Gotta love cute, fuzzy sheep! doing a little sheep farm research and came across a great video series on Understanding and Raising Sheep

My husband and I have been joking, dreaming, and just talking about starting a sheep farm for a long, long time. It is just recently that we've thought our fiber farming aspirations could become a reality. I guess the joking and just dreaming initially stopped when we watched a great video by MVKnits on Etsy's Blog about her sheep farm experience. It was extremely inspiring and made me and my husband think that we might really be able to sustain ourselves as sheep farmers. Since then, we've talked about it a lot, checked out many library books on the subject, and surfed the web for any information that we could find. We're in the process of researching what all is involved in owning and maintaining a successful small sheep farm. I know that there is nothing like experiencing something, but for now, we'll continue learning as much as we can through all the resources that we find.

Yesterday I came across a great video series called Understanding & Raising Sheep on YouTube. It was originally from the website ExpertVillage.com which has some interesting instructional videos. This particular series includes very short clips on the basics of sheep. It is presented by a naturalist from the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Drumlin Farm. Each short video is only a few minutes long, but they are very informative and interesting if you are a novice to sheep and sheep farming. Oh, and they also have the most adorable sheep! It is worth watching a few video clips just for that.

**I, the funky felter, am not affiliated nor do I endorse the above resource information. I'm just sharing some nifty info and cute, fuzzy sheep.
**The image is a screen shot from YouTube.com

Dreaming of a sheep farm some day among other things and what to do when I'm in a design funk?

Well, it is a very slow selling time of year for me so ordinarily I spend a big part of my day creating and promoting as well as preparing for the Fall/Winter season. Yet lately I have been in bit of a design dry spell. I find it hard for me to get out of my non-creative mood and just make something. It seems that the more that I dwell on the ins and outs of designing, the less that I actually get done. When this happens, my mind often wanders to my far off dreams like having a sheep and fiber farm of my own. My husband also shares this dream and is continually reading shepherding books which does not help my own obsession. We both long to have a farm of our own some day - a no kill, fiber farm where we can produce high quality roving and give classes on fiber arts! Ahhh, but back to reality. Although I find it helpful to day dream when I'm in a design funk, the reality is that I hate being in such a creative lull. I do occasionally get like this, and if you are an artist or crafter, you probably do too.

Sometimes I look at what is making me feel so uninspired: maybe it is the fact that other stresses in my life are preoccupying my energy; maybe it is the fact that my life is unbalanced and I really need to take a little time for me; maybe it is the fact that I'm focussed on the business bottom line and retail aspect too much to let ideas flow freely; and maybe it is the fact that I'm just physically tired of making things which to me is the worst part of all!

So what to do when I'm feeling like I will never create anything again (or at least for a while)? Well, sometimes I just give into that feeling and take a little break. I get other aspects of my business in order, post here on my blog, surf forums, visit interesting fiber sites, or even clean my house (the last resort option, of course). Sometimes I try to force my way through the design funk by continuing to create things even though I may not feel that inspired or design savvy at the time. This can backfire though, and I can end up with some very weird results, but it can also be just what I need to force myself back on a creative track.

In the photos that my husband took, you can see me researching and writing my last blog post. (My husband teased me long enough to finally get me to burst out laughing as you can see above.) I find my blog to be a nice distraction and way to keep busy with somewhat business oriented things when I'm feeling so very non-creative. Hopefully this feeling will pass soon. I have felt like this before, and thankfully, it never really lasts long.

Do you ever feel like you're in a design funk? What do you do to get out of your non-creative mood and get back to work (besides dreaming of sheep farms, or is that just me)? Please leave a comment, and let me know......................