We had gorgeous weather for the Festival last weekend! Here are a few pictures.

Vivid Tribe's booth at the festival.

Watching the entertainment on stage.

Yes, that's me with my face painted. :)

Dancing with my 3 year old.

And the clothes?

You may have noticed my Hyena Cart is a little bare at the moment, and the main site hasn’t been reopened yet. I’m getting ready for a festival on August 1st and 2nd, so have temporarily pulled all my stock in preparation. (I don’t want anything to sell in both places, that would be a bit awkward!) After the festival is over and I inventory my stock again I will get both sites updated.

If you are in western Washington, come check out the Great Peninsula Future Festival this weekend!

I hope everyone is enjoying spring! Or, depending on where you are, summer-like weather. The warm weather still hasn’t made it to my part of Washington yet, so we’re heading off in search of it. We will be closed during the month of June and taking the kids on a road trip. First we’ll head across the northern part of the country and down to North Carolina to visit my family, then down to South Carolina to visit more of my family. After a week or so on the East Coast we’ll head back across the southern portion of the country, stopping to visit some friends in the southwest. Finally, we’ll spend some time in California to see the hubby’s parents, make a few stops in Oregon and then back home. We have three kids, 4 years old and under, so I hope to return with a shred of sanity.

Before we leave, however, we will have one more stocking on our Hyena Cart. There will be some summer clothes - many colorful T-shirts and some cute dresses for the girls. For the ladies, more of our long flowing summer skirts in our Borealis colorway plus our new Twilight Harvest colorway. There will also be some gorgeous summer dresses, so come check it out!

Our Hyena Cart will be stocking at 12 noon EDT on Thursday, May 21st and our main store will be stocked later this week. From May 21st through May 25th, use this coupon code for 10% off your total purchase at either our main store or our Hyena Cart.

http://hyenacart.com/VividTribe
Discount Coupon Code: ROADTRIP
Expiration date: May 25th, 2009

Hey, Kitsap mamas! Come out to the Southworth Arts & Garden Fair at Rodstol Lane Farm. It’s tomorrow, Saturday May 9th from 10 am to 4 pm. Lots of handmade goodies made by local artisans.

http://rlf1916.com/events/SouthworthArtsGardenFair

I’ll be there with some tie dye and playsilks for the kids and some gorgeous skirts for the mamas. Stop by and say hi! And help me calm my nerves.

Farm Address:
4154 Rodstol Lane SE
Port Orchard, WA
98386

Here’s a sneak preview of our new colorway, Twilight Harvest. A gradient of warm, rich golds, orange and reds that reminds me of the leaves changing colors in the fall. We’ll have some of our popular long flowing skirts as well as some light, breezy sundresses with butterfly cap sleeves.

Harvest Twilight Skirt

On April 17th, Vivid Tribe will celebrate our second anniversary! In some ways, it is like any two year old. Keeping me up at night (”I need to get this order finished before I go to bed!”), losing its toys (”where on earth did my Flash card reader go?”) and making messes (”watch out for that dye box…” crash). But, like any two year old, it has also brought me unexpected joy.

To celebrate our birthday, we want to share that joy with you. From April 12th to April 18th, use the coupon code VT2YEAR at checkout for 15 % off at bith our main store and our Hyena Cart.

There will be another stocking at Vivid Tribe’s Hyena Cart on Thursday, April 9th at 12 noon EDT. Playsilks will be restocked, along with a nice selection of colorful tie dyed flat diapers. There will be some dresses for the little girls, along with some Rainbow Swirl t-shirts and rompers.

I’m working on some skirts in earth tones, so they will be stocked either on Thursday or at the next stocking.

Check back for more info and a coupon code for Vivid Tribe’s 2nd Birthday Sale, coming up next week.

So you just bought a colorful new playsilk for your little one and are wondering how to wash it for the first time, or you have an old favorite that has been well-loved and needs a wash. Playsilks are surprisingly durable for play but can be easily damaged by heat. Hand wash or machine wash on delicate cycle with cold water. If you are concerned about your silks being damaged by the agitator you can wash them in a lingerie bag for additional protection. This would be highly recommended if you are washing a 5 mm Habotai silk playstand canopy or semi-circle veil. Either hang dry or air dry in the dryer. If you are in a hurry (because your two year old is waiting impatiently for her favorite silkie to come out of the wash after being dragged through the mud) then you can put in on the dryer with a clean, dry towel on low heat for just a few minutes. Remember to check it and take it out after five to ten minutes so it doesn’t get heat damage.

Recommended care: Hand or delicate cycle cold wash, hang or air dry.

So, what kind of life do playsilks live at our house? I’m a bit embarrassed to say that they are rarely hand washed and air dried. I have a bit of a Darwinian laundry process, survival of the fittest. If it can’t survive being washed on warm or cold, regular cycle and thrown in the dryer on medium then it doesn’t make the cut and quickly heads for the rag pile. Our older playsilks are about three years old now, and during that time have been thrown in with the rest of the kids’ dirty clothes and washed with them. Despite this abuse they have held up great, not fading and not showing wear. I’ve been washing them in a Whirpool Duet front loader washer, which I now believe has helped them hold up to this treatment. Recently I added a second washer, a Maytag top loader, primarily for work use. I noticed that after just a few regular cycles in the top loader, the stitching on the side of the silks would begin to come undone and the hems would unroll. I experimented with the delicate cycle and got the same results, it just took a few more washes. Now I mainly wash my silks in my front loader, and on the occasions that I do wash them in the top loader I make sure to put them in a lingerie bag and wash them on delicate.

The Saint Patrick’s Day sale at Vivid Tribe starts today, 25% off any item with green in it. Sale runs Saturday, March 14th through Tuesday March 17th.

We’re getting ready for spring here at Vivid Tribe (though it doesn’t look like spring here in Washington yet), and are stocking some new items.  We have some more colorful prefolds and our playsilks have been restocked.  If you’re interested in clothing, we have some Rainbow Swirl and Tiger’s Eye T-shirts in stock where you pick the size, some colorful panties for mama and boxer briefs for the big boys.

My favorite newly stocked item is our Borealis Skirt for women.  This light, breezy rayon skirt is perfect for summer, one of my favorite things to wear.  It is gradient dyed in our Borealis colorway and available in sizes from S/M up through XXL.  Come check it out!