Spring projects

Spring is here in full bloom.

 

Which means more time in the garden and less time in the studio.

 

Still, I've made the time for a couple of projects.

 

This one is my Etsy shop, along with a couple of others.

 

I've been playing with things that may find their way to little headbands.

 

And was delighted to see another of my head wraps on this little cutie. Thanks, Debbie Carter!

 

I made it to Grandparents/Special Friends Day at the Littles' school.

 

And took some photographs of this little sweetie.

 Now, it's back to the marigolds.

April showers bring more ingredients for the dye pot

The dye pot is a permanent fixture at the top of my driveway.

 

My friends laugh and ask what I'm brewing.

 

The giant pot with steam rising from it was once used for frying turkeys.

 

Now it's used for cooking up magic.

 

I've used up every single leaf that I pressed last fall. Until the trees yield more, it's eucalyptus.



I've been making books recently too.

 



Even playing with some new designs. Books that I might be able to produce in less time.

 

Using papers dyed with last fall's nine bark leaves.

 

I've bound so many books that the act is almost calming. Satisfying.

 

Not so much with my metal stamping. Oops!

 

I've also been making newborn head wraps.



And I've been thrilled to see them modeled on actual newborns! Thank you so much, Ashley Childress at SweetLilPics and Giselle Salazar at Giselle Salazar Photography for the beautiful images! I can't stop looking at them!



I can't stop making head wraps either.



If you're interested, they can be purchased in my freshly stocked Etsy shop.



My Etsy shop is not new. I opened it four years ago. But I never put a single thing in it.



Until now. I'll be adding some books before long. Not nearly as long as it took me to add my first item. Promise.



And I'll be keeping an eye on the next crop of eco-dyeing material emerging in my yard.



Happy spring to you all!

Where did the month go?

I haven't been the most dedicated blogger recently, but still I'm surprised to see that it's been almost a month since my last post.

 I had company during that month -- three wonderfully creative and generous artists from different parts of the country. Joanna from Arizona, Roxanne from Oregon, and Bee from Massachusetts. And I didn't take a single photograph of anyone except for Teddy - Bee's dog.

 

. . . Who looks like the male counterpart to Scout. They got along great -- just like the rest of us --  who you will not see in any of the following photographs.

We gathered together to teach (Joanna and Roxanne) and to attend (Bee and me) workshop(s) in New York.

Roxanne, Seth Apter and Elizabeth Wix taught a wonderful workshop called The Need to Tell Stories, where we made a book and learned delightful techniques for filling it with art and writings.

I didn't take photos there either. However, if you follow the links to everyone above, you will see pictures and wonderful accounts of our time in New York.

We were just too busy. 

At least that's my story. 

Busy eco-dyeing . . . 

Covering every horizontal surface in my kitchen with leaves and fabric and paper and string.

I never tire of pulling those fragrant bundles out of the water and seeing the marks left behind.

There are surprises in every single one.

We used a lot of eucalyptus, because it almost always produces winners.

But, we also used leaves that had been dried last fall. Dogwood, roses, oak, maple.

We dyed wool and silk. Old sweaters . . .

Silk shirts from Goodwill . . .

Velvet scarves . . .

Even a pair of fingerless wool gloves that sat neglected in my closet. Love them now!

And when we ran out of things to put into the dye pots, we started dip-dyeing embroidery floss under Bee's guidance, because we're going to need a lot of thread to sew all that fabric . . .

A lot of thread . . .

Joanna showed us how to make beautiful headbands/chokers/cuffs/boot embellishments.

I'll be making headbands to place on sweet little newborn heads, because those are apparently the only people whose photos I'm taking these days!

Fun

My father turned 80 the other day, and I asked him if he'd done anything fun for his birthday.
He said, "I pretty much don't do anything that isn't fun these days."
Well, why should he.

I've been living by the same philosophy around here. Playing with fabric and stuff I found in the yard last fall.

I have a limited number of leaves left pressed between the pages of catalogs, so I'm working with eucalyptus too.
They throw off some great color.
And the heady scents that come from the dye pot. . .
Makes me want to spend all of my days with a dye pot roiling in the yard and a needle and thread in my stained fingers.

 Yep. We're pretty much not doing anything that isn't fun around here these days.