'Twas a Verrrry Gooood Day!

The electricians and hvac men arrived right on time this morning. Fortunately we had taken Barker out for an early walk, so we were home and ready for them.

I got busy and finished a postcard I had promised Susan Lenz for her Cyber Fyber exhibit. I've been intrigued by the rusting craze for quite some time now, and had not used this piece of fabric which had lingered in a rusty bath for a few days a couple of weeks ago. I had also thrown those two little snippets of old lace from the thrift shop into the bath, and loved how they came out. I stamped the dragonfly onto the fabric using orange marmalade distress ink and then applied rusty embossing powder and zapped it with the heat gun. I liked the look:


It is highly recommended that you do not sew on rusty fabric with your sewing machine, and I can understand why! I tried it just to make sure the "rust authorities" were correct: and they were! It took me about two stitches to know that I didn't want to do anymore! So I sat down with C in front of the TV last night and did a bit of handwork on my postcard.

The electricians kept me busy off and on today, making decisions about switches, outlets, and asking where changes had been made in the blueprints. I don't really know how folks build houses and make so many major decisions! Just locating a few switches in the kitchen was a monumental task for me! Of course, more sheetrock had to be removed so as to work on the wiring. Here is how it all looked this evening when they left:



The tileman came and got all of the measuring completed and then called in our floor order. So we are in business in that respect as well. I need to make an appointment with the lighting man, so that I can finish with that little detail. That may be my last obligation! YEAH!!!

I escaped to the studio for a couple of hours of play time late this afternoon. I'm not sure where the days go, but they just fly by! I had done a bit of monoprinting with thickened Procion MX dyes on Saturday, then batched the pieces for about 36 hours. Here is how the first one looked after it had been washed and line dried:

There are a few little leaves printed into that piece. I was unhappy with how dark it turned out, so I thought I'd try my luck with a bit of Thiox. I screened on some plain, thickened Thiox first, then bubblewrapped a little on, then used a glass jar to make a few circles, and then came back in with the same checkerboard screen but this time added some Turquoise to the Thiox mixture (thanks Gerrie!):

At first I wasn't sure if I liked it, but it has grown on me, and now I think it's rather stunning!

Here is the second piece that I had monoprinted on Saturday. This one also had leaves in one layer, but then some dried grasses in the final layer. I liked it a lot and was hesitant to do anymore to it:

The discharging was getting into my blood and I just couldn't stop, so I went out into the yard and picked up a few leaves. We had had a lot of rain last evening, so the leaves were supple and great for printing. Since this piece already possessed a botanical nature, I decided to just discharge a lot more leaves onto it, and mostly with the turquoise dye. I love it:

As I said above, the discharging was getting into my blood and I just couldn't stop! Fortunately Barker is already white, or I might have tried to discharge him! C has a "dye job t-shirt" that I am forever doctoring. It was originally a dark green, but he got some sort of bleaching agent on it and was whining because it had a spot, so I offered to overdye it a few years back. He loved the results and wore it all the time....when he was cutting the grass. Gradually the dye faded and so this past summer he requested a redye. I agreed but then only got so far before it got cold. It has been hanging around out in the studio, all burgundy and navy for several months now, so today it got a blast of the Thiox too..........I am no longer partial to any one thing! Here is said t-shirt:



I wonder if C will be brave enough to wear it even on his tractor! LOL

And last but not least: another rejected clothing item, but this time mine! I loved this old tank top, but the color was fading, so I had done a bit of discharge shibori on it. It was ok but not great, so I discharged a few stripes on it this afternoon:

Fortunately by the time I had finished with it, the temps were in the low 50's, the breeze was picking up, and my feet felt like blocks of ice, so I decided to call it a day! But oh what fun I had!!

Hope you had a great day too! Several of you haven't checked in in a while. I wish you would: I've missed hearing from you!

PEACE