Nothing much

Waiting for the storm and nothing is moving out there! NOTHING - not a leaf is twitching, kind of creepy. Of course, my DH wants to go to the trail and clean the culverts.......guess who his non-volunteer buddy is? I get to stay at the top of this embankment (= huge drop off) and hang around while he goes into the culvert to clean out whatever is blocking it. On a normal day this is not too boring, today I would rather stay home.
I put away all my charming garden ornaments so they won't blow away or get broken. What a good girl.


Since last posting, I made a lightweight jacket. I have had this fabric for a while and just love it (rayon batik,) so thought I would take a break from hand bags.  


Today I am making another handbag in a teal/blue/green family. I am using one of the vintage trims I bought at the show as well as my potter friends buttons.

A New Red and Black Bag

Here's the latest! I finished it the other day but have been busy doing non-art things. So far all my bags are derived from patterns with my own twist. I plan on continuing this - the patterns are for the basic shape, but the artistic stuff is all me :) Doing this while my hand recovers and gets strength back - that is doing good, but not up to par yet.

Quilt show outing

A friend and I went to a World Quilt Show in Manchester yesterday - it runs for the next two days too!
Had a blast meeting up with friends for lunch, then on to the show and vendors. Spent all my money on things to make other things with. :)
Have piles of things all over my studio now. That should make the not so organized people in my life happy.............I'm not organized! But it is such a happy mess!
I have photos of some of the quilts from the show, but won't post them here as not to offend the makers in any way - copyright stuff and all. I do have favorites though and will send them onto those who want them.

Back to dyeing scarves

Today I decided it was TIME. So, I got out my stuff and did some painting on silk scarves, kind of. I did use the alginate and like how it works too. Nice thick dyes that you can do stuff with.

This one I will overdye with some color............no idea right now what color, but suggestions are fine by me :)

I also did a sprinkle thing with dye powder.

What you see here are long skinny photos - that's the best I can do this morning. Being short doesn't help when you have something long and thin to photograph  :)

My day out

The weather broke and the humidity went away just in time for me to go the the League Fair. It was a great time seeing all my art friends and colleagues and enjoying the beautiful scenery too. The sculpture garden was a delight, as usual.

I went earring shopping - I know, I can make my own, but I wanted some that I couldn't make, like glass and polymer to add some blues and reds to my wardrobe. I ended up with three pair blue, one red and one turquoise and green. All nice, all artisan crafted - not Chinese!

There were many varieties of arts represented. Going with a shopping purpose was one of my best ideas, though. I didn't get distracted and wander aimlessly :)

If you have a chance to attend this, then DO. It is on until Sunday at Mt. Sunapee Resort, Newbury, NH.

So Today.......It Is Almost Finshed

I have to sew on the handles  :)  That's it and this one is done.

I am pretty happy with the whole thing.

And then...

Here's the front of the bag. I added a little more fabric paint where the ferns are - some were just too pale for my liking.

24 hours later

Now I did some quilting and highlighting of the printed ferns I did yesterday. Things are getting better.
Can't wait until the show and Pro Chem.........I need to see the fabric paint, maybe get a few.

I took off the freezer paper and I think you get the idea I am trying to convey?

Attempting to mono print some fern

Getting the right color to show up good on this green is harder than I thought it would be. BUT, just like painting for me, I need to just walk away and leave it alone.
It's drying right now and I will see how it worked out later.

Here is the front and back of the unconstructed bag, guts and all. The front has a piece of freezer paper over the store bought batik printed fabric.