Category Archives: Artsy-Craftsy

August 3, 2015 · 10:48 pm

Spiderless cobweb

Beautiful weather… low wind… a long weekend – definitely time to set up a table outside and start wet/Nuno felting.

Wet felting set-up

Wet felting set-up

I haven’t done a lot of wet or Nuno felting, so I started off with a small practice piece – I wanted to check how some of the different types and colours of roving felted and blended.  I re-read a lot of instructions, took from them what I wished and ignored the rest, so that I could see what would happen working a different way.

I was trying to achieve a cobweb type of fabric, so I was working with fairly thin bits of roving.  This piece was not on a silk chiffon base – it was only roving.

Pre-felting layout

Pre-felting layout

Once I finished placing the roving, the “fun” began… time to wet the roving, roll it up, then roll and roll until my arms and back hurt.

Bundle to roll

Bundle to roll

Here is how it turned out – see if you can find the fabric – it matches its background.

Cobweb fabric

Cobweb fabric

I also started a new project for the annual art show at my office, but that is a post for another day. 😀

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August 2, 2015 · 11:08 pm

Khaki no more

I’ve had more adventures with fabric paint, as well as some fabric markers that I’ve never used before.

As a birthday present for Bo, a friend and I went in on a fabulous Needles & Things canvas tote bag.  I would link to the site, but sadly it is no more.  This bag is very expandable with a lot of storage.  Bo had given both of us one of these bags, but hadn’t picked up one for herself when she had the opportunity.  I’ve filled mine with all my viking knit supplies, and there is still so much room… love it!

The downside of the bag?  The lack of colour choice – there is blue and there is khaki.  Well, it’s not a downside to everyone, but to colourful people it is a problem.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to get the blue, so out came the paints!

After a few layers of base fabric paint, I started to paint on some designs.  Once there was no sign of khaki, I started adding details.  When both sides were dry, I got out the Uchida DecoArt fabric pens and started to draw.  I love these pens… they are one of my new favourite things.  It was so nice not to have to outline  with a steady hand (which I do not have) and a brush, or by squeezing out a line of paint.  The squeezing works, but it creates a raised outline, and on a bag that will be rubbing against fabric I worry that it will catch and peel.  After outlining, I got out the fabric markers, which were quite sheer.  I used them to highlight and shadow.

I’m hoping the paint will be durable… I’ve told Bo that she knows where to find me if touch-ups are needed… Here’s hoping that the fabric stands up to the wear and tear of use!

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Bottom view

Bottom view

What are your experiences with fabric paint?  Success?  Disaster?  Somewhere in between?

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July 12, 2015 · 8:52 pm

Return to Regularly Scheduled Programming

It’s good to be home, and it’s good to be back in the studio!  While I was on vacation I did a fair amount of jewellery designing, and that has continued since I’ve been home.

One of the jewellery ideas I had was around mixed metals.  I’ve always loved combining metals, but due to different melting points, I’ve been very tentative about trying to mix them in the studio – prior to learning any silversmithing I would work with brass and copper, but there was no heat involved – I was hammering it for texture and making wire or wire/sheet jewellery.

I did some reading on soldering copper to sterling silver.  I have lots of scrap copper wire, so I figured I should use it, not just store it.  I thought a bracelet would be a good item to start on – only small areas of soldering, so less worry about making a mess.  I think it worked!  I haven’t finished it yet – I’m going to try wearing it for a day before painting a patina on it, just in case it needs some changes – sometimes the fit can be a little wonky.

Here is how it is looking now… It was a little dim outside when I took the picture, so the colours don’t come through too clearly, but you’ll get the idea.

Copper and Sterling Silver Forged Bracelet

Copper and Sterling Silver Forged Bracelet

How do you feel about mixed metals?  Do you wear them?

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June 10, 2015 · 2:43 pm

You are now entering…

the picture zone… AKA our visit to the Halifax Public Gardens.

Front gates

Front gates

So many pictures from a truly amazing day.  This post will be about the garden visit, and I will do another post about the rest of our time in Halifax.

Truly I am exhausted, in a happy, seen a lot of beauty, sunburned kind of way.  We had the perfect day for our garden tour – it started off a bit cloudy and cool, and then brightened up considerably as the day went on.

We met Helen and Tracy at Horticultural Hall, and were introduced to many people (I would list names, but alas, my memory does not retain names very proficiently!) who were all so pleasant and welcoming.  Helen and Tracy walked us around the garden – sharing stories, history and knowledge.  I won’t recount everything we heard – I’m still processing it all – but I encourage you to visit the Halifax Public Garden site for more information on this scenic, middle-of-the-city treasure.

I think one of my favorite areas was the Duck House.  It’s a little shed/cabin on the edge of a pond… the perfect place to sit and ponder life while listening to the rain falling, or to sit in the shade and watch the ducks and fish swim by.

Duck House

Duck House

Niew from the Duck House

View from the Duck House

Here are some pictures from our garden visit:

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Coral edged garden

Coral edged garden

Brain coral

Brain coral

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Helen, Bo and Tracy

Helen, Bo and Tracy

As a person who loves trees of the twisty variety, this garden was perfection… so much texture and twist… My camera got quite a workout!

I feel so fortunate to have won this prize and to have been able to tour such a pleasing garden with two such excited and motivated people… The love they have for their work came through and made the visit that much more enjoyable.  Thank you Helen and Tracy.

But wait… there’s more!  Helen is a dyer, spinner and knitter, Bo is a knitter/crocheter/designer and I’m a needle felter.  Helen dropped off some plant dyed (dahlia), handspun yarn for Bonnie, and some indigo dyed roving for me.  Wow – these are truly special mementos from our visit, and I’m so excited about them.  Thanks you so much!!

Plant dyed, handspun yarn and roving

Plant dyed, handspun yarn and roving

 

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April 3, 2015 · 8:36 pm

I have holiday brain…

… so this may be a rather rambling post.  I’m coming to the end of a very relaxing week of vacation, and I’m feeling well-rested and content.

I’ve spent some time this week looking through books on jewellery making and getting excited about going back to the basics – I’ve gotten quite lazy with aspects of jewellery making – I don’t remember the last time I set a stone, and I have some gorgeous stones waiting to become part of a piece of jewellery.  A few ideas have already been sketched out… Yay!  We also took some photos of my jewellery on the beach and other locales.  Once the pictures get edited (gack!) I’ll be posting them.

We spent some time at Qualicum Beach and visited a wonderful shop called Let’s Knit!  I found some fabulous roving there – hand-dyed and a very different texture from what I already own.

Happy new roving

Happy new roving

Although I had brought a healthy selection of roving to work with, I thought I should start with the local stuff.  This is the beginning of an experiment…

An experiment

An experiment

I’m working on silk chiffon and plan to wet felt it (Nuno felting), but rather than place loose bits of roving on the chiffon and wet felt it right away (hoping desperately for a non-windy day or the roving tends to fly), I needle felted it first, and have let the needles ruche the fabric.  When I get home I will wet felt it and then start working into it properly.  I look forward to seeing what it becomes, texture and image-wise!  I consider this just the primer… many more layers to follow!

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