Colorful Canvas Market Bags

Like so many, we are up to our necks in a constant stream of plastic bags. I used to use canvas shopping bags, but over the years they have gotten old, dirty and misplaced. I've been well aware that it was high time to replace and replenish my supply and get back into a healthy, green shopping habit.

While looking at my lovely Ikea fabrics, (see last post) and wondering what to make from these canvas weight delights, the light bulb went on and I realized they would be perfect for some bright, stylish market bags! Happily I also bought a few yards of sturdy weight solids, perfect for the lining. And joyfully, I have enough fabrics to keep us in a delightful supply of these bright cheery bags!

Wash Day

New Ikea fabrics,


all washed and hanging out to dry.

Tuskineko and Ikea

I've been asked by a few readers as to what paints I used for the dolls in my previous post. I used Japanese Tsukineko All-Purpose Inks. They come in a wide assortment of colors inside very small bottles. Applicators, such as the ones shown, are used to apply the pigment. (You can also use a paint brush.) Depending on how you use them you can get different results... very bright saturated color right out of the bottle, water color effect when used on wet fabric, to an almost coloring book effect when used in light amounts on dry fabric. Hope that helps!

In other news... My very sweet Hubby spent his Father's Day taking me to Ikea, where I went hog wild buying up their sale fabrics, priced .99 cents to $2.99 a yard. The last thing I really need is more fabric, but at those prices how could I resist? By the time we got home the light was getting too poor to photograph them, but after some web searching I did find images of some of the prints:

Most are mid-weight bold prints in a semi 1970's color pallet... They are going to give me a fun mental challenge!


These flowers are enormous... a yard wide each!


Flowers sprinkled over large, wonky stripes


Giant waves of color.


The super large, colorful circles on this print remind me of the game "Twister!"

Also got some wonderful light-weight bird and leaf prints, which I will show another day. I'm looking forward to playing around with all this new yardage and will show you the results soon, I hope!

Friends

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive...


and it is only by this meeting...


that a new world is born." - Anais Nin

I made these two little dolls out of plain muslin, of which I am growing increasingly fond of for it's simplicity. The details were drawn with Pigma pens and then painted with Japanese fabric paints. These are part of my own personal collection, but I am thinking about doing more for the shop. They make me smile each time I pass by.

Headband Heaven

I am in the midst of growing out my short hair and am currently in that awful stage where what had been bangs are now annoying slips of hair that will not yet reach behind my ears. Tired of hair clips and disdaining hairspray, (I am a low maintenance type of gal and don't even like the blow dryer) the simple solution is to wear headbands. Trouble is I have been headband cursed my whole life. They slip, they slid, they are too loose or too tight and they always ride up in the back, causing a funny little bulge in the back of my head. Drives me crazy!


But when I saw the headbands made by the very talented and amazingly sweet Colleen in her BCharmer shop, I decided to chance it and give my headband lust one more fling. I am so happy that I did! Her headbands are not only pretty as can be but fit like a dream, are incrediably comfortable and they stay put. And best of all they are REVERSIBLE!! I want one in every color!


Now I am a happy camper!
Thanks Colleen for making such a great headband!

Patch Play

"I played with an idea, and grew wilful; tossed it into the air; transformed it; let it escaped and recaptured it; made it iridescent with fancy, and winged it with paradox."
— Oscar Wilde


These days my primary focus and concentration is on Mo. I don't have the mental space to fully develope the bits of ideas and inspirations that have been be-boppin' around my brain. However I am having fun playing with those bits of ideas by making these Remnant Patches.



Their small size allows me to get those bits of ideas and inspirations into tangible form, before they slip out the back door. They also offer me the perfect place to explore that which I keep returning to....

color...



shape...


and stitch...

Patches are for sale in my Silly BooDilly shop.

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Big thanks to all the sweet anniversary wishes! We weren't sure if we were going to be able to go out to celebrate, as Mo was having nose bleeds for much of the day, but by night time the bleeds had calmed down, and we decided that she was in good hands with our two capable daughters. We escape to the movies and saw Pixar's UP. It was as sweet a love story as could be. Parts of it reminding us of ourselves and it was the perfect movie to celebrate a long and happy marriage with!

23rd Wedding Anniversary

(I have now been married half of my life!)

Happiness is...

A smiling Mo!


Her little body is starting to fall apart, but her spirit and mood are as happy and positive as ever. The vet saw her the other day, and declared her a true miracle. He has no explanation as to how she has made it this far.

A birds nest with lovely brown specked eggs, found right outside one's kitchen window....



Exploring the love of stitch with a new series of work...



May each of you find happiness today everywhere you look. xo

Wannetta and Gilby

Here are the last two of my School Photo series... thanks for all the nice feedback, they were fun to do and I hope to do more again when the mood strikes!

Wannetta (Old English for "Pale")


Moody and misunderstood.
Prefers rainy days inside.
Delights in the work of Edward Gorey.
Wants to live in Paris and eat croissants everyday.



GILBY - (Irish for "Yellow Hair"):


Daydreamer extraordinar.
Likes strawberry jam and chocolate scones.
Wants to be an airplane pilot and touch the clouds.
Goes fishing every Saturday, but always returns his catch.



Wannetta and Gilby along with some of their other classmates are currently available in my Silly BooDilly shop.
Enjoy your day everyone!