Fabulous Fiber Pins

Of all the items I made for the boutique at the Elverhoj Museum, the fiber pins were the most fun to create. The first examples are felted using wool roving. A surprise package arrived in the mail from my buddy, Susan Italo. She gave me some of her solar dyed CVM Corridale wool. OMG, I couldn't believe how luscious the colors were. Thank you Susan!

The pins below were made using a stiff sheet of felt as the base. I stitched and drew on the sheet with markers and added a variety of thread and yarn. I cut it into shapes and dipped it into melted UTEE and heated it some more. I then added a background of thick felt and stitched it together with beads.

I'm currently working on tote bags. Photos will be shown in the next post.

Melting Pot Experiments

I finally got some time to play with the melting pot and UTEE. I made fabric beads, dipped them into UTEE, wrapped them in Angelina fibers and dipped again. They came out looking like fire opals inside glass. I had a few leftovers from the April ATC exchange and decided to cut some into 1" x 1-1/2" pieces. I then poured melted UTEE over them and heated them with an embossing tool. Looks like the designs are encased in glass. I'm going to attach pin backs to some of them and drill holes through others so I can attach them to a quilt with beads. Both came out very cool. Mike and I just came back from seeing CATS at the Arlington Theater. It was amazing, I'm so glad we went. Tomorrow night we are going to see a play at the Ensemble Theater. Ah, Life is Good!

HAPPY DANCE!

After six weeks, my daughter has regained complete control of her foot. On Monday, the neurologist said that she did not have any nerve damage and on Tuesday, she could walk. He believes that she had an internal infection and there was some inflammation pressing on the nerve. I am so happy and relieved that there is a happy ending!

I saw some beautiful handmade beads that looked like glass and wanted to make some myself. This melting pot is used to heat the UTEE to the perfect temperature for coating the beads. Stay tuned . . . maybe I'll have some wonderful items to share.

I really enjoy reading about creativity and trying different exercises to stretch my thinking and skills. You just never know where it will lead. The latest addition to my ever growing collection of creative tools is the Creative Whack Pack (book and deck of cards). Here is the text from the card "Exaggerate"

"Imagine a joke so funny that you can't stop laughing for a month. Paper stronger than steel. An apple the size of a hotel. A jet engine quieter than a moth beating its wings. A home-cooked dinner for 25,000 people. Try exaggerating your idea. Think big; what if it were a thousand times bigger, louder, stronger, faster, or brighter? What if the number of people who could use it were increased a thousandfold? Now think small; what if it were only one-thousandth as powerful, fast, costly, or complicated as before? How can you exaggerate your idea?"

New Projects

It seems that summer presents many distractions. I haven't been working in my studio as often as I should be, but still have a few things in progress. It seems that I haven't been getting many comments lately either. Is anyone out there? I really enjoy hearing from you. (hint, hint)

These ATC's were made using crayon as a resist, acrylic ink, dye, marker, utee and stamps. I'm not sure what will happen to them now, but I feel like they need something else.
This piece just received its second layer of crayon. Next, I will add another wash of acrylic ink, let it dry and then iron it to remove the wax, but the pigment will remain. I'll post the results next time.A while ago, I purchased this lanyard disc at Michael's for $1.00. I found it the other day while looking for something else, and decided to give it a try. It is extremely easy to do and is a great project while watching television. I am using 2 pieces of chenille yarn in each slot which makes a very sturdy cord with a 1/2" diameter. Not quite sure what I will do with it yet, I'm thinking a handle for a handbag. Time will tell!