All Hands on Deck.

We're so busy at the moment filling our wholesale orders that Alan has been roped in for ironing duties.







He did such a great job that I think I should add it to his job title, Office Manager, IT Assistant, Sales Rep. He also makes great coffee. Seriously I would be lost without him.

Pine Rivers Art Gallery

We were recently approached by the Pine Rivers Art Gallery to place a selection of our products in their Gift Shop.

So the next time you visit one of their inspiring exhibitions be sure to pop over and have a browse through out Hand Dyed Fabric, Hand Dyed Threads and Kumihimo Kits.

Sprung!

Robyn from Hot Fudge issued a challenge to all of the BrisStyle girls to take a photo of their workspaces. Robyn cautioned us against tidying up.

This is the Design Studio at home. Its a mess. In my defence I was in the middle of sorting through fabric scraps searching for the perfect colour blends for a new project. I just realized what a shocking photo that is. I will replace it when I get home. No I won't tidy.

This is the studio at the shop. This space I try to keep at least looking presentable. Customers can see straight in. I do have an out of sight shelf that I can stash stuff if necessary.

Reddy Art Quilt Challenge - February

The Art Quilt Challenge for February involved a found object. I drew a cone or seed pod. The general consensus was that it was from a Protea, an Australian Native Flower. There was also some gorgeous Lime Green Thread from Belgium with it.











I first did a pencil rubbing of the cone.













I cut out stencils. I wanted to avoid marking the cone. One of the other members is off to a Forum in April and wanted to take the cone as inspiration. I'm more than happy to share.

My first attempt was to use the stencil as a sun print on paper. This wasn't successful, purely because the breeze (that was totally absent during prep time) picked up and blew everything into the shade.

I then used the same stencil on some Eco-Dyed fabric.

Very pleased with the results. I was trying for a 'space theme' but the colours are lending themselves more to a 'sea theme'.

This is the same photo before I played around with the camera settings. If I have time, before the next meeting, this might just fit in perfect with the ' space' idea.

Dylon Dye 5

The second Dylon colour I tried was Flamingo Pink. I followed the exact same procedure as I did for Goldfish Orange, that is according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Top right is the Quilter's Muslin, Bottom Left is the Laundered Silk and the Thread is the Cotton Boucle. I will keep this standard while showing you the base colours.

I was really pleased with the result of this colour, especially on the Silk. The Lilly Cottage girls keep eyeing it off.

The Crafters' Way 85 - Scratchboard

Here is this week's Messenger column.



Scratchboard



What exactly is Scratchboard? I asked Eliza Leahy from Eliza’s Art that same question.
Scratchboard is an art medium. Eliza refers to it as the "art of taking away" because instead of putting marks onto a white surface, you remove black ink from the surface to expose the white chalk underneath. Then you can either leave it black and white, or colour the white chalk with inks or paints.



The surface of a scratchboard is smooth black indian ink. Under that is a layer of fine white chalk. Under that is either a wood base or a cardboard base, depending on the maker and quality of the board. With a fine pointed metal tool you etch the ink away from, exposing the white chalk, one line at a time. You can use anything to make a mark, from tools as fine as a pin, to wider blades such as craft knives. You can even scratch wider sections out with pieces of metal - or rub off the ink for a textured look with steel wool. The white clay takes colour very well, giving very vibrant and realistic results. A typical piece of my scratchboard will have millions of lines making up the picture and will take between 30 and 40 hours work.

Eliza has always been an artist but not always in scratchboard. It took her a long time to find the right medium. Eliza worked through coloured pencil, watercolour, gouache, pastels and oil paints before she settled on scratchboard. Eliza can’t remember what first piqued her interest but the fascination has continued for almost 6 years.

Eliza exhibits and sells her art internationally, with an exhibition in Indiana, America coming up at the beginning of this year. Her work for this show has been inspired by masks, showing how people hide behind masks, not showing "themselves".

If you’d like to see more of Eliza’s art please visit her website http://www.elizasart.com/ or visit her new Etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6898849

A Surprise

Look what I received in the mail.










Miriam from BubbaChenille sent me this gorgeous purse. Its bright, funky and and a really useful size. I love it.







Thank you so much Miriam.

Dylon Dyes 4

The Goldfish Orange has been washed, dried and ironed.










The top fabric was white Quilter's Muslin. The fabric on the bottom left was white Laundered Silk and the thread is the Cotton Boucle.

I'm a Quilter!

Okay, the title may be a little bit premature, but, I have started my first ever quilt. And, it's an Art Quilt. I've recently joined our local Art Quilt group, Reddy Art Quilters. Just before joining the group decided on 2 themed quilts with a view to holding their first stand alone exhibition.

The first theme is 'Gayandah'. The Gayandah is the local shipwreck, formerly naval vessel. I've decided to use this photo, in conjunction with the supplied ones, as my inspiration.

I made my debut at a Naval Ball and was escorted by cadets from the T.S. Gayandah. This is what I have done so far. I have an idea of where I want to go but as its my first I'm prepared to be flexible.

We also have a monthly challenge. This month was swapping a found object and using that for inspiration.

I recieved the object in the forefront of the photo. It's the seed pod of one of our native trees (notice all the technical jargon) and some thread from Belgium. Ideas are already forming in my brain but that could be the champagne I've been sipping. We''ll see how this develops.

Dylon Dyes 3

With all of the lovely colours to choose from I had a bit of difficulty deciding which one I would use first. In the end I chose Goldfish Orange. Why? Well, orange is the colour of creativity. I like orange, it's bold.

I followed the directions on the pack. First of all weigh the dry fabric. Don't guess this. In my experience most people underestimate the weight which results in paler colours than you expected. Each packet will dye 250grams of cotton, linen or viscose to the full colour shade. I dyed one x fat quarter of Quilters Muslin, 1 x 10inch square of 3 different Silks, 1 x skein of Cotton Boucle Thread, 1 x skein of Rayon Thread and 1 x skein of Silk Thread. This came to 220grams.

Next step is to dissolve the dye in 500ml of warm water. Define warm? I decided here that most home dyers wouldn't have a suitable thermometer. I used half boiling water and half cold water straight from the tap. The dye dissolves immediately, no lumping.



I did my dyeing in a large bucket. I filled this with enough warm water to fully submerge my fabric.

Dissolved the salt in the warm water.

Add the dissolved dye to this and stir well.

Add you fabric and keep fabric moving for the first 15mins. This will ensure even dyeing. As you are moving the fabric you start to notice the colour. Don't panic if its appears brighter, stronger than you expected. Colour looks different on dry fabric.

For the next 45 mins stir fabric regularly. I did it every 2 - 5 mins. After the 45 mins you need to rinse the fabric in cold water before washing in warm water. Photos of the dried fabric next time.

The Crafters Way 84 - Upcoming Exhibitions

Here is this week's Messenger column.



Exhibition Dates


Through this column I regularly review the many Craft Exhibitions on display in our region. So that you can date claim I have listed some of the exhibitions planned for Gallery 159 and Artisan in the first half of the year.



Gallery 159, TAFTA’s dedicated gallery space is open weekdays when an exhibition is in place, 11am-4pm, Sat/Sun. It is open weekdays by appointment ring (07) 3300.6491



February 7th – 22nd: Oceania Art Textiles. The official opening of this exhibition will be held on Saturday February 14th at 3pm. From 1 -5pm on that day, Beautiful Silks will be selling their silk products.



March 6th – 29th: will feature Australia Wide, an exhibition of 48 small quilts by members of the OzQuilt Network Inc. The official opening is on March 9th at 3pm.



May 16th – 31st: A Sensitive Journey featuring artist Sherry Liu.



June 14th – July 5th: Australia Naturally, this exhibition was launched at the International Shibori Symposium in Paris in November 2008.



Artisan is at 381 Brunswick St Fortitude Valley. They are open Tuesday – Friday 10.30am – 5.30pm, Saturday 10.00am – 4.00pm. Phone: 3215 0800



Their first exhibition of the year is Handmade Strange it will run from February 5th – April 4th.



Desert Psychedelic by Jimmy Pike, a Wearable Art exhibition will run from April 9th – May 30th.



Taken by Storm featuring the work of Storm Thorgenson, from the June 6th – August 1st.



Maybe I’ll see you there.

Wet Day

Have we had some rain today. First of all I slept through the alarm, I couldn't hear it over the rain on the roof. One missed gym session isn't going to kill me.

This is the rain pouring off Lilly Cottage's roof. The guttering couldn't hold all the water.

This is the building next door.

And the wasted water coming out of the downpipe of the building on the other side. Should have a tank.

Hopefully tomorrow will be drier.

Another Takadai Braid

I've finished the Kumihimo Takadai Braid I started in Japan.

It is an Anda-gumi 25 bobbin braid. It only took just under 3 hours, not counting undoing the bit completed at the Conference.

Dylon Dyes 2

The New Dylon Dyes have the best descriptive names. They are sure to inspire you.

Goldfish Orange....We all know Exactly what colour that is right?

Flamingo Pink

Tulip Red

And Bahama Blue. You can already imagine floating in that.

The names alone are enough to make you pull on those gloves and start dyeing...anything!....everything!

I'm going to start dyeing. Any guesses which colour I start with?

What's In The Box?

Remember this box that I posted about on the 12th December last year.

I can now reveal what was in it.

It was the complete range of the New Dylon Dyes. Dylon Australia asked me to do some trials with the new dyes. Of course I pondered this for about half a second before saying Yes! The Dyes are a Warm Water Dye using Procion Technology.

I've been having way too much fun with these. Keep checking back to follow my dyeing. Click on the 'Dylon' Label in the sidebar to see all related posts.

The Crafters Way 83 - Book Review

This week's Messenger column.

The Moreton Bay Regional Council Library at Pathways has a wonderful variety of craft books to borrow. Many of these books are recent releases. Borrowing craft books from the Library is an inexpensive and convenient way to learn a new craft. The Pathways Library is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm. Thursday 9.00 am – 8.00pm. Saturday & Sunday 10.00 am – 3.00 pm.

The Art of Paper Quilling by Claire Sun-ok Choi (745.54 CHO)

As soon as I spotted this book on the shelves I knew I had to borrow it. About 25 years ago I was mad keen on quilling. In those days the paper was only available via overseas mail order. Luckily times have changed and most scrapbooking shops now stock the paper strips. What I also discovered inside the covers is that you can now purchase fringing machines and mini- paper shredders to cut your own. If you’ve never tried quilling this book is an excellent place to start. It has clear descriptions of tools and materials, pages of basic shapes and techniques and an extensive project gallery. I still have my original quilling pen, after reading this book I might have to get it out.

Easter Eggs by Matthew Mead (745.5944 MEA)

Easter already? Yes I know it’s early but if you plan on decorating eggs you can never start too soon. At the beginning of this book the author explains ‘an easy way to blow an egg’. Now I have never had much luck at doing this easily which is why I recommend an early start. Once the egg is cleaned out you can move onto the fun stuff. , You can glue beads, paint, dye, decoupage, collage and marbleize the eggs. The author has even included some uses for the eggs you break during the cleaning out process. Just in case.

Decorating Eggs by Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell (745.5944 SCHN)

Out of the 2 egg books I preferred this one, mostly because it didn’t rely on real eggs. A number of the suggestion/ projects used polystyrene, wooden or papier-mache eggs. The decorations in this book are not directed toward Easter and are suitable for other times of the year. You can also easily source the materials used with many of the projects lending themselves to recycling. This will reduce cost as well as waste. If you are looking for something a little different why not give egg decorating a go.

Finished Braid

The beading took a little longer than I planned.

All I need to do now is give the braid a quick steam and its ready for delivery.

I Do Pink

I tried to get another photo of the Hot Pink Chenille. I'm still not happy with the colour in the photos. It looks brilliant in person.

I went across to visit my Pink Gurus I thought if anyone knows how to capture Hot Pink accurately they will. Alas, Laura told me she has no luck photographing Hot Pink either. It either throws red or looks washed out. So Miriam, trust me, it's HOT PINK and it looks great.

This is the other fabric from yesterday drying on the line.

And some Fat Quarter Singles. These will get washed out tomorrow.

Chenille Dyeing

Today I started dyeing some chenille for Bubba Chenille I've never dyed chenille before so I started by weighing the dry fabric. I now longer need to weigh my usual fabrics and threads before dyeing. I know exactly how much everything weighs.

I was very surprised, the chenille wasn't as heavy as I thought.

No photos of the dried fabric. I took some but the photos didn't capture the true colour. I'll try again tomorrow.

I also dyed heaps of our 3 pack fabric colourways. This lot's ready to go in the machine tomorrow for its final rinse.

I left this lot soaking overnight. Enough for one day.

Another Plate Braid

I have been braiding again. This time on the Flat Kumihimo Plate.

These are the starting position of the the threads. I've finished the braid. I'm now adding a beaded fringe. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to show you the photos of the finished braid.

Faux Crazy Patchwork

I finally finished the 'seams' on the pouch bag.

The photos were taken before I rinsed off the pencil marks.

I'll leave it now for a few days while I decide on the embellishments. I'm toying with the idea of using silver thread. We'll see.

The Crafters Way 82 - More Inspiration

Here is this week's Messenger column.

More Inspiration

Last week’s article focussed on ways to take your arty crafty projects from inspiration to reality. The feedback was immense with requests for more information. This week I have concentrated on craft blogs that have FREE tutorials. They are listed in no particular order. Many also provide links to more tutorial sites. It would be worth having a look at these as well.

http://crafttutorials.net/ The name says it all. They have heaps of tutorials of their own and have listed links of other crafts. The site has a very easy navigation bar, an absolute must when the site is content rich.

http://www.thevillageshopblog.blogspot.com/ If you are considering getting out your sewing machine you need to have a visit. The site is mostly sewing however the few tutorials I opened used those small scraps that we hate to throw out. While some of the materials stated are a little hard to source here it is a very simple matter of substituting with something you already have.

http://kneek.wordpress.com/2007/05/31/mercurys-slippers/ This site has a few felt tutorials. In the not too distant past you needed to go to a class to learn felting. With wool fibres easier to source and with this site at the ready you should be able to successfully negotiate you way around the simpler projects.

http://thelongthread.com/?p=2021 I loved this site. They have a Top 100 list of the best Tutorials from last year. I didn’t have time to visit them all but I’ve bookmarked it.

http://whatthecraft.com/blog/?page_id=21 This site also has a long list of free tutorials. This is another I will be visiting again when I have a little spare time.

If you have found a craft blog that you love and would like to share it with other readers please email me with the details. We’d love to hear about it.