Marsbarn Designs...

Come and Batik with me.

In the midst of my batiking obsession,
I'm going to be hosting a Batiking Workshop
on Sunday June 26th from 11 am to 2 pm. 

It's a chance learn a new craft, and play.  

          No experience is necessary.  

          Everything is supplied.  

          Just dress for mess and prepare to be inspired. 

Think you aren't artful? Think again.

What's involved?

Layers of wax and dye are used to create original and

beautiful hand dyed fabric. The process is easy, relaxing,
and so rewarding.  There will be 7 different colors of dye
available, so the combinations are almost endless.

Why should I take this class?

First, batiking is a wonderful art that is fun and full
of surprises.  

Second, and perhaps more importantly, this is a three
hour time for you to do something for yourself.  
This time is about you, and color, and creativity.  
         Forget what needs doing, and play.  

    (The beautiful cloth you'll get to keep is a bonus!)

Those nitty gritty details:
The workshop will be: Sunday, June 26th
                  from 11 am to 2 pm.  

Cost: $35.  This includes all dyeing supplies,
2 yards of 100% cotton fabric, and a noon time snack.  
(Additional fabric may be available for $6 a yard).

What to bring: Clothing appropriate for dyeing.  
Weather permitting, we will be working outside.  
You should bring sun protection as befits your complexion. 

Dice Bag Totoro

My friend Totoro:

and his little friend, Chibi Totoro...

For the O Totoro, I used a combination of wool blend 
felt and thermoset vinyl for the decorations.

The chibi totoro is all wool blend felt.


First there was the Spongebob Dicepants bag,
and now with this Totoro bag.  These more complex
bags are so fun to make, and such a natural evolution
from my applique dice bags.  I think this is the start
of a new series of higher end dice bags.

This bag makes me so happy.  Look at that face!

I have ideas for more bags. There is a Tardis in the
works, and Soot Sprites, and perhaps even a series
of monster bags.  So. Much. Fun.

 Totoro has been listed in the shop. 
What kind of a dice bag would you want to see? 

(UPDATE: The Totoro dice bag has already sold. I'm
working on some more, and should have them up
next week.) 

batiking, first round results

Let me begin by saying, in a totally unbiased way, that batiking rocks.  

 
 I cut my fabrics (I tried three different ready-
to-dye white cottons: a sateen, a mercerized, and 60"
kona cotton) into 2/3 yard lengths.  This
gave us a nice area to play with and work on designs,
but was small enough that there was no feeling of pressure. 

For my first batch of fabric, my test batch, as it were,
I used a base layer of this bright yellow over white
cotton.

Then I started experimenting.  I took a piece of my 
yellow on white, put a second layer of wax, and dipped
it in hot pink dye, to make this orange piece.

with my third bit of of yellow on white, I put on more 
wax and put it in a sky blue dye to get this green background.

(Blue on yellow base, makes green. By She Who Bakes.)

For Ladies Art, I pre-dyed some of my fabric, so I could
offer the ladies a base of bright yellow, mottled sky
blue, pink, or white.  

This is my blue on pink pieces that I made with the ladies.
I used the stamp that my friend sent me in a close set
pattern. (It was the gift of this batiking stamp that jump
started this project.) I played it loose with my alignment,
but I like the effect.

Of the pieces I've done so far, this one is my favorite.
It's a blue base with a fire red on top.  I used the 
edge of a coaster as my stamp.  The entire effect
makes me so happy.  

Now, I'm not done processing all of the fabric we dyed
this past week.  I have several pieces waiting for
their turn in the dye bath, and some waiting for a
second layer of wax.  I just have to say that I love all
of the steps of this process.  From the smell of the wax,
to the excitement of watching the colors layer themselves,
to the boiling of the fabric and waiting to see what's going
to happen.  The only difficult part is when we run out
fabric.  That is sad. 

Batiking... so hard to begin, so difficult to stop

Batiking. This has been one of those projects that's
been more than  year in the making.  

I'm not sure why these projects sometimes take so long
to begin.  Is there an incubation period?

I've had the dyes for over a year, and more than once
I've mentioned the project to my lady's art group,
and then I've bailed at the last minute.

I'm not sure what about this project kept me from
diving in.  Really it's just wax, dye, and fabric.
What is there to be intimidating?  Oh right,
there's the wax, the dye, and the fabric.

I even had a good book, several actually, to explain
the process.  What finally got me going was that a
good friend sent me a lovely batiking stamp.

So. Between a growing pile of salvaged tools
(a vintage electric skillet, old stock pots, improvised
stamps) and collected supplies (dye, 3 kinds of fabrics, 
2 kinds of wax, sundry chemicals, buckets, and general
hoopla), I was ready to jump in.

And to make sure I didn't get cold feet, I told my
ladies art group that we'd be doing it.  Really doing it.
Which of course meant I HAD to do it.

I had Auntie O come and help me with the dry run,
which was fortunate, because it turned out that there 
was something to this whole batiking thing after all.

                     It is quite addictive.
                         Very Addictive.

As in you can swoop through 6 yards of fabric, and 
still want to do more.  Oh, there is a learning curve,
but it is the type of curve that leaves lovely piles of 
material in its wake.  

The stamping and the wax is so fun, and playing with
the layers of color is intoxicating, and the possibilities
are endless. It turns out that the most difficult part
of batiking is beginning... and then stopping... 
unless you run out of fabric (which I did).

Dinosaur arms, head wounds, and the upside

Today, I have dinosaur arms.
Hello, limited range of motion...
Perhaps Lady Gaga needs more back up dancers?
I could rawr the heck out of the Bad Romance
routine.  Look at my claw hands!

Yesterday, as part of my medical mania,
I had a refresher tetanus/whooping cough shot and 
a pneumonia vaccine.   My awesome nurse delivered
the meds with style and finesse (as in it hurt not at all)
into my trapezius muscles.

I was warned of soreness and tiredness, and perhaps
a bit of a temp.  Take it easy today and tomorrow,
they said.   Here's the good news, my tetanus hurts
not at all... because the pneumonia site drowns 
out any other pain that might exist in my body.

Really.

For example, today when I walked into a branch
from a climbing rose, and scratched the heck out of 
my scalp, it hurt not at all.  There was a lot of blood,
but no pain.  (I demonstrated once again that head wounds bleed dramatically.)
(Damn, but I'm talented.) 

Another upside, I now know all of the things my trapezius  
does.  For example, you need your trapezius to raise your
arm or to straighten your arm.  There will be no cab flagging or jumping jacks in my immediate future.  
But, I can do the creep with the best of them.

It shouldn't be hard, but it is.

I've been working on my most procrastinated of To Do lists:
doctors and medicine.
I am not so good at keeping those things up to date
for myself; I am better with Big E and the girls.
For example, my emergency inhaler is 7 years old
(Yes, it really is for emergencies, and thankfully those
have been few and far between),  my shots are out of
date, and the last two times I went to the doctor for
antibiotics, I procrastinated for a month before I called. 
All because I don't want to call the office. 

It isn't that I don't like my doctor, it is that I loathe,
despise, and hate my doctor's staff.  Calling in for an
appointment is like a challenge of wills,
are you really sick enough for an appointment?  Really?  
Let me put you on hold while I weigh your illness and
contemplate your worthiness.  Information like "Fast
before  your appointment" are state secrets, and bills
come irregularly and with great mystery.

So, I put on my big girl pants this week,  and made an 
appointment with a new doctor who has an office within
walking distance of my house.  (No more 25 minute drive!)  
And when I called, no snotty attitude, and no being on 
hold for 15 minutes.  Bliss, I tell you.

I have wanted to change doctors for years, but couldn't
work up nerve to the do it, and today, when I walked
into the new office, I was SO nervous, my blood pressure
was 20 points higher than it normally is.
And when they asked me if I had files to transfer from
another office, and I froze in a panic of guilt and nerves.
What? Tell the other office I'm leaving... but... but..
can't I do that later?  And the procrastinating continues.
Lame.  I am so lame. 

Still, I left with a script for a new inhaler, antibiotics
(which I did not procrastinate about, for a change),
new exercises for my tendonitis,  a tetanus shot,
a pneumonia vaccine, a recommendation for vitamin D
supplements, and they took blood for a cholesterol
screening.  Phew.  

Using that other bit of my brain

I've been moonlighting on the crafty-arty scene.

You see I've been battling a demon of my elementary
years. (No, not that horrible climbing rope in gym;
that is completely beyond me. The rope won.)
I've been tutoring a 5th grader in math. 
And, I've thoroughly enjoyed myself.   

Shocking, yes?
I must admit to a bit of shock myself.

Here's the thing, I struggled with math throughout 
grade school. I am dyslexic and spent so much of my
time trying to decode what was being asked
and trying to keep my numbers in the correct order,
that I was constantly behind.  Addition and multiplication
were okay (if I could transcribe my answer properly),
but subtraction and division?  I can remember spending
ages just trying to work out problems like this:

                                8 ÷ 4

I knew the answer would be either 2 or 1/2, but 
trying to figure out the direction the problem was
meant to go was beyond me.   

When I got to college, I started over.
Honestly, I started in the lowest level math class they
offered and worked my way up to upper division math.
Suddenly, things clicked.  Math became beautiful.
(Don't get me wrong, it was still hard, and it was
never my best subject, but I could understand.) 

 So, tutoring?  Math?  I know teachers of mine who 
would be shocked.  But, here's the thing, I know how
it feels to not understand.   I can't be shocked by sudden
mental lapses or getting numbers confused; I have done
it all.  I still have moments where I can't read a number
straight, but math concepts?  Those I can do.
And I love, LOVE, to find alternate ways to think.
Going at an idea sideways is something I enjoy in art,
and problem solving, and teaching.  Math is a perfect
foil for this. 

Will I do more tutoring?  I don't know.  It just feels
good to stretch that analytical part of my brain,
and poke a childhood phobia in the eye. 

Genius or madness... it's a fine line

I received a request for a special order a couple of weeks ago.  A Very Special order.

It's the kind of job that needs a certain inspiration,
or it will drive you crazy.

The initial request was going to be a challenge enough,
but then I said, what you would think about legs?
Really, legs?!  But there you go... legs.

So, if you got an email saying, Spongebob, what do you think of Spongebob?

Would you say, thermoset vinyl?
I can do that with thermoset vinyl!  

I'm not sure whether I was possessed by maddess
or genius when I spent 90 minutes today making a
Spongebob Dice Pants dice bag.

But... um... he's kinda cute, isn't he?
And the crazy legs idea?  I worked!  Who knew?!

So there you go.  A handmade Spongebob Dice Pants
dice bag.  Complete with legs and hand cut thermoset
vinyl features.  He sits up straight and can carry a butt
load of dice.*  

 

*(Oh my... I really said that... perhaps it's time to take away the sharp things... )

 

Up a creek, but with a girl to make me smile.

Little e: "I want to use this polka dot fabric, but it's way too long."

me: "Wait until you know what you're going to do with it before you cut it."

Little e: "Why?"

me: "If you cut it now, and later you realize you need it to be longer, you're up a creek."

Little e: "What do you mean?"

me: "Well, once you've cut it, you can't just put it back together."

Little e: "What about the creek?"

me: "The full saying is 'Up a creek without a paddle."

Little e:  "What does it mean?"

me: "Well, if you're on a boat in a creek and you don't have a paddle,  you are out of luck."

Little e: "You can't just swim?"

me:  "No."

Little e: "You can't just go back and get a paddle?"

me: "No, that's the point.  You're in a boat, in a creek, and without a paddle, you can't go back."

Little e: "Is that because creeks are very fast?"

me: "No, not all creeks are fast. They are often quite small... but that's not the point."

Little e: "But... " 

You know you're a mom when..

I had to go downtown last week.
It was still chilly when I left the girls at school,  so
I put my hands in my coat and felt something
rolled up  in my pocket.  I thought, gloves!

But, what I pulled out were a pair of dirty socks.
Little e's socks.  I took them out and opened my purse
to put them inside.... and found a second pair of 
Little e's dirty socks.  Being a mom is glamourous work.