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| Print by the awesome team Kozyndan |
Last week it was all about “the last of their kind” and this week it basically is too., but in a different way….it’s all about those who create and how criticising them or putting the fear of the copy monster in them is so devastating ! Here’s my five cents worth:
And in the beginning there were….lots and lots of ideas. Ideas that took form and grew and shaped into things that evolved to show bits and pieces of the “soul” of the idea-giver, the artist, the inventor. Fire, the wheel, spinning wheels and spindles, yarn, clothing, chairs, houses, planes, computers, pumpkin pie, everything started somewhere and evolved…now in this day and age, I find it absolutely mind boggling how people can say that they or somebody else, invented a colourway or a fibre blend or a design or a recipe for something that has been done for centuries or even since the dawn of time. I wonder when we are going to get told off when using indigo to dye our wool or fabric, because it is the “property” of somebody else? Or, nobody can make a type of chair anymore , because let’s face it, it has been done before by somebody at some point or another? Well nothing surprises me really, I heard that companies are even battling it out to “own” certain genomes….scary!!!
I am not promoting “let’s blatantly copy other peoples’ ideas” here. To illustrate that, here’s a bit of my experience on the matter to give you some context:
Years ago, when I was weaving my Maya wraps you could wear in 20 different ways, very loosely based on ancient blankets/wraps I have seen in ethnic Latin American communites where one garment had to have multiple purposes. I wove each patiently (each one took weeks to make) in three different sizes/lengths and all were different, handspun, dyed, painted, woven in different types of fibres, yarns and even some with added gold and bling.
I sold them at specialty markets and shows, even had them on show on catwalks..until a company –now long gone- thought it would be a great idea to make machine knit versions of the same..without asking me. The principle was the same, the design was a blatant copy but….no machine knitted mass produced item can ever replace a handmade woven one of a kind piece. Even when the pattern is the same. They shut shop after a couple of years ..karma is a bitch.
Now, that was a case of direct copy of pattern..nothing like some people nowadays think they can appropriate their way of putting colours together or blending fibres together or making spinning wheels or anything else for that matter.
There is a difference between a copy and something that looks the same because it has the same purpose: like a chair, or a spinning wheel, or a tablet or a phone.
Here’s a piece of enlightenment : a Turkish spindle can never ever look different : it always has to have a shaft and two pieces of wood interlocking on each side…just like .a chair will always have to accommodate somebody’s butt sitting in it comfortably.
So all that copy threat "oh please do not share because others will copy you ", does that hold me back from sharing? From doing what I do? No!
I will keep on sharing the love for what I do. I will not let my creativity be hindered by fear of somebody wanting to do what I do and copying some colours I put together or different fibres I blend, or garments I design and make.
I mean, Should I feel attacked by others selling angora fibres? No! Because it is not my property in the first place. I discovered at one point that somebody decided to put black bamboo and blend it with the same fibres as I did for my black bunny tops, so their tops looked a bit like mine. Was I devastated? Did I feel attacked? No…instead I did what I do: I created heaps and heaps of other blends, because that is what I do. You cannot shut a creative mind down from getting ideas and acting upon them all the time.
I believe that everything we make is unique. If you make something by hand, your hands and your soul will transfer something to the item you produce. Your thoughts and your views and your feelings are instantly attached to it. What I am saying is : unless something is done by a machine, everything you make will have your “soul” in it!
On the other hand, I have to tell you something else : another confession. I am super sensitive, no really, I am, just like all the other artists and people who express themselves through their art, there is and always will be “sensitivity” weaving its way through it.
I have had “friends” being the devils on my shoulder, telling me this and that and the other, that so and so was doing this and that, and isn’t that bad for me? And what I do? And I should do this and that. Us, sensitives, are easily distressed, we even distress ourselves without any outside help whatsoever. In the middle of the night we have thousand pages worth of ideas springing up all around, we leap up and enthusiastically make it happen, we eat breathe and live our art, only to after extreme hard work and effort , be confronted by our OWN self doubt..we go from “ what a great idea! To this idea is going to work! To this idea is crap to ..I LOVE this idea! I hope everybody loves my idea?” It is a constant battle that does not need the fuel added to it by doubt from others nor unkind remarks. Be kind to one another and allow yourself to fuel only creativity, not anger or ego.
So, pin it, share it, be proud of what you do, make your mark, show your creative soul with a personal touch , your thoughts and do not , I repeat do not! Be overly protective, scared of what anybody says or does, or worse still: attack other artists because they knitted a jumper too.
The only way we can grow as a person and learn , is to share and appreciate and love and applaud.
Share the love. Share the creativity. Create! There is nothing worse than fear or attack . That only takes the creative juices out of everybody…..and where would that leave us? Exactly! : Alone! and in a place where Fear replaced Sharing what we love doing. And that, my friends, is a very lonely place to be.
Rant over….
Rabbit on !! I say !!! Rabbit On !
And in the beginning there were….lots and lots of ideas. Ideas that took form and grew and shaped into things that evolved to show bits and pieces of the “soul” of the idea-giver, the artist, the inventor. Fire, the wheel, spinning wheels and spindles, yarn, clothing, chairs, houses, planes, computers, pumpkin pie, everything started somewhere and evolved…now in this day and age, I find it absolutely mind boggling how people can say that they or somebody else, invented a colourway or a fibre blend or a design or a recipe for something that has been done for centuries or even since the dawn of time. I wonder when we are going to get told off when using indigo to dye our wool or fabric, because it is the “property” of somebody else? Or, nobody can make a type of chair anymore , because let’s face it, it has been done before by somebody at some point or another? Well nothing surprises me really, I heard that companies are even battling it out to “own” certain genomes….scary!!!
I am not promoting “let’s blatantly copy other peoples’ ideas” here. To illustrate that, here’s a bit of my experience on the matter to give you some context:
Years ago, when I was weaving my Maya wraps you could wear in 20 different ways, very loosely based on ancient blankets/wraps I have seen in ethnic Latin American communites where one garment had to have multiple purposes. I wove each patiently (each one took weeks to make) in three different sizes/lengths and all were different, handspun, dyed, painted, woven in different types of fibres, yarns and even some with added gold and bling.
I sold them at specialty markets and shows, even had them on show on catwalks..until a company –now long gone- thought it would be a great idea to make machine knit versions of the same..without asking me. The principle was the same, the design was a blatant copy but….no machine knitted mass produced item can ever replace a handmade woven one of a kind piece. Even when the pattern is the same. They shut shop after a couple of years ..karma is a bitch.
Now, that was a case of direct copy of pattern..nothing like some people nowadays think they can appropriate their way of putting colours together or blending fibres together or making spinning wheels or anything else for that matter.
There is a difference between a copy and something that looks the same because it has the same purpose: like a chair, or a spinning wheel, or a tablet or a phone.
Here’s a piece of enlightenment : a Turkish spindle can never ever look different : it always has to have a shaft and two pieces of wood interlocking on each side…just like .a chair will always have to accommodate somebody’s butt sitting in it comfortably.
So all that copy threat "oh please do not share because others will copy you ", does that hold me back from sharing? From doing what I do? No!
I will keep on sharing the love for what I do. I will not let my creativity be hindered by fear of somebody wanting to do what I do and copying some colours I put together or different fibres I blend, or garments I design and make.
I mean, Should I feel attacked by others selling angora fibres? No! Because it is not my property in the first place. I discovered at one point that somebody decided to put black bamboo and blend it with the same fibres as I did for my black bunny tops, so their tops looked a bit like mine. Was I devastated? Did I feel attacked? No…instead I did what I do: I created heaps and heaps of other blends, because that is what I do. You cannot shut a creative mind down from getting ideas and acting upon them all the time.
I believe that everything we make is unique. If you make something by hand, your hands and your soul will transfer something to the item you produce. Your thoughts and your views and your feelings are instantly attached to it. What I am saying is : unless something is done by a machine, everything you make will have your “soul” in it!
On the other hand, I have to tell you something else : another confession. I am super sensitive, no really, I am, just like all the other artists and people who express themselves through their art, there is and always will be “sensitivity” weaving its way through it.
I have had “friends” being the devils on my shoulder, telling me this and that and the other, that so and so was doing this and that, and isn’t that bad for me? And what I do? And I should do this and that. Us, sensitives, are easily distressed, we even distress ourselves without any outside help whatsoever. In the middle of the night we have thousand pages worth of ideas springing up all around, we leap up and enthusiastically make it happen, we eat breathe and live our art, only to after extreme hard work and effort , be confronted by our OWN self doubt..we go from “ what a great idea! To this idea is going to work! To this idea is crap to ..I LOVE this idea! I hope everybody loves my idea?” It is a constant battle that does not need the fuel added to it by doubt from others nor unkind remarks. Be kind to one another and allow yourself to fuel only creativity, not anger or ego.
So, pin it, share it, be proud of what you do, make your mark, show your creative soul with a personal touch , your thoughts and do not , I repeat do not! Be overly protective, scared of what anybody says or does, or worse still: attack other artists because they knitted a jumper too.
The only way we can grow as a person and learn , is to share and appreciate and love and applaud.
Share the love. Share the creativity. Create! There is nothing worse than fear or attack . That only takes the creative juices out of everybody…..and where would that leave us? Exactly! : Alone! and in a place where Fear replaced Sharing what we love doing. And that, my friends, is a very lonely place to be.
Rant over….
Rabbit on !! I say !!! Rabbit On !
Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!
I have been working very very hard this year to source some very special rare breeds of fibre producing animals. From Seaweed sheep to those cute Valais Blacknose .
There will be more adventures and rare breeds on offer next year including Hungarian Racka sheep and the awesome Gra TRoender sheep from Norway ! Not to mention very VERY special Qiviut and some very special super rare fluff as well !
I will be offering special blends of these rare breeds in the special IxCHeL Fibre adventures like I have done in the last two months (Smaug and Loch ness) but will also offer them to all club members in one blend or another ! Rare breeds need our help and support. Rare breeds need to survive. There is nothing more disheartening than to see that a gorgeous animal has become extinct.. There is nothing more sad than labelling anything “The last of its kind”…
Only by supporting and spinning rare breeds will we all be adding to the diversity of our beautiful world. Don’t miss out ! Membership will give you access to very special blends only released to club members in one of a kind colourways !
Join the club ! Have fun creating and Rabbit On !!!
Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!
New IxCHeL Club sign ups Open now (til quotas are reached or until December 31st) !
Clubs January, February, March 2015 !
Clubs January, February, March 2015 !
For all our international club fans there is a possibility to ship all three clubs together to save on postage if you want :-) Just pm me and enquire about the options available.
IxCHeL Fibre Club January February March 2015
The subscription is for a period of three months and you will receive one special hand dyed top/roving per month to the value of AU$24
All the tops will be hand dyed and will be especially made for the members of Ixchel Fibre Club !
Price to join the Ixchel Fibre Club #23 and receive your special hand dyed top :)) for three months (January, February , March 2015) is AU$72 + postage (parcel post or airmail). AND there are good value double serves available !!!
For Australia : single serve $72+$28 postage (parcel post), double serve $134+$28 (save $10) or triple serves $199 (save $17!)
For USA + Canada: single serve AU$72+AU$51 (Airmail) double serve AU$134+AU$51
For UK,Europe, rest of the world: Single serve AU$72+AU$60 (airmail) Double serve AU$134+AU$60
For Asia: Single serve AU$72+AU$45 (airmail) Double serve AU$134+AU$45
If you want to receive a fibre surprise every month then join the IXCHEL FIBRE CLUB #23 now. Numbers are strictly limited ! The January 2015 Club is going to be shipped out end of January. Payment via direct deposit or credit card or paypal. Just PM or email me your details
The IxCHeL Sock Yarn Club January, February and March 2015
Every month for three months (January, February and March 2015) you will receive: enough hand dyed luscious yummy yarn to make a pair of socks or a lush shawl or scarf ofcourse! (the hand dyed yarn will be exclusive for the Ixchelbunny SOCK-IT-TO-ME Yarn CLUB and will range from a sockweight yarn or a 3ply or a 4 ply); Every month a new sock pattern, tips and instructions ! Now is that GOOD or is that GOOD ??!
I will even offer a double serve for those of you who like their socks extra long
For Australia : single serve $78+$28 postage (parcel post) double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +$28
For USA + Canada: single serve AU$78+AU$51 (Airmail) double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +AU$51
For UK,Europe, rest of the world: Single serve AU$78+AU$60 (airmail) Double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +AU$60
For Asia: Single serve AU$78+AU$45 (airmail) Double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +AU$45
Numbers are strictly limited !
Payment via direct deposit or credit card or paypal . Just PM or email me your details
By the way: you don’t HAVE to knit socks if you don’t want to.. the hand dyed yarn is amazingly nice for scarves, cowls, beanies and even tops ! Anything goes .
IxCHeL Funky Bunny Batt Club January, February and March 2015
Here are all the details and just pm me when you have any questions or want to be part of the funky bunny batt club Movement ;-) Welcome to the blingy dark side ;-D
The subscription is for a period of three months and you will receive one special hand dyed funky bunny batt per month to the value of AU$40 or more .
The batts will range in weight from 150grams to 180grams with luxury fibres like camel , angora, cashmere, silk, yak, llama even wolf and bison and rare sheep breeds !!!! All the batts will be hand dyed and will be especially made for the members of Ixchel funky bunny Club ! Every month you will receive a HUGE luxury funky bunny batt !
Sign up now and you will receive an Ixchel Hand dyed , super luxurious funky bunny batt for January, February, March 2015.
Price to join the Ixchel Funky bunny for three months is :
For Australia : $102+$28 postage (parcel post)
For USA + Canada: AU$102+AU$51 (Airmail)
For UK,Europe, rest of the world: AU$96+AU$60 (airmail)
For Asia: AU$102+AU$45 (airmail)
If you want to receive a fibre surprise every month then join the IXCHEL FUNKY BUNNY Batt CLUB now. Numbers are strictly limited ! The first installment is going to be shipped out end of January :) Payment via direct deposit or credit card or paypal. Just PM or email me
IxCHeL Gift Packs
IxCHeL GIFT VOUCHERS or SURPRISE PACKS !
Want to give somebody something special and still let them pick out their fav colour or fibre blend? Well, search no more: I offer an IxCHeL gift voucher package that is so hard to resist you even want to buy one for yourself ..lol Here’s the deal:
FIBRE OR YARN OR BOTH! SURPRISE PACK
just let me know the value you would like to spend and the favourite colours of the recipient(or yourself..lol) and I will put together a surprise pack for you and add at least $60 extra worth of goods to the parcel(for all surprise pack orders over $150) just to say thank you and have happy holidays ! :-)
AU$25 Personalised giftvoucher Pack
Comes with a personalised gift voucher and free post for the receivers first order in Australia !
AU$50 Personalised giftvoucher Pack
Comes with a personalised giftvoucher, free post for the receivers first order in Australia ! and a cute badge a bunny photo and last but not least some amazing fluffy stuff in a gift pack
AU$100 Personalised giftvoucher Pack
Comes with a personalised Christmas giftvoucher, free post for the receivers first order in Australia !, a badge, and last but not least some amazing fluffy stuff and yarn in a gift pack! Just let me know what giftvoucher pack you would like to gift to a friend or hey, you can even gift it to yourself ! And I will send you all the details.
How To Order:
1. You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or ixchelbunny at yahoo dot com dot au
2. message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny.
I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods.
Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.
2. message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny.
I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods.
Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.
Thank you so much for your help and support !
Gaga! Bunny Tops Tops
A soft, very lustrous sheeps wool and lovely to spin! GaGa! Tops are a blend of Blue faced Leicester, Angora buny, cashmere and Glitz (trilobal nylon)
100+grams (+/-3.5Oz) AU$24 and to celebrate “black Friday” just like our American Counterparts (because let’s face it: Celebrations are the best thing !)
When you order today (Friday November 28th) , you will receive a 20% discount on all GaGa! Tops !!!
100+grams (+/-3.5Oz) AU$24 and to celebrate “black Friday” just like our American Counterparts (because let’s face it: Celebrations are the best thing !)
When you order today (Friday November 28th) , you will receive a 20% discount on all GaGa! Tops !!!
Zen
Velveteen Rabbit
The Walking Dead
dragon fire
The Mermaid Dance
Pale Autumn
Thanksgiving
Frozen
Frozen Applepie
Daryl
Daleks in Manhattan
Christmas tree
RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly
Long Colour Repeat Lace Yarn Rainbow 290-310grams AU$60
Long Colour repeat 4ply yarn Rainbow 
Long Colour Repeat Lace yarn Sunset 
Long Colour Repeat 4 ply Yarn Sunset
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