Last of the Two Color Dye Runs

I do have pictures of my dyeing over the weekend- we finally figured out the error message on Shannon's camera. Can I just say I don't get the fascination with the tiny cameras available now? Shannon has a Fuji Finepix Z10fd- it takes very nice pictures, but it is SO SMALL!! I don't have big hands, but they feel huge around this tiny camera. My Canon Powershot A95 was a perfect size- small enough to cart around easily, big enough I could comfortably get my hands around it. I'm really looking forward to getting acquainted with my Pentax- at least I know it won't be a midget!!

So here's my four dye runs, using Fuschia, Light Red, Lemon Yellow, and Golden Yellow (all Dharma colors).



The two on the left use fuschia, the two on the right, light red. The middle two are golden yellow, the two ends are lemon. The run on the far left does have one goof- I didn't have enough red dye for the second one from the top, so it barely moved off yellow.

Today I've done very little. I had an appointment with an ENT doc, to try to figure out what is going on with the recurrent nosebleeds I've been having. After he scoped my nose, and cauterized it, I am now officially miserable. My nose is running non-stop, I want to blow it so badly but can't. I think it will be early to bed, with an Motrin to help me sleep.

R. I. P.

Yes, there was tragedy (of a sort) yesterday. I'll explain----

We left for Scofield early in the afternoon. I managed to get shots of the windmills as we headed east up Highway 6.




An hour later, we were at the lake. We went into town to check out the small 'craft fair"- not a lot going on there, at least not for me. One of the longstanding traditions on the Fourth at Scofield is the rubber ducky race, with the winner collecting $1000. This year, 2400 (that's right, twenty-four hundred!!) rubber duckies hit the river for the race. So we decided to walk up to the bridge to see the finish.

Shannon and I found a spot to sit, right above the river but down from the finish line. Here's Shannon on my left, you can see the finish gate in the distance. (I have no idea what prompted the face on the boy in the red shirt about Shannon's head!)



We enjoyed the sun, the lovely green mountains, and just the festivities. Then just a few minutes after I took this picture- my camera fell out of its bag, and tumbled down a steep embankment into the river. It landed close to the edge, and Shannon did manage to fish it out of the water. But it took her a couple of minutes to get down the embankment, so my camera was in the water long enough that I knew it probably wouldn't survive.

We took out the batteries and the card, and dried it out. We left it sitting where there was a breeze- after all this is DRY Utah. But, several hours later, when I tried turning it on, it froze and gave up the ghost.

So, I have no pictures of the feast we enjoyed with our friends- including the killer cake Shannon made. I have no pictures of us playing Redneck Horseshoes. I have no pictures of the fireworks, or the lightning show that accompanied it behind the mountains. By the end of the night, I was having camera withdrawals.

I did manage to download the pictures I'd taken earlier in the day using a card reader I have- so at least those weren't lost. And I was up early this morning, checking out camera reviews online, and debating how much I could afford to spend. In the end, I decided on a used Pentax DSLR kit. It got great reviews, from both the pros and owners. And the price was right- less than any other DSLR I've seen, including the discontinued Nikon D50 or the Nikon D40. I should have it in a week or so.

If you are looking for camera equipment, my brother (the amateur photographer) told me about B & H Photo and KEH Camera- both places recommended by professional photographers and where you can buy used equipment with confidence. I got mine from B & H. When you're looking at used, you never know what they will have in stock!

It also means I have no photos of my washed and ironed dye runs. Next, I think I am going to do a comparison of the mercerized PFD I just got, and the Kaufman muslin I've been using.

I'm not working tomorrow- one more day to play! Maybe moe work on the dryer sheets--

Happy Independence Day! (To those reading in the USA!)

I hope that reflecting on what our forefathers sacrificed to get us our independence may help us focus on what we need to do now, ourselves, as a service to our country and our fellow citizens.

I have been playing more in the wet studio. Last night, I did 4 sets of dye runs using the two red and yellow primaries from Dharma. The differences are more subtle than with the blue-yellow runs, but they are there. I'll probably leave these to batch until tomorrow morning, then do the washout. They spent the night under the heat lamps- so nice to have a way to dye even in cooler weather.


This morning I spent time hand-painting more dryer sheets. I pulled in more colors,and just played away with my paint pots and brushes. Here's the results of that, drying on my Ikea rack. Love that thing!



Tomorrow I will fuse Misty Fuse to the back of some pieces, and cut away. I should have plenty of samples from which to choose the challenge piece.

Magnification, Part 2

Wow, it's only mid-day on the first day of my long weekend- and I have something that is worthy of a post! After getting the usual errands done this morning, I've been playing again with the painted dryer sheets and black felt. And I like what's developing!



The bottom one is the first I did today, the top one the last. With the bottom one, I was using multiple dryer sheets fused together. I just cut freehand, and fit the pieces in like a puzzle.

The second one, I decided to play with one of my recurring shapes, a circle. I found three different size circular objects I could use as a template with my soldering iron. Once I had them arranged and fused to the felt, I made the marks with the iron- working very hard not to cut through the felt. I only had one slip-up.

After this piece, I decided I liked the look of single layers, overlapping rather than multiple layers of the sheets. So I just freehand cut shapes, overlapping at times. Again, once they were fused to the felt, I cut the marks with the iron. I like the movement I got in the last piece.

Now it's on to the sewing machine, to see what stitching will add. I'm not sure if I will hit these with a heat gun or not.

I upgraded to Elements 7 this week, and the interface is waaaay different than the version I've been using- 4. I won't be able to figure this one out without a book, that's obvious at this point.

More playtime today, maybe even a little in the morning. We are headed up to Scofield in the afternoon, to spend the Fourth with friends from Price who have a cabin there. They shoot the fireworks over the lake, and we'll have a front row seat. Pictures of that later!

Magnification--

is the name of a challenge our WAQ group is doing for a gallery show this fall. It's only a small piece, 5 X 7, mounted on a 9 X 12 painted canvas. I've had an idea percolating in my brain for awhile, and this week I finally got started.

First, I painted a bunch of the dryer sheets I have been saving for months.



I only did a couple of colors, since that's all I'm using for this piece.

I've wanted to use my soldering iron to cut the dryer sheets, so I pulled this book out of my library where it has been sitting for months, and read up on the basics.



This morning, after a yummy breakfast of homemade sourdough pancakes and strawberries, I sat down to play. I learned that the best way to iron the dryer sheets is between two sheets of parchment. I made a base layer on a piece of white fusible felt, then started playing with shapes and mark-making.



This was enough to make me decide that it's fun, and if I do anymore of this, I'll need to get a respirator.

Next I decided to play with the same colors on black felt. I also did some stitching on these; the green is cotton thread, the pink is polyester. I wanted to see if there was any difference if I hit it with the heat gun.



I definitely prefer the black as a base layer. I was also glad that the polyester thread did just fine under the heat gun, since I have more colors in that than I do cotton.

So now it is on to the actual piece. I decided I'm not going to cut the dryer sheets while they are on the felt- it is too easy to inadvertently cut the felt in the process. So I've layer several of the sheets, and fused some Misty Fuse to the bottom piece. I'm thinking I can cut my shapes, and then fuse them to the felt.

I also think that next time I paint dryer sheets, I will use a foam brush instead of just smooshing the paint around in a bowl with a bunch of the sheets. I want more control of the color, and that seems like the best way. It will definitely take longer to paint, but I think it will be worth it.

Quack, Quack

Our cool, rainy weather continued all week. I couldn't do any more on stripping the garage door, it's just been too wet. Yesterday we had a downpour- not a Florida downpour where it rains hard for hours on end, but a Utah downpour that lasted about half an hour at most. My potted herbs are soaked, and the lavender we bought to plant in the yard will have to wait until it's dried out some. Fortunately, the weatherman is telling us it will be dry this week, and actually get up into the 80's. Summer may finally be here!

And, I got the curtains done. Here you are, Sean and Marly- Michele Sofia's curtains done and ready to ship off to you!



Yes, they hang from a rod just fine!



They'll be in a box from the post office tomorrow, along with a couple of other goodies for Marly.

I still have the crib bumpers to do- but I think I am going to take a little break. I have got to get my dryer sheets painted, and start playing with designs for our Surface Design show in October. Neither of the pieces is that big, so I'm hoping once I get going they will come together quickly.

We've also been cooking for Father's Day. We're making shrimp liguine, with home-made Caesar salad and home-made garlic bread. Look at this yummy sourdough loaf Shannon made this morning!



We'll be making a special garlic spread with this roasted fresh garlic--



Last night we got some fresh rhubarb from a neighbor whose plant is growing like crazy. The rhubarb-raspberry crunch we made was yummy!



That's right folks, if I don't have any artistic content to blog about, I can usually come up with mouth-watering food images! Here's hoping your Father's Day (or Daddy-to-Be Day) dinner is as good as ours!

Summer, Where Are You??

I'm having a hard time believing it is mid-June. Usually by now I'm complaining because we've gone from the 70's straight to the mid-90's. We did have a nice, slow warmup spring- and we've stayed stuck there.

Thursday night we went to a Kelly Clarkson concert at UVU- outdoors, in the baseball field. DJ and a friend stood in line for four hours so we'd get on the field in the first rush. Bentlee and I joined them about an hour before they opened the gates. It rained off and on all day- then cleared in the late afternoon. Still, it was cold for June. I dressed in four layers, all long sleeve.

We started out on the field, closer to the stage. Then we figured out that the only way we'd see anything would be to stand, so we moved to a hill where we could see sitting down. (I half thought about taking a picture of the lovely butts surrounding us- but refrained!)

It stayed dry through the opening act, then started to rain when Kelly came on. Here's our view of the stage-



And here's the view towards the stands where the expensive tickets were. By this time, I was not only in four layers, I was under an umbrella and had a blanket wrapped around my legs!



It eventually did stop raining, and I got this great shot of a rainbow off to the south.



I continue the work on the baby curtains. All that's left is the tabs, and sewing them in the curtains.



And, Shannon and I dyed two shirts that got stains on them that wouldn't come out. My tank top used to be yellow, now it's cafe au lait- which is what I stained it with! Shannon got chocolate on her white shirt, and decided a purple one would be great.



I need to get stressed about some upcoming deadlines. Our WAQ group met Friday, and Kathleen showed some awesome fabrics she did playing with marbling materials. Her Microscopy piece is almost done, and it was awesome too. So why am I feeling so bereft of inspiration? Maybe this crap weather has something to do with it- here's the view from our street just an hour ago, looking west.



Depressing, no?? Where is the SUN???