Eco Printing with color, stitch meditations and Shrekkie

I have continued to create my eco print scarves, and decided to experiment with adding just a tinge of color to the scarves with my Procion MX dyes before printing.  Love the results!  At some point I hope to get into using natural dyes, but the process is more than I can learn in a short time, so this is my solution for now:

Pale coral pink

Seafoam green

Palomino Gold

Robin's Egg blue

I am soooo in love with Botanical printing!  It really makes me happy to be able to capture nature this way... 

With the change of seasons, I am busy collecting and storing leaves for the winter months, much like a squirrel gathers acorns!  But I did let myself use one of the oak leaves for a different project:

If you follow my blog, you may remember that I was doing a lot of hand stitching back in January.  Then I got busy with other projects, and haven't done any since then.  But I have seen examples of using real leaves in collages, and decided one of my beloved Oak leaves deserved a chance to show off, so this came about recently:  Leaf hand stitched to a fringed square and a hand dyed background, with a fern leaf stamped in metallic paint.  I happened to have a frame handy that was just the right size, so it now sits on a side table in the living room, to celebrate Autumn.  I think I will be getting back to stitch meditations with the onset of cooler weather... they just go together!

 I posted last month that we had to let our sweet Bubba go, which was very sad, but his health was deteriorating and wasn't going to improve.  So now, we have just one kitty left, Shrekkie.  

Shrekkie came to live with us in 2010, after spending some time on his own.  His original owners moved away, and left him with neighbors across the road, but the household was quite unsettling to him, so he decided to be a vagabond for awhile.  Before long, he was coming around our house and yowling, which caught my attention.  I kept water on our deck for our cats, and he would come up to get a drink almost daily.  I began sitting on the deck in the morning, and gradually we made friends.  By October, I had coaxed him into the house, and he has been here ever since.  Now that he is the sole cat, he has begun to spend evenings snuggling with me on the floor while I nap in front of the TV, and he seems to be perfectly content to be the last kitty.  I still miss my Sweet Bubba, but Shrek is doing a good job consoling me, and dispensing love and affection!

Changes in the air

Lots of changes happening these days... our gallery is moving to a new store in the mall, starting April 1st.  No pictures of the space yet, but does the phrase "this old gallery" bring images to mind?  Lots to do to prepare for the move!

Another change is that my friend Cinde and I are both now selling at a gallery in Williams, Az as well!

This will give us both exposure to visitors coming to see the Grand Canyon or visit other areas of the state.

With Spring here, it is time for me to start creating more items for both galleries, so I have been dyeing shirts and scarves and making bowls:

Bright colors are the order of the day, can you tell?

I recently got to visit with my friend Sherrie who was in Sedona enjoying the sunshine (visiting from Washington State where it's all gray, much of the time!) and we took a drive to the Phoenix area to visit fabric shops and enjoy a little warmth.  Sherrie did a great job of recounting the trip on her blog... you can read about the day and enjoy her photos  here.  The day went way too quickly, and she might not get back this way for awhile, so we crammed in as much visiting as we could... will have to hold us for awhile!

In my last couple of posts I shared about doing stitch meditations and fabric collage.  Due to my need to beef up my inventory, I have had to back off from doing too much in that area for the time being, but will not be putting my needles, floss and fabrics away for long... here is a picture of the meditations I did in January: 

I have grouped some of these into small panels suspended on scraps of wood, and a couple are displayed in shadow boxes.  The rest are waiting for me to find just the right way to use them.  This is my favorite so far:

I have considered offering this for sale at the gallery... even gave thought to giving it as a gift, but so far I can't part with it.  This is an example of what can happen if you just suspend thought, and let the creative muse guide you.  None of these were pre-planned, they just came about on their own.  Doesn't get any better than that!  

More stitch meditations

This has become my new obsession, and a lovely way to get back into doing hand stitching.  I spend time each day adding stitches and perhaps some embellishments to 4 inch squares of fabric:

I'm enjoying the process, and it is very calming to an overactive mind!  

But being who I am, I started wondering what I could do with these little squares... other than have them pile up and clutter an already insanely chaotic studio:

So here are a few groupings of the meditations:

I also trimmed one down and mounted it on a 4 inch canvas:

I'm sure there are other ways to use these, and will continue to mull that over... just not

while I'm stitching.  I am really enjoying the time I spend on these!  Plenty of time to hatch new

ways to use them... later!

More explorations

One of the things on my "Try this" list has been silk fiber vessels... something I have seen on Pinterest which really intrigued me.  So I finally gave it a try recently, using a square of hand dyed silk draped around a glass vase:

I put an LED tea light inside, and have since bought some votives which are a little larger.  Makes a nice glow, and the vase can also be used for floral displays.  Here's another one I made, using a fish-bowl shape:

The one below combined hand dyed silk with various fibers, and I removed the glass bowl after the vessel was dry.

I have ideas for more of these, and may even try making some with silk fibers, instead of the silk fabric.  

On another note, I recently saw a video by Liz Kettle, artist, on 15 minute stitch meditations and it caught my fancy.  The idea is to just stitch, with no outcome in mind, to just relax and enjoy the process.  I have done a few 4" x 4" squares so far, using scraps of fabric and various threads... I love making these!

I have wanted to get back into doing hand work for quite awhile, and just never seemed to be able to transition into it... kind of like a block.  Now I have a daily exercise to get me to put needle to thread and play, and it's helping me find my voice again, stitch-wise!

On the gallery front, sales have been brisk this month... the hot pads and mug rugs have all sold, most of my Pine Cone ornaments are gone and several bowls are going to new homes, along with some shirts & tops.  I have 2 more shifts at the gallery for the year, then the slow-down period will be here and I plan to bring my stitch meditation squares with me to while away the hours in the next month or so.

Happy Holidays to all, and hope you find time to feed your creative muse during the winter days ahead!