Looking and Looking

Because
A gift came in the mail from SaraMuz
I spoke to about 40 people
yesterday
about
a museum in a box
now
many people will be creating
their own museum in a box!
See
One person
CAN
make
a difference!
Thank you Sara!

What Is Done is. . .good

She makes bracelets
I make Shibori
She makes baskets
I make Mango ~ Lime ~ Sorbet/Sherbet/Frozen Yogurt
2 cups thawed or fresh Mango
1/2 large Limeade Frozen Concentrate
3/4 large carton Vanilla Yogurt
1/4 cup fresh whole cream
dash salt
Swirl in Blender
Pour into ice cream freezer
Let it freeze~ let it freeze~ let it freeze
a lovely bowl of summer fruit
for each serving
top with the frozen treat!

The Beginning of A Story

The cool wall of stone I sat upon at the park was where I met the strangest character. She looked as though she stepped out the door of Anthropologies into the world that it created. Her dress was ruffled and sheer with tiny chartreuse flowers mixed with yellow Swiss dots. The boots she wore were black knee highs laced with teal blue and white stripe cotton threaded through with apricot colored silk tassels. Her hat was a perfectly sheer white Panama covering her yellow curly hair which followed the neckline of her red linen sweater.


Oblivious to me or anything she walked in circles while singing a tune I could not identify but sounding quite familiar and enticingly worth remembering. It would haunt me when I would remember her. I tried to remember her. I didn’t want to forget the ethereal moment when she came across the wide green lawn and over the little bridge to where I sat. I asked her when she stood in front of me what her name might be. “Edit,” she said. “Edit?” I asked. “Yes, said she. Pronounced just like Edith but leave of the h.” I commented that I had never heard that name before. I, thinking it might be a foreign name, asked what her last name might be. She replied, “That it is, not might be, Button.”

Busy As

We did this:

We made Piñatas
We make paper dolls!

Blow up a balloon

Recipe for Paper Mache
measure out 2 cups of flour
and
2 cups of water
and
1 Tablespoon of salt
Mix very well in a bowl
until there are no lumps.
Tear Newspaper into strips
If you leave it folded
tear long-wise
that is easier
because you are tearing with the grain of the paper.
Dip the strips into the paste
slide it through two fingers to remove excess paste
Place upon the balloon
one strip at a time
until you cover the entire surface
except, for the knotted area of the balloon.
put several layers onto balloon.
Place balloon in a dry place and allow a couple of days dry time.
We made ours into an egg shape to be
decorated with white glue and crepe paper.
Oh yes, you must pop the balloon after it dries.
We will fill these Piñatas with something good to eat
To be broken at the picnic.

These paper dolls are from
http://potjethee.blogspot.com/2010/07/lucky-dolls.html#linksShe is generous enough to share her idea
with everyone.
The children loved them.
We are making more this next week.
Thank you Patricia!

Everyone have a super nice weekend!

Color My Life

1. Leeks in my garden, 
2. Digital marble painting, 
3. In my kitchen, 
4. My bedroom, 
5. Vases with roses and moth, 
6. Digital marble painting,
7. Out my utility room window.

Today: In My Little Town

A Bee and Leek Blossoms

This bee knows the sweetness of this day.

New Works Ready to Go to Framer

A quick pic taken outside of these pieces:

Kings X, Jacobs ladder(upside down), and a peak of Prayer Tower

Machine Embroidery

24 inches -36 inches tall approx. by 6 inches approx. wide

Summer 2010

Below is a a close up

Today: I am in discovery mode

Prep for class tomorrow for Prayer Flags for the Gulf of Mexico

My classes are making silk prayer flags.

We will be sending visual prayers for the gulf of Mexico.

This is silk fabric which is dyed with Kool-aid.

You add about 3 pkg of unsweetened Kool-aid to 6-8

cups of water in a corning dish which is placed upon the stove on medium high heat. You can see where I stirred the kool-aid in the pot before I added pre-washed but still wet silk.

I added a little white vinegar to the mix and stirred.

Add the silk( make sure that you cover all of the fabric, so don't put too many pieces of flags in at a time) simmer with lid on dish until all color is soaked up by fabric (this means when the water is clear).This usually takes about an hour. 

Then, just leave the lid on and let cool for a few hours before you remove fabric. Squeeze out the water, hang to dry. When dry, iron the pieces to remove any wrinkles.

The kids are going to draw onto the fabric with permanent Sharpie markers, things that they know are in the gulf, like fish and birds.

To finish, we are using white glue along the one long side of the flag to roll a dowel over once. Let dry and then we will have many colorful flags. These can remind the children to take care of our earth when they take them home.

Tomorrow, when they are finished I plan to take a photograph of all

of the flags.Each flag is about 10 inches wide and about 24.5 inches long.

I keep trying to get the margins
right, but it is a no go.
The point is to see how to dye with kool-aid, right?

Another Story Another Time

If you read the previous two posts, you will see that  I made the story indelible in that what has been done has already been done.
Before I had a chance to cut the words into strips I pushed the magic publish this button .
Don't you just hate that? When you can not un-ring a bell?
Above is a work in progress. Everything I do is always a work in progress. 

I shake While I Work. . .Do YOU

See the collage in the center of photo? See the yellow butterfly on the antique silk ribbon from France?
See the tiny characters all snuggled up together? The size is approximately 2.5 inches by 4.25 inches.
That looks exactly like my bed. How is this possible?
The directions on the bottle of lemon and beeswax furniture polish. . .shake it. . .

A Story

Never a Dull Moment

Never a dull moment around here. Mom and I drove to Batik etc. last week to find a bit of inspiration. Have you ever been to a better quilt shop? NOT! My mom used to be a quilter in her younger days. I am not a quilter, as she says so. But, I do use cloth. I create my own cloth, usually silk, which I dye, knit, weave, and/or manipulate in many ways, but this is not about me! They showed her how to make a basket; that is all it took to set her in motion. This is the first fruit of her labor.

Indian Corn and Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato Vine grows above the forest floor.  Deep coolness
rises to where I gaze at the sight of  "Indian Corn" colorway sock
yarn. Machine embroidery piece peeks out from underneath silk shibori
just untied and over the swatch which is my task for this summer day.
The bird songs remind me of the words of my friends who can fly
here.
I am thinking of Isak Dinesen. Her courage to start a coffee plantation
even though not of her own choosing and to make it work until the
end when the fire came after she had lost her love in the plane crash inspires
me. When I think of her insistence to dine graciously with friends using her lovely
china listening to the music and the kindness she showed to the natives who worked
for her all the years on her farm  this is what makes a good story teller for she
had many stories to tell of her life in Africa. Her story, "Babette's Feast", is breathtaking.
I always tell stories. Most are not true. It is a form of performance art to me.
I like to see what happens when I set an idea in motion because human beings
are so totally unpredictable. But, I will tell you that today what I say is true...

What's ON For Today

Another Perfect Day

Imagine

Another perfect day of indigo and sky in the fabric of my life.

Indigo sky inspires indigo day

touching silky fabric listening to an interesting book while pleating and stitching 

and tyeing knots for shibori fabric is a perfect way to spend a perfect day dipping into indigo vat trying to reach that perfect color of darkest blue over and over letting the oxygen do the job on this day before the big weekend celebration marked with blue and white and of course red