and below.

artwork by William Lawler

With all the holiday orders that Drop Metal has received, I haven’t had much time to sit down and work on many textile designs. However, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to create a few fun stockings to decorate our studio. Come check our stockings and our snowflakes out this weekend at Lowe Mill.

Happy Holidays!