Something other than fiber.........

Thought I'd blog about something other than fiber today........................here are some earrings that I've made recently which will all be featured in my Etsy shop.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

Whenever, I feel the need to keep my hands busy but don't want to create anything fiber, I make jewelry pieces like these. There's something so relaxing about sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, watching TV & working with beads & wire.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

These are probably my favorite. The squiggles are sterling silver & the beads are hematite.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

The ear wires are brown niobium. Niobium is 100% hypoallergenic. Niobium is colored by electronic current, no dyes or other harmful substances are used to achieve this beautiful brown color.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

I think these might be my 2nd favorite pair. Not sure if it's the use of color or the delicacy or simplicity in the design. These are sterling silver with hematite beads also.

I was never really a huge fan of dangle earrings, but these are all small enough (ranging from 1-2" long) that I am comfortable wearing them.

Creating Textures..............

in Lynda's & Carole's Textures Class. The samples below were my first experiments with molding paste. I'm having a little bit of trouble with the class because it's all so new to me. I've never built up textures to use in my work before. Yes, I've used machine stitching, cheesecloth & Angelina Fibers, but that's about it.

The first sample was done with rubber stamping. (You might have to click on the picture for a better closeup.) I question if the squiggles should have turned out a little bit more defined? After the paste was dry, I painted it with leftover procion dye. Was hoping the dye would bring out the squiggles more. (didn't work) So I thought how about rubbing a rubber stamp ink pad over it? (didn't work, too many raised surfaces) I then realized, it was still wet from the ink pad, so I wiped it off with a damp cloth. This pulled off some of the blue dye, which brought out the squiggles a little better. Aha!! I hadn't sealed the surface after I painted it with dye, so I was able to remove some the dye with water.

I think this sample might be my favorite. I machine stitched over the piece after it was dry & then painted it. I then went back in with a damp cloth to remove some of the dye from the higher surfaces.

I used a flower paper punch to create a stencil for this one & I also machine stitched over the piece, when it was dry.

This is an interesting piece. I laid a piece of that orange snow fence down & then used a brayer to spread the molding paste onto the cloth. I then stitched squiggles all over the piece (was great practice for me to learn how to machine stitch squiggles by free hand.) It was then painted with dye.

This was done using bubble wrap while the paste was still wet. The holes remind me of a cheese grater.

As of right now, I don't have any plans to incorporate these into bigger pieces, so for now, they'll remain samples. :)

Hand Dyed Velvet

© 2008 Tracy Borders
For Sale in my Etsy Shop

© 2008 Tracy Borders

© 2008 Tracy Borders

I love how the color turned out on this & I'm happy to say, that I actually kept record of the dyes that were used to obtain this color (this time), so I can recreate this if needed. This is a deep brown however, not a chocolate brown (like the scarf below). The scarf above is a nice brown & when the light hits it, there is the suggestion of olive green. The squiggles have been embossed into the Rayon/Silk velvet on both scarves.

© 2008 Tracy Borders
For Sale in my Etsy Shop.

My Etsy Store is now OPEN!!

My Etsy store is NOW OPEN!! You can also reach my store by this link: http://www.squigglechick.etsy.com/. My user name is squigglechick.


Opening an Etsy shop has been a dream of mine for the past year & half. I never thought I'd follow through with actually setting up a shop, but here I am!! (With the strong help of a few of my artists friends & they know who they are, since I've been leaning on them A LOT lately for support!!)


My store has only been set up for less than a day & I had my first buyer already, thanks Fannie!!

Although my shop announcement states that you will find things all fiber, every now & then, I may have a hand made jewelry piece.

I'm SO nervous but then I'm so excited at the same time. I have to remember the hardest part is over, now it's time to play & create art!!

Hand Dyed Scarves

I've been working like a mad woman this past couple of weeks to get my Etsy store up & ready by tomorrow & I am happy to say that it WILL be open!!

Some of the items that I've been working on are hand dyed silk & velvet scarves. The scarf below won't be in my store since it's for a charity event that is being held at the end of this month.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

© 2008 Tracy Borders

But the scarf below, will be. I call this "Martini Anyone?"

© 2008 Tracy Borders

© 2008 Tracy Borders

Both of these scarves, I have hand dyed & rubber stamped & added a small touch of beading. You may have to click on the Martini scarf to see the detail, but I used green seed beads to represent olives in the martini glasses.

I don't think I would have normally made a scarf like this, but with the holidays just around the corner & I do love a good martini, I thought this was a fun scarf to create!!

Check back here tomorrow & I'll post the web address of my new Etsy store!!

Thanks Fannie!

Fannie has awarded me both of these awards. I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful lady!! She's my friend, a fellow artist to bounce ideas off of, a great listener, my Etsy mentor (yes, I plan to have my store open on Friday, it may not be first thing in the morning, but it WILL go up, no matter how many items I have ready) & SO many other things!! Thank you Fannie!!

It is absolutely wonderful how many friends I've met & made through my blog & through the different Yahoo Groups that I belong to.

The artists I would pick for this award would be Michelle B, Lynda, Michele, Sherry & Marion.

Michelle B, is one of the first friends I made through one of our Surface Design swaps. Michelle & I talk via email each day about everything from bouncing ideas off each other to what goes on in our personal lives. My day is not complete unless I receive an email from her!!

Lynda, was my first international artist friend. I can't remember how I first stumbled upon her blog, but I'm glad I did!! I visit it every week (she tends to posts on Sundays) she's a wealth of knowledge & I love her work, which I have to say, I've been lucky to receive a few pieces of, thanks Lynda!!

Michele, from EyEmbellishments is awesome!! I love her work. That girl can create wonderful ceramic buttons with squiggles!! Make sure you check out her Sibling Sundays, they're absolutely hilarious!! I'm thinking of asking her if one or two of the siblings would like to go to Croatia with me next year.

Sherry, I just recently have gotten to know. Her work is fabulous (see my last post)!! A couple of funny things I found out.......... she knows Michelle B & Fannie as well...........small world!!

Marion, became my second international artist friend. I'm a huge fan of Marion's work, which I have to say that I've been lucky enough to acquire a few pieces from. Thanks Marion!!

If you get a chance, please check out the ladies' sites, they're creating some wonderful work!!

Wonderful work from SophieBabies!

A few months back, I came across Sherry's Etsy site, SophieBabies & found this beautiful little blue dress with squiggles & flip flops embroidered on the front for a 10-12 month old. Since a friend of mine was having a baby girl, I thought this would be a perfect idea for a gift.

A couple of months later, Sherry & I crossed paths again with her leaving me a comment on my blog. I visited her Etsy store again & found more wonderful baby gifts for this same friend of mine. Since the new baby girl (Kate) has a bigger brother (Carter), I didn't want him to feel left out, so Sherry did a custom order for me. Didn't they turn out fabulous?!

Sherry, just to let you know, my friend loves them so much, that she has plans to create a shadow box for each of the children with these items inside. She said they were just too nice to use & should be hung on the wall & viewed as fine art.

Oh I almost forgot, Sherry included this little thank you gift for me, below, when she sent me the package. One can never have TOO many squiggles!! Thanks Sherry!!

P.S. For the past year, my goal has been to set up an Etsy store & I can happily say, I'm almost there. The store front has been set up, but no items have been added yet (I'm still working on that.) My goal is to have it up & running by this Friday. I won't give you the link yet, since all you'll be seeing is an empty store front. But I will tell you the name of my store has something to deal with squiggles (surprise, surprise)!! :)

Tyvek ATC's

© 2008 Tracy Borders

These look SO much better in person. Shiny materials just don't like to photograph very well. Should the sun ever decide to peak out from behind the clouds just a little bit, I'll try to photograph them under natural light & see if that helps any. (Living in Seattle, we really only have two seasons-Spring & Winter, with about a week of Summer and a week of Fall in between.)

The background is hand dyed bamboo poplin in my favorite green. I used Lumiere paint under the stitched down Tyvek & then back over the top of it before I hit it with a heat gun & then applied again after I melted back some of the Tyvek. The tiny flecks of turquoise that appear here & there were created by painting the Tyvek with left over exhausted Procion MX dyes. It's nice to know that you can use the old dyes for other projects & not have to dump them down the drain.

As for the edges, I think I might leave them as is, I fear adding a satin stitch edge or any other stitching might detract from the ATC & I like the raw edge with the melted Tyvek. As for adding any embellishing, I'm not sure, I think I like it just as it is.

I've Been Tagged.................

.......................by Scrappy Cat. Please make sure to check out her blog (she's doing some really nice work!!)

The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Hmmmmm, let me see............

1. I'm a blonde & I've always thought that it would be SO cool to have my hair dyed that deep dark navy, if only for a short amount of time.
2. My DH is an engineer & with me being an artist, there's never a dull moment at our house.
3. I guess this is more of a question, how is it while at my day job (Accounting), I am so organized & my desk is so clean, but, as soon as I get home, those habits don't seem follow me?
4. I keep a pair of scissors under the couch at all times (we don't have any children). Why may you ask? In case I need a pair of scissors, I always know where to find them when needed.
5. What's my favorite color? How about I tell you what isn't my favorite color instead (it's a lot easier)........ pink & yellow. I've heard that pink is the new red, but that still doesn't change my mind.
6. I would really love to win the lottery (who doesn't). I think I'd be in heaven if I could create art 24/7.

And who am I tagging? This time, I'm going to tag some ladies that I visit all of the time, but maybe ones that you haven't seen before. Please check out their blogs, they're creating some wonderful work!!

1. Jacqueline
2. Michele
3. Rayna
4. Belinda
5. Adele
6. Johanna

Didn't Make it into Quilt National

This is the first year I've entered a piece into Quilt National. I went in thinking that it probably wouldn't get accepted, since this is the first time I've submitted to this show, but a teeny part of me was SO hoping that it would.

Remember Green Apple Martini?

(also known amongst an inner circle of artist friends as GAM) Well, she was rejected.

She's been entered into a couple of different shows & rejected at both. I think someone's trying to tell me she needs to be put into my Etsy store (which I REALLY hope to have open by the end of October.) I know it's only been two shows & that you probably get more rejections than you do acceptions, but that's ok, on to my next piece.

One great thing, I submitted GAM to Betty at Embellishment Village & she said that she would love to post GAM on their website!! So all was not lost.

(For those that have never seen Green Apple Martini before, she was made from hand dyed bamboo poplin & cheesecloth, thread painted, Angelina Fibers, metal squiggle clips & those bright neon triangles were created from toilet tissue paper casts from rubber stamps.)