Today's 'creation'

Okay - so, I'm still waiting to find the confidence to quilt my newly pieced quilt top. We'll see how that goes. Thanks to all who sent me 'inspiring' and 'encouraging' comments! They are much appreciated!

So, while I am waiting to be confident enough to do the quilting - I wanted to make something for a shadow box, so that I could take it in to my office and have it there. You know - something other than gray walls to look at! And, I also wanted to use the fabrics that I dyed in this piece. I wanted it to be chaotic (because my life at work is chaotic), but also controlled (hence, the framing). At least THAT chaos I can control - goodness knows I can't control any of the chaos at work.

So - this is the result. I love it - It deviates from my sketch somewhat, but not in a bad way. Where it is different, I think it is better. :-)

In addition to creating the fabric piece that is framed, I also stamped and painted the mat to coordinate (I think) perfectly! I love it. Perhaps no one else will like it, but I - personally - love it! You can't tell from the picture, really, but the center 'piece' is mounted dimensionally - such that it stands away from the background. It's obvious in person, but difficult to show in a picture. It certainly adds additional depth that I couldn't have gotten by just matting it in a normal frame.

Anyway - I'm supposed to be working from home today - so I should actually go do some work ;-)

It grew.....

Well - I slept on it and finally decided how to finish the quilt top piecing. I decided to add some additional borders. I really loved the purple fabric, so I wanted to include more of it. I think that it turned out nicely! The top now measures approximately 26" X 28". I like it... BUT, I'm scared to quilt it. I enjoy creating the tops of quilts, but I loathe quilting. I WANT to quilt, I WANT to quilt well - but, I'm not very good at it, so I worry that I'm going to screw up a quilt top that I love. So, I'll probably sit here and look at this top for a week before I decide to go for it. Realistically, I know that unless I practice it, I'll never be good at quilting - and, maybe I'm not as bad at it as I think I am - who knows. But, to be honest - it scares the crap out of me. There, I said it - I'm afraid of quilting..... So, shoot me! LOL

Anyway - here is the finished top:

I bought some more fabric dyes today. I can't find that many colors locally - but, I'm happy that I can at least find the Procion MX Dyes locally, so I won't complain too much. I found a fuschia and a green that I'm very excited to try. Hopefully, they will turn out the way I want them to.

With the first batch that I did, I used the microwave version of dyeing, using Melody's instructions. I think that this time, I'm going to skip the microwave and allow the colors to 'sit' longer before rinsing and washing them out. We'll see how that turns out.

I'm thinking that I might make myself a nice summer-y purse using some of the hand dyed fabrics that I did. Normally, not the type of purse that I would use - but, I think I might give it a try. We'll see ..... I'm due a new purse! ;-)

Today was a lazy day - I worked on the quilt top this morning before Church. I rarely do anything before Church, but for some reason (I guess the time change), I felt like doing something this morning. It was fun - it was nice to get something done that early. Usually, I only get anything creative done in the evenings. After Church, the family went out to eat - as always that was nice and also a challenge (I mean, really, isn't going out to eat with a 5 y/o and an 3 y/o ALWAYS a challenge??). We had a good time and it put me in town, so I was able to pick up a few more dyes ... Now to find the time dye more fabric.

Well - Grey's Anatomy is coming on - so, I have to go see what is going on with McDreamy! ;-)

Using my hand dyed fabrics

So, I started a piece today using the fabrics that I dyed earlier in the day. It is to be a small wall hanging. I'm not sure where to go now...... so, I'm stopping for the night. I'll decide what else (if anything) to do to it tomorrow - in the way of embellishments, etc. I know that a lot of people come up with a 'plan' before they create. I do sometimes, but not always. Sometimes, I just start sewing, stamping, or whatever ...... and go from there. Today was one of those times. I hope that, at the end of my reckless abandon with my fabrics, I'm happy with what I come up with! So far - so good :-) It (currently - who knows what tomorrow holds.... lol) measures around 17"X16".

Anyway - here is a picture of my 'work in progress' - using the fabrics that I dyed! I'd love to hear your comments!

My first attempt at dyeing fabric....

Okay - I've been SO inspired by the many wonderfully talented ladies who hand dye their own fabric. I decided that I wanted to try it myself. Now, I'm relatively pleased with my first attempt and I have certainly taken away some lessons from it.

First of all, I decided to use Melody's microwave way of dyeing fabric. Seemed easy enough. I used the general idea of how to do it and basically just 'winged' it with regard to the amount of soda ash and dye powders I deposited in the 'bucket'. I used more soda ash with some and less with others - obviously, with varied results (not a bad thing, however - I like the contrast). I'm definitely looking forward to experimenting more.

So, anyway - here are my results - I used 4 colors of dye (orange, purple, turquoise and cobalt blue) - all of my favorite colors. The only color that I wish that I had, but didn't is something pink.

The fabric on top is what I did with the TINY bit of turquoise and purple dye I had left over. It's not very vibrant, but I like it! The others are obvious, as to which dyes I used. You will notice, however, that I did put a TINY bit of purple in with my turquoise dye, so there is a little bit of purple on the turquoise piece (this happened by accident - I actually 'splashed' a bit of purple onto the turquoise fabric - and decided to add a little more.... lol).

It was a nice experiment. Now, I have to decide what to do with the fabric. ........ hmmmmmm

Another Art Doll

I made another art doll. I, again, used a face made from polymer clay using a push mold. I wish that I liked my drawings of faces enough to use them - but, not yet. But, I will ONE DAY ...... I'm determined, that way..... lol.

I love the colors in this doll - you may notice that I used the same fabrics that I used for my postcard swap that I posted earlier. These were some 'scraps' (not that I like to think that I have 'scraps' so much as small pieces of fabric, that I'm sure I'll use sometime) that were left from that project.

I decided to rip fabric and use it for the hair. My husband said that he thinks it makes it look like a sunflower. I guess it does in some ways. Anyway ..... here is the picture!!

Here is a closeup o f the face/hair....

I don't know why I decided to not put arms on her, but to me - I don't think she is supposed to have arms..... lol. Weird, I guess - but, I had actually MADE arms for her, but couldn't bring myself to put them on her. Anyway..... just sharing!

My First Art Doll!!

Well - I'm finally posting my first art doll (I finished it on Monday, but am only NOW able to get into blogger.com - don't know if it was just me or what - finally, after I cleared my cache files, I was able to get in - weird)l.

Now, back to my doll....... It's nothing spectacular, but I'm very proud of it. I wasn't sure where to start, other than having been inspired by others - both online and in magazines, so I JUST STARTED! lol. I sketched a pattern, found the fabrics and embellishments and did it. I'm not very good at drawing faces, so I used a sculpey push mold (it's actually a sun face, but you can't really tell a lot from the picture) that I had made months back, with no idea what I would use it for. Then just made yarn hair and various beads to make the arms. All in all - I think it turned out pretty good!!

Now, I can't wait to make another one!!! :)

Newest ATCs and I want my babies back!

I really need to start doing something other than ATCs, I suppose. But, I want to share something and all I've done recently are ATCs, so that is what I'm sharing. These are just some random ATCs that I've done - I might trade them later, who knows.

Anyway - here are the ATCs that I made:

Now - our weekend. Well, my baby (and, really she isn't a baby that much anymore ... sniffsniff), turned 3 of Friday. I took the day off from work, in order to spend the day with her. We baked her birthday cake (so much fun) together and stuffed goodie bags for her party on Saturday (after going shopping together, after we took her sister to school). We had a great day! Then, after we picked Sarah (her sister) up from school, we came home and played some more. Then when Daddy got home, we got pizza and had our family party. She was thrilled with all of her presents. It was a great birthday.

On saturday, we had her birthday party with her little friends from school. It's so cute to see so many little 3 year olds running around like they are big girls and boys. Hannah said that she had a great birthday party, so I'm sure she did. We had it at the YMCA 'fun zone' area. It was a blast.

Needless to say, by Sunday, I was ready for a NAP. So, after we all went to lunch after Church, I came home and crashed. Finally, a bit of a rest......

Now, I'm the mother of 2 big girls! :( Where does the time go???? Hannah has taken to telling me, now, that she isn't a baby anymore! I want my babies back!!!!