Snow Dyeing Part 2

One of the blue range. This was mixing blue, another blue and a red purple.


This was a scrap of light green fabric but I suspect it was not 100% cotton. Well I figured that before dyeing but decided to do it anyway! I like the very subtle hints of color.



These two were done with a leaf green but I was almost out of the dye so it was not very strong. But I also added a yellow and blue. These pieces remind me of geodes for some reason.


This is Maddy and my favorite! It has a little bit of all the colors.


These all seemed to be sort of the same so I lumped them together.


And because I could, I added in some white lacy flowers. They remind me of snowflakes so I may have to find a use for them!

Snow Dyeing Part 1

I have always wanted to try this technique but never had the time or thought it was beyond my capabilities. I am not a dyer or a patient person so that does cause problems. But snow was going to be melting because temps are rising into the 50's with rain and thunderstorms - in December in Chicago???!!! I know, crazy right? Couple that with my 9 year old daughter telling me she's bored and I now have the guts to try this out.


So we rounded up some white t-shirts and scraps of white fabric that I had on hand and off we went. First I soaked everything in the soda ash for 20 minutes or when I remembered it again - whichever came first. Then I put them in the freezer. I read that somewhere, yes I did do some research before starting. Now I get to put the girl to work and she was very happy to do so. She is packing snow on each of the containers and then had a break to chomp on some of the ginormous icicles forming due to the big thaw starting.



The three containers on the right are the t-shirts and I let Maddy "design" them. She loves this part. She always puts so many colors together I am afraid she will get mud but she always gets astonishingly beautiful pieces! Here they are:







The last is a fabric scrap I dyed using fushia, red and yellow. I ended up washing these out last night after all the snow had melted. Someone told me to let them sit 24 hours and then wash. So I left the blues and greens "cooking" for the full 24 hours. I have them in the washing machine now and will post a little later.

Madelyn has been busy

I was showing my daughter something on my blog, when she noticed that I had posted her turkey picture. She was very excited that she had 4 "hits"!! So she has been on a creative streak and I have been cleaning up after her. I am so excited that one of my kids loves art!


Here is a part of the mess that created the following pictures


She was having so much fun playing with her ink pad.


She actually stamped the lid to the stamp pad and then slid it across the paper to create the blue piece.




This piece is a necklace that she made for me. It's a snowman made out of paper and she used the craft lace for a chain.



But this piece blew my mind! It is so well thought out, great colors and composition. I think this will have to be framed.



My photography skills are not doing this piece justice. And she painted it on poster board so it is curling up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Madelyn was in a very creative mood. We were at Michael's yesterday getting t-shirts for the Brownie's troop project for next week. For some reason, she is totally taken with styrofoam. If you have priced it lately, you will see that it is getting a little pricey. So I let her get a package of 12 1" balls and made her give me three for a project I am working on.
Once we got home, she immediately went to work on her "masterpiece". I love watching her work. She tears around the house collecting all the pieces she needs and then sits to work on the project. Here is the fruits of her labors.

Initially, I thought I was looking down into a pen of turkeys and they were looking back at me. Madelyn explained that they were turkey's and the styrofoam pieces were their eyeballs. They were hiding in water, in a fenced in area and the big square created the walls of the room. The outline around the eyeballs is their bodies. 

I asked if they were hiding so they wouldn't be available for someone's table. She looked at me like I was strange. I don't think she is equating live turkey's with the one on the table just yet. 

Elvis

When Madelyn was about 8 months old, she was sitting on my lap watching TV at 5:30 a.m. A special about Elvis comes on and they are playing some of his hit songs. She is just rocking back and forth - her version of dancing at that age. Clearly an Elvis fan from very early on. So my daughter has been telling me that she wants to BE Elvis for Halloween. It's been two years now. I ask if she likes the white suit or the black. She picks the black version (thankfully) She is not a neat and tidy child.

Wandering through Joann's with my coupon in hand, I venture into the pattern section and find an Elvis pattern! Of course it is for boys but I am not telling her that. I purchase all the fabric and the contrast fabric, interfacing etc. I am beside myself with excitement. She came home from school and I show her my find. She says "Oh. That's great mom. " Now I am thinking I shouldn't have wasted my time. But No! I am going to do it anyway. So I did. It turned out awesome and she loves it!!! Of course she doesn't want to wear the wig or glasses. So she looks more like a mariachi band member or Zorro. Oh well.

So here are some pics I took of my two lovelies. The sequins are all hand sewn on. Took about 4 days to complete the entire costume (while they were at school obviously!)



Patrick is obviously the Grim Reaper. They are standing in front of our blow up skull on the front lawn.




Madelyn did not want to pose for this picture. They had soccer games during the day and then this Halloween fundraiser. (Patrick scored 2 goals and won the game for his team!) She was beyond tired and crabby. Can you tell?




I finally guilted her into posing for me.

Trees Again (and some fishes)

Finally had a chance to experiment with the last three stenciled trees and fishes. This time, I just stenciled trees with black dye and aloe vera gel. Yesterday was semi nice outside so I decided to dye the backgrounds with setacolor. I liked the results. I think I may have the trees out of my system for a while!



Meanwhile, this is Madelyn's latest design/art project. She surprised Steve and I with "I Love You" cut out of paper and laid out on our kitchen floor. Remember she is only in kindergarten so the spelling isn't exact yet but she is making amazing progress!!