We still have our 2012 Alpaca Calendars in stock.  These beautiful wall calendars feature 12 months of our alpacas enjoying farm life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

You can order the calendars online or come by the store to pick them up.  They are great gifts for alpaca lovers.

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We had our three last fiber art classes during the past weekend.  Once again, Karen Simpson shared her great knowledge of wet felting and led participants in the classes to create incredible, one of a kind, wearable, pieces of art.  In the morning we created fabulous hand bags, and in the afternoon, lovely scarves.  Our classes are held in our fiber studio, surrounded by alpacas.

We have some great pictures from the classes on our Facebook page.  It is fun to see the felted purses and scarves start as loose and airy, wool and alpaca fiber and progress to felted fabric with just soapy water and friction.  It is amazing what can be created in just a few hours.

Sunday we had our last knitting loom class of the year.  This is such a fun and quick art to learn, and creates such lovely scarves and other knit items.

The previous weekend we had an advanced weaving class.  Everyone had taken our initial weaving on the triangle loom class, and was ready to come back to learn some more advanced weaving techniques.  There are some great photos of class members using these techniques to create shawls and ponchos.  You can see works in progress using twill patterns, reversible two sided weaving, crochet embellishments and joining pieces to create a poncho.

Our fiber art classes are through for 2011, but if you are interested in joining us for some fun classes next year, be sure to sign up for our email newsletter.  We’ll also be posting our class schedule here on the website next year as it gets settled.

Hope you can join us in 2012.

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I have just updated our alpaca teddy bears and plush alpaca toys online.  We have some really adorable toys that make great Christmas gifts.  They are soft and cuddly.  The small bears and alpacas and finger puppets make wonderful stocking stuffers.

Come by the store or visit us online to see our selection.

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2011 has been an exciting year at Peaceful Heart Alpacas.  We have helped four new alpaca farms get off to a great start with foundation alpacas from our farm.  We are looking forward to continuing to work with them as they get established.  We have also been thrilled to provide several families with alpacas as pet and fiber animals, and love hearing how they have fit into their new families.

Due to two years of a large number of alpaca boy births, we have been offering a special price of two pet and fiber alpacas for $750.   This special price is good through December 31, 2011.

See our listings of pet and fiber boys available and contact us today to set up an appointment to meet the alpacas.

We also have some fabulous female alpacas, both bred females and maidens, and junior herdsires available.  We look forward to hearing from you.

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Ribbons won at 2011 VAOBA Expo

2011 has been a good year for the alpacas of Peaceful Heart at alpaca shows.  We started the year with multiple first place ribbons from the Mid-Atlantic Alpaca Association (MAPACA) Alpaca Jubilee and Alpaca Owner and Breeder Association (AOBA) National Conference Spin-Offs.  We were particularly pleased with Asa Lee’s ribbons for Highest Scoring Brown Alpaca in both of these large alpaca shows.

Regal Copper competing in Bred & Owned Yearling class

We ended the year with Asa Lee’s younger brother Regal Copper continuing his family’s winning tradition at the Virginia Alpaca Owner and Breeder Association (VAOBA) Expo.  Regal won a First Place in the Fleece Show.  Hyppogryff and J Dubs 40 (Dubbie) both won ribbons in the halter and fleece show as well.

Six of our alpacas won ribbons without ever leaving the farm.  We entered 2 ounce samples of fleece from each alpaca in the VAOBA Expo Spin-Off.  All the alpacas we entered did well, but we are especially proud of our consistently fabulous herdsire Powergrid and our lovely Bonnie Alice.  Both won First Place ribbons yet again, eliciting great feedback from the judge on the quality and spinability of their fleece.  You can see pictures and a video of the boys at the VAOBA Expo alpaca show on our Facebook page.

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We just got in stock some beautiful new alpaca blankets.  The blankets are available in a wide range of colors and designs.  They are all approximately 54″ by 72″ including the fringe.

Alpaca blankets make great Christmas gifts.  They are perfect for curling up under on the sofa on a cold winter day.

Visit our website to see our selection of alpaca sofa throws.  Our alpaca blankets all come from a fair trade certified company which has worked in Peru since 1979.

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