Artist's Way - Task #2

 This task was to "Pick 5 flowers or leaves and press them". How many flowers could I find at the end of October in Illinois? My hibiscus is blooming and I found a bit of golden rod that was sheltered from the weather. Leaves.... the ones that have hit the ground are brown and not so very nice. Once again, I changed the "rules". I opted to pick seed pots and dried plant material. This worked for me.

Artist's Way / Task 1 - Rocks

 I am, once again, working my thru The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Week 6 is titled, Recovering a Sense of Abundance. The first task is to find 5 pretty or interesting rocks. I had to chuckle at this task. I've been picking up rocks since I could first walk. Most of my collection is now on "display" on the little beach at the end of our pond. Instead of hunting more rocks, I went thru my shards to look for pieces to use in my next wool piece. I'm visualizing a teal/aqua and brown palette. 

Dye "Playshop"

 I saw the term "Playshop" used instead of workshop somewhere, and though how fitting it actual is. Art is not work! It should be a fun and playful experience. 

We dyed our fabrics on Tuesday,  and I finally had time to rinse, wash, and dry them this morning. 

This was a fail. Apparently, it was not cotton.

I wanted a bold aqua. Yes!

This was pink before hitting the dye bath. The background is synthetic but did stain a bit. The stitching is now a color I can work with

I don't remember using mustard

Camel and khaki 

Happy the embroidery didn't take the dye

Ok, a second pic... I can't figure out how to delete this while posting using my phone!

One piece of ice dyed fabrics. I got a bit too heavy with the black dye

This will be nice for winter stitching

Jacket update

 I continue to stitch on my Sashiko project. Slowly. This little twist is my way to personalize - not traditional Sashiko. I'm also not rushing this project. It very well may take a year or more to complete. I'm good with that.

Gift from Linda K

 This gift from a friend will be going to Japan with me! I ❤️ that I can organize and see what is inside at the same time. Thank you Linda for making this for me!

Yellow

 I like to make covers for my composition book journals. Sometimes it is a quick way to try a new technique or just use some of the fabric from my stash. This cover used some of the sun prints that I created this summer using golden yellow solar fast. Nothing fancy - I just pinned pieces of fabric together and used a simple running stitch to join the fabric blocks. 

Broken plates

 I've been breaking plates, bowls, cups, pitchers, etc., for a long time now. With a stitch idea in mind, I decided to glue one of the plates back together, but leave out some of the shards to give myself places to fill in with beads and French knots. With inspiration from the Japanese method of mending with gold, Kintsugi, I am exploring some easy (and less expensive methods) to accomplish the vision I have in my head.

I had no idea how difficult it was to reassemble the plate! It's not that many pieces, but it took me quite awhile. Maybe part of the issue is that it is not flat. I finally figured out that it would help to put it together inside another plate.

Simple supplies - glue I found at Hobby Lobby and pigment from my stash

I am not so happy with the "gold". It looks too orange to me

I used tape on the back of the pieces to hold them in place

I found that using crunched up aluminum foil helped with propping glued pieces. 

For now - they will sit and dry.

Never would I ever...

 

Back in 1976, I worked at Del Monte during the pea pack.  The smell is still in my brain and was once again triggered while grocery shopping yesterday! Ugh. No canned peas for this girl.

Bargain Bonanza!

 Bargain Bonanza is my favorite thrift shop! Located in Clinton, Iowa, it is only about 20 minutes from my home (unless there's a train or traffic backed up on the bridge over the Mississippi). My deal I made with myself is this: take a load of donations and for a reward I may shop, but only purchase what I can carry out. I went yesterday and found $5.00 of treasures:

Had to have this little teapot. I won't break it for now. Instead I think I will hang it next spring with the hopes that a house wren will build her next inside. Not an original idea... Thank you Pinterest.

This little pot has the look of a sugar bowl, but is missing the lid. With a trip to Japan in my future, this little guy just spoke to me.

50 cents! I couldn't pass it up. Especially since it is blue. 

Really!?! A Norwegian souvenir! $1.00. 

I 💗Norway.

And last - a teacup from Japan. It ticks all the boxes!  Blue, Japanese, teacup, and the price was right! I'm thinking this will be for a moss project that is floating in my brain. 

Paper weaving

 While in Japan, I plan to have the supplies ready for an easy class for the tour group. I'm feeling like paper weaving is a good project. Light weight and I can have the paper prepped with holes for our "looms". I like the idea of participants picking up little scrapes, wrappers, and do dads while on tour during the day. I personally also like using old photographs in my work. Lucky me! I have been given a huge stash of photos to share with the group. It will be fun to see what this creative group of ladies comes up with.