First of all, I dyed some painted silk for my Quilty Conscience exchange. I wanted a kind of pale blue, and the label on the packet said "Madonna Blue" which I took to mean a pretty sky-blue. The colour swatch seemed to confirm this.
Really, it was more like indigo. Who knew? The silk looks great, but my paint resist looks very scrappy against such a dark background. I'll have to hunt around for something different.
It wasn't an unmitigated failure, though - I gathered up some tags to dye since I had a pot of dye on the stove, and they came out very nicely. Some are plain, some are stamped with white paint, using one of my hand-carved bird stamps.
And I threw in some muslin scraps, I think they'll be handy, and will look lovely over gold.
And the best thing about dying tags is that in the bottom of the pot, when you tip the dye out, you find a whole lot of those circular hole-protectors that have drifted off the tags in the liquid. They're great for stamping on and attaching to other tags.
I made one of these pin-cushion rings out of the tab you pull from a carton of long life milk. Our tabs don't look like the one in the link, but they worked perfectly well.
I made it, and I admired it, and I left it on the table. In the morning, it was gone. And while I was photographing the replacement that I made last night, a little brown snout crept into frame. I shall be keeping this pin-cushion locked away.
Here is Stephanie modelling the ring. I think it will be very handy - I'm always putting my needle down, or tucking it into my shirt when I'm not using it then forgetting where I put it.
I made some fairy inchies for Inch By Inch, but not in time to make last week's theme. (Sorry for being so hopelessly disorganised, Fiona!) Serendipitously, I had to make a card for a friend who has come out of hospital, so they were put to good use anyway.
The first mailing group I joined once I had discovered papercrafts was Stamphappy, and I'm very fond of it - I've learned so much, and met so many wonderful people from the list. They've started up a one-for-one ATC swap, and I've received my first one, from Linda Aldred. It came in a beautiful hand-made envelope, and was posted in a tiny library pocket, that was the most adorable thing in the mailbox yesterday. The picture doesn't do it credit - foil card looks lovely in person, but is tricky to photograph. Thank you, Linda! It's lovely, and the mesh window is a really clever way to frame an image. I'll be filing that idea away! And I'll be putting something in the mail for you as soon as we're back from Melbourne.
This weekend is going to be much quieter - we'll be in Melbourne while Stephanie does some work-related education. We'll be far away from the craft table, but hopefully we can do some shopping while we're there. And it's sunny this time, too!
One last photo of my catburglar in action, with sports-style notation, because he moves so fast you can barely see him:
4 comments:
Mia used to sneak off with craft stuff too, when she was young and spry. I would also find pegs all over the house and she used to leap in my knitting basket on top of the twitchy ball of wool. Grrr. But funny. Now she's too ancient and dignified for all that.
I just started my postcards and they are blue too! Must be the weather.
Wow, what a great post Danielle! Lots of interesting pictures - and you might not be using the silk paper for QC but it looks beautiful. Very impressed with the carved stamp too. Love the little pin-cushion ring - great idea. I haven't started my postcards but I think I have decided what I am going to do (does that count as progress?)
I love that colour of blue - of course, if you were looking for something light it might not suit... Never thought of dyeing paper tags in a dye pot - guess I will have to add that to The List...
Great picture of the cat!!! And great blue tags!! What a long informative post. Thank you. Fun to read!! :) xx
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