Category : Creativity

623 posts

T Tuesday: eco dye edition

Last week on T stands for Tuesday I had mentioned that I had attempted some eco dyed papers. Today I thought I’d share my results with you.

Last we left off I had bundled my papers and my cooking pot was way too small….

One trip to Goodwill later, I found the perfect size pot in which to cook my paper bundle. 

The bundle wanted to float since it was pine boards that acted as the presser boards. A couple rocks worked well to hold the bundle down in the vinegar and alum spiked water. I boiled on the side burner of our grill for about and hour. Thank goodness I did this outside because it was not pleasant smelling. Also I learned that the pine boards had a lot of sap left in them…what a mess.

After boiling I drained off the cooking water then added cool water which I salted quite heavily. Once everything was cool enough to handle I started the unbundling process.

Then set the pages to dry on the hot concrete. I was surprised at what did and didn’t leave an impression. The marigolds and lemon grass had the greatest color from the experiment.  But that wasn’t my favorite.

It was these….the baby maple trees I pulled from my lawn were lovely ghosted images.

A few freshly turned leaves from our service berry tree gave a slightly rusty, vein like appearance as it’s only impression. Pretty as well but still not holding my interest like those baby maples.

I think I’ll try this again…but perhaps with other sources for dyes. Purple cabbage and onion skins are the first to jump to my mind. I think perhaps I’d get some nice color out of those.

Speaking of color….

I enjoyed a colorful sort of beer this summer. Grain Belt came out with a limited edition Blueberry infused beer. I had to buy some…its local and we like to support our local business. That’s my excuse and I’m stickin’ to it. It was pretty in color and pretty tasty too. Not that you’d really want to drink more than one…too sweet for that.

Anyway…this Tuesday I will be late in visiting…

Next week I may miss all together unless I prepost. We are taking J to college!! Move in day is the 21st. Crazy!!

T stands for Tuesday

What are you doing today?

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Inspired to Eco Dye

I’ll admit it…I went down the rabbit hole this morning watching eco dye videos on YouTube. although I got nothing physically accomplished during that time I was definitely inspired to give it a whirl myself.

I picked up a pad of 100lb watercolor paper at a garage sale for 50¢. I figured this was good fodder for my experiment.  I walked around the yard picking various leaves, weeds and flowers to give variety since I really have no idea what will work the best. I also searched through the scrap lumber in the shed for wood to sandwich my pages between. 

my bundle is all ready to go…just one problem…

The cooking pot is too small. I fear we got rid of the large one that was in the shed at some point. A trip to Goodwill is in order before I can actually run my experiment.

While in the yard I discovered that my dream catcher did its job and kept the pesky deer from eating my tiger lily blossoms.

So pretty! Love the bright orange.

 

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Yes I loved it

Today’s art journal page was all about me wanting to play with some of our new washi tape.

Mini-me and I picked out 12 rolls at Michael’s the other day when we stopped in to pick up some twirly sticks for my planters along the front walk. Yes I know summer is half over but I still wanted them.

Anyway..back to the journal page.  I simply love the look of dress pattern paper over text so I knew I had to leave a good portion of that revealed on my page. I loosely framed the page first with paint then with washi over the top. Some of the wider washi tapes I tend to tear into thinner pieces and apply in a slightly random fashion.

A clothing tag serves as both a backdrop for the first part of my sentence and the date stamp. I think I may need a new Staz-on pad…that stamping didn’t turn out very well.

I used a needle tipped bottle with thinned white paint to create this heart. After it was somewhat dry I laid the washi over the middle. And true as the statement across it…I loved it.

This page put a smile on my face. Yet another reason I keep creating. Just for me, just art for art’s sake.

 

Art Journal Journey

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AJJ: art of arts sake

Taking time to play in my art journals has been a challenge. I’ve been suffering from bouts of extremely busy schedules followed by times of extreme sloth. No, I’m serious. I’m not sure what’s up with that but I find if my schedule or to-do list isn’t packed with stuff, I have a hard time getting motivated. I justify it to myself as “I’ve just been so busy, I’ll just sit down for a bit and __(fill in the blank)__.  These options often include a screen, but of course not a useful screen such as learning something…no, just time wasters.  Netflix, Pinterest, phone apps, iPad games. WHY!!??!!

Ok…now that I got that confession off my chest I’m ready to move on since I actually have broken my slothful ways the past two days. Taking time to create. Let’s hope it continues, shall we!

This page went together as so many of my recent. I begin with what is around me. Gluing pieces down as the mood strikes.

Next comes the color. My fingers are truly my best tool….second best being the baby wipes I use to clean them off.  As I add paint with my fingers I remember the joy this brings me. I recall why I consider art my own private therapy.  I let go. Let it happen naturally.

I honestly cannot walk away from a page with adding words. They don’t have to be mine. They can be a quote, a sticker, handwritten or stamped. You may not even be able to see them. I often will “journal spill or mind dump” on a page. Sometimes its so messy that it’s illegible. Other times I cover it up with paint or papers. Just the act of writing it out helps ground me but really what it says is no ones business but my own.

These words struck me. Not in the way they were likely meant to.  For me it was more about how creating is good for me, for my soul.

And that is a beautiful thing.

Linking up today with Art Journal Journey is Art for Art’s Sake hosted by Chris of Pearshapedcrafting.

Art Journal Journey

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T Tuesday: dream catcher, deer deterrent edition

Its been a busy week with the Independence day holiday smack in the middle. Lots of time off for everyone. A wedding, drivers training, a parade then cookout followed by local fireworks.

First the wedding…it was lovely and sweet. The crazy thing is I used to do before school care for the groom. Yikes…making me feel old. 

We did the traditional parade and cookout with the neighbors. Mini-me brought a friend this time. After we returned home about a dozen of J’s friends came over and braved the heat of the garage to play board games and hang out until fireworks. A large game of Nerf Wars eventually broke out. I’m still finding Nerf darts in the yard.

The next morning I got out of bed and literally hobbled to the bathroom. I couldn’t figure out why my feet hurt so much….

 

Then I saw this. I walked just a little bit on the 4th. Good thing I was wearing my walking sandals.

So I bet you are wondering if I’m ever going to get to the dream catcher, deer deterrent portion of this post.

I made this dream catcher one day basically just as a test. One to see if I could follow directions and two to see if using a non perfect circle would make things weird.  I also wanted to see how to adding beads to the webbing.

My grand experiment taught me several things. I decided I like the asymmetrical  look of the webbing. I also like the organic look of the bent tree branch I used for the frame. I decided to hang it from our service berry tree right over my Tiger Lilies in hopes of scaring the deer away. They have already stolen the tops of two of the stems. The remaining ones are full of buds. Fingers crossed that it works!

I can always dream right?!?

T stands for Tuesday

What are you doing today?

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Art for art’s sake

Early Sunday morning I sat down to create. Getting my fingers full of paint and glue rejuvenates me. I used what was at hand.

 Scrapbook paper, magazine cuttings, ribbon and washi tape just to name a few.

After creating this page I notice that the current theme for July on Art Journal Journey is Art for Art’s Sake hosted by Chris of Pearshapedcrafting. Don’t you just love it when things fall into place. It doesn’t always happen that so when it does…woohoo!

Art Journal Journey

 

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T Tuesday: Chinese garden edition

Last Friday Mini-me had the day off of work…yes, my little baby girl has a job. How does this happen?!?  The forecast had nothing good to say. Hot and humid with extreme heat warnings. So we figured the best course of action would be to go walking at the MN Landscape Arboretum. Yeah…good choices did not prevail. But that’s ok…all’s well that ends well as the old saying goes.

We headed out early for a little fuel in the form of Chick-Fil-A biscuits and iced coffee.

The Arboretum recently opened a new Chinese garden that we had completely forgotten about until we happened upon it on our 3 mile walk…technically its a drive but biking and walking are welcome.

As you enter you pass under a lovely arch…this is it from the back of the garden.

This plaque greeted us as we passed through the archway.

In the distance we could see large interesting art pieces drawing us further into the garden.

As well as the geometric red fencing that was the perfect perch for several birds as they sang their beautiful songs over the pond.

The area is quite sparse at this point. That may be purposeful. All I know is that by this point in our trek we were very overheated.

Mini-me caught a bit of breeze in the shade of a pagoda.

 Ahead of us on the crushed gravel pathway was this gorgeous dragon.

He looks very fierce. The detail of the work that the artist was able to create on the large scale using metal intrigues me. Evidently he is just on loan to the Arboretum. I wonder when and if they will have more permanent installations in that garden.

We will definitely be making more visits to the Arboretum as summer continues. We like to walk, take photos and chat together. Its nice having grown up conversations with my kids. Ones that don’t involve nagging about chores, homework or how much time they spend staring at screens. (as I sit here staring at my screen)

Today has a list as usual for me. It keeps me on track. In fact a friend and I are texting a photo of our list each morning to each other and then again in the evening to hold us accountable for checking stuff off that list. So far, so good. Of course this week with the Independence Day holiday things are a little wonky but stuff still needs to get done.

 

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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14 Comments

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