8th Annual Salida Fiber Festival includes a diverse group of artists

This past weekend Chaffee County residents and visitors attended the 8th Annual Salida Fiber Festival at Riverside Park.

The Salida Fiber Festival is conducted entirely by volunteers and has become one of the most well-attended fiber festivals in the West. A diverse mix of artists and vendors focus on various aspects of textiles, including fiber-related activities and demonstrations, a silent auction tent featuring a variety of goods donated by vendors and Salida businesses, an activity tent and a tree-shaded beer garden offering local beer, wine, and distilled drinks.

The unpredictable weather didn’t stop the artists from showing their wares. Just a small sampling of artists included:

Diane Del Duca, creating 3D Needle Felting sculptures.

Diane Del Duca, from Samson & Friends, is a fiber artist from Cañon City. She uses alpaca fiber and a technique called “needle felting” to create 3D, fuzzy animal sculptures that are quite unique.

Dawn Swanbom, owner of Dawn ’til Dusk Goat Farm.

Dawn Swanbom, owner of Dawn ‘til Dusk Farm, has a family farmstead that specializes in producing handcrafted soaps, lotions and creams made from pure and natural goat milk, from the goats that are raised on the farm. See her products at www.dawntilduskfarm.com.

Ivy and her parents own Your Daily Fiber, a fiber shop in Ft. Collins.

Ivy Sipes (pictured), along with her parents Darrell and Elaine, own Your Daily Fiber, a family-owned yarn shop in Ft. Collins. Visit their site at www.yourdailyfiber.com.

Monique Mullis and her sister, Tracey, create one-of-a-kind felted items.

Monique and Tracey Mullis, from Pueblo, are the artists at www.thefelteddog.com. They use sheep’s wool and sometimes alpaca, to create unique, one-of-a-kind felted wool creations. To keep their prices low, they re-purpose thrift store belts for purse buckles and find vintage buttons at garage sales and antique stores.

Jennifer Naylor, from BaqzNBeadz, creates fun, wearable art.

Jennifer Naylor, of BagzNBeadz from Salida, creates fun and unique wearable art made from re-purposed sweaters. In addition to offering classes and workshops, the shop has all kinds of yarn and other fiber items. See her products at www.bagznbeadz.com.