Art Supplies Shopping Day

Three hours, three shops, and a little less gas in the car. 

 

And what did I get?

Screen printing ink, black and copper. One yard of screen mesh, a roll of duct tape, a floral stencil, and four 11 x 14, two 8 x 10, three 5 x 7, and four 3&1/2 x 5 mats that I will use in my screen printing experiments. A jumbo roll of burlap ribbon to stencil on. Eight new shades of Lumiere paints. One UHU stic of glue. Some blending solution for my alcohol inks. Several hanks and balls of white cotton threads for dyeing. Four new colors of procion dyes. Three rub 'n buff colors. A value pack of chipwood brushes. Glazing liquid in gloss and satin. Celluclay and e-z form plaster cloth wrap. The Exciter Packs of Lumiere (with neopaques) and Textile Traditions, both are Jacquard products. An Inkodye print fabric with light kit. It's orange but it was a very reduced price and I will experiment with this color before I use my Sepia and Blue. The last three items don't relate easily to any of the previous ones. But, here goes, a silicone oven glove in the shape of a muffin. This is large enough to fit my chubby fingers. Binder's needles, because I want to try doing Coptic stitch and I have my art work that I want to make into book format. And that final little piece that is straddling the roll of screening,,, it's a purse frame. It has holes for sewing the purse structure into it. I have wanted to make one for a long time, now I have the frame, and I can put it on my "I get to do these" list. 

It's a bit early for opening gifts, but sometimes being nice to yourself is very nurturing. 

And a picture of where my collage piece is today,,, color has been changed again. Those Lumieres are going to get a crack at this piece. 

The color isn't even close, but you get the idea I'm sure. It is painted with portrait deep pink, which is actually a beautiful chocolate with pink undertones. We'll see if I can bring this to where my mind's eye thinks it can go.  I'll keep you posted. 

So, until next time, I'm off to create something,

Have a Merry Christmas, after all it's the ultimate present! 

Luann

2014 Altered Fabric Swap Recap

The Altered Fabric group, of the Surface Design, at Stitchinfingers.ning.com gave me an entire year filled with encouragement and inspirations.

Here are some of the pieces I sent out. 

This was a piece that I wrapped plastic whiffle balls inside, put ice over the piece, and then sprinkled on a special black dye mix I had made. The color in the photo isn't as interesting as the piece was!

This piece was the fabric I refer to below, with Setacolor used on it. My rubber floor mat went over it on the grass and then the sun did it's work. Because it was on grass many spots are more out of focus, which can be very lovely when you want it like that. 

Above you can see the black on white print that I started with. I overdyed several pieces in various colors and I really preferred the darker colors and obviously the reverse side. I ordered this cloth thinking it had a smooth tight weave. When I received the BOLT it turned out to be more loosely woven than what I originally planned to use it for. That made it a good candidate for experiments throughout this year. 

This was an attempt at foiling on an unknown content fabric. I think there may be a finish on it and that can play havoc I with your foil staying on. 

This was another month of over dyeing for me. I included a piece of the original fabric. I enjoy the unique little scenes that my mind finds on pieces like this. 

Here's a typical rust dyed piece. I have done some research on the health hazards of true rust dyeing, and I probably won't do it again. I am now diligently working at achieving a rust color from mixing true hues of procion mx dyes. I will thicken it and paint it into "rusty looking" designs once I have that range of colors I want. I will keep you posted on my progress. 

To the left above is the original cloth. My granddaughter wanted purple and black, and I started to overdye this piece. There was no noticeable change. Then I removed some of the color. It turned out to be a pinkish, yellowish, purpley blob. So, when we chose to do some mono printing I decided this was a likely candidate for printing on. I used many different colors, texture items, and those little flower stamps. They are 1" chair leg pads, cut apart and stuck onto a pill bottle cap! Love the design I got with them. 

Here is a crayon rubbing over texture plates. Some turned out better than others. Typical of what happens in my art room. 

These were a blast to make. I used shave cream and Tsukeniko inks with a stencil I purchased.

This was a marbling with the shave cream and Tsukeniko inks. 

Here is my favorite. First splattered wax drops and some specific designs, that way I would have some white. I then dyed the fabric black, grey, or pewter. Next came more wax application. Bleaching out these colors left me with black and white areas of wax, along with some places where voids happened. I didn't mind them at all. Then it was time to overdye each piece. I scrunched each piece up. Applied three complimentary hues in specific areas. I then let them start to batch. Then I massaged them to distribute the dyes and have them intermingle. I finished them off in a conventional dye wash out method after the rest of the batching time. 

I fell in love with these and almost didn't share them at all. I was going to do more for our "resist" focus, but then I knew the next group would be just as hard to give up and the people that I swap with are so appreciative. So, off they went. 

And the one I like the least. Well, one of them had to be at the bottom of the pile!  

One friend said that it was like the colors were fighting, and I completely agreed. Most of them had significantly more paint on them. 

Look at just the bottom 1/4 of the picture, hmmmm. I could see that  being the wings to something. So, it just goes to show, if I stop looking at things as a whole piece, I may like my experiments better. Who knew? I should also turn things upside down and over!

And with that being said, here is the back side of my first pull through a screen print. I used black, but as we all know black is made up of many different colors,,, I really like this one!

It is subtle yet distinct. 

2014 has been a very interesting year. And I believe 2015 will be even better!

So,

Let's Create Today

Luann

 

Sometimes once is not enough! Don't you agree?

Started out with muslin pieces that I hand dyed. 

First group all received a black stencil. These will be for my December group swap. 

Then I used shaving cream and Tsukeniko inks to lay down an initial marbled color layer on the second set of pieces. 

This one only is rec'ving this layer, as I am pleased with it presently. 

Not like this one!

I put a stencil over the marbled color and I am not pleased at this point. So, more shaving cream and some Crown Jewels fabric paint. Again using marbling as the focus these five got another layer. 

These all have a metallic look within them as the paint was that type. 

Next step will be to heat set them.  Then I will decide if they are ready to mail out or if they need something more. I don't want to overdo them, but if I do, I can start over. 

I will try to get some better pictures tomorrow, during good daylight!!

For now,

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Painting with Thickened Procion mx dyes

Here are some snapshots of my experiment with painting using thickened procion mx dyes. I tried a lot of different mark making ideas. Learned that you CAN get it too thick but adding some soda ash water helped with restoring fluidity. 

I only used three colors and a portion of each was shaded with some jet black from Dharma Trading Co. Love those people and their lemurs and kangaroos! If you place an order with them, you'll understand about the animals. 

Next up are pieces that I soaked in soda ash, scrambled (a Candy Glendenning word), and poured some dye stock over the tops of each. I then, as Candy would say, massaged them quite a bit, as I wanted no white spots. 

I lined them up on my steps and shot this picture. I wee puffy cloud must have been floating overhead! I totally love how these came out. 

I used the same dye colors on both sets of fabric. I think I could cut portions of all of them, add one more distinct color, and put them together in a quilt block. Black would be such an eye popper! But I think a deep burgundy would be more to my liking. 

It's been a very busy week:

I finished making and mailing all of my ATCS(3) and fabric Postcards(6) for 2014. If I use the above two sets of fabric for my StitchFingers swaps, I have Nov and Dec done. I may choose to do more to them,,,,  I also finished 2 book pages. I emailed one out. The other  is waiting for a postal strike to be over. 

On a decluttering note, I emptied 4 containers of stuff, most of which was delivered to various places in town. Under the guest bed is now 50% emptied. 

I have gift bags set up for collecting my Christmas gifts for each family. A list attached to each bag will keep me aware of where I am in filling them. I think this year may be "the year of the pillow case CHRISTMAS". I love making them. They  are quick and easy. Useful for most everyone. And I can personalize them for my special people!  

My house was kept neat, dishes done, sink shiny (thanks to FlyLady.net and using routines!), and our menu plan worked well. Laundry was kept up to date and the ironing had a one day delay was all! 

This week has been very productive for me. I am taking today, Saturday, and going just a bit slower. But then, posting to my blog is one of those things on my list so I guess I'm still getting things done! It's hard to think of things as "work" when I enjoy it all. Yes, even getting ironing done is pure enjoyment for me. My Mom would do ironing for others when I was a kid, so it's kinda nostalgic for me. 

With all this being said, I think it's time to;

Let's Create Today!

Luann

Creating fabric from fabric,

Using an ink jet printer and specially prepared fabric I made a copy of one of my mini art quilts. 

A few 2" squares and a portion cut from another fabric came together for this Out Of Africa book page. 

Original fabric was a 5 inch square that I enlarged before printing. I wish I could find more of this fabric. 

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Burgundy and Bronze, oh my!

 

I am really liking the bronze thread on top of the burgundy in this fabric book page. 

I will be using these two colors together in some fall gift items. 

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Whiffle Balls and Ice Dyeing

Have you tried whiffle balls the size of golf balls as a resist when ice-dyeing?

This piece is drying on my screen porch. I used rubber bands to secure those little plastic gems. If you look at the picture above, you can see that some of the bands were tighter than others. Looser ones allowed more of the dyes to penetrate. 

How I did this:

Soaked fabric in soda ash solution overnite, usually I only soak for 30 minutes. 

Squeezed out the solution, saved it for next time. 

Secured my golf balls with rubber bands. The piece is narrow, so I just placed them down the middle. 

I then put them into a 1 gallon plastic pitcher I use in my dye studio experiments. 

Next came ice cubes.  I wanted my dye powder to break and give me lots of colors. 

It was then time to sprinkle on the dye powder, after putting on my particulate mask!

Now they needed to go out in the sunshine, and after 3 weeks of dreary days, I was anxious!

As the powders started to combine with the water from the melting ice, I chose to use my fine mister and keep the dye flecks off the walls of my pitcher. This also aided in getting the ice cubes to melt. 

Then came the process of waiting, cold rinses, cold soaks, hot rinses, hot washes, hot soaks, well I'm sure you get the idea. I find it very important to be sure all dye particles are taken care of. I don't want surprises later on. 

What did I take away from this experiment?

I will try it again, with these changes:

rubberbands will be snugly secured. 

longer batching time. 

use a raised platform in a rectangle pan so I have a single layer of ice. 

find a "sugar" shaker for applying my dye powder, to have better distribution across the entire piece. 

AND,

I will make another batch of dye powders. Perhaps even tweaking the mixture a bit!!

This one was made up of equal parts of watermelon, orange crush, Sahara, daffodil, azure, sea glass, baby blue, hyacynthia, & bougainvillea. These were from Dharma Trading Co., Spring 2014 Pantone inspired collection. 

If you have any questions or comments please contact me. Until then,,,,

Let's Create Today,

Luann

Sun printing with Setacolors

The weather forecast was for some sunshine between 10am and 2pm. I got things ready shortly after 10 and had a go at it with Setacolor fabric paints. Some were opaque, while others were transparent.  They all ended up mooshed together in the end. My colors aren't showing up very nicely, as they are a beautiful array of blues, silvers, and one has copper. I think I need to wait for daytime lighting for my best colors to show. 

This first picture is where I used whifle balls and tried to put color where I wanted it. 

 

I like this one, it reminds me of sunflowers, so I will move forward from there. 

These next ones had bulldog clips, or rubber bands dropped on them. 

 

This one had a rubber door mat put on top. 

These next two pictures are of my favorites of the day. I used some 12" square stencils that I purchased while I was at The Quilt Expo in Madison, WI  at the beginning of September. 

The one above is just the previous one with the excess fabric folded back. 

I used a black on white print fabric that I have done several different techniques on since the beginning of 2014. I had ordered a full bolt thru My Favorite Quilt Shop in Green Bay, WI. It came in with a more open weave than we had anticipated, so instead of using it for the original purpose, I have been experimenting with it. 

Well, that's it for today's creating adventure. 

What have you been up to?

Remember to enjoy the journey. 

And,

Let's Create Today. 

Luann

Lola Jenkins Workshop: Totally fun!

While I was in Green Bay, WI at the beginning of the month I took a workshop with Miss Bubbles.  Lola Jenkins is one of the most interesting and fun people I've met. This is the fabric portrait piece that I worked on. I will tell you more about my trip in future posts, but for now, I just wanted to get this picture posted for you to see. 

Awesome teacher indeed!

24 Step Color Wheel

I've been so impressed with Candy Glendening's classes on Candiedfabrics.com that I am currently working on a 24 step color wheel of 5" squares. It was nice to have her response to a question I posed about doing this in a matter of minutes. I know she won't always be at the computer like today. That's fine, just knowing that she DOES get back to you with answers is appreciated. 

I've been dyeing cotton pfd fabric for about two years now. I did take quite a bit of time off during the moving process that we went thru last summer. I finally got my supplies out and got going again after taking online classes with Candy. 

Lynda over at The Bloom Bake Create blog had commented about taking Candy's latest offering so I checked into it. I decided that I wanted to learn the Candied Fabric approach from the beginning. I have become more of an Intentional Dyer. At present I am making swatches of colors using various reds, yellows, and blues as my primaries. All the formulas I use are part of the course offerings. 

 I now understand just how much dye stock is needed for a specific size of fabric.  I can decide which colors I want more of, dye that amount of fabric, and my results will be what I want. I won't be wasting time, fabric, dye, or my patience!  

My first picture is of the sample swatches of the watermelon (red), daffodil (yellow), and azure (blue) that I am using as my primaries today. The second picture is 21 more little goodies, batching in the sun. 

 

 

I have already done the first rinsing, and they are back in the little containers with cold water and ice cubes on top. If all goes well, I will add a picture of them drying yet tonight. 

Here's the picture of those little swatches all lined up. They are so tiny on this drying rack, but they are just what I want. After they are dry I will iron them and see how the color mixology worked. 

Here is a picture of the ironed pieces. Colors are quite close to the actual pieces. 

 

So, that's  what I did creatively today. How about you?

Let's Create Today (and every day),

Luann

When does your "new" year begin?

Sounds like a strange question, doesn't it?  

This topic came up while having coffee with the hubby this morning. 

The most obvious would be January 1st of any year. 

September and the beginning of the school year is another possibility. 

A fiscal year, for businesses and their healthcare plans, can start any month. 

The  Chinese New Year, which changes each year. 

There are religious events that could be used as the beginning of a "new" year, such as Easter. 

And what about the anniversary day of your birth, marriage, or some other significant event in your life?

Then there's always July 1st. This is the date so often used for making a new set of resolutions. 

Well, by now, I'm sure you have the idea. I think that throughout the year we have many new beginnings, new year startings. The one that's the most important? It is the one that is happening today.

 So, whether you've been highly creative, moderately busy, or just dreaming about it, 

Let's Create Today, 

Luann

Three month update,,,

  I just checked out the last date of posting. Wow, have I been away from this. Well, best way is to just do a recap of the past three months, and move forward. 

I am checking thru my planner for notes on what I've been up to. 

StitchinFingers swapping activities have been moving along. I've been making ATCS and Post Cards for each of the Birthday ladies. My altered fabrics have been a lot of fun. 

I've made fabric book pages with the following themes:

landscape, 

 

Nature,

 

Spring,

 

And the first one- journey

I have been working thru some art lessons. 

 This is an ongoing work. 

I've taken several fabric dyeing classes, and have taken a more Intentional Approach. 

I've made my own gelli plates and done quite a bit of printing with them. This is one that I gave away!

 

Well, I'm going to post this before I lose the wifi connection. 

Let's Create Today.

Luann