tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-234763782024-03-07T03:00:37.131-07:00fiberhartLife is a journey; these are my mid-life reflections on life, learning, and the joys of the creative process.Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.comBlogger627125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-91267920739168827192015-10-18T14:19:00.000-06:002015-10-18T14:19:24.178-06:00<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three months- that's how long since I've been on this blog. I hadn't realized how much soaping had taken over until I perused the last few entries- all soap! That has now been moved to <a href="http://arroyoverdesoaps.com/" target="_blank">another site-</a> so if you were tired of seeing it, you won't be! (That's assuming anyone out there is still looking at this!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have managed to get some fiber work done this spring and summer. I dd some ice dyeing. . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was very happy with the results I got, and learned that I prefer using the pure dye colors to the mixed. I like the clear colors I got, and no surprises. The first picture is the only one with a mixed color, charcoal gray from Dharma. All the rest were pure colors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided I needed a runner for the dining room table. so a couple of weekends ago I started making improv blocks- with (gasp!) my commercial fabric stash. I bought some fabric with text on it a few years ago, and decided I wanted to use it. Here's what I have so far on my design wall. I marked off the dimensions of the finished piece on my wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only a few more small block to go, then I will play with the arrangement. I do love black, red, and white together!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've also taken two amazing camping trips this year with my brother- the first to Colorado, where we met my younger son and his wife, and the second to the Lamoille Canyon outside Elko. Elko doesn't have a whole lot to recommend it, in my mind- but the canyon and the Ruby Mountain wilderness are gems. It was so beautiful, we are planning to backpack the Ruby Crest trail next summer. What a way to celebrate turning 65- backpack forty miles in the wilderness!</span><br />
<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-90094148962833302732015-07-17T20:23:00.001-06:002015-07-17T20:29:00.291-06:00Oppositional!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To any of my fiber friends who still cruise by here wondering what has happened to me- yes, this is another soaping post. However- don't despair- I have actually been doing a fair amount of fiber work the past month or so- I just haven't gotten around to posting it. And, it will not be too long before all the soaping stuff will be migrated to another site. Bear with me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I entered another Soap Challenge Club in July. This time we were to create a soap depicting opposites. It could be color opposites, or opposite 'things' like night and day, or thick and thin. I chose to work with color opposites- violet and yellow, to be specific.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I'm posting this not because I believe my soaps are worthy of any kind of recognition, but more as part of my ongoing learning experience with soap making. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. I knew I had to use a vertical divider, so that eliminated some design ideas I had. I toyed around with using two vertical dividers, but ultimately decided to stick with one. I've never used a vertical divider before, and I figured that getting three colors of soap in without some kind of mishap would be more of a challenge than I wanted to undertake. I finally decided I wanted my two sections to be violet and yellow, with the added design element of a 'Holly swirl', or an in-the-pot drop swirl in each side. I'd use white for the base color of the swirl, with the yellow and violet for the accent colors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, I got my mold ready with my home-made cardboard divider. . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made my batter and divided out the colors, and added my scents- pomegranate fragrance oil in the violet, champagne fragrance oil in the yellow. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9X769_dNbWjsSV5jjwZfKuhvqTJwRC68uKxMo-ftEWSKm7s-49KNAtuz8XqoRIDXfc9DY2D-kKq70qRKCXf2KRXl_rcYVU9SXfQRQ7YxYJli1xfb58iiIZ_2ezokvzqcLGje/s1600/opposites7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9X769_dNbWjsSV5jjwZfKuhvqTJwRC68uKxMo-ftEWSKm7s-49KNAtuz8XqoRIDXfc9DY2D-kKq70qRKCXf2KRXl_rcYVU9SXfQRQ7YxYJli1xfb58iiIZ_2ezokvzqcLGje/s320/opposites7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I then poured two two complementary colors into the mold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once they were in, I removed the divider. So far, so good!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then I worked on the in-th-pot swirl. After mixing in titanium dioxide, I poured two spots of yellow, and two of violet.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4G7l20nsNGTVV7uRfLp0VKQk4kTMqiZvVDUdj82eHN5WLstp6tLB-ylmw5pn_cZrDGSlr4jV4bo7BEMPdqbECa-oe-bW37_LhlGn9vvNZaiK3W-oZiYLN_kwVlxRS_Uz_bW40/s1600/opposites9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4G7l20nsNGTVV7uRfLp0VKQk4kTMqiZvVDUdj82eHN5WLstp6tLB-ylmw5pn_cZrDGSlr4jV4bo7BEMPdqbECa-oe-bW37_LhlGn9vvNZaiK3W-oZiYLN_kwVlxRS_Uz_bW40/s320/opposites9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was happy, everything seemed to be staying fluid, and the colors dropped into the white soap. I swirled the colors once with a skinny skewer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then I poured this into the violet and yellow soap, holding the cup high to help it break into the violet and yellow soap. From what I could tell, it all seemed just fine. I scraped the last of the soap onto the top, and decided to leave it as it was- a Jackson Pollack top!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had high hopes when I cut the soap the next day. Alas, it was not to be!!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbrTXkA6GzMjTxvfkX-AKYPLkxqwQ-4iBPKksOO4ZsBqxakm5PnJRmy1qKSUotJYKpdrcNrl2iccx-MQ1bfdhjdm1nELQvxSwJDdQL849TlZ0EzqKlA5n-NaomnUtvVHK3c_M/s1600/opposites1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbrTXkA6GzMjTxvfkX-AKYPLkxqwQ-4iBPKksOO4ZsBqxakm5PnJRmy1qKSUotJYKpdrcNrl2iccx-MQ1bfdhjdm1nELQvxSwJDdQL849TlZ0EzqKlA5n-NaomnUtvVHK3c_M/s640/opposites1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These three bars had a nice swirl on the violent side, but the swirl barely broke the top on the yellow side. The other bars had a tiny swirl close to the top on both sides.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic9WKqljaARTokOoLiDcC-Aq3fXg-tIrqvQvkebjhteV-EIuFvcCJZNuvroiu6DnzR3uDlNeXz25uR9mb_YqSYmyBF83-RqKGZtBPLDyk_hNNLOyqjRU-T-BYS9UsXAB2C1jma/s1600/opposites3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic9WKqljaARTokOoLiDcC-Aq3fXg-tIrqvQvkebjhteV-EIuFvcCJZNuvroiu6DnzR3uDlNeXz25uR9mb_YqSYmyBF83-RqKGZtBPLDyk_hNNLOyqjRU-T-BYS9UsXAB2C1jma/s640/opposites3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like the top, and the swirl on the violet side on these bars looks pretty much as I'd hoped it would. Why the swirl didn't drop lower is a mystery, one that I will be trying to solve with future batches.</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-23161740538718098692015-05-14T19:43:00.000-06:002015-05-14T19:53:17.784-06:00Dessert, Anyone?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLQzjHb9DJGSr4phArHg6ILB9K-sXrhUh6A84ABu2aINhhRttQEMDfJn1OoMETHAFU2qB7Rv-oLUaGz1gsh9Eo9Ok7QwqHCIxzGYrbbMycTW1wxYpGk-jHQ25zJsj0iq_L7pY/s1600/stampedsoapchallengephoto.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLQzjHb9DJGSr4phArHg6ILB9K-sXrhUh6A84ABu2aINhhRttQEMDfJn1OoMETHAFU2qB7Rv-oLUaGz1gsh9Eo9Ok7QwqHCIxzGYrbbMycTW1wxYpGk-jHQ25zJsj0iq_L7pY/s400/stampedsoapchallengephoto.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have salted caramel cake pops, cherry trifle, tiramisu brownie bites, and lemon filled Pavlovas, garnished with a mint leaf. Yum!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">However, I won't be taking a bite out of any of these- they are all soap! I made them for the latest soap challenge, and it was quite the learning curve. It was also lots of fun. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of the process, because I had to move fast. Here's what I do have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I needed to make four different desserts for the challenge, but ended up with six different mini-desserts. I wanted to make mini cupcakes, since I'm known as the cupcake queen in my family. I'd also decided to make little lemon tarts. I knew I'd need some melt and pour fruit, so I made some 'cherries' in my mini-round mold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The first day, I made my soap batter which included half and half as my food ingredient, and divided it into three sections:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The pink batter went into my mini cupcake molds to make strawberry cupcakes. I colored another section dark brown with cocoa powder, and put it into a small square mold for the brownie bites. The third section I split again; part colored with just a wee bit of cocoa powder, and the other part white with titanium dioxide. I used that to make the trifles, which were molded in votive candle glasses. I also used some of the natural batter to make the crust for my lemon tarts in the heart shaped mold. This is what I ended up with on the first day. . . </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_8kRGcY4B-liyrhAiHOxaJlfZIR-UKyoUtVhjJrFBo8rIcWVC_Lrnj-tOeiP7Z2YbzphLncJQcefUbTgZp9z4aXCmeyjlp_lnO1rHcuUI8ylbcbUMK6kiiQBLwJMCPq4LSBc/s1600/IMG_1336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_8kRGcY4B-liyrhAiHOxaJlfZIR-UKyoUtVhjJrFBo8rIcWVC_Lrnj-tOeiP7Z2YbzphLncJQcefUbTgZp9z4aXCmeyjlp_lnO1rHcuUI8ylbcbUMK6kiiQBLwJMCPq4LSBc/s400/IMG_1336.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">On the second day, I made another batch of the same recipe. I saved some out at a thin trace to dribble, then I blended the rest to a thicker trace, because I knew I would be piping with it. I piped dollops on the trifle. I layered the brownie bites with thick soap 'cream'. I piped frosting on my strawberry cupcakes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had enough soap left to pipe the Pavlovas- I wasn't real happy with how the tart crusts had turned out, so I wanted a backup plan. And, I had enough soap, so why not?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also played with the soap fondant described in Cee's video. I made strawberry halves with leaves. I made mint leaves in a candy mold. I made coffee beans to go on the brownie bites. I found it easier to make the leaves by melting the fondant and pouring it into the leaf mold, refrigerate, and pop it out after it hardened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Some of the tart crusts stayed fairly soft, so I decided to make cake pops with those. I just rolled them into balls, stuck in a lollypop stick, and let them sit overnight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The next day, I made more melt and pour. I colored some 'caramel' with copper mica and cocoa powder, and some I colored dark brown with cocoa powder. I dunked the cake pops in the caramel melt and pour; once that had hardened, I drizzled the 'chocolate' melt and pour over it. I also added some coarse salt while the chocolate soap was soft. I also made some yellow melt and pour, and filled the two tart crusts and the Pavlovas. Here are ALL my creations!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOB2ezUOQqHp8g9nUgGnqZlG7mkT0qgtDupAelafmt6rK59hG2cERTwoXuVEcGo7ursw5WN6tA8DhH1wpVyS1VzB_vlJZVXj8T0oQ_d6DZR0BqYSh4WUGMfegUSDIgBteqK6f/s1600/desserts4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOB2ezUOQqHp8g9nUgGnqZlG7mkT0qgtDupAelafmt6rK59hG2cERTwoXuVEcGo7ursw5WN6tA8DhH1wpVyS1VzB_vlJZVXj8T0oQ_d6DZR0BqYSh4WUGMfegUSDIgBteqK6f/s400/desserts4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The cupcakes turned out fine, I just was not happy that the strawberries bled onto the white frosting. I have no idea why- I used mica and oxide to color the melt and pour fondant that I used. I loved the way my coffee beans turned out!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucu1tan8cbaNPj4TOULjAZOkPnqRzg0t1Htod0Ug0s_WgqANyJfhTJF8ruPpHgil0UUHGMpzXeBzjBqqyEP5hXKFjl83xjnPBuK1EkXdPHLaR6HkDAJsdssfEpBrR3DsE3LYE/s1600/browniebites1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucu1tan8cbaNPj4TOULjAZOkPnqRzg0t1Htod0Ug0s_WgqANyJfhTJF8ruPpHgil0UUHGMpzXeBzjBqqyEP5hXKFjl83xjnPBuK1EkXdPHLaR6HkDAJsdssfEpBrR3DsE3LYE/s400/browniebites1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also sprinkled these with cocoa powder after I drizzled the white 'cream' on the brownie bites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I made two 400 gram batches of soap to create these. I have no idea how much melt and pour I used, but it was less than half a one pound brick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I don't know that I'd be doing this very often- but it was a wonderful learning experience. Many thanks to Amy and Cee for this challenge!</span><br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-1008489681470785822015-04-15T19:16:00.001-06:002015-04-15T19:21:28.931-06:00Soap Challenge: Spinning Swirls (or, A Tale of Two Soaps)<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">First- yes, I have been absent from the blog for some time. That is a story for another post, however.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> I wasn't able to participate in the last two soap challenges- too much other activity on the home front. I was able to get to this one, however- in fact, I made two batches!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The challenge was spinning swirls, something I had never seen before, but it looked like fun- and very doable. Marly (DIL) had been asking for a citrus scented soap, so that helped determine my colors. My one big problem was my lack of a slab mold. I did manage to cobble one together with some heavy duty corrugated cardboard I cut out of a box.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I needed my slow tracing recipe- I was going for three colors plus white.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdv4vZGWE32R2pMFH7NkNLO2dHfxgIqR9OfK_2YLe8ffUELcnIjQTpwPNLhvQwiUi04pXEQLmL6bHns1I6zWj5diVAVjgMEFX0RI5H-mMBKkF-v9_deOHTQqwQ7vwrow4Cy4y/s1600/spinningswirls3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdv4vZGWE32R2pMFH7NkNLO2dHfxgIqR9OfK_2YLe8ffUELcnIjQTpwPNLhvQwiUi04pXEQLmL6bHns1I6zWj5diVAVjgMEFX0RI5H-mMBKkF-v9_deOHTQqwQ7vwrow4Cy4y/s1600/spinningswirls3.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I wanted citrus colors, so I used Apple Green, Sunshine Yellow, Vibrance Orange, and titanium dioxide all from Nurture Soap Supply. I love their micas!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Here it is, all poured into my improvised slab mold. As you can see, I don't have the best control with my pitchers. Oh, well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAx6wWgtdMudyUbwCYRLlPLIiCNewm-VqW5sUIahMUx2oWbjzhXzXYtckc7-O2ko0X33pVjETaWWt6o46O896j6hwiTUIvZ_8fDXsCfHdmMJdR61FpkFvRFHa1dCTa1t7b_0D8/s1600/spinningswirls4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAx6wWgtdMudyUbwCYRLlPLIiCNewm-VqW5sUIahMUx2oWbjzhXzXYtckc7-O2ko0X33pVjETaWWt6o46O896j6hwiTUIvZ_8fDXsCfHdmMJdR61FpkFvRFHa1dCTa1t7b_0D8/s1600/spinningswirls4.jpg" height="301" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spun once. . . </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzunB7ToOkDZc13nSIOOveZYm8wrcr5TEJjU9oDxoNVg0cBMZ-eMOt0WCzDmKMTrcQa2R8x0zbwM3NlIrHpp1NfhqYX8rkW1WyO81CMPwzpdJGN391QSwuZ-A3Yu2FCNKC99A/s1600/spinningswirls5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzunB7ToOkDZc13nSIOOveZYm8wrcr5TEJjU9oDxoNVg0cBMZ-eMOt0WCzDmKMTrcQa2R8x0zbwM3NlIrHpp1NfhqYX8rkW1WyO81CMPwzpdJGN391QSwuZ-A3Yu2FCNKC99A/s1600/spinningswirls5.jpg" height="321" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spun twice. I liked the movement I got, but the colors blended more around the edges than I wanted. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqTBLV680JWPKlFs_8Vd9_thO7zz9mOf8s_EgZd4cXPcxyvZWNH5jBJ0htjbUqNfvDWzPb-LSzmZQKk2MkfRrCrUPbGdHSjfKqNkIYqo4HkmQGhyTM5aYmM7eUSUJvULnAko0/s1600/spinningswirls6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqTBLV680JWPKlFs_8Vd9_thO7zz9mOf8s_EgZd4cXPcxyvZWNH5jBJ0htjbUqNfvDWzPb-LSzmZQKk2MkfRrCrUPbGdHSjfKqNkIYqo4HkmQGhyTM5aYmM7eUSUJvULnAko0/s1600/spinningswirls6.jpg" height="350" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">However, when I cut the bars, I was surprised- that blending did not extend all the way through the soap. So, here is my entry for the challenge!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixrZeQuSDsRA2UIUPCGxDNCD1rEAX770xoG-QsGzheiclHIYJOHklbfJ1mYzuM-ExrvUQ86nqM9QG2zsTsD01GYEbaIqweAwYi9bWzY822QfQUYjJblu3hAT09E9Nxn7PYVn3/s1600/spinnningswirlsstamped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixrZeQuSDsRA2UIUPCGxDNCD1rEAX770xoG-QsGzheiclHIYJOHklbfJ1mYzuM-ExrvUQ86nqM9QG2zsTsD01GYEbaIqweAwYi9bWzY822QfQUYjJblu3hAT09E9Nxn7PYVn3/s1600/spinnningswirlsstamped.png" height="427" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I scented these with a combination of lime, lemongrass, and litsea cubeba essential oils. They smell like citrus heaven!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had time, so I wanted to test a theory- would using squeeze bottles give me better control of my pouring with a technique like this? I also wanted a more permanent slab mold- cardboard was good for one batch, but not more! So, my son and I spent a couple of hours making two molds- one small, one larger. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I made the same recipe, using the same colors and scents. I wondered if a slightly thicker trace would help with the color blending, so I got the batter to just a hair beyond emulsified, then poured into my bottles which already had the colorant in them. I definitely felt I had more control over the pour. No white blobs over my circles!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mtT8_zWvQwf2x5UVXGVqwu3xIzM8Q84wFyUlJVMtaraYn0BPPJ7GsFFJsEJK7Q_N7D1LvqPuzGV5yJ2opi0ncueGU8mrpVpASUHF3ZMwxr55xUUWdR-S6kXr41qIwgxO72-J/s1600/2spinningswirl4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mtT8_zWvQwf2x5UVXGVqwu3xIzM8Q84wFyUlJVMtaraYn0BPPJ7GsFFJsEJK7Q_N7D1LvqPuzGV5yJ2opi0ncueGU8mrpVpASUHF3ZMwxr55xUUWdR-S6kXr41qIwgxO72-J/s1600/2spinningswirl4.jpg" height="318" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Two spins later, and we had. . . </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UR9lcU4GreJHceC3gP6bcYSGqg1KP9vxrF4_NbGCTseyolKV82_Pg3whgwCQID7aOb0-G9GPITTWEW_ycSRofQXYafbslSSt2RvTWBuPdeh97vSmDQAs9RNrgdrQ6SXxr1ut/s1600/2spinningswirl6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UR9lcU4GreJHceC3gP6bcYSGqg1KP9vxrF4_NbGCTseyolKV82_Pg3whgwCQID7aOb0-G9GPITTWEW_ycSRofQXYafbslSSt2RvTWBuPdeh97vSmDQAs9RNrgdrQ6SXxr1ut/s1600/2spinningswirl6.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And here are the finished bars--</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LMeKu65j8RhW1mS0VHqjHuG1Dy31DzPeZmA0nd6Ey9G5tuKNnpgfM6-fCOv3lHnsQo6KrpE_kY190fGzZRFgWMZDD-oxoGYyB4Q8Mq3l6Gyt1A2j5nXdHPIVQvDsbPAHj9e1/s1600/2ndspinswirls1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LMeKu65j8RhW1mS0VHqjHuG1Dy31DzPeZmA0nd6Ey9G5tuKNnpgfM6-fCOv3lHnsQo6KrpE_kY190fGzZRFgWMZDD-oxoGYyB4Q8Mq3l6Gyt1A2j5nXdHPIVQvDsbPAHj9e1/s1600/2ndspinswirls1.jpg" height="371" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There is nothing wrong with them, they look good- but the narrower color bands I got on the first batch had lots more movement. Maybe next time I won't blend past emulsification, and see what happens. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My daughter-in-law now has plenty of citrus scented soaps to look forward to, and I now have two slab molds!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks for hosting this challenge, Amy. I love this technique and will be using it again! </span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-11350526093105716962015-01-21T12:00:00.000-07:002015-01-21T17:54:36.993-07:00Soap Challenge: Butterfly Swirl<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I knew from the outset I would not make more than one attempt to get this one. I've not done a lot of hanger swirls, although I like the look. <a href="http://www.handmadeinflorida.com/" target="_blank">Zahida of Handmade in Florida</a> has done some amazing soaps using the hanger.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also wanted to try something different for me- using a color for a background rather than white. I decided to go with a gold background, and white, black, and deep red for the swirls.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I don't have a lot of process pictures, since I was both soap maker and photographer this time. No way I was going to risk stopping the process and having the batter go thick on me! I used one of my recipes that has proven to be a slow mover in the past- coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter, avocado oil, sunflower oil, and castor oil. I scented it with <a href="http://www.brambleberry.com/" target="_blank">Brambleberry's</a> Champagne fragrance oil- love how that smells!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Here's my batter, divided out. I used a bit of yellow oxide and a lot of Shimmer Gold mica (from <a href="http://www.nurturesoapsupplies.com/" target="_blank">Nurture Soap Supplies</a>) for the main batter. I used activated charcoal, TD, and Brambleberry's Merlot Sparkle mica for the accent colors.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtq2jQaPyz5KcNz8Ie3ct4QCTuMKlw4Guxx7IxmhzR3dR03p0SFgWGQljXVmTIckLeQX9DoEj_QO_ayKghEUSQG9_U1bicIPimYWSf5XZCf8BuufijbhWmNFyIqWquVoS7NWIO/s1600/jan2015challengeprocess1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtq2jQaPyz5KcNz8Ie3ct4QCTuMKlw4Guxx7IxmhzR3dR03p0SFgWGQljXVmTIckLeQX9DoEj_QO_ayKghEUSQG9_U1bicIPimYWSf5XZCf8BuufijbhWmNFyIqWquVoS7NWIO/s1600/jan2015challengeprocess1.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I poured about half the gold batter in my mold, then drop swirled the colors, trying to stay on one side. After all the batter was in the mold, I did some swirls on the top.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqU38kzpQKce_xE6AD8vvsP3qkqbkH7xVq2da514L9Fs-M1YuZ-Rn-SLGs3NpMLWaCi6Uk6_Rg8Gteql3z84CRQ_QEe4ZmrlgzyDuXMYKAXwd_dPzpHSBhpDvtozrIhXm3mjQ/s1600/jan2015challengeinthemold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqU38kzpQKce_xE6AD8vvsP3qkqbkH7xVq2da514L9Fs-M1YuZ-Rn-SLGs3NpMLWaCi6Uk6_Rg8Gteql3z84CRQ_QEe4ZmrlgzyDuXMYKAXwd_dPzpHSBhpDvtozrIhXm3mjQ/s1600/jan2015challengeinthemold.jpg" height="237" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So far, the colors look good, just what I was hoping for. We'll see how they look in 24 hours. . . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I realized the next day that I'd forgotten my sodium lactate, so the loaf was soft. This one will need a nice long cure. However, after 36 hours, I couldn't wait any longer, so I VERY carefully unmolded the soap.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQ0i4qxZLDCtkqzOnS9Ff8Y8o0N7BQTlluy6q0s79U7J07j_pMEsp6EDwX4gM9onzotPl-Kz9l-FKrcG01qmmYiz_q6Rx5zVpbDNKorEG08lydDpyI9jGW599qINDhpS0Y3pq/s1600/jan2015unmolding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQ0i4qxZLDCtkqzOnS9Ff8Y8o0N7BQTlluy6q0s79U7J07j_pMEsp6EDwX4gM9onzotPl-Kz9l-FKrcG01qmmYiz_q6Rx5zVpbDNKorEG08lydDpyI9jGW599qINDhpS0Y3pq/s1600/jan2015unmolding.jpg" height="230" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So far, so good- but I want to see the inside! So I made one cut- it looks good, I think I may get some butterflies!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I waited another twelve hours before cutting the entire loaf. I played around with different combinations, and decided this is the one that was most successful. (The differences in the colors are because I used two different cameras- the top pics are from my iPhone, the last is with my Pentax DSLR. The last photo is the most accurate color representation.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">To say I am thrilled would be an understatement! Thanks to <a href="http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/" target="_blank">Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks</a> for hosting the challenge!</span><br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-15065867970957965632015-01-19T18:00:00.000-07:002015-01-19T18:00:02.538-07:00When I'm Sixty-Four. . . . <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wow, five since my last post. I'd say it's a good indicator of where my head has been in the last few weeks- certainly not in a blogging mode.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We had a lovely Christmas, both my brother and Shannon were here. I celebrated a milestone three weeks after Christmas- referenced in the title! It feels a bit weird, because I don't feel that old. My mother used to talk about wondering who that old lady was in the mirror, because she didn't feel like her inside. Now, I can relate. I'm grateful to be told regularly that I don't look my age, and my health is good so I don't have to act it either!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have also been doing a lot of thinking about the coming year, and where I want to take my creative life. Writing about my inner conversations is not easy for me- forgive me if this sounds disjointed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The creative aspects of my life are a refuge, they are a large part of what helps keep me feeling young. I have a community of friends who share this passion to create, both online and 'in the flesh'. I treasure my time alone in the studio also- I find the solitude rejuvenating. Our culture and time bombards us daily with information, noise- it is nice to seclude myself and just turn all that off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have noticed over the past few months that the drive and focus with respect to my fiber art are lessening. Granted, the soap making (another creative outlet, I would add) has impacted that. I don't want to give up the fiber art, but it is no longer the sole outlet for my creative urges. How to balance them? I'm not very good at that; when I get interested in something I tend to immerse myself and go at it full bore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What conclusions have I reached? I'd already taken one step a couple of years ago, when I decided to quit trying every surface design and quilting technique under the sun and limit myself to those that make my heart sing. It has made for some interesting conversations in my small local art quilt group, as several members are polar opposite. We are still working on making the group a safe haven for all of us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I think it is time to take the idea of limitations to other parts of my creative life. I'm hoping that this will mean my work becomes more authentically "me"- a goal I have been striving for. It will mean backing out of some arenas. It may mean taking the time to recharge by finishing a more traditional quilt sitting in my UFO pile. It will mean asking the same question consistently- will this take me further along the path I want to go?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> I hope you wish me well on this fork in my road.</span><br />
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Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-44289891992023143732014-12-11T20:52:00.000-07:002014-12-11T20:58:58.830-07:00Third Time's the Charm- Spoon Swirl with the Soap Club Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Artic Waters, by Beverly Hart</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I made a third batch of soap Sunday morning, hoping to finally get it all right and end up with a bar of soap I'd be happy to enter in the challenge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My first decision was to use a different recipe- I wanted one that I knew would get to a thicker trace. I used a recipe I'd developed and used previously- one that definitely thickened more quickly than the recipe I'd used in the previous two batches.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I got everything together- checking twice to make sure I didn't forget ANYTHING. My son was kind enough to take pictures of the process, after I'd made the batter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I added my colorants, using Blue Vibrance and Turquoise micas from Nurture Soap Supplies, and titanium dioxide in the main batter. I also added kaolin clay for whiteness, and a combination of Fresh and Clean fragrance oil and peppermint essential oil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I poured most of my main white batter into the mold. It's already at a medium trace, should be great for a spoon swirl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then I started pouring the colors in. One of the disadvantages of a heavier trace is that the colors are more apt to sit on top, rather than drop to the bottom of the soap. Even pouring from higher up didn't change that much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Time to get busy with the spoon. I was definitely dealing with a thicker batter than in the previous two tries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, since this was a spoon swirl challenge, I decided to texture the top with the spoon rather than do swirls with my skewer. I like the way it turned out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I did not cover or insulate this- since I was using a wood mold instead of silicone, I did not want to take a chance on glycerin rivers. I waited until late Monday afternoon to unmold and cut. Here's the other side of the bar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One little air bubble, but I like the way the colors move and combine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So, there you have it- the third time was the charm with this challenge. I had fun with the process, and certainly learned along the journey!</span></div>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-56944906184876579502014-12-07T16:24:00.000-07:002014-12-10T20:16:21.598-07:00A Soapy Challenge<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I'd noted some time ago that there seem to be a lot of similarities between quilters and soapers. One of their commonalities is a liking for challenges. They seem to be a means to learn and stretch creative muscles in both camps. I finally decided to take the plunge and join Amy Warden's challenge this month. (A note to my fiber art friends- if soap making bores you silly, better skip this one!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The technique for this challenge is a spoon swirl, which is fairly simple and lends itself to thicker batter, which I've had no problems achieving. I'd just gotten a sample pack of micas, and was itching to use them. I knew I wanted to do something cold and wintry- after all, it is December!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had my recipe, then got all my ingredients ready to go. My oils and lye solution. . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My two micas, dispersed in a little oil. I also used titanium dioxide in the main batter.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Ueqlai0T0kxQ03_11dcDw3r6_-r8fZqjHf33Gr-PqctL15DH1p_M0Yxr1X-1XK2xTUMctQHLMVRKDCB6ngZZOQy8QvRAJnw88YbUjPib-00PpdAGENIyNaoK-0AAXFytPZbd/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Ueqlai0T0kxQ03_11dcDw3r6_-r8fZqjHf33Gr-PqctL15DH1p_M0Yxr1X-1XK2xTUMctQHLMVRKDCB6ngZZOQy8QvRAJnw88YbUjPib-00PpdAGENIyNaoK-0AAXFytPZbd/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My fragrance and additive- I really wanted white soap, so I used some kaolin clay.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_krN_wSIkElvliP1rPLKrKCTFjatH1OL09_mwkqicxar7DYHDLBUVygScJgF7Yg-n1nM9MXor5VtJNPMgx2Sn5zjKJLvRh4nYs1MwBp_Abqtboi20UuXF7fLdtLIUaysUrXS/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_krN_wSIkElvliP1rPLKrKCTFjatH1OL09_mwkqicxar7DYHDLBUVygScJgF7Yg-n1nM9MXor5VtJNPMgx2Sn5zjKJLvRh4nYs1MwBp_Abqtboi20UuXF7fLdtLIUaysUrXS/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge3.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I blended my batter- so far, so good. It really stayed fluid- in fact, too fluid for a spoon swirl. But I pressed on- when has a batter not thickened for me? The micas mixed beautifully, and I love the metallic sheen they lend.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDDbgd55gM_eQA2W96jInGy9jinmVOcAiNBSZFK_5Xt7BwSXjwyUtj4NIoCCH2Ph6H-zusagxTTfdFaCYWZbZY7C-tQBPglSgMQsm3HUxFYQUC1Gbo8L54FeTfypOmJ_bL5Ht/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDDbgd55gM_eQA2W96jInGy9jinmVOcAiNBSZFK_5Xt7BwSXjwyUtj4NIoCCH2Ph6H-zusagxTTfdFaCYWZbZY7C-tQBPglSgMQsm3HUxFYQUC1Gbo8L54FeTfypOmJ_bL5Ht/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge4.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I poured my main batter into the mold.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOcdV8eGZyufGJKnNPBYI8itVtDv7PSJtX3due2yIhN3n4Aie-mC2bco2r2xIgHWWHDt2It9u68sTbrxxLo2zLBuRdD86BklSPJTBsPWjac2sj5RBKRw7jnEO-wAQqVroBnDJ/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOcdV8eGZyufGJKnNPBYI8itVtDv7PSJtX3due2yIhN3n4Aie-mC2bco2r2xIgHWWHDt2It9u68sTbrxxLo2zLBuRdD86BklSPJTBsPWjac2sj5RBKRw7jnEO-wAQqVroBnDJ/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge5.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then I added the colors. First the blue. . . </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsbp5N4fS-ncuKmyJZjF4QukjBxi4gOxFUeTm_YgC8VxC1Eodz0p-nydbXoxqR-ujYU6Ej3AsUR7d3yxJMk8f6eVB-zTy4kw2iSkumgriT5L5APk9-H49Ew-uJMBDxeiSu8CG/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsbp5N4fS-ncuKmyJZjF4QukjBxi4gOxFUeTm_YgC8VxC1Eodz0p-nydbXoxqR-ujYU6Ej3AsUR7d3yxJMk8f6eVB-zTy4kw2iSkumgriT5L5APk9-H49Ew-uJMBDxeiSu8CG/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge006.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">then the teal. Mmmm, that batter is still really fluid, not thickening quickly at all. Where was this batter when I needed it for my Christmas tree swirl? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxEn1-UBlAgNH7SDdtrf8zmFQa-wDeXgb-f5HdaAp5EqY02bnT-Em28_Ykg3Z38R2LBTduziBkwpx5f6X0K3RinFRWIgTDBxQyjeIFIsTcP73-IuX4esmgA4yfKpEWT8rMnLJ/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxEn1-UBlAgNH7SDdtrf8zmFQa-wDeXgb-f5HdaAp5EqY02bnT-Em28_Ykg3Z38R2LBTduziBkwpx5f6X0K3RinFRWIgTDBxQyjeIFIsTcP73-IuX4esmgA4yfKpEWT8rMnLJ/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge7.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I did the spoon swirling- hoping that it would look good even though it seemed too fluid.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfU8Rvt2V9CMJOzi3wbpPXwUVr8lm4HMD898AXgvpMY-XPl3RSqUdHSI-YDbIjBXHjO27OFtC6T_Mdf-3GhuKmAh6O87mxb39-vESG5XIWM7dkE7yMRyIpOqx955haP5oUwWyO/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfU8Rvt2V9CMJOzi3wbpPXwUVr8lm4HMD898AXgvpMY-XPl3RSqUdHSI-YDbIjBXHjO27OFtC6T_Mdf-3GhuKmAh6O87mxb39-vESG5XIWM7dkE7yMRyIpOqx955haP5oUwWyO/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge8.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_pPpODYDkUh1Y_TZmygDwJTjDgWrab8uJmQyVJJpJ2ERPVD7MUkgb-GSL_gOel0Z0LRlyTo9KxYvpkS9-nSHKoKl4X8q263mwa2UbnzFkkF5hLJiH7NRtNpx7dj1lOZx6K73K/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_pPpODYDkUh1Y_TZmygDwJTjDgWrab8uJmQyVJJpJ2ERPVD7MUkgb-GSL_gOel0Z0LRlyTo9KxYvpkS9-nSHKoKl4X8q263mwa2UbnzFkkF5hLJiH7NRtNpx7dj1lOZx6K73K/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge9.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2bKKhl9124VOLIQhwPCDSgVOLu8q9aCJyJYN2BbtRPjmn6_YCD8MTBRGRYiO0Gm4OzIM1mQM_aYgvtiDoY7Cd1vKQcDrx0PxXy33fWpZYYzmzqmf4hrqpdq-tjjVMgLy5rQA/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2bKKhl9124VOLIQhwPCDSgVOLu8q9aCJyJYN2BbtRPjmn6_YCD8MTBRGRYiO0Gm4OzIM1mQM_aYgvtiDoY7Cd1vKQcDrx0PxXy33fWpZYYzmzqmf4hrqpdq-tjjVMgLy5rQA/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge010.jpg" height="240" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had more white and colored batter left than I'd anticipated, so I did another layer on top and spoon swirled that. Then I plopped the little bits of leftover batter onto the top.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCn-wwv6V0XNI53YcnChlqgPLU88dEDX2J_pYmSjG02fq2ukdRWRLWuNulPHthAmBrzJp5fYjlWqquI44zIguSm7gF3b9Q8Id_huROGiDUXyP4vTF3ONxLuZnWehe8CfIms2Pe/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCn-wwv6V0XNI53YcnChlqgPLU88dEDX2J_pYmSjG02fq2ukdRWRLWuNulPHthAmBrzJp5fYjlWqquI44zIguSm7gF3b9Q8Id_huROGiDUXyP4vTF3ONxLuZnWehe8CfIms2Pe/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge012.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I couldn't leave it like that, so I swirled the top with a chopstick.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRY_IFkjlhGAn2frOZY306IDkzS7VvxTukHsMXRoYEigXyeUxHYY5Rq4YThvyWSmwRI03-Q9YL8ncUrxWZTkvkwm3VsOhbojuAe_JwQX_klokdMERpLkEtDQO5pN88gig6Fco/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRY_IFkjlhGAn2frOZY306IDkzS7VvxTukHsMXRoYEigXyeUxHYY5Rq4YThvyWSmwRI03-Q9YL8ncUrxWZTkvkwm3VsOhbojuAe_JwQX_klokdMERpLkEtDQO5pN88gig6Fco/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge013.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Isn't it gorgeous! The colors were just what I wanted! It sat overnight, and then all day Saturday while we did some holiday activities. I came home late Saturday afternoon, grabbed the knife I use to cut, and headed to the studio. It looked great, no glycerine rivers, awesome colors and swirls- but it crumbled! Almost every slice had crumbling. I googled to try to find out what the issue could be, and then it hit me- I'd left out the shea butter. A quick check with pH strips confirmed that my gorgeous soap was lye heavy. Arrrrgh!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">However, I knew exactly what I had done wrong, so I decided to rebatch that night. Marly was kind enough to grate all the soap, then we threw in the shea butter I'd omitted with a little water. I turned the crock pot on to high, and we started stirring and watching. It took a couple of hours, but it melted down so I could get it in the mold. It wasn't the gorgeous soap I'd planned, but for a rebatch, it wasn't bad at all. I unmolded it late this morning, and checked it again with the pH strips. Success!! It registered right where it needed to. It cut beautifully, still smells great, and has pretty color. It kind of reminds me of the formica countertops in homes in the 1960's.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqmL6WQmpNL6uakD2MSy-JvQQ0H03AokGFKpv3KtLO5501EgQhMg-E7-p9MQn5Cgy9l0g9IPU7BEWozCaweodeV6GD-QVJGyJtpFGKiRxHN3REMgRj3U7e4tDrb6fIQityq21/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqmL6WQmpNL6uakD2MSy-JvQQ0H03AokGFKpv3KtLO5501EgQhMg-E7-p9MQn5Cgy9l0g9IPU7BEWozCaweodeV6GD-QVJGyJtpFGKiRxHN3REMgRj3U7e4tDrb6fIQityq21/s1600/dec2014AWchallenge014.jpg" height="300" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also made a four bar batch Saturday night, determined to have a soap worthy of entering the challenge. The swirls may look good, but I managed to forget the fragrance oil in that one. Good grief!! I'm waiting til tomorrow to cut that one, it is still on the soft side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So this morning I made my third batch of soap, hoping to finally get it right. But that will be another post. . . </span></div>
<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-85038370721360688592014-11-12T12:00:00.000-07:002014-11-12T12:00:00.581-07:00Around the World Blog Hop<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Gee- this was supposed to have been posted in mid-October! I got it all ready, then forgot to take it out of draft. So here you go, better late than never I guess. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I've been invited by <a href="http://claynfiber.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Gina of Clay and Fiber</a> to participate in a world wide blog hop. Gina is a very talented artist living in Florida, who has a unique style combining her love of fiber and clay. Take a look at this post to get an idea of just how talented she is. I've gotten to know Gina through the cyber group Tangled Textiles that I have been part of for several years now- if my computer records are accurate, we did our first challenge in June 2011. Gina always has a fresh take on our challenges- and I know how lovely her clay work is, since I own some!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And now, on to the hop---</span><br />
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<i><b>What quilting/sewing thing am I working on?</b></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have two projects going on now. One, that is close to being done, was inspired by a piece of black fabric that I folded, then discharged twice- once in bleach, and once in Thiox. I finished the machine quilting this weekend, and now have to finish the hand stitching.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZjBQdaSrvRSce1C7I2Y_A0fvhM1y5z3uCgMLLQfzi4VRLtVle1EBzL3EqUlhguDONGz2lK2HxzZGTVKZLAVztIdjFTMSU0xywQPyWAGQST6sE0GKFecGFX7m6x_yR63eLTcF/s1600/doubledischargeproc3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZjBQdaSrvRSce1C7I2Y_A0fvhM1y5z3uCgMLLQfzi4VRLtVle1EBzL3EqUlhguDONGz2lK2HxzZGTVKZLAVztIdjFTMSU0xywQPyWAGQST6sE0GKFecGFX7m6x_yR63eLTcF/s1600/doubledischargeproc3.jpg" height="400" width="267" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My other 'in progress' piece is the next challenge for Tangled Textiles. There was no set theme, just the requirement to document the process. I immediately knew I wanted to create a piece using the indigo fabrics I'd dyed a couple of months ago. Many of my quilts start with my hand dyed and printed fabric. Right now, I'm just playing with the fabric, laying out some ideas to see how they look. I will probably resort to the sketchbook at some point, but I'm not there yet. Don't these blues and white just sing together?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZa9Nrur8siSGGx19GQ9ii14IxxV3stwJSoKCvR7BOUQJV4jcka0Un4143YRo-cvuYJqS658GIUoYOhJWvapH6jXrZf_7UBUPUUAdlL-6mio_qTr8G0KiPjhUsD6MKcrsp31Nb/s1600/process1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZa9Nrur8siSGGx19GQ9ii14IxxV3stwJSoKCvR7BOUQJV4jcka0Un4143YRo-cvuYJqS658GIUoYOhJWvapH6jXrZf_7UBUPUUAdlL-6mio_qTr8G0KiPjhUsD6MKcrsp31Nb/s1600/process1.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><b> </b></i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, just for good measure- I'm knitting some small Christmas presents. Handwork really does soothe the soul.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hmm, I'm not sure I can say it does differ in any significant way. I'd say my work is characterized by my love of hand dyed fabric, fairly minimalist design, strong use of color, and a growing love of including handwork in the pieces. Those attributes certainly are not unique to me, but I hope in my growth as an artist that I am finding my own voice that makes it stand out as mine.</span><br />
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<i><b>3. Why do I write/create what I do?</b></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I can't imagine not creating, for a number of reasons. I grew up sewing, knitting- it was just part of our lives. It's played a bigger role at some stages than others, but it has never not been there for me. After I got my master's degree, I started working in a field that is emotionally draining. My fiber art has been a place of refuge from that. It is also the polar opposite of my professional work in other ways: it is something I create totally on my own, I am solely responsible for the outcome, good or bad, and I have a tangible object that I have created at the end of the process. Those who say that quilting (or knitting, or painting, or writing) is cheaper than therapy know what they are talking about. It has certainly been my therapy through some difficult times, and provides me joy in the not-so-difficult times.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> </b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ten years ago I was eager to try any technique I could learn, and had a growing stash of embellishments and fabrics. Over the years I have decided that the only way for me to grow is to set limits- limits on what I can use, limits on the techniques I learn, even limit the classes I take. I've always loved clean, simple design, and loved to piece- so my more recent work reflects that. I'd also say that I am influenced by nature, but try to abstract what I see and feel rather than try to recreate a realistic picture of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I started writing my blog in 2005, after we moved. It was initially a way to journal my creative journey, and turned into a way to connect with other artists around the world. I must admit that sometimes my motivation to write waxes and wanes, depending on what is going on- but I've not left it fallow for more than a month or so.</span><br />
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<i><b>4. How does my writing/creative process work?</b></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My fiber work generally starts with the fabric. A piece of hand dye may inspire some ideas in my head, and I'll just start playing with the fabric. I'm a firm believer in therapy sewing, and having strip sets ready to go when the muse wants to play. I rarely draw my ideas out ahead of time. I seem to work better when the fabric and I are having a conversation, and it tells me what it wants to be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As for the writing- I do set limits there, because there are parts of my life that I either am not able or do not want to post on the world wide web. It really has become a way to keep an ongoing journal of my fiber art (and other avocations), a way for me to better understand my own process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All that being said, here's a sampling of some of my work . . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> I don't have three bloggers to point you to, but I would like to point you in the direction of one artist whose work I love. <a href="http://lisasartmusings.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lisa Flowers Ross</a> is an artist living in Boise- I love her clean, simple design esthetic. In addition to be very involved in the art community in Boise, she has created art for some very unusual places- like, traffic boxes! And, she is a featured artist in a gallery in Ketchum this month, with a couple of new pieces that I found stunning. So give her blog a visit!</span></div>
Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-37923150677265177282014-11-11T17:14:00.001-07:002014-11-11T17:39:33.526-07:00I love long weekends!!<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I've had five days to play in the studio- doing both fiber and soap- oh, and a new addiction that goes hand in glove with the soaping. But first to fiber.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I got Reclamation (or whatever it ends up being named, I'm not sure yet) faced. I still have a sleeve and label to add, but those are no-brainer tasks I can do during the week after work. I am happy with it- but it is still talking, and telling me it needs more! I keep seeing metal on it, so I think I will have to walk the aisles at Home Depot to see if any inspiration strikes. Do they make copper washers? I doubt it, but what I keep seeing are copper circles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I loved doing the hand embroidery. I have a smaller piece of this fabric left that has more gray in it- I'm thinking of doing something similar, but doing the quilting in gray instead of the gold, and seeing what it does. I think I have some gray fabric I auditioned for a border, also. Something to play with this winter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also worked on my Tangled Textiles piece- but if you want to see that, you'll need to head over to the <a href="http://tangledtextiles.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">TT blog.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I got the last of my Christmas soaping done this weekend. The Christmas colored soaps turned out well, just need a little cleaning up after they've cured a month or so. I am getting better at this swirling business!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> The Christmas soaps are scented with a blend of Champagne and pomegranate fragrance oils, and the bottom one with Champagne and ginger fragrance oils. They smell heavenly!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The lavender swirl soap is scented with lavender, coriander and eucalyptus essential oils. I'd used the coriander blended with other essential oils before, and not been happy with the result. With the lavender, it is fantastic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, I felted some of my older soaps that were still perfectly usable but had lost most of their scent. I finally got the hang of using the really nice Merino wool to felt after a couple of failures. The trick is to lay down lots of very thin layers of fiber- I think I did about six. With a coarser wool, I was only doing three layers, and it worked. With the Merino wool, not so much. The top one is done with a variegated roving I got in Grand Junction this summer- it made some lovely soaps, all very different!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, this weekend I used my tall and skinny mold I made last weekend for the first time. I made another rendition of my Rose Clay and Charcoal soap, this time with a dandelion zebra swirl. I will be trying this again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The soap at the top of the picture is upside-down- but I like the way the swirl looks from that perspective. It reminds me of a mountain with the moon rising behind it. I think I'm going to play with that technique again, and see what I can do with that image. And, I am very happy with my tall and skinny mold!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I worked on my labels and packaging- I do have some orders for soap for Christmas! If you can't tell, I really am enjoying this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Saturday Marly and I tried something new- we made lotion. I only needed to get a couple of ingredients, since I already had the oils from soaping. It was so easy- it took longer to measure and heat the ingredients than it did to make. And the lotion is fantastic! We scented it with lavender and coriander, like the soap. I will be doing more of this, and never buying commercial lotion again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But tomorrow it's back to work, at least for a couple of days. Then I'll be back in the studio, quilting my TT piece. Hopefully I can get that done next weekend!</span><br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-60605569891220208332014-11-02T19:09:00.003-07:002014-11-02T19:09:44.885-07:00Whoosh- Where Did October Go?<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I cannot believe it has been a month since I posted. It is not for lack of things going on here, there has been lots. I try to cram so much into my weekends, I am spending less and less time on the computer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I got started on my November piece for Tangled Textiles- but to see that, you'll need to wander over to the Tangled Textiles blog. We are posting our process for this challenge- and since I don't do a lot of sketching, this has been a bit of a challenge for me. I am happy with the progress I made this weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">And I have been soaping like mad, trying to get stuff done in time for Christmas. I figure this is the last weekend I can soap and be sure they are ready. I am really happy with what I've done!</span></span><br />
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Top soap is Barefoot in the Sunshine, scented with green guava and pineapple and peach fragrance oils. The second is unscented goat's milk soap.</div>
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Turquoise and cocoa soap, designed for a particular bathroom.</div>
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Color Block soap, colored with all natural colorants- annatto, alkanet, cocoa powder, and green clay. It's scented with eucalyptus and lime essential oils</div>
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Green clay and Salt bars, scented with eucalyptus essential oil</div>
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Secret swirl soap, unscented (the batter moved too fast!)</div>
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Pumpkin Beer soap</div>
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Red Clay and Charcoal soap</div>
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<span style="color: black;"> Rose clay and charcoal soap</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The combination of chemistry and artistry just fascinates me- it has many of the same elements that fabric dyeing does. And, like fabric, I have a product I can use when all is done!! I have gotten really hooked on using hand crafted soap, I don't think I will ever go back to a commercial product when making this is so easy and fun. Next is lotion making- I now have all the supplies! Think of all the money I could NOT spend at VS, or BBS, or the BS.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have some older soaps that I will be felting, since they have lost much of their scent but are still very usable. The felted soaps went over really well when I sold at the quilt festival over the summer, and I figure it is an easy way to use soaps that might otherwise go to waste. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This weekend I made my last three batches before Christmas-</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Christmas soap, scented with Champagne and ginger fragrance oils, and</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">another small Christmas soap, scented with champagne and pomegranate fragrance oils, and lavender swirl soap, scented with lavender, coriander, and eucalyptus essential oils. Those won't come out of the molds until Tuesday- I can't wait to see how the swirls look!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So that is how I split my time now- fiber and soap.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Either way, it is feeding my muse!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-67840076133021006902014-10-03T16:33:00.000-06:002014-10-03T16:33:16.363-06:00Quilty Resolutions<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">At the beginning of the year, I posted a number of resolutions related to my fiber art on Sandy's <a href="http://quiltingfortherestofus.com/blog/2014-quilty-resolutions-third-quarter-check-in/9/28/2014" target="_blank">Quilting for the Rest of Us blog</a>. I wanted to finish 3 UFO's (Michelle's quilt, my round robin quilt from Not Bound by Tradition, and the black/white/bright wonky blocks quilt), evaluate my stash of hand dyes and do some planned dyeing to fill the gaps, and finish two more in my Walk in the Woods series. This week is the check in to see how we are all doing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I posted the <a href="http://fiberhart.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-finish.html" target="_blank">finish of Michelle's quilt last week</a>- yay! As for the other UFO's, I haven't even looked at them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I've posted about dyeing this summer <a href="http://fiberhart.blogspot.com/2014/05/more-dyeing.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://fiberhart.blogspot.com/2014/08/hippie-heaven.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://fiberhart.blogspot.com/2014/08/color-is-my-therapy.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I can't say I evaluated my stash, but I am dyeing with my more minimalist approach to quilting in mind more often than not. So I'd call that a mostly done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have not done another Walk in the Woods quilt. I want the next one to be winter- and I have not been able to get shibori fabric that even comes close to the vision I have in my head. So this one is still a WIP- because once I get some fabric I like, I think it will come together fairly quickly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And of course- what quilter could limit herself to the projects on a resolution list? I have been working almost daily on the Reclamation piece, and loving what it happening. It has been nice to spend an hour or so hand stitching on work nights. This morning, I spent a couple of hours adding to the machine quilting. I don't think this one will end up in a UFO pile!</span><br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-64499192276431152472014-09-19T16:27:00.000-06:002014-10-03T16:07:46.044-06:00A Finish!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Well, it took a little over a year to finish this, but it is officially DONE. I even threw it in the washer and dryer today- first time ever I've made a quilt with the intention of 'crinkling' it. I do like the way it makes the quilting stand out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It will get boxed up to give to Michelle for her fifth birthday this week. She is growing up fast! My brother gifted me with some sheets- I think I will tie dye a set for her bed to go with this. In pink, of course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I've also started working on another quilt that has been rumbling around in my brain for the past year. Almost exactly one year ago, I was at a week long workshop with Carol Soderlund, learning about discharging fabric. I had some pieces that I loved, and wanted to do something special with. I especially loved the results I got clamping fabric, throwing it in a bucket of bleach, then washing, refolding and clamping, and throwing it in a Thiox bath. I decided what I wanted to do, cut the fabric, and got to work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It's hard to tell in the photo, but it has uneven borders of Osnaberg. I really like the homespun texture this fabric has, and will be using it again. I doing straight line quilting, with some random circles that will be mostly hand embroidered with perle cotton. So far, I am really liking what is happening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The straight line quilting is pretty brainless, which I needed after all the free motion I did on Michelle's quilt. And I like having some handwork to do. My surface design group is having a gallery show next summer with the theme of 'Reclamation'- I think this will do nicely, and I should be able to get this and one other piece done before then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I'm also back to making soap so I have it ready in time for the holidays- but that is another post! Now, I am off to enjoy the fabulous weather we are having, and hoping it means a loooong Indian summer.</span></div>
Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-61554775748061485822014-08-22T21:05:00.000-06:002014-08-22T21:05:29.394-06:00Color is my Therapy<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have been playing in the dyes again, and even tried something new. I should have plenty of fabric to create with this winter, and I'm hoping for a few more dye days before the snow flies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Inspired by <a href="http://upstatelisa.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lisa</a>, who sent us each a piece of hand dyed fabric to use in the latest Tangled Textiles challenge, I spent a day doing flat gradation dyeing. Some turned out better than others, but I'll use every one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I don't know how that blue got on what was supposed to be a gray gradation. I'm guessing that one of my plastic sheets between the fabric was too short, and the blue went where it could! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also threw some soda soaked fabric in the drip bins, and got some beauties.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Love the markings on these, especially the one on the right!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I'm am still ruminating on how I will use these- and I know a couple of other projects will get started before any of these.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Today I tried something totally new for me- indigo dyeing! I'd bought a kit from Dharma a few months ago, and finally mixed it up today. I had a tee folded to make a chevron, and a silk scarf that was already dyed lime green. I just twisted that up and bound it with rubber bands.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I dipped the tee twice, allowing it to oxidize for twenty minutes between dips. It comes out of the vat looking like this. . </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRW0WHPbLuCBSVunxv47BFptW87ewZZMvhbpirpLrloLVCw4qcf3TRZYcAxsVX7vnqvwKbyKDtMAlPgNXJaA3tU52AMBKI7RAqaqdNCTI7pXlG-8nYjIGamnsRPFDB8fAFsnNW/s1600/indigotee2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRW0WHPbLuCBSVunxv47BFptW87ewZZMvhbpirpLrloLVCw4qcf3TRZYcAxsVX7vnqvwKbyKDtMAlPgNXJaA3tU52AMBKI7RAqaqdNCTI7pXlG-8nYjIGamnsRPFDB8fAFsnNW/s1600/indigotee2.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">and a few minutes later looks like this. . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Twenty minutes later, it looked like this. . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">At this point, I undid the rubber bands, and laid it out on my rack to let the the shirt fully oxidize. Here it is, you can still see a bit of green.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Now it just needs to be rinsed and washed, and we'll see how dark the blue is. Can't wait! I'll also be getting some other stuff to dye, even if it is half yard pieces of fabric. I want to dye while the vat is active!</span><br />
<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-62472036219778330902014-08-04T20:31:00.005-06:002014-08-04T20:31:51.232-06:00Hippie Heaven!<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">That is what it felt like up at Timmy's studio last weekend, when four of us got together and did some tie dyeing. We were tutored and mentored by Lynn Dell, who is an awesome artist with the tie dyes. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, can you tell our inner hippies had a blast??</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Our blues after washing them out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After rinsing on the lawn. Most of these in the front are mine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Awesome chevron tapestry that Lynn Dell did!! (With a thrift store sheet!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All our work spread out on the lawn after rinsing it out with the hose.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lisa pouring the dyes on one of her pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Lisa and Diane, Lisa is pouring on some dyes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My peace sign! Every one of us managed to get a peace sign dyed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lisa's peace sign, I think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spiral shirts by Lynn Dell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Our 'reds' after washout. The three shirts on the left are mine, Lynn Dell's peace sign shirt, my scarf, the rest are Lynn Dell's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lisa's tapestry. Love the colors!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Diane's tapestry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A collaborative effort by me and Lisa. I folded it, she did the dyes. I love the movement it has.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lynn Dell's peace sign. Amazing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lynn Dell's chevron tapestry. It was huge!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We had a blast, and I learned some folds that I will be trying again. Every weekend should be this much fun!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-29509040995460760952014-07-28T19:27:00.000-06:002014-07-28T19:27:32.288-06:00<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have been playing in the dyes again- the first time in awhile, and enjoying getting back in to it. I was part of an Ugly Fabric challenge in a Yahoo group I'm part of- this was the piece I got to transform.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was dark except for the one side, and blue. I knew I wanted to discharge first, and all that blue meant I'd have to use bleach. So I folded it, clamped it with two plexiglass rectangles, and threw it in a bucket of bleach.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I kind of liked it at this point, the yellow made me happy. But the brown parts were too muddy for me, so I overdyed it in a bit of red.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This sat on my design wall for a good month while I pondered what to do next. I knew the red was too orange for me, so I finally decided to overdye again in a very pale shade of navy blue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The blue overdye really did knock back the orange, just like I wanted. From a distance it looks like a very toned purple, but up close there are all kinds of colors showing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After another few days on the design wall, I decided it needed one more layer to tie it all together. So I used a rubbing plate and three colors of metallic Shiva paint stiks on it. It is now DONE!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It still has marks that hark back to its past as a dark blue fabric- but it has also been totally transformed. I'm rather pleased with it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also spent a day this past weekend doing more dyeing- but I don't have pictures of the fabric yet, so those will have to wait.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also got a lovely surprise this weekend. Del Thomas from California came through on her way home from Indiana, and we met for lunch. It was great to catch up with her- we had a nice lunch at Olive Garden, and shared a piece of rich chocolate cake at the end. She is a fascinating woman who has done a lot for the quilt community all over the country. I've loved getting to meet and get to know her!!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-75656869037744910292014-07-20T07:48:00.000-06:002014-07-20T07:48:01.160-06:00Summertime Music<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I do not know where the summer is going, time seems to be flying by. I have been loving every hot moment of it, I am nowhere near ready for a change in seasons!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My brother flew out from Reno the last weekend of June, and we went to the Salt Lake Arts Festival. It was the first time I've been in all the years I've lived here, and I'm sorry I waited so long. We had fun walking around looking at all the vendors, and trying out the food offerings. All of my photos are his, taken with his fancy new Fuji.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Michelle doesn't look too happy here- but I think she had a good time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I loved the scrap metal sculptures from one vendor--</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The glass garden was another high point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The festival includes performance art, and one that we saw was unlike anything I've ever seen before. It was an Australian group called Strange Fruit, two women and two men dressed in nineteenth century (sort of) clothing. Their entire performance was done standing on very tall, flexible poles. There really are no words to describe it, but it was entrancing and highly entertaining!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">They interacted with each other, interacted with the audience, and told a bit of a story to a variety of music. The entire time, they were swinging back and forth on those poles. Judging from some of the contortions I saw, they all have incredible core strength! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The setting was also an amazing backdrop to their performance. That blue sky and the lines of the library building just added to the ambience. By the time it was over, I had a crick in my neck from looking up, but it was worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The highlight of the evening, however, was a performance by Angelique Kidjo, and African singer that I have followed for twenty years. I love her music, and she gave an amazing performance!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">She came out in full African dress, with a turban, but within a few songs had lost the turban--</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">She had a wonderful band from all over the world. Most looked to be her age (fifties), but her percussionist was a young man originally from Senegal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was a lively and interactive performance in a small venue, the best kind. Before her final song, she invited the audience to come on stage with her, and it was filled! She sang one my my favorite songs, 'Tumba', while those on stage danced around her. It was just incredible!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was an amazing end to a fantastic day!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-66768933955272210392014-06-22T17:01:00.000-06:002014-06-22T17:01:32.234-06:00My First Epic Soap Seize!<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have been managing to get some soaping in the past two weekends, although the pace is slowing. I'm also managing to get some quilting in, hoping to get Michelle's quilt done before the summer is over. These three pieces of hand dye are staring at me from the design wall- I keep trying to figure out what they are telling me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The one on the left is for the Ugly Fabric challenge on a yahoo group I'm part of- I think it needs one more overdye, with a really pale blue to knock back the orange tone to the red. The middle one is a lovely hand dye done by <a href="http://upstatelisa.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lisa</a> of my Tangled Textiles group. I need to figure out what I'm going to do with it for our August challenge. At first, I thought I'd leave it whole, but now I'm thinking I'm going to cut it up. I have a couple of ideas that I'll play with on paper first. The one on the right is one of my favorite pieces from Carol Soderlund's workshop last fall. I don't want to cut it up, but now I'm thinking I'll border it with Osnaburg, quilt, and add some embroidery. We'll see- the middle one comes first!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I did several soap experiments. I made more lavender swirl soap, and was happy with how it turned out. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxOkzP53DZ0fummRBmEd5U45hvuhGJJAYOTP7vz2wkB3QD2-dq5ZaLRloeHKGWkp6ajSX1KhwUl7vGJxCoanVgzB2o65diLxPoJpWu5DLaHw45U696ajjM6hhzRMzJoBx6VUd/s1600/lavenderswirljun2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxOkzP53DZ0fummRBmEd5U45hvuhGJJAYOTP7vz2wkB3QD2-dq5ZaLRloeHKGWkp6ajSX1KhwUl7vGJxCoanVgzB2o65diLxPoJpWu5DLaHw45U696ajjM6hhzRMzJoBx6VUd/s1600/lavenderswirljun2014.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">See those bubble things? I learned that those are glycerin rivers, and they are caused by overheating in soap that has titanium dioxide in it. The soap is perfectly usable, and the texture doesn't bother me- I think it can look kind of cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then I tried salt bars, with a pink pencil line using rose clay. I also topped them with a dusting of rose clay and pink Himalayan salt. They look great, no?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtI78Rrezg724Lo8p5aLbXkq9Dr1uNj47MBjyl8DZG0KgOIEbF9Af4fdRcqJyuc2FI9IPHOYBOKbKrDyWf2syuLQoL5mJG2Uqv7LwViwX3ptenqUddbOn4qHVyknNxpOnew4k/s1600/saltbars1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtI78Rrezg724Lo8p5aLbXkq9Dr1uNj47MBjyl8DZG0KgOIEbF9Af4fdRcqJyuc2FI9IPHOYBOKbKrDyWf2syuLQoL5mJG2Uqv7LwViwX3ptenqUddbOn4qHVyknNxpOnew4k/s1600/saltbars1.jpg" height="320" width="316" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqEQHa9Dm95Su4X6NUA4wELZ5xHdMBoTKnIXvw7eqaAUWVE9NYK-xmN3cISzlKVrfDsraxreLJTBeUTRRXTXrbdp47JNtCn_W4mnbyZENPCweYRU3Re9e1oF3NkI6-84CXkK7/s1600/saltbars1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Except they crumbled- badly. Apparently that is a common occurrence with salt bars. So, I ordered a new mold, one that allows you to make twelve individual bars, so no cutting. Once that got here, I rebatched the bars with a little coconut milk and water. They look crumbly as all get out, but when I took them out of the molds this morning, they held. I do love silicone molds!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnS9ss8YQGaCAbSTrOm3x_WIph9wEa33ggX39hvpqsGDvI80gJExagEcrYQiO9wPdVCMhiLwxAqKCRP56PnnYBqeJYcSfPPoH-pvzjiNelStrAZsynFvQez8R-KF3nqvnJuMxl/s1600/saltsoap2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnS9ss8YQGaCAbSTrOm3x_WIph9wEa33ggX39hvpqsGDvI80gJExagEcrYQiO9wPdVCMhiLwxAqKCRP56PnnYBqeJYcSfPPoH-pvzjiNelStrAZsynFvQez8R-KF3nqvnJuMxl/s1600/saltsoap2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So I won't be trying to sell these, but they are perfectly usable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last weekend I wanted to try making an ombre soap using a natural colorant. I decided to try baby carrots. I waaay overthought the ombre bit- I should have just thought of dyeing a value gradation!- but I am very happy with how these turned out!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIvsIEkzrt1oXmD4yHZdklkyj3tviKNIGIdI4Jd7rTINQHgeE-VUB0XfYC5iiG-n0PHjCIvYXSR02fTsw5hSNFEXCT1jofBSuKa8QIkZxRbp92jxm8OXyidkby9cDKfpgKBNl/s1600/yellowombresoap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIvsIEkzrt1oXmD4yHZdklkyj3tviKNIGIdI4Jd7rTINQHgeE-VUB0XfYC5iiG-n0PHjCIvYXSR02fTsw5hSNFEXCT1jofBSuKa8QIkZxRbp92jxm8OXyidkby9cDKfpgKBNl/s1600/yellowombresoap.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I just hope the color holds- from everything I've read, that seems to be more of an issue with natural colorants than ultramarines and oxides.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So that experience had me thinking- how can I use charcoal to make a black to white soap? I thought I had it figured out, so made my batch this morning. I think I even had the gradation bit figured out to make it easier, but the soap did not cooperate- I got what is known as 'soap on a stick', which meant the soap solidified in the bowls. At first I thought it was the charcoal, but then I realized the soap I'd left white seized also. So that meant it had to be the essential oils. I'd used three- cedarwood, oregano, and peppermint. Oregano was the only one I'd never used in soap before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I made an identical batch of the soap, but left out the oregano, and instead just used cedarwood and peppermint. The second batch behaved perfectly! I didn't do the ombre, but it does have three colors in it. I got a lovely swirl on the top, the best I've done so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am purposely not insulating this soap, to see if that eliminates the glycerin rivers. There is also a surprise inside, which won't be revealed until I cut the soap!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have also been packaging and labeling the soap I will have for sale at the quilting festival in mid-July. Doesn't Michelle's quilt make a good backdrop for this soap?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The paper wrap and button is not a long term packaging solution, but it looked appropriate for a vendor at a quilt festival. All I need to add is my label on the back of the soap- you can see the ingredient label on the bottom of the soaps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I love all the felted soaps I've done! I have more to do, I'll need to find more roving before too long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All in all, a busy couple of weeks. Four more days of work, then my brother arrives from Reno for a short visit- then I'm off on the train to Colorado to see Shannon for a few days. I'm looking forward to the break!!</span></div>
Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-76240758811185118792014-06-08T20:05:00.000-06:002014-06-08T20:05:14.143-06:00Absent- and Busy!<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Almost a month since I blogged- and for once, it's not because I've had nothing going on. Au contraire, I feel like I've been running the past several weekends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Memorial weekend we went to Moab for the Art Festival. I was so enjoying it all, I did not take a single picture. I managed to get more earrings from a vendor I love, got a naturally dyed silk scarf from another vendor, and spent some time speaking with a natural soap and lotions vendor. The only downside was the not very cooperative weather- not as bad as the car show weekend, but still cooler than I wanted, interspersed with rain. I do love Moab!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last weekend we went exploring up Payson Canyon. I'd hoped for some hiking, but that turned out to be more of a short walk than anything. We drove up to Maple Lake, thinking it would be a mile and a half hike to the lake. Turned out to be a short walk to the lake, then maybe a mile around it. It was beautiful, however.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The greens and blues just seemed incredibly intense that day! While starting to walk around the little lake, I thought I saw a heron, then decided I was mistaken. Then Shiloh scared something, and I realized I had seen a heron! I got this shot of it up at the top of a tree, safe from my crazy dog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Since the hike was so short, Sean fished for awhile- then we decided to drive the entire Nebo Loop. So we kept going up the canyon, stopping at places that looked interesting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Turned out, the loop wasn't open yet- we got over the top a little ways, then hit a gate. I can't believe there would still be snow there- but maybe they haven't finished all the maintenance. On the way back down the way we came up, we stopped at the viewpoint for Utah Lake. It really was a spectacular view of Utah valley.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This weekend, I've done some quilting, and I've done some soapy stuff. Michelle's pink quilt is coming along- if I can just do a couple of hours every weekend, it shouldn't take that long to finish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The thread I'm using isn't really orange, it's a dusty pink that blends well with everything. I'm planning to throw this quilt in the washer and dryer when I am done, hoping to get that crinkled effect. Once that's done, I figure my somewhat wonky quilting won't show much at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also spent several hours wrapping soap. This idea will work for the show I'm vending at in July, but it is not a long term solution. I still need to figure out some inexpensive embellishment for this side of the soap. My ingredients label is on the bottom, and my other label will go on the other side.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, I finished the last of my felted soaps. I hope these sell well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So that is what I have been up to. Work is crazy making right now- this is the stuff that feeds my soul and keeps me sane. </span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-61891391886381174122014-05-18T20:55:00.000-06:002014-05-18T20:55:13.955-06:00Fiber and Soaps. . . <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am on to something that combines both my avocations. I am thinking more and more about what I want to have for the booth I'm part of at the Utah County Quilt Festival in July. I showed the soaps I have so far to some others that are part of the group, and they asked to buy some of my inventory! They also thought my soaps would sell well, so I am really encouraged.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had one batch of soap that I wasn't happy with- I cut some up into small bars, the rest I rebatched. Then I remembered that I had some wool roving I got in Moab a year or two ago, planning to do fiber bowls. Never happened! So I got out the roving, watched a YouTube video on felting soap, and then went at it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This shows the soaps I covered, some of my first attempts, and some of the roving I was using.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuD85fw5uhPRaxeSCA8Pr2T6kAgkg-MmfulORNDVOuvv9uE4SWDAID8gNxd8epcx-ht9warABUVi_iSTSPg9i2qQqDyRIqD7CXV8iMjlvYkmItCgCyR50VEG0LuPywcHtOh49/s1600/feltedsoaps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuD85fw5uhPRaxeSCA8Pr2T6kAgkg-MmfulORNDVOuvv9uE4SWDAID8gNxd8epcx-ht9warABUVi_iSTSPg9i2qQqDyRIqD7CXV8iMjlvYkmItCgCyR50VEG0LuPywcHtOh49/s1600/feltedsoaps.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Three hours later, I had about twenty of these small felted soaps. I got quite the upper body workout, but loved the results. I have five larger bars from this same batch that I will cover, then I decided to cover another less than successful soap, with some purple and pink roving. I think the soap is fine, but I just am not happy with how it looks. I'll post those when I get them done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, I had to make more soap. The Peppermint Honey Oatmeal has been a favorite with almost everyone I've given it to, so I did another batch- but this time, I reworked the recipe to make it palm free. I used cocoa butter in the place of palm oil, and I am not sure I like the results. The color is different, and even allowing it to sit twenty four hours after unmolding, it felt sticky. But, it is sliced and on my drying rack.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hopefully after four to six weeks curing, it will be fine. However, I am going to re-think how I changed the recipe, and will play with that again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also made another soap recipe I've done before, with an added twist. I put silk fibers in the lye solution, and let them dissolve. Silk is supposed to add a nice 'slip' to soap, so I am eager to see how this feels. I also used an ultramarine colorant, and hopfully got some nice swirls in the soap. Here it is, unmolded along with the oatmeal soap before I cut it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I think I will be happy with this one!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I signed up for a Craftsy class I've been eyeing, waiting for it to go on sale. It's on product photography, and I am hoping to improve the looks of my photos on the blog, among other things. These are my first attempts to 'stage' a photo shoot with my products- we'll see what the teacher says! I am enjoying the class, and know I'll refer back to it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We have finally gotten some good weather, and I suspect that has helped my mood and motivation immensely. Next weekend we will be in Moab for the art festival- another Moab event I thoroughly enjoy. And, there is something brewing with the Tangled Textiles group- I got a package in the mail, with instructions to leave it unopened until the 21st. I can't wait to see what Lisa is up to!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-44819555565749752182014-05-12T19:54:00.000-06:002014-05-12T19:54:00.746-06:00More Dyeing<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We had a lousy weekend weather-wise, so I spent more time in the studio. I've decided I need to add to my stash- mostly value gradations. I've had an idea for a quilt bouncing around in my head for awhile, related to the colors in the desert and mesas around Moab. So I'm dyeing very toned, desert-y colors. Yesterday I did a muted purple and what I hoped would be a sage green. This is what I got--</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It's hard to see in the photo, but these have texture- I did them low water immersion, with what I thought was plenty of scrunching and squeezing. I was hoping for some, but not a lot of texture. I think next time I will use more water- almost as much as with regular immersion. I have no desire to sit and stir eight buckets of fabric, but all that water should help minimize the texture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The two on the right are fabrics I dyed last year, and didn't like- so I folded them, clamped them, and threw them in bleach. I am much happier with them now. I did another one that I really disliked-</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was drip dyed with navy blue, fuschia, and probably some yellows. I folded it into a square, clamped pieces of plexiglass, and bleached it. You can see the original fabric in some of the dark marks. I like it much better, haven't decided if I'll do anything else to it or not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, I overdyed the ugly fabric I showed last week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Not sure about this one, I may overdye it with a bit of blue. I was hoping for more of a burgundy color, not the almost but not quite orange that I got. I'll look at it for a week and decide then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And, as a Mother's Day present to me- I signed up for a Craftsy class, Shoot It! A Primer on Product Photography. It looks like it will have lots of good information on shooting fabric and soaps to make them visually appealing. I'll let you know how that goes!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-1179895661960522342014-05-05T20:04:00.000-06:002014-05-05T20:07:24.770-06:00Ugly Fabric Challenge<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A couple of months ago, I decided to participate in another ugly fabric challenge. The moderator of a group I belong to sends all the participants a piece of fabric she has dyed and considers 'ugly.' Our job is to try to create a swan out of an ugly duckling!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I got this half yard piece of fabric. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V6t9QmF-yQaEZ07PmvWaHtyecTLkWJutxYq2pmiq7keLNcy7CM73C54lzzcIYy7LbzXj03Ovh8t2TfJOLxGk9cD4sPlph0ttgfUE23A1qrqpfbZ_CWpsFAz1_WofwIgp1HE_/s1600/uglyfabricdet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V6t9QmF-yQaEZ07PmvWaHtyecTLkWJutxYq2pmiq7keLNcy7CM73C54lzzcIYy7LbzXj03Ovh8t2TfJOLxGk9cD4sPlph0ttgfUE23A1qrqpfbZ_CWpsFAz1_WofwIgp1HE_/s1600/uglyfabricdet.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I quite like the bits of golden brown on the one side. I wondered about the blue- since this is so dark, I knew I had to discharge first. With blues, that generally means you are limited to bleach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So, I folded it into a square, and clamped a piece of plexiglass on both sides.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUs3s9WFxxIGFodLsdz2N-S-xkSg-TY-C1kPeHU9DRQSAsPIpX69NQUaEyLAfmdcQVGep43uRqJb0I7uJg4XVrhjiujhbM9dE2GLRkGM-nYDOwIYtD3uaTd2ao9uQtDkCkZ-9H/s1600/clamped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUs3s9WFxxIGFodLsdz2N-S-xkSg-TY-C1kPeHU9DRQSAsPIpX69NQUaEyLAfmdcQVGep43uRqJb0I7uJg4XVrhjiujhbM9dE2GLRkGM-nYDOwIYtD3uaTd2ao9uQtDkCkZ-9H/s1600/clamped.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">With all those clamps, I didn't have a bucket big enough- so I had to remove some, which means the plexiglass didn't resist as well as I'd have liked. Here it is soaking in Bleach Stop,</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DlVavCCpUH1GEZjToD7vyNKDJhxSw_tEZ2sldMw1SvIIjkUELGpkTdn9Uq6G-nWlFqmKEi68JvDk89ktxoUNLaMDjsHMMOWlVqH3yrBCb2gAbqU5zsgRowMyMrUFYiqKxu9B/s1600/inbleachstop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DlVavCCpUH1GEZjToD7vyNKDJhxSw_tEZ2sldMw1SvIIjkUELGpkTdn9Uq6G-nWlFqmKEi68JvDk89ktxoUNLaMDjsHMMOWlVqH3yrBCb2gAbqU5zsgRowMyMrUFYiqKxu9B/s1600/inbleachstop.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">and this is what it looked like after being washed.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPcUYMm3NnCgf7wVPsu02ER2AYraurvTPteFLdcE9YASzjmMFBHhYQSJQN-v5YSWjR4XNO_q8zG7POEYb1pu4kY1Q3kh5G77JZlzPRXMSXTYAXjfWqM7akjMvnGqKr8KEcOXj3/s1600/firstprocess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPcUYMm3NnCgf7wVPsu02ER2AYraurvTPteFLdcE9YASzjmMFBHhYQSJQN-v5YSWjR4XNO_q8zG7POEYb1pu4kY1Q3kh5G77JZlzPRXMSXTYAXjfWqM7akjMvnGqKr8KEcOXj3/s1600/firstprocess.jpg" height="400" width="245" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I tried to fold it so the lightest areas were inside the package, but it's pretty light on the two sides. I'm happy that I lost most of the blue, and that I have the very dark rectangles left. Now I will look at it for a few days, trying to decide what the next step is. I'm thinking an overdye in a warm red.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As for soaping, I now have over a hundred bars curing in the closet. I decided I had to slow down making them, I need to see how they sell! So far, those who have been gifted with soap have liked it, and I am enjoying using it too. One of these days I'm going to have to do a blog post on the similarities between soapers and quilters!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I can feel the muse slowly making her way back into my psyche after what feels like a long absence. With Lance's wedding done, Shannon moved to Colorado and starting nursing school, and Sean graduated and pursuing his plans, I'm hoping for a little more emotional energy and space to devote to both my artistic outlets. And if the soap doesn't sell, I guess we'll just have a very clean family and circle of friends!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-25207729714246315052014-04-13T20:16:00.000-06:002014-04-13T20:16:40.224-06:00Life Takes a Turn<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I haven't posted much lately, because there isn't a lot to post about- especially from a fiber art perspective. I have a few things going on in my head, but nothing beyond that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have, however, continued to make soap- although my pace has slowed down some. I am trying to get enough inventory to be able to sell soap at the Utah County Quilt Guild annual festival in July. Several of us in the Not Bound by Tradition group are going in on a vendor's booth, and we want to have some things that are not quilt related. Soap certainly fits that bill, and it is inexpensive enough that I have hopes of selling it. I'm also going to look into other venues over the summer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I spent the better part of a day costing out the soaps I've made, and was happy to find that my cost of ingredients is well below what a bar of hand crafted soap sells for in this area. That means I can price my soaps competitively, and still be paying myself a reasonable wage for my time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As much as I love dyeing fabric and creating with it, I've never seen it as a potential small business. It is too labor intensive, and most people in this area are not willing to pay what it costs to produce. So it will remain a hobby and avocation, but not something I see as a money making venture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Soap, however, is different. It is not that labor intensive, and the price of the finished product is well within most people's reach. It challenges me creatively, since I am not one to be happy with following others' recipes. It is a skill I believe I can master, and have fun in the doing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So I will be pursuing this as a potential small business that I can do post-retirement. I've already located the Small Business Development Center in Utah County, and plan to make an appointment to speak with someone in mid-May. I'm looking at packaging options, and think I've come up with a name. Fortunately, I already know about setting up an LLC and business licensing, since I've done that before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Somehow in the midst of all this, I'll keep at the fiber art. Just know that it is not my sole obsession any more!</span>Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-87872094132097716322014-03-16T15:23:00.002-06:002014-03-16T15:23:41.965-06:00Tangled Textiles Reveal<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Today is the reveal for the latest <a href="http://tangledtextiles.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Tangled Textiles</a> challenge, Artistic License. I chose to learn a little more about the minimalist artists that followed in Piet Mondrian's footsteps. I found several that I liked- but of course, I neglected to write down any of the names I googled. It's a search I will probably do again, since I found some art that I really liked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">However, my piece definitely harks back to Mondrian, with a few 'licenses'. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8HN7HZO5ziF-DIs_Hgt3zBewcqUEFmFwSaY3NWHh3vZ1C0tf676ebqTsbrrasppv5xH8-Y41T9TNzfBqHF7UqFnfrqtBts-KwwBxvN8AFqpgC15i6i8BttJZor74mXS3JnnA/s1600/ArtisticLicensedone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8HN7HZO5ziF-DIs_Hgt3zBewcqUEFmFwSaY3NWHh3vZ1C0tf676ebqTsbrrasppv5xH8-Y41T9TNzfBqHF7UqFnfrqtBts-KwwBxvN8AFqpgC15i6i8BttJZor74mXS3JnnA/s1600/ArtisticLicensedone.jpg" height="328" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Mondrian used primary colors, I used secondary. He framed his color blocks in black, I used white. I also used one fabric that has visual texture, another difference from Mondrian. I'm still trying to find ways to showcase hand dyed fabric surrounded by solids.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also posed myself some other questions. What if I used two colors of thread when quilting? What if I used squares and rectangles as my quilting designs, but created another layer of design instead of following the fabrics?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was really interesting to see how the change in thread color impacted the look of the quilt, especially in the snow dyed fabric.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRErcMjnrtGqeKlG7esixPtrEBUTTSA9gXq1ER3NGsLe34m3NbyXIjmY-rpIQRlnwtIqLqrTqh7ee1XZiO3LwAJ8oVFYRg9Co3vcD0h1QiO-rZYgjO_8qC_mbPLiPGsDUn0cHm/s1600/Artistic-Licensedet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRErcMjnrtGqeKlG7esixPtrEBUTTSA9gXq1ER3NGsLe34m3NbyXIjmY-rpIQRlnwtIqLqrTqh7ee1XZiO3LwAJ8oVFYRg9Co3vcD0h1QiO-rZYgjO_8qC_mbPLiPGsDUn0cHm/s1600/Artistic-Licensedet1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrO9b3bFZGHLbH6t6xER-T5WpWr7-s5AbHJG7EOsFO4DMfbyY1ARTB6BQMRKWn_7Wc2FrFXKdd-CDUZ768uGhDoDcIHpO3S_hyphenhyphenWVf1js8J1v-33kEIcRIcrFgFYOS0_lGdECpz/s1600/ArtisticLicensedet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrO9b3bFZGHLbH6t6xER-T5WpWr7-s5AbHJG7EOsFO4DMfbyY1ARTB6BQMRKWn_7Wc2FrFXKdd-CDUZ768uGhDoDcIHpO3S_hyphenhyphenWVf1js8J1v-33kEIcRIcrFgFYOS0_lGdECpz/s1600/ArtisticLicensedet2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Figuring out what to do for the last few challenges has really been a struggle for me. I just don't seem to have the emotional space or energy to enjoy the longer creative process inherent in fiber art at this time of my life. However, that might start to change in the near future. Shannon is moving to Colorado next week to start a nursing program. She has a place to live there, but is moving before getting a job- hopefully not too much of a difficulty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sean graduated a week ago, and is in San Francisco all next week at a game design convention, also hoping to land a job. I'm proud of all the hard work he put into his program, and just pray it will all come together for him and his family. I got to make one last trip to Florida for his graduation- a rather quick one, and any plans we'd had for entertainment got washed away in the rain that fell right after I arrived. (Truthfully, don't care if I never see Orlando again!!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So there you have it- not much blogging going on, probably another victim of my lack of emotional space and energy. I'm hoping the arrival of warmer weather, along with good news for my adult children, will help change that.</span></div>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23476378.post-50333051779321172652014-02-17T12:16:00.000-07:002014-02-17T12:16:16.385-07:00A Little Quilting, A Little Soaping. . . <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">about describes what I have been up to this long weekend. Oh, and don't forget household chores and watching the Olympics!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last weekend I got the ditch quilting done on Michelle's pink quilt- Saturday I started doing the free motion. I thought I would do spirals, but after some practice changed my mind. I ended up with a kind of leaf design. I can see every mistake I make, but hopefully none will jump out and scream when it is all done.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCuf-HCXYiN0M8YEmbmVB5yN7Jnf5SPevAzJzirgXmEgBelswx2m-_Aulj607cOrXyXdyEJRuDMv3V-uFyqo1crbhfWg42Zlvq38_tWcaVMVG8D0BoK5eZsZWe-loDmiwPtSz1/s1600/michellepinkquilting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCuf-HCXYiN0M8YEmbmVB5yN7Jnf5SPevAzJzirgXmEgBelswx2m-_Aulj607cOrXyXdyEJRuDMv3V-uFyqo1crbhfWg42Zlvq38_tWcaVMVG8D0BoK5eZsZWe-loDmiwPtSz1/s1600/michellepinkquilting.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I purposely bought a 100% cotton batt for this, because I'm planning to wash it and throw it in the dryer when it's all done. Hopefully it will crinkle, which will make my mistakes even less obvious. I think I am going to have to dye some more sateen for the binding, I don't have enough left of anything for that. I've got one block about done- since it only has six large blocks, I'm thinking the quilting should go fairly quickly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Saturday and Sunday I also made three batches of soap. I wanted to try the circular PVC mold, so I did Lemongrass Green Tea soap in that- a recipe I developed myself. I learned that adding lye turns light colored green tea dark, so my soap is this caramel color. And I'm guessing the soap got pretty hot, because the top looks like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwz3CuUtVCkQ4kKVyliZoCne4BjkYG9eAPfmIhLzZQcX8CFUZgJQCvnoVU7Y8fFQokdyxPTvaFVsyIa5wTejZoM67qosB6JplZDar2QxKrEkQGKGgrCwYgs5R-Uj1Y12W7lp4/s1600/lemongrassgreentea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwz3CuUtVCkQ4kKVyliZoCne4BjkYG9eAPfmIhLzZQcX8CFUZgJQCvnoVU7Y8fFQokdyxPTvaFVsyIa5wTejZoM67qosB6JplZDar2QxKrEkQGKGgrCwYgs5R-Uj1Y12W7lp4/s1600/lemongrassgreentea.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I will need help getting the end cap off, and I sure hope this slides out without a lot of problems. I'll probably stick it in the freezer for a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The others came out easily from my lovely wood log molds. I made Cocoa Coffee soap, another recipe I developed myself. The coffee is supposed to remove the scent of garlic and onion from the hands, so this one is intended for the kitchen. It also has coffee grounds in it for scrubability.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwSodz9ptuxvNVLHEUpLT87AjtwZR3tOxcELi7YP4hUoWs503Hnd5TD0t-58P1CjSBlAWpTHZTtTyHvgwvaXaG1jzQd6eQ0SFaQ8FQejC0qW491FKtzq0plRg6Jp23yT-M8qM/s1600/coffeecocoa2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwSodz9ptuxvNVLHEUpLT87AjtwZR3tOxcELi7YP4hUoWs503Hnd5TD0t-58P1CjSBlAWpTHZTtTyHvgwvaXaG1jzQd6eQ0SFaQ8FQejC0qW491FKtzq0plRg6Jp23yT-M8qM/s1600/coffeecocoa2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Because you use coffee to dissolve the lye, the batter is very dark brown. I took some out and lightened it with titanium dioxide, hoping I could do some cool swirls. The top looks good, but the interior is not what I was hoping for. I also learned that you really have to swirl with soap batter that has only gone to light trace- meaning, is more liquid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last, I did Peach Mango Butter soap, adapted from a recipe in The Ultimate Guide to Soap Making by Amanda McCarthy. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRC2Mgzm2cf9bbhb7NZ8xejm5wQduQm34budJztaohG3JAfgwC0QlVlbMyq5a8bwi0X98S8BBu2pUe_-K6V1f-xvjJEcF1CffW8LwW_k8iy-gPALxuDOqKVD1ORrVLlCptg6Oz/s1600/peachmangobutter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRC2Mgzm2cf9bbhb7NZ8xejm5wQduQm34budJztaohG3JAfgwC0QlVlbMyq5a8bwi0X98S8BBu2pUe_-K6V1f-xvjJEcF1CffW8LwW_k8iy-gPALxuDOqKVD1ORrVLlCptg6Oz/s1600/peachmangobutter.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had a little bit of the red palm oil left from my first batch, so I mixed it with the regular palm oil, which turned it a lovely yellow color. Then I took out part of the batch and used a hot pick colorant I got as a sample from Majestic Mountain Sage- that made the pretty coral color. I was going for the color of peaches, which was one of the scents I used.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We just started using the soaps from my first batches. I've been using the Lemon Eucalyptus in the shower, and really like it. Marly has tried the Lavender Almond soap, and really likes how it makes her skin feel. So, so far it's been a successful experiment! I'll wait another couple of weeks before I try the ones I did at the beginning of the month. I learned a trick to tell if they've cured enough- weigh a bar, and when it quits losing weight, it's done. So I've been keeping track on those.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">That's what I've been up to. I have a busy time at work until after the end of March, and I'm also traveling two of those weeks. One week is for work, another week will be my swan song for Florida. Sean is going back to walk for his degree, and I'm going to celebrate with them. That will be a fun time, including plenty of time to enjoy some warmth! </span><br />
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Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08679598993090941074noreply@blogger.com4