I have been keeper of my friend’s Strauch drum carder for at least a year now. Do I ever use it? Not really. But I think that’s about to change. A spinning group I am a member of on Ravelry (Goddesses) has started a Spin Along using the chakras as inspiration. Now I don’t know beans about the chakras, or at least I didn’t before we started, but I’ve been enjoying learning about our root chakra, Muladhara, since we started. Apparently each chakra has a color associated with it. Once I learned this, I began planning my fiber. Since I already have a respectable stash I didn’t want to start a trend of purchasing fiber for the next several months in each chakra color. Then I remembered. I have been saving bits and pieces of fiber samples that have come with other fiber or spindle purchases for a while and have been at a loss for what to do with them. Lightbulb! I could use my friend’s drumcarder and make batts for myself!
The top picture shows what I started with. It was a handful of Romney fleece I dyed with Kool-Aid, some scraps of what I assume to be Merino top, a sample from Inglenook Fibers (I think it was their Jasper braid), and a length of mystery fiber mixed with sparkle. I started by flicking out the fleece and pulling apart the top into roughly fiber length bits. I had a lot of help with this as you can see.
My large brown and black cat sleeps comfortably on my fiber 
My small gray cat sits on my fiber bin 
My bin of red scraps
I proved to be more rusty at carding than I thought I would be. My first batt came out reminiscent of Swiss cheese, with thick parts and hole-y parts. After trouble-shooting with my more experienced carding friend, I discovered I had been allowing too much fiber into the feed at one time. Once that was corrected, the whole process went much more smoothly. I perhaps have too much sparkle fiber but it’s making for delightfully shimmery spinning. My first foray into batt-making has left me hungry for more.
My finished batt 
Preparing for spinning, two of my goddess phangs with a strawberry spinning bowl 
My first singles on my Muladhara goddess