We wrap up 2025 in great tinyStudio style! This issue marks our 7 year anniversary, shall we call it a ‘Wool Anniversary”? The very first tinyStudio edition launched on my Mums birthday (23 November) in 2018! Since then, we have enjoyed learning from, and being inspired by more than 200 fiber artists from around the world. I love finding creative ideas and new forms of fiber art, and most especially being able to offer a platform for artists to share their ‘behind the scenes’ and stories in their own voices. In this new issue of tinyStudio one of these voices is Charlene Wibbing. You can see Charlene and her gorgeous spindles on the cover of this issue, and in her article she shares insights into developing her skills, not only as fiber artist but also jeweler. I love this statement in Charlene’s article:
Along these lines, I think you will also enjoy the amazing work of Salley Mavor, who gives us a delightfully enchanting reminder that ‘play’ is good! And not to hold ourselves back from doing what we love the most, being true to ourselves as artists.
It is easy to get lost in the intricacy and details of Salley’s work, with stitches and imagination she takes us to magical places and allows us to just play 🙂
And if you want to get your hands stuck into something creative, and in time for Christmas gift giving, you will love the felting project with Natasha Smart. Her excellent step by step instructions will get you success and give you a fun way to use some art yarns as well. Natasha is a wonderful artist, and if you wanted to learn more you could also take her course, available on Domestika.
And speaking of holiday gift giving, Arlene Thayer is back with another fantastic organizational idea: make your own, uniquely creative Gift Catalogue! Fill it with projects you want to make, give each ‘gift’ a story, and share with friends and family so they can select the handmade gift they fall in love with! This is fun for everyone, including the maker 🙂 You will love Arlene’s fun tales that accompany her projects.
We have a wonderful interview in this issue: Yoff Kau (Netherlands) spent the day with Bregje Verhoef, to talk about her fiber life, how working with wood and making spindles and wood tools has helped her through some challenges, and her vision for creating community around her fiber art business. This is such an inspirational story. I find this shared way of working, in a way that lifts everyone involved, is a wonderful direction forwards as an alternative to traditional ways of running a ‘business’ as it has the wellbeing of everyone at heart.
For those of us interested in plant fibres, the article by Lai H. Lam is a fantastic insight into Ramie – this is an incredible fibre with a really long history of use. Lai takes us through time and into todays continued use of ramie fibre in textiles, with a deep understanding of the characteristics of this material.
I hope you will love this issue and take some quiet time to yourself to peruse the articles and find something to inspire your next project!
As always, if you are a Digital Member you will have this issue in your email inbox now, or login to the Subscribers page to download direct – you can also purchase the print issue there with your Digital Membership discount already applied.
This issue and all back issues are also available for purchase in digital and print for everyone! Scroll down to make your selection 🙂
Thank you for the lovely lessons!!