Publisher’s Note: This week we have a wonderfully multifaceted artist with us. Amber Churchill of Designs by Amber is a talented and popular jewelry designer who’s been bitten by the fiber bug and now she just can’t get enough! Amber shares her story of jewelry success and how spinning, dyeing, and felting has changed her outlook on art forever.
Spin Artiste (SA): So, you’re a jeweler-gone-fiber-fanatic! Tell us about what brought you into the fiber world.
Amber Churchill (AC): Felting was my gateway drug which led to me dying my own roving, buying a drop spindle and then a wheel.
SA: I know how that is. It doesn’t take long to become a fiber addict! How has your working with jewelry
AC: It works it’s way in often. Recently I have been making felted agate necklaces and yarn with semi precious stones and charms. I also make lariats and necklace scarves. It all seems to inter-mingle. I pose most yarns on a mannequin and see them as jewelery really.
SA: Your hand spun yarns are so beautifully whimsical and almost kaleidoscopic. How would you describe your spinning style?
AC: Hmm…I don’t know how to define it but I do know it will always be big and chunky and colourful. I don’t think about it. I just do it. If it is forced it usually sucks. That’s why I don’t do custom orders.
SA: I like the organic way in which you pursue your art. It’s like it flows right out of you! Being newer to the fiber world, which aspect of fiber art do you most enjoy?
AC: Well…dying it, blending it & spinning it. I love to steam my “precious” when I am done so I can watch her bloom. Oh, oh and I like knitting it and crocheting it and wearing it! I love it all! It is my crack. Most of all, I love to see my little girl loving it too.
SA: It is so great to hear your little girl is as excited about fiber as much as you are. I love the way you’ve added ribbons and lace to some of your art yarns. What has been your favorite material to add to your fibers?
AC: Lace, fabric, raw curly wool, all types of silk and SPARKLES galore!
SA: Designs by Amber has been very successful, and your jewelry has been featured in magazines and worn by celebrities. How does it feel to see your designs on movie stars and models?
AC: It feels friggin’ awesome, Arlene — awesome, indeed. I love seeing it on the screen and in print. I also love seeing it on a stranger. I do not however, enjoy seeing my necklace walk by wearing a pair of really bad floral pants, it hurts.
SA: No! Someone wouldn’t dare… How has your company changed since the addition of your fiber pieces?
AC: Well, I pretty much only make jewellery if I have to and have cut out a lot of my beaded work. I don’t wanna do that! I just wanna spin!
SA: Don’t we all! I noticed your yarn colors are bright and vibrant. What has influenced
AC: I don’t know what influences my colour pallet but I know I have strong dislikes for most of shades of colour and am incredibly picky. I won’t spin a colour I don’t like. It just doesn’t feel good. Working with colour is therapy for me. I have to have walls in my house painted bold bright colours. I am OCD about colour (that’s how we spell colour in canada, eh!)
SA: Tell us about your studio.
AC: My studio had always been out of my house and I have lived in many houses. At one point I lived in tiny cabins in the woods and had a trailor full of bins o’crafts. now my studio is in my big ol’farm house. I dye in the kitchen and have my studio upstairs.
SA: I hear you recently got a new wheel. What can you tell us about it?
AC: It is an Ashford Country Spinner II. It is amazing. I am in big bobbin heaven. My hubby stained it purple for me and I love him for it.
SA: The Country Spinner II — great choice and I love the color purple! Where do you see your fiber work and business in the next 5 years?
A
C: I see me sending my kids to school and having a full work day again! My kids are 3 & 11 months old, stage 5 clingers and so darn tootin’ cute!! It’s a challenge getting enough work hours in. I would like to remain working in a home-based business. I just want to make lovely things and ship them off to boutiques or sell them on my website or etsy shop. I had a boutique before and it was fun. However, that is a full time job unto itself and I’d rather have a crafternoon.
I have recently started selling mores supplies and stocking up yarn shops and see myself doing more of that. It’s difficult for me to sell my supplies though. I am such a supply piggy! I have no problem selling finished products as long as I get to work with the yarn. I have to fight off a panic attack or a tantrum when I leave all my pretties at the yarn shop! Ha ha!
SA: You are too funny Amber! I hope you can learn to walk away from your “pretties”, and that your business continues to be a success. Your two little “fiber babies” (children) are so cute! What was the last thing you knitted up for them?
AC: Lately my daughter is just keeping lots of stock. She calls it “stealin’ the merch”! She scored two hats and a scarflette last week alone! My boy won’t wear a hat yet. I’m hoping the cold weather will change his mind. My husband’s signature look is giant pom pom hats and chunky cowls and huge sunglasses. We are not wallflowers, yo.
SA: Well, it has been so great speaking with you today. You have such a bright and fun personality– you could definitely be a movie star. If you could have been the star of any movie what would it be and who would you play?
AC: I wouldn’t want to be the star, I would want to be dressing the stars and designing behind the scenes. So maybe Star Wars, working on Queen Amidala or on Life Aquatic.
SA: Thank you so much, Amber! And, Readers, Amber has several wonderful treats for you…First up: the Super Happy Fun Batt Pack giveaway — 5 oz. of merino/silk/sparkle galore with feathers, fabric, lace and jade beads. 
Just leave a comment here telling us what you would make with this fiber treasure trove by Sunday, November 4, 5 PM EST. Additional entries for sharing on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Just leave a comment letting us know that you did. Second: for Spin Artiste readers, a coupon for 15% off everything in Amber’s etsy shop plus FREE Shipping to Canada and the US — coupon code is lovespinartiste
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
oh wow! How many ways to say stunning – Amber your yarns are amazing
I totally relate to your daughter, I would be stealing the merch too! Ok, if I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Happy Fun Batt Pack, well its just screaming Glam Diva to me, so I would be making something big and bold to make dramatic entrance to the theatre in!
thanks! if you win i wanna see pic’s!
Oh so beautiful! I’ve been a fan for some time, thank you so much for sharing your story and amazing work! I’d spin that fiber and add in’s into a chunky and bold style yarn and make a scarflette or a cowl, which I would then rock everywhere I went!
Lovely article! Beautiful fibers. I would LOVE to get a chance to spin them up, thanks for the opportunity. I love to just go with the flow with fiber so I would have to get my hands on them and spin them into what they want. When I know what the yarn is then it’s easier to figure out what to knit it into.
beautiful work, Amber! you are an inspiration! i like what you say about color. and i have two small kids, too!…so, i feel ya, mama! i would love to make a cowl or a big puffy hat with your little fiber kit, there!!! thank you for sharing yourself with us! <3
Such talent! What a great interview, so inspiring!
I would spin it up with some flexible wire so that I could then form it into a free form necklace, with all the wonderful spin-ins!
Gorgeous stuff, i would love to make a fantasy art yarn with some lovely plying techniques in it, something stunning as the batt promiss
Life Aquatic, exactly! That’s exactly who I see wearing your stuff in my head Amber. If I get lucky and take your batt pack home, I’ll make a really far-out baby cocoon to photograph my little niblet in!
I just picked my first spindle last weekend so it will a while before I am able to do justice to Amber’s Happy Fun Batt Pack.
I just love the enthusiasm that comes from your addiction. I can totally relate! I wanna dig my hands into your “pretties” and cover myself in them
If I win that juicy batt I will make something bold and flashy – fit for a fiber goddess – and adorn myself. No way anyone else would be getting that yummy creation!
Wow, your projects are really beautiful, and i love the hats for the kids. I love your little one behind the spinning wheel. I have three spinning wheels in the house and sometimes three kid behind them.
I would love to make a crazy yarn with the Happy Fun Batt Pack and thinking of an edge of a shawl or poncho. Or maybe it will be a fun hat.
Amazing yarns!
Big, bold n’ chunky wins my heart every time.
I would love to create one of my Wild Berets by felting some of the batt and then spinning some wild yarn to adorn the beret….wonderful work !!!
I would be spinning a big chunky yarn with all that color and glitz and probably
crocheting it into something wonderful. scarf? hat? or maybe a shawl. the yarn would tell me once it was spun.
Melisa
I tweeted it, put it on my personal FB page. and put it on my Fan FB page for Alba Ranch.
Absolutely beautiful
Amber, you are such an inspiration! I would core-spun all that fluff and knit my first-ever sweater for the little girl in my womb.
Big, Bold & Beautiful ! I’m still learning to twirl my drop spindle and am always inspired by thick, vibrant texture of these yarns. Am I the only person who could spend hours just looking at and absorbing the array of colours in life?
Amber’s use of colour in such strong shapes is a delight to study ….and I especially like the fact that she can spell colour!
)
Oops! So rapt was I on the glowing pictures of fibre and colour that I forgot to mention what I would be making with the fibre stash.
A hat; I’m afraid that it would have to be a hat. A Peruvian style top, perhaps with tassels, to keep my bald head warm this winter and keep the snow out of my ears when I’m out feeding the llamas. It might seem sacrilegious to use such delightful fibre for a chore hat, but why shove an object of beauty in the wardrobe, only to be brought out on special occasions.
Working from home, I have no need to go to town more than once a month and my wife and I don’t go out dining or wining ……and in any case, the llamas will LOVE IT!
A gorgeous hat to keep my ears warm would be my choice. What a great interview, Arlene. There are so many talented fiber people out there. Thanks for introducing them to us!!
Wow, what gorgeous fibers, batts and yarns! Besides myself, I know of only one other person who refers to her fibers as “my precious” – lol. They are indeed a drug, aren’t they? This is one form of addiction I love seeing passed on to young ‘uns, and your’s sure are cuties!
These awesome fibers I think would make a fabulous cowl, don’t you?
Your fiber combos are gorgeous! I’d spin up a chunky, funky art yarn and knit a hat or cowl.
Love the photos of your children. My children were also surrounded by textiles of every sort.
What would I do with that amazingly beautiful yarn? I would need to hold it and study it – in the natural light waiting for it to speak to me.
Thanks for the enjoyable blogs. Feel free to send me images. I am always happy to share them on the Fiber Art Now Facebook page.
awesome thanks! sending some now
Wow! Amazing stuff! I adore your sense of colour, Amber. I think this pile o’fab needs to be a wild and crazy hat. Or maybe a cowl. But my gut says hat. I’ve learned to trust my gut with design decisions.
i would pet it for a little while then i would spin it fine and knit a lace scarf from it…peg in louisiana
I’d definitely make some fun warp yarn for weaving! Retweeted @mitoticspindle
Love your fibers! Thanks for sharing your studio and a bit about you
Fantastic batts!
Beautiful work!! Do you ever give workshops or lectures?