It's been a fun month traveling to different places spreading our love of fiber arts. I got to enjoy a wonderful time with my husband at the Wisconsin Art Educators Conference in Lacrosse, WI. I had never been to Lacrosse, which is on the Mississippi River, so I enjoyed the beautiful fall drive there. I think that Wisconsin always picks the most perfect time of the year for their conference, when the leaves are at their peak of color. It was spectacular. We saw bluffs and rolling fields and forests ablaze. Such a feast for the eyes.
When we were there, we discovered Grandad's Bluff, which was pretty unique. A natural limestone bluff that had been preserved since its' limestone was quarried in the early 1900's, it's a stunning 600 feet above Lacrosse. Equally stunning was the fact that I had a donut burger there the first night. Yes. It was delicious.
The town was cute, with lots of bars and eateries. The little ice cream and candy store was adorable and the ice cream was homemade and wonderful. A fun place to explore during the conference!
We had a fabulous time making candy corn at the demo table at our booth. We had some darn creative folks who even added faces to their candy corn! Jonathan was a delight, reminding me just how much I enjoy working with him. He's a pretty great felter and a superb fiber sales man. In fact, he's even got a sense of humor. When someone was adoring a blended sparkly batt in soft pastel colors, they commented that it looked like unicorns. To this he answered that it was unicorn fiber indeed, as we curry comb our flock and then make the batts from that fiber. Gotta love it!
I had two back to back filled classes in which we made little "leapfrogs" with needle felting and wet felted flowers. Everyone had a fabulous time. We actually for the first time sold out of fibers! I felt like Macy's on Black Friday... I had people waiting, arms weighed down with fiber in our checkout lines! What a great feeling.
So thank you fabulous Wisconsin Art teachers! Do keep felting, and share your creations with us. It's so inspiring! We look forward to seeing you next year in Fort Atkinson, WI!