A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

7 sweet years and counting

Where did those cheeks go? My sweet Soren turned 7 last week and we've been busy getting the house and yard ready for his first big party. Birthday celebrations  are usually small family events but this year we are going all out for a real big kid party. And he has quite literally invited everyone we know. We're using the party as an excuse to tidy up our rather large and unruly backyard, a job that we've needed to do for--oh, how long have we lived here?--about 3 years. So while there has still been some knitting and sewing going on, there has been little picture taking and all I could find to share is this old photo I managed to dig up from the laptop.

It's an appropriate photo, though, with Mother's Day still so near to see how far we've come in these past 7 years of motherhood and childhood. And it's time for me to admit that I miss my babies. It has taken me 5 years to get to this point but I am ready to have another one. My husband has been patiently hoping for just one more for about 3 years and I just couldn't bring myself to willingly go back to the beginning when the kids are just now getting old enough to do things for themselves and I finally feel like I have some independence back. Those first few years are hard--precious, yes--but hard. Or at least they were for me. I love that the kids are growing and learning and becoming these neat people that I want to spend time with and get to know better. But the thought of never having another baby in our home makes me want to cry. So, we're working on correcting that. We'll see how it goes.

Tutorial, part 2: Dyed Paper Towels for Paper and Fabric Arts

First off, thank you all so much for the kind words on the first part of my tutorial. This second part may make you question my sanity, but let me just say: try it first. Then call me crazy. You see, I am one of those strange birds also known as "mixed-media artists" who believe it is fair game not only to paint, glue, bleach, stitch, scratch, or embellish any and every available surface in the quest for artistic expression, but also to rip and tear, melt with a heat gun, sand until unrecognizable, or even bury in the backyard any object of our choosing in the holy pursuit of "texture". We can be very technique driven and, immediately after the first semi-successful attempt at the latest greatest technique on the radar, our second thought is: Oh, cool! I wonder what will happen if I try it on x? Add to this a strange attraction to all things equally precious or mundane, and you eventually end up with the painted paper towel. Let me see if I can show you what I mean.

At the end of our first tutorial, you end up with a workspace that looks something like this:

You've used the Calypso Blue on everything within reach and now you are anxious to try out the Santa Red, but you're left with a brush and a pallet still loaded with blue (maybe you won't be quite so ambitious next time). So, you grab the paper towels I told to have on standby and give it all a quick clean up.

It is then that you realize, "Hey, that paper towels looks really cool!" and you begin looking around for more paint to clean up, hoping to discover a random splatter of Bubblegum Pink that would contrast with the blue quite nicely....

Tutorial, part 2: Dyed Paper Towels for Paper and Fabric Arts

Materials:

• acrylic craft paint
• foam or bristle brushes
• mixing tray or disposable bowls
• water, in a cup
• paper towels, solid white (experiment with different sizes, weights and textures)
• iron
• fusible webbing
• kunin (or acrylic) felt (usually the kind found in sheets in most craft stores)
• sewing machine with free-motion foot
• matte medium (similar to matte decoupage medium and can be found in arts & craft supply stores usually on the same aisle as the artist grade tubes of acrylic and oil paints for around $8)
• scissors
• heavy watercolor paper or canvas

1.  They say "Waste not, want not" but I say, "Waste nothing and never lack for inspiration!" So, instead of cleaning that brush in a bowl of water to be dumped down your drain and clog up your pipes (But you'd never do that, would you??), just squeeze off the paint onto a paper towel and watch the magic happen. Keep dipping the brush in water and squeezing it off onto the paper towels until the brush comes off mostly clean. Do this every time you change paint colors or make a little spill and soon you will have one colorful paper towel.

2.  Keeping adding paint to your paper towel as you work until it is fairly saturated with water and paint. Then you can squeeze it into a ball so that the color gets mixed around all areas of the towel. Once it looks interesting and mostly covered, set it aside to dry flat. 

3. Once you open up your towel, you may still notice spots of white peeking through. You can wipe the color off your brush directly onto these spots, but for the most part, don't think too much about the process just let the color fall where it will. I promise, you'll be pleasantly surprised each time you open up that little treasure wad of toweling.

4.  Soon you'll end up with a great big stack of gorgeous raw materials to use in your artwork. Remember, this is a technique you can practice while you are actually working on something completely different. But if the paint is already out, might as well sop it up and make something pretty out of the mess. Am I right? This is re-purposing at its best.

5.  After your towels have dried, they are still just paint covered paper towels until you iron them. The ironing transforms these humble beginnings into a sheer, lightly textured decorative paper of your own original design. Plus, if you use 2-ply toweling, you get two pieces for the price of one! As you iron the towels flat, you will notice the layers begin to separate easily on their own. Hint: you might want to iron your painted towels with a piece of drawing paper or a pressing cloth covering your ironing board to keep it clean. If you end up with gunk on your iron (and you shouldn't if you let the towels dry completely), you might want to check out this genius post I read yesterday to make your iron pretty as new. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I plan to.

6.  So what do you do with a stack of painted paper towels?? Why, just use your imagination! But I'll give you a few ideas to get you started.

Paper Art Ideas:

 

The pieces above were made by cutting strips of the sheer towels and layering them onto art paper. I find that matte medium works best to glue them down smoothly. And because they are so porous, you can just lay the towel down on your paper surface and brush the matte medium right over the top of the towels smoothing out the wrinkles as you go instead of having to brush the matte medium onto the paper first. Make sense? Think of decoupage here. The glue goes on top of the the object to be glued down. Everything will dry with a nicely textured surface, but if your paper warps a bit, you can always press it again with a hot iron once it dries.

The paper can be used as a background or base for collage or used just as you would any other decorative paper. This journal cover was made from a dyed paper towel glued to heavyweight watercolor paper and then hand-stitched. I love the texture it creates and the white paper background really makes those paint splotches pop.

You can also cut the towels as they are to cut into shapes for collage as I did in these mixed-media pieces:

Bright New World, mixed media on canvas

Twilight, mixed media on canvas

The flowers and trees were cut from towels and layered onto the canvas with matte medium. After they dried, they were further embellished with stamps, colored pencils, etc. If you're going to do this, it is good to keep a supply of dyed towels on hand in every color to use whenever inspiration strikes. Remember: the paper towels are like any other paper you might use in your art, but they're better. First, you designed them yourself so no one will ever look at your work and immediately think "Basic Grey" or any other commercially printed paper and, second, it is sheer and can be layered to create a depth of color you wouldn't imagine. For fun, try layering them with printed tissue papers (see stars in Twilight).

Fabric Art Ideas:

Believe it or not, you can make your own fabric out of those pretty paper towels. I've had the best results using Wonder Under or similar fusible webbing to fuse the towels to a felt backing. Just fuse the webbing directly to the felt, remove the paper backing, and then iron the paper towel to the felt. Make sure your iron isn't too hot when using kunin, or acrylic, felt or it will melt. I do think using the lightly heated acrylic felt makes the fused surface even stronger than wool felt might, but you should experiment to find which you like best. I've used muslin as a backing for the paper towels as well, but I prefer the more cushioned felt backing. It makes a nice quilted surface when you top stitch right on top of it.

One more thing. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend washing your paper towel fabric. But, then again, try it and see what happens! But there are still a million ways you can use your new fabric in art quilts, applique, handbags, bookmaking, etc. Just use your imagination! I discovered the quilted fabric makes excellent pin cushions!

Now, hopefully, the creative juices are already flowing and you at least have an idea of how great the artistic potential can be even in something as common as a paper towel. And I hope you never look at trash the same way again. Now go experiment, have fun, and come back here to show off your stuff--please!

Tutorial, part 1: Hand-dyed Fabric Trims

* As I mentioned earlier, I've been working on a new tutorial, but yesterday I saw that Sew, Mama, Sew is having a tutorial contest this month so I thought I'd go ahead and enter. For a chance at some of their terrific fabrics? Of course! This tutorial will be in two parts. The first part is a do-it-yourself tutorial for dyeing your own fabric and lace trims to use in your sewing projects. Part two is a follow-up of that process to dye paper towels--yes, you read that right!--that you can use in your paper crafts, mixed media art, or fabric art. I'll show you how. Are you ready? Let's go!

Tutorial: Hand-dyed Fabric Trims

Part One:

I love the idea of dyeing and painting my own fabric designs. What I don't love are the huge vats of dyes, waxes, specialty tools, and expensive fabric paints that are often required. (Although I do love the fabulous results you can get!) And, as much as I'd love to, I just don't have the space to lay out and dye whole pieces of cloth. So, I've had to learn ways to get similar results on a smaller, less expensive, and locally available scale. It turns out I've had so much fun with it that I've experimented with dyeing or colorwashing just about every raw material I can think of. That's how it occurred to me to dye my own fabric trims. I have a weakness for lace trims, but they are difficult to find in the bright colors I prefer. There are, however, gobs of easy to find and less expensive to buy white trims available at fabric, craft, and even thrift shops. I bet you have tons of them mixed in your stash right now.

Here's what I had on hand:

Materials you'll need:

• fabric and lace trims, white or off white
• acrylic craft paints or fabric paints
• cup of water & spray bottle of water
• disposable bowls or paint mixing tray
• foam brushes
• paper towels
• flat, non-porous work surface (cutting board, plastic tray, table covered with freezer paper, etc.)
• outside drying rack (clothes line, stick, branch, pvc pipe, etc.)

1.  Lay out the trim onto your work surface. I use an old rotary cutting mat that I accidentally warped with an embossing gun, but any non-porous surface like a plastic tray or cutting board from the kitchen will work great. Hint: you might want to set this one aside for craft use only from now on!

 

2.  Mix up your paints. Squeeze a few drops of acrylic craft paint (The $1 a bottle stuff you can get at any craft store and probably already have on hand.) into a painting tray or disposable bowl, then add enough water to thin it out to a milky consistency. This isn't an exact science. A ratio of about 5 to 1 is good. Too much water and the color will be lighter and less opaque, too little water and your fabric will dry stiff. You don't need to have a special fabric paint. Since we are diluting our paint with lots of water, any acrylic paint will work without changing the hand of the fabric too much. If you already have or can find inexpensive fabric paints (I also like Pebeo Setacolor transparent, below.), these of course work great, but won't require as much water to thin.

3.  Before starting, spray the trim with water to dampen. Wet your brush and begin to dab the color onto your fabric trim, blending the color with the brush and diluting with additional water as necessary. If the color seems too dark or splotchy, add water from your brush onto the trim itself as you blend the color. You will want to fully saturate the trim with paint so that both sides are covered and you end up with your trim sitting in a little puddle of paint. Once the fabric dries, you can go back and add an additional wash of paint to even out the color or make it more vibrant, if necessary. I only had to do this with the lighter colors, like yellow and lime green.

4.  Once you have fully covered one side of the trim, turn it over and dab more color onto the backside until it is fully saturated and evenly colored.

5.  Carefully hang your trim outside to dry. I use a stick or pvc pipe propped up between two window sills as my drying rack. You can use a tree branch (It will take on a little of the paint color but shouldn't hurt the  tree.) or clothes line, too. But, trust me, this is something you want to do outside unless you like a polka dotted floor.

6.  Repeat steps 1-5 as many times as you like until your drying rack overfloweth. When dyeing fabric or paper, I like to make as much as possible to have on hand for future projects.

7.  Once the trims are dry, throw them in the dryer on high to heat set the paint and they will even be machine washable. And, did I mention, this is also a great activity to do with kids? Since you can basically use this same method for dyeing fabric, I cut small pieces of trim and muslin scraps for my kids to paint and they have a ball! So put them to work and you'll all have fun and boost your stash at the same time.

7.  Warning: this process can become addictive! Now that you're crazy passionate about dyeing trims, you'll be looking around the house to see what else you can paint, and this is where our next tutorial comes in. When you return to your messy work surface to begin again with even more colors and trims, you will find something like this. And this is where we will pick up for Part 2 of our tutorial in just a few days.

You can find more tutorial pictures at my Flickr set. And let me leave you with a few great ideas from my Flickr favorites for using your new trims. You can also see how I've used trim in some recent projects here, here, here, and here. Now, go play!

 

1. small present/pequeno presente, 2. Untitled, 3. Removable Pocket, 4. back/side view...frilly butt!!, 5. Another pouch..., 6. Laptop Tote from Vintage Barkcloths, Satin Brocade & Trims, 7. Flower Apron, 8. Hab-Dich-Lieb-Rock, 9. wallet n.7/carteira n.7, 10. tanzen1, 11. malas by Paula Mateus, 12. Untitled, 13. Nicole wallet / carteira da Nicole, 14. Summer Bag, 15. patchamania skirt o' orange blossomy sunshiney love, 16. P1020643

coming soon

We managed to come in from the Spring-y outside long enough for me to piece together this quilt top. It's for a lap quilt I've been planning for the living room and it's the biggest quilted piece I've attempted so far. The squares have been sitting around for a while as I put off actually spreading them all over the tile floor to figure out the arrangement. You know, with the dog skidding into first on my precious arrangement about the time I have it just so--which was pretty much what happened. Finally, I just decided to go row by row and it all came together rather quickly. Now, I'm putting off sandwiching it together and working out the backing. The quilting part I'm actually looking forward to, but I haven't decided what kind of design I'll use. I want something not overly quilted so it will stay pretty fluffy and snuggly, but I don't want to just stitch in the ditch either. Any ideas?

There won't be much crafting going on tonight, though, as my sweetheart has been out of town for a few days and I am eagerly awaiting his return. <insert groovy 70's love theme music here> But, I'm working on a little surprise for you that I'm super excited about. A fun new tutorial! These things take an amazing amount of time to put together and I'm always super grateful to find them. Especially the PDF files--geeezzz! I wish I was half that organized. So, while I can't promise some pretty little thing you can print out, if you like step-by-step photos and know how to follow directions, I've got something just for you! For now, here's a sneak peek to get those creative juices flowing...time to oohh and aahh....

soaking in the sun

The weather has been just beautiful here and very Spring-like, especially compared to the almost 100 degree weather we had been having, so we've been spending as much time as possible outside and away from the computer. I haven't missed it a bit. All I seem to want to do is to sit outside and knit between little spurts of puttering around in the garden. The whole family has enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, we have not yet found a new home for Beyond, the rooster. And although I still have some sentimental feelings for him, I am more than ready to let him go. He has become so brutal with the hens that we have had to separate one of them. Chi-chi (above) was hurt so badly by his talons that we didn't think she was going to make it. Thankfully, after many tears and prayers from the kids, (God is so gracious in answering children's prayers!) she's pulled through. Now we let her enjoy a little free grazing while the bully paces back and forth protesting vehemently. The poor dog wants so desperately to sniff her butt but intuitively knows better than to get too close or he might just lose a nose.

What I've been working on: the scarf that had such a difficult beginning, but is now coming along rather nicely. Imperfectly, but nicely. I am recognizing my stitches from one another and knitting the knits and purling the purls. Mostly.

An earlier practice project: another washcloth. I found some nice knit dishcloth patterns here but I was almost finished with this one when I somehow ended up knitting on the wrong side of the fabric...?? Two rows of purl bumps where nice stockinette v's ought to be just sent me over the edge. Suddenly the gaping holes, extra 14--yes, 14!!!--stitches I added along the way and uneven texture screams to be frogged. I took a picture for posterity but next time you see this yarn, it will be woven into something altogether different. I do think I'll keep up the washcloths, though. Once you've used a hand-knit cloth on your skin, the once-so-soft-terry feels like sandpaper. Seriously.

I'll tell you about my final project a little later, but here's a peek. I'm using this yarn that I was able to find locally. It may not be designer, but I think it is scrumptious. Light & airy, soft and very organic feeling. The colors are nice, too. I think it would be perfect for a baby blanket. Actually, I wish all my clothes were made out of this stuff. But, back to the project at hand: it's my first attempt at stripes, making my own pattern and using circular needles all in one. Maybe a bit too ambitious, but fun.

Well. It's time for me to get back outside. I already have a headache from staring at the screen and we only have 2 more days until it is back to summer-like heat in the 90s. Have fun!

now you know what we're really like

I just have time for a quick post to show off my new pillow. I worked on it a few weeks ago but didn't get around to putting it together until today. I love these fabrics so much. (Don't I always?)Everything but the bird print was thrifted in Memphis. The floral is a vintage napkin--aren't the colors wonderful?

The color of the backing fabric looks a little off in the picture and the vintage buttons definitely seem to coordinate better in real life. Here's a close-up of the stitching and then I'm off to practice my knitting snuggling next to my sweetheart as a silent support while he watches the Final Four Championship game. I learned my lesson after I apparently spoke the wrong words during a big game and abruptly shifted the momentum away from our team causing them to lose the game. Really. A big Texas/Kansas State game about 2 years ago. Yeah, that was my fault. I really do have the sweetest husband in the world but the Longhorns are his team and, although he did apologize later, at the time all he could say was, "I know it is ridiculous, but I just can't talk to you right now." And he actually didn't speak to me the rest of the night. Yep. And he thinks I get crazy about my crafting. Speaking of crafting, here's the detail of that stitching.

I'll share one last shot that usually wouldn't make it to the blog but I'm deciding to get real and give you a peek into what it is really like in my home, at least while my attention is on other things.

Oh, who am I kidding? This is everyday life at the Cooper house, except I had just spent all day cleaning and you can't see what the dog just puked up in the corner. (Let's keep a little bit of mystery here, please.) But there behind the couch is my child. The one with the underwear on her head. The underwear she had previously been wearing...elsewhere.... Yeah, well. I'd better be off to tend to my knitting. For real this time.

not just knitting

It's done! Last week I cut out the fabric for a knitting needle case but didn't get around to sewing it until this week. I think it's one of my favorite things I've ever made. I want to sleep with it.

I'm madly in love with this fabric. It is one of those fun looks-like-it-is-already-quilted designs, but I had to go and actually quilt the thing. This is a metaphor for my life. If something is made to be easy, I have to go and make it more complicated and time consuming. I do like the look of the extra decorative stitches. And nothing feels better to me lately than quilted fabric. I prefer a little bit of flannel to actual quilt batting. I'll probably even go this way with my blanket quilts to keep them nice and light for our overly warm climate.

I realized while taking pictures that I only have two sets of knitting needles and both are in use, so I stuck in a few paint brushes to get an idea how it will look. I love that it makes my cheap and poorly mistreated paintbrushes look almost pretty. I waited a good long time (for me) before making this. I determined not to spend a fortune on this new hobby of mine until I knew I would keep it up. I've used some major self-control so far and have only bought what I needed for specific projects plus a couple of skeins of yarn to get a feeling for working with different materials--cotton, wool, and blends of both. The cotton is by far my favorite. Of course, that may have something to do with the 90 degree heat we've been having. There's something not right about knitting with wool and sweating at the same time.

lacy crochet

I took my knitting on the road this weekend and came back with a big fat nothing. I was hoping to work on the beginner's ribbed scarf from SNB and thought I pretty much had purling down, but I spent 5 plus hours knitting and frogging the thing until I wanted to scream at my sweet husband. It turns out that the math involved in "knit 2, purl 2" was beyond me (this is why I was an English major) and, on top of that, I kept adding stitches and ending in knits instead of purls.... How in the world do you add extra stitches???

Since I don't actually have any progress to show, here's a peek at the book that's keeping me inspired past frustration. It's my first Japanese craft book and I love it. Especially since it cost me $15 instead of the usual $30 and no shipping. Oh, and it's in my native language--also a plus.

 

I realize this is crochet, but that's next on my list after I get a bit more knitting under my belt. Whoever finally decided to publish a Japanese craft book in English is a genius, I tell you.

pillows and a torture tool

A couple of new pillow covers I've just added to my Etsy shop.

I've got to come up with a better place for taking pictures. Have you seen Malka's amazing designs? Her fabrics and quilting are drop dead gorgeous but her photos make me want to redesign my entire house around one pillow.

The top pillow cover now reminds me of this bag, but I had almost forgotten about it. Actually, I woke up in the middle of the night with the idea to chop up this wonderful vintage Swedish dish towel/table cloth I had just found. This same person who hoards stacks of fabric and paper too pretty to cut into chopped up the thing without a second thought. And I'm glad I did. I really love how it turned out, but it doesn't go with a thing in my house. Plus, we might be getting close to the exceeding the appropriate number of pillows you can have without making your home look like a fluffy showroom. Not quite there, but almost.

Speaking of not quite there, but almost: behold my second completed knitting project. I call this one washcloth. Don't you love her? Beautiful (okay, I admit, that might be pushing it) and functional.

She made her appearance last week and has been caressed by every member of the family. No one seems to mind her less than perfect appearance or the fact that this is a freaking washcloth, people, that took me a week to make! I don't know how I'll ever be able to knit an actual sweater or blanket for another person. Unless I tie them down and make them watch the entire process (I'm picturing something like A Clockwork Orange here) so they know exactly how much hard work went into it. Even that, maybe I'd have to poke them in the eye with the knitting needle every few stitches so they can really feel how hard I worked. Sounds fair to me.

ta-daaa!

There she is! My first knitting project. Not exactly a FO (finished object), more like practice. But I like to call her: bookmark. Oh, yes. I am one proud momma and hardly even notice her imperfections--as a new momma should. When I gaze upon her, my eyes don't naturally go to the gaping hole in her middle, the sloppy stitches or the weird impromptu tied corner (It took me a bit to get the hang of binding off). Nope, I hardly even remember they're there.

I'm actually near finishing my second knitting project so I guess the old Stitch 'N Bitch is doing the job pretty well. My honey, who I mentioned was sweet enough to buy me the books, was initially turned off by the name, but then I showed him this project.

I might have mentioned something about wearing this when I knit. But, now, he's anxiously awaiting the development of my skills. The sweetheart! It is so good to have a man who encourages your interests.