I bought some white cotton voile a while back in the hopes of someday (and I use 'someday' loosely) dyeing it to the color of my choice. So, on Sunday as I was moseying about trying to figure out what to do with myself I took out my yellow Rit dye that I got just for such a day. After carefully reading the instructions 5 times (it really is not that hard) I was finally ready! I wanted to create a dimensional look and try a technique with the dyeing so the fabric wouldn't look so flat. After folding the fabric the long way and then the short way, I ended up with a cube of fabric that I kept held in place with string. It was in this way that I thought I could make a sort of plaid with stripes going across and down with more dye being on the ends of the cube where the most dye would end up. Well... it didn't exactly turn out that way but I am still happy with the results. I will definitely keep experimenting with different ways and who knows, maybe I'll even go back to my roots and rock a tie dye effect soon!
It should be mentioned here that my interest in textiles, fibers, and dyeing have taken me all the way to Joybilee Farm in B.C. Canada to learn new skills in this area while staying at the farm as a wwoofer. Here I learned knitting, spinning, carding wool, weaving, and some dyeing techniques.
Tonight as I was cleaning up the remains of my Valentine's Day flowers I had a vision. Surely, I can't let these beautiful flowers go to waste! So, I looked up how to make a dye with the flowers and sure enough there is an easy way that I currently have simmering on the stove right now. I am uncertain of the success of this experiment but it was fun none the less. I pulled out the roses from the bouquet and sprinkled them into a large pot with water and brought them to boil.
Now I am letting them simmer for an hour until the petals lose mostly all their color. The petals will get strained and then I will add some lemon juice which I read will make a more vibrant pink. I will add my fabric that has been sitting in cold water mixed with alum to help hold the dye even after washing. I think I will let it sit in the dye pot overnight (off the heat of course) and see how it turns out in the morning!
The past couple of days I've been stuck in bed - head and chest smothered with a cold. My mind isn't thinking clearly, although sheer willpower provided me a brief moment of clarity last night to watch the Bachelor. I'll understand if you want to stop reading now.
But if you've decided to give me the benefit of the doubt, then you are in luck. Because I am going to list for you, the top 10 things to do while you are sick in bed. Right now. For your reading enjoyment.
1. Use Google Earth to try and find your car from the most recent satellite image (I found mine - in Denver, from 2009, parked at my old job - it was truly a thrilling experience)
2. De-friend people from your facebook account who you don't know...just be honest with yourself
3. Write a haiku
4. Sign up to be a volunteer
5. Take a tub (if you can manage, crawl if you must)
6. Watch youtube videos so you can be on the same page as the rest of the world (I had never heard of the annoying orange until one week ago...apparently 17 million people knew about this before me, like one whole year before me)
7. Netflix watch instantly
8. Do your taxes (it sounds worse than a cold I realize, but since it's tax season and you are stuck in bed then just get them done already!)
9. Write an ehow article (they'll pay you....I won't tell you how little, but they'll pay you)
10. Sleep all day (then you won't have to worry about doing any of these things)
And to end on a crafty note, you could always teach yourself how to create something. Here's a fun video from ThreadBanger on how to create a collage necklace from fabric scraps:
This morning I pose this question to you: how do you know when you have too much time on your hands? I discovered the answer to this after I snapped the nonsensical photos below. These are part of a collection titled: The Usefulness of the Tiny Belt.
Accessorize your figurines
Know without-a-doubt, which glass is yours
This look says: simple, yet classy
Beat the hipsters to this next trend
Nothing says 'Happy Holidays' like miniature belt garland
And since I have a flurry of thoughts to dump out of my brain today, I also feel the need to tell you that when you hear the phrase, "do one thing every day that scares you", it doesn't mean you should kick-off the karaoke contest at your boyfriend's holiday work party. Unless you have a voice that challenges Sara McLaughlin's, then by all means sing on my friend. I am referring to those of us who could end up on the reject reel of American Idol auditions. We should truly stay in the shadows when entering a room with a spotlight and microphone. It wasn't put there for us.
And now folks, drum roll please...........I have finished my ten new pieces for the month of January. I missed my original deadline by two weeks, but scraped together enough ambition to complete the alternate deadline. Has this posting of new items helped sales, or simply increased any activity on our site? Well it generated a little interest - maybe a few new items added to favorites and one sale. New goal to be posted later this week. Until then.
The challenge was to create ten new pieces by Sunday, January 16th. Did I successfully do this? Ashamed, dejected and publicly humiliated, I have to tell you that no, no I did not. To help you better accept this failure, I've compiled a small list of excuses: a mysterious party guest from Saturday's wine club stole my tools, all of the arts and craft stores in the Twin Cities area ran out of beading wire at the exact same time (weird how that happens) and then to top it all off, I was called upon last minute to be a judge at the annual dog show (my only credentials being that I enjoy looking at them).
Don't worry though - by the end of January, I will have these ten pieces done. I will, I will. Must stop staring out the window and daydreaming....and must stop creating challenges of Oprah-like proportions.
On a sunnier note - the treasury went well. I did learn something from another etsian, however, and that was to fill up all 16 spaces in order to be considered for the front page. Noted.
I had secretly planned another goal for myself this week and that was to create a treasury on etsy. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. First of all, coming up with a title for the collection was tough. I didn't want to have a similar collection as 100 other folks. And so I went with a history theme: when in doubt, nerd out. So I had my title, but then I couldn't figure out how on earth to do a history themed treasury. So I just started searching keywords like, "history" "kings" "americana" "wild west" and was able to get on a roll from there.
Searching for items to include took a lot longer than I thought. I thought by saving my treasury I could come back to it later before I published it. That is not true. Not a huge deal, but my poor little brain was confused. And now ladies and gentlemen (all 2 of you following who were forced to diligently read this blog due to relation) I give you........the treasury:
p.s. as for my challenge of getting 10 new pieces done by sunday....I have one done. That's right, 9 to go. Outlook = bleak.
It should be mentioned here that my interest in textiles, fibers, and dyeing have taken me all the way to Joybilee Farm in B.C. Canada to learn new skills in this area while staying at the farm as a wwoofer. Here I learned knitting, spinning, carding wool, weaving, and some dyeing techniques.
Tonight as I was cleaning up the remains of my Valentine's Day flowers I had a vision. Surely, I can't let these beautiful flowers go to waste! So, I looked up how to make a dye with the flowers and sure enough there is an easy way that I currently have simmering on the stove right now. I am uncertain of the success of this experiment but it was fun none the less. I pulled out the roses from the bouquet and sprinkled them into a large pot with water and brought them to boil.
Now I am letting them simmer for an hour until the petals lose mostly all their color. The petals will get strained and then I will add some lemon juice which I read will make a more vibrant pink. I will add my fabric that has been sitting in cold water mixed with alum to help hold the dye even after washing. I think I will let it sit in the dye pot overnight (off the heat of course) and see how it turns out in the morning!
