PC needing a little help!

Here is the neon green postcard I mentioned before that needs some help & I'm just not sure what it is. I think the black Misty Fuse & neon green eyelash yarn really look good together but it needs something else to make it pop. Looking back at my Something Red PC what I thought made this piece is the red metallic threads. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a metallic neon green eyelash (nor have I found it in bright yellow, so if anyone comes across these, PLEASE let me know). Michelle mentioned adding small crystals tucked in here & there. I wondered about adding some metallic machine stitches, but I didn't want it to detract from the eyelash. So here is sits untouched. I did have enough left over to make 3 ATC's from it as well, so if I needed to experiment, I could do it on them instead of the pc. I welcome ALL ideas & thank you ahead of time for any & all of your suggestions!

Matisse turns 1 year old today!!

Taryn, our German Pinscher, is so excited that today, Matisse, our 15lb Bengal boy has turned one year old. I told Taryn, it's not very lady like of her to pose this way, but she said she can't help it, it's one of her most favorites positions to lay in.

And here is Matisse in one of his favorite positions that he likes while he's watching TV (wonder where he learned that one from). We just love him!!! He's so full of energy & never seems to tire out. He is a little sassy though. After he's been scolded for doing something that he shouldn't have, he'll go into the other room where no one can seem him & he'll sass (meow non-stop)!! But once you come in to see what his problem is, he's all quiet & has that look of, "what it wasn't me." There is never a dull moment with that boy!!! Happy Birthday, Matisse!!

Threads, Threads & More Threads!

Well ok, it's really yarn but I think of them as threads. A friend of mine gave all of these beautiful threads to me after I showed her my Something Red pc & a neon green pc that you haven't seen yet, because it still needs some work & I'm not sure what it needs for me to consider it finished. Maybe I'll post it here & get some wonderful ideas from all of you?

I try to stay out of yarn shops because with all of the beautiful yarn that's out there, it's a constant nagging feeling that I wished I knew how to either knit or crochet. But then, I'm glad I can't because it's just one more thing I'd have taking up studio space.

I'm anxious to start using these in some PC's & ATC's!!

I've been tagged!!

I've been tagged by Vicky.

Here are the rules you are to follow:

1. Once tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 (weird or random) facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people & link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know that they've been tagged

Here we go.............

1. I grew up in a very small town of 500 in New Market, Iowa & had a graduating class of 16. (8 girls & 8 boys)
2. Starting at age 4 until 16 was a dancer..tap, jazz & yes hula. Came from an entire family of dancers.
3. VERY wonderful husband of 15 years!! (We've been together for 18)
4. At my day job, I'm a neat freak. Not sure why that doesn't follow to home at nites.
5. I'm a surface designer, weaver, quilter, painter, jeweler(not as often anymore) & I LOVE to collect older stamps.
6. I'm an accounting person by day, artist by night. Drives me crazy that I have such an analytical brain...............didn't know artists could do that.
7. SO not looking forward to turning 40 in a year & a half. :(

Ok I tag:

(if you've been tagged before, I apologize)

• Lynda
• Joanna
• Marion
• Dijanne
• Virginia
• Nikki
• Annette

Does Anyone Need Easter Eggs Dyed?

Do not adjust your monitors, the color you actually see here is the color that these are dyed. Little bright, huh? I don't think I've gotten used to the colors quite yet.

A few months ago, I did some hand dyeing for a Surface Design swap. In one of my experiments, I created a beautiful neon green (that you've seen in quite a few of my pieces). I recently ran out of that fabric & thought that I should dye some more. I didn't document my findings the first time because I really wasn't concerned what colors I used to get what. Well now I wished I did. I do remember it being turquoise & a yellow, but I couldn't remember if it was Golden Yellow or Sun Yellow. I used Sun Yellow above & I don't think that was the right yellow to use. Think I will be going back to the studio & trying Golden Yellow with Turquoise.

This is what I did with my left over Sun Yellow & Turquoise after I did my "make green" run. (It's screams bright too!!)

Make Purple Part 2, YUM!!!

2nd try

1st try

The top photo is so much better don't you think (for showing the make purple run)? The first photo I used 3tsp of ProChem Turkish Red & 2tsp of ProChem Full Navy to one cup of water. The second photo I used 1tsp of ProChem Turkish Red & 2tsp of ProChem Full Navy to one cup of water. The navy definitely overpowered the red in the 2nd photo.

After the pieces in the top photo dried from being rinsed from dyeing, I was so excited to see the beautiful colors that I called my husband in to take a look. Yeah, he didn't seem to get as excited as I was. Wouldn't it be yummy to see that top photo done in velvets??

I had to post this photo as well (I love this). This was done with the Navy & Turkish Red as well. I'm not sure why the red & navy didn't mix better because I dyed it in a baggie & scrunched it quite often so the dyes would mix around, but that's ok, I really loved how this turned out anyway!!

Making Purple and Red

I had a little bit of a setback last week with some of my dyeing. I ran out of my red hand-dyed bamboo fabric so I thought I'd dye some more. I already had a Turkish Red dye bath set up from my dyeing three weeks before so I thought I could use it. Look what happened, this was supposed to turn out like the 2nd photo did.

I've always done my dyeing with FR-H dyes & I guess I've been lucky with the shelf life of those dyes. The problem with FR-H dyes, steaming is required to set the dyes & since I don't have a steamer, it makes things a little difficult. I joined DyeHard_RunOff to learn how to use MX dyes since those dyes don't require steaming. I had no idea that the shelf life of MX dye baths is quite short. So now my dye baths are a lot smaller as to not waste any & I'm learning to dye other things with the left over colors. (The last photo is the left overs of when I did my Make Purple Run.) I have no idea how I got the blue dots on the piece since the piece was scrunched up & twisted upon itself, but I thought it turned out pretty nice.

This was my "Make Purple" run for DyeHard_RunOff. As you can see, it didn't work very well. I used Turkish Red & Full Navy from ProChem. The navy was definitely overpowering & you can't really see much purple. Last nite I tried another run at this & increased my red dye concentrate. I will post pics tomorrow so you can see if there is any difference (I sure hope there is.)

Spring Flowers VIII

I love these colors! It reminds me that Spring is just around the corner. I saw this on Marion Barnett's blog that I visit quite often (I just love her use of color) & I had to have it!! It reminded me so much of Spring & it seems to be the colors I've been working in a lot lately.

This is what Marion calls ACEO (Art Card, Editions & Originals). It is 2.5" by 3.5", what we call an ATC, but I think I like Marion's description better. I found this on her Etsy site. She has a lot of beautiful work there for sale.

When I opened the envelope, this beautiful fabric that she had dyed was wrapped around her ACEO. It's just as beautiful as the card she sent. What a great idea! Thank you Marion!!!

Handmade Squiggles (Swirls)

Look what my wonderful friend, Michelle made for me. Aren't they just wonderful?!! As soon as I saw them here in her blog, I begged her to teach me how to make these (since I kind of use them a little bit in my work)

No more paying outrageous shipping fees from internet sites to buy them online. I can now make my own & make them any color & any size that I want. With the internet, I was somewhat limited to the sizes that were available, but no more!!

I have a lot of left over gold, silver, copper & brass wire from my days as an apprenticing jeweler that will now have a new purpose.

Thank you, Michelle!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Ok, so I'm really not a heart person, but if you look closely, they have my squiggles in them!! (I like to call them squiggles instead of swirls. For being such a fun design, to call them swirls, just doesn't really seem to do them justice, but when you call them squiggles, it gives them character--ok I know that sounds silly.)

I made these for my co-workers for Valentine's Day. Should I tell them they were made from toilet tissue paper, rubber stamp & MX dyes or should I let them think it was made from some beautiful hand made paper that I came across in this tucked away little shop I just happened to run across?? I'm thinking tell them it's tp & let them be amazed that you can actually do something artistic with toilet paper.

Heading to Cyber Fyber Exhibition 2009

Ahhhhh, Spring colors!!! This little baby is on it's way to Susan Lenz in South Carolina for the Cyber Fyber Exhibition that will be on display at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios January 8th-20th, 2009 in Columbia, SC. The focus of this exhibition is to highlight the influences of internet access for today's Fiber Artists. For sending in my postcard, she sent me one of hers in return. Isn't is gorgeous??

You can't see it in the photo very well, but she used a lot of metallic threads. I'm like a little child when it comes to shiny metal things, I just LOVE it, I just haven't figured out how to incorporate it into my work yet.

If you're interested in participating in the exhibition & receiving one of Susan's really cool post cards, you can click here & it will take you to the Cyber Fyber website.

Treasures from the past

My 80 year old grandmother recently moved from her 5 bedroom house of 60+ years into a one bedroom apartment. Bless her heart, she came from a generation of never throwing anything away, so you can imagine what it was like to go through her things in her home. I was lucky to be on the receiving end of a hand pieced quilt top created by my great grandmother which was never finished & is in absolute pristine condition (no stains or discoloration) & these wonderful little treasures pictured above. These are the dog tags & a couple of medals from my great grandfather who was in the 49th & 50th Canadian Machine Gun Battallion during World War 1 while being enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces in Calgary, Canada.

Two of the dog tags (at that time, were made from a paper hard resin) are still attached to the original cord that the soldier wore on his uniform. (I apologize for the photo, however, they're actually a little difficult to read in person so the photo isn't too far from the actual tags & I am actually impressed that these "cardboard" tags, that are over 90 years old, are still pretty well preserved & that I can make out most of the lettering & numbers on the tags.) The "Wounded Stripe" bar was given to soldiers who were "injured in hostile action in World War 1". The round medal that states "For Service at the Front" was awarded to soldiers who were discharged from the Canadian Expedtionary Force (CEF) & on the back is a number given, which I'm sure somewhere it is recorded that George Raymond Slaight received this medal on some certain date, however, I haven't been able to locate where I can find this information.

When I asked my grandmother where she had located these, she said, "oh they were just lose in the bottom of some drawer." I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to have received these. Now what to do with them to display them??

Something Red

I just love this, the photo just doesn't do it justice!!! (it's a deep but bright red & the threads are a nice & shiny metallic) I've always wanted to work in red, but for some strange reason, I always end up in another color instead & not sure why. This was a "Something Red PC" I did for a swap in Surface Design.

It's hand dyed bamboo fabric, black Misty Fuse & metallic eye lash yarn. When I concentrate on the black Misty Fuse areas (& maybe I shouldn't say this because I don't want it to detract you from the piece) I think of Spiderman & his web. It doesn't distract me from the piece, it just makes me giggle a little. (make sure you click on the picture so you can see the detail a little bit better)

Ground Hog's Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Ground Hog's Day & I'm asking Punxsutawney Phil to PLEASE not see your shadow, I'm ready for an early spring!!

Over the last 2 days, we've had at least 3, possibly 4, natural avalanches (I can't keep track, we've had so many highways closures due to bad snow conditions) occur on the main pass that crosses the state of Washington. I think in that time the pass has only been open for about a total of 4 hours & since it's the main thoroughway for trucks to transport goods you can imagine the lines & the money it's costing trucking companies to have their trucks just sit there & wait. Two hours after the pass was reopened from the first avalanche, the second one trapped two cars but fortunately, no one was hurt. They're saying with the three primary east-west routes in Washington & Oregon facing indefinite or periodic shutdowns due to severe winter weather that Washington state estimates that the closure of these passes are costing Washington $20 million a day in lost commerce.

You can imagine with the amount of snow that we've been receiving the excellent skiing conditions, however, two of those ski resorts, skiiers can't get to because the roads have been closed due to avalanches & avalanche control. And the resorts are reporting financial losses as well due to closed roads.

So Punxsutawney Phil, remember, no seeing your shadow tomorrow!!