Becka's Project Journal

Monday, May 29th

anniversary iris

adobe (31k image)
my folks gave us a gift certificate for iris for our anniversary, which we finally ordered, planted and are enjoying the blooms this spring. this one is called "adobe rose" and just opened a day or two ago. the roses below are from two little sticks that my mom trimmed off her rose bush and put in a pot. from that meager start, it is probably now 2 1/2 ft in diameter and send up about 5 new shoots this year. thriving! and finally another iris from the bunch. the pic is a little blurry because the wind has picked up, but this one is called "batik". i figure between the iris that were here when we moved in (pink and yellow), the ones from danielle's neighbor (lavendar), the miniatures that i put in two summers ago (deep purple) and the lovely new ones from last summer we have had about 200 iris blooms in the yard in the past few weeks.

becka on 05.29.06 @ 07:02 PM CST [link]

Wednesday, May 24th

inspired by the giraffes bag...

bags3 (37k image)
a few more "collage style" bags. i am having tons of fun with these.
becka on 05.24.06 @ 07:15 PM CST [link]

who knew that fabric crayons were an endangered species?

01212-OA1ww (9k image)
6 stores and i don't know how many hours later, i finally tracked them down. i have a class tomorrow that has been redesigned more times than i can count. we finally settled on decorating headscarves - my students are muslim and this was a project that their girl scout leader thought they would really like for their art-to-wear badge. sounds great! the only hiccup is that they had already bought the fabric, intending to do the project themselves but never getting around to it. not really a problem, but it is a poly-cotton blend. that leaves out dyes that are kid-friendly. they don't have very much time, so paints and things like that are out because they take too long to dry. the embroidery ideas that they have are too complicated to finish in the time we have. but i think AH-HA, fabric crayons are best for synthetics. they work great on poly. we can color in these intricate patterns, iron them on and then embellish them with a little embroidery. perfect. until i went looking for the fabric crayons. for some reason, everyone has stopped carrying them. they have been around since i was i small kid. i have used them many times. i have my own box, but that's not enough for 16 students to share. finally when i was about to give up in frustration, i found them at michaels. i grabbed a handful of boxes and practically ran up to the register. hoping this is the only glitch in the project...
becka on 05.24.06 @ 05:35 PM CST [link]

session two with the translator

my somali class was back yesterday for their second session. not much to report. i think everyone was a little bored. the waiting-around-for-the-dye-to-do-its-thing step is not very exciting. we learned a little bit about how dye colors are transparent and you can't put a light color on top of a dark one and have it show up. i have had a chance to full appreciate that i do not like tie dye. mostly because it takes forever to undo all of the ties, which you have to do before you wash so that you get all of the extra dye out.
becka on 05.24.06 @ 05:18 PM CST [link]

Saturday, May 20th

enamels

enamel (15k image)
enamel = copper shape plus powdered glass.
fun fun funfun! a 5 hour class that went by in a blink. these are my pieces from class. the two on the left are transparent colors with a pattern made with a stamp or silkscreen (thanks elizabeth!), two in the middle are transparent colors mixed with opaque and the two on the right are opaques. my favorite is the gold yellow colored one. when you fire the piece the first time, the copper gets "fire scale" which discolors it. i left the firescale on this one. i added a layer of transparent chartreuse and pale blue. then i silkscreened the flower pattern and sprinkled the wet ink with a transparent burgundy. the one above it is stamped in a similar technique. i just keep turning them over and over and admiring them.

the funniest part of class is that i ended up sitting down next to a friend from etsy who i had not met before. neither of us knew the other was in the class.
becka on 05.20.06 @ 11:39 PM CST [link]

Thursday, May 18th

giraffes

giraffe2 (32k image)

an eclectic little zippered pouch that i put together last night. i recently learned a technique of transferring images to fabric via overhead projector plastic sheets and acrylic medium. as a first project, i made some notecards for my mom and i had this giraffe bit left over. some handdyed fabric, and lots of other things. the picture is not the greatest because the scanner is not quite big enough.
becka on 05.18.06 @ 08:00 AM CST [link]

Wednesday, May 17th

i may have died and gone to ribbon heaven

Les bon ribbon
i just ordered 30+ yards of giraffes, orange slices, turtles... i can't wait to see it.
becka on 05.17.06 @ 05:49 PM CST [link]

class on saturday

i heard about a new-to-me bead shop, googled them and discovered that they are offering an enameling class this weekend. sign me up!

"Back to the basics with Enameling 101
Create components with glass and class

A perfect introduction to the art of enameling, a basic class for the beginner new to enameling on copper.

Various techniques are introduced including stamping and stenciling. Create an enameled pendant, perfect for the beaded necklace you bring to class or enamel components for earrings."

i can't wait!
becka on 05.17.06 @ 05:21 PM CST [link]

Tuesday, May 16th

neutrals

sand4 (21k image)
the result of the silk dyeing project from a few days ago. i did get a piece of lovely grey and tan silk and i am so pleased with the beading on this one. the finished project is a silk cuff bracelet with pearl, shell, amethyst, jasper and glass. i didn't end up cutting in to the crystallized piece yet. it is waiting to tell me what it needs to be.
becka on 05.16.06 @ 08:21 PM CST [link]

spinning up some nylon

fun with fibers and podcasts! go to itunes, search for chem1000 and check out the podcast called "making nylon". a prof from carleton university has put videos of his chem 1000 demos up as video podcasts. you can watch the videos right in itunes, so you don't need the techno-gizmo. they are addictive. why couldn't i have taken a class from this guy?

becka on 05.16.06 @ 08:00 PM CST [link]

Thursday, May 11th

crystallized

crystal (34k image)
once in a while, when dying a piece of silk, something magical happens and you put in just the right amount of water and vinegar and the colors are just contrasty enough.... that you get this lovely crystallized effect. this is about 1/4 of the piece i finished. i was going for mostly brown with grey.... my brown went yellow and the black went green, which often happens when you add acid (which i did with this silk) and so overall this is more green than i had anticipated. you can actually order several "shades" of black, which tend toward different colors when they get less saturated. i am hoping i can find a corner of this which will work for a special request silk cuff i am working on.
becka on 05.11.06 @ 07:09 PM CST [link]

Wednesday, May 10th

prestidigitation is my favorite word

Higitus Figitus zumbabazing
I want your attention ev'rything!
We're packing to leave come on let's go
books are always the first you know
Hockety pockety wockety wack
abracabra dabra nack
Shrink in size very small
we've got to save enough room for all
Higitus Figitus migitus mum
pres-ti-dig-i-ton-i-um!
Cicero you belong to the "C's"
alphabethical order please
Ali-i-ca-fez bal-a-ca-zez
malacamez meripides
diminish diminish dictionary
those words in your vocabulary
Hockety pockety wockety wack
that's the way we have to pack.
Higitus Figitus migitus mum
pres-ti-dig-i-ton-i-um!
Higitus Figitus zoomacazam
don't get in a traffic jam
Sugar bowl you're getting rough
the poor old tea set's cracked enough
Hockety pockety wockety wack
odds and ends and bric a brac
Higitus Figitus migitus mum,
pres-ti-dig-i-ton-i-um.
Higitus Figitus migitus mum,
pres-ti-dig-i-ton-i-um!

watched the sword in the stone this weekend. had to share.
becka on 05.10.06 @ 10:03 PM CST [link]

cheesy

we have become addicts of annie's macaroni and cheese. i am a junkie for a few "kids" foods - ramen noodles, animal crackers, tiny boxes of raisins and mac-n-cheese. andy picked up some of the annie's brand at a co-op near us and we have become serious junkies. it is good stuff and not full of artificial colors and flavors or other yuck.

becka on 05.10.06 @ 09:55 PM CST [link]

Tuesday, May 9th

things i learned today

this week, i started working with a group of immigrant women from somalia. i approached this class with some trepidation as it will be the first class i have taught with an interpreter. i tend to talk a lot in class and share all kinds of trivia as i work, so i was trying to mentally prepare myself to be as clear and concise as possible. we will see how well that went when we meet next and they have to remember what i have told them. i could tell from watching them that they could understand a lot more english than they could speak, which is nice for me. i learned two things from my class today.
1. not everyone knows about mixing colors together. i experienced this with an american friend once who couldn't remember which colors made orange and i figured that he was just more than normally color challenged. when i shared with the group a swatch i had made by mixing yellow and turquoise to get lime green, they were very excited. the group leader had particularly requested lime green as one of our color choices. since we don't have lime green dye, i improvised. from what i got from the interpreter, they thought this was a great idea and were amazed that it would work.
2. the somali word for scissors is maqas. as the group leader explained to the group that they would tell me what they wanted to make and i would cut it out for them, i interrupted and said "no- everyone does their own cutting". part two of this project involves a quilt made from dyed fabrics. my announcement caused a great stir and much pantomime of scissors. a cause for great excitement - whether good or bad, i am not sure.
becka on 05.09.06 @ 07:03 PM CST [link]

Monday, May 8th

say what?

danielle is a cynophilist. i am perhaps a philotechnical. my sister, beth is an expert in arctophily.
what?? for a truly marvelous selection of glossaries on a number of topics, you should visit phrontistery.com.
becka on 05.08.06 @ 11:10 PM CST [link]

poor neglected blog

once again sadly neglected.... so here is the first of several posts.

books!

i have been sitting on the back step doing a lot of reading lately.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
love love love love this book. i am deeply in love with anything dragons.

Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
same author as the artemis fowl books, which i enjoyed. i just started this one today, but it has already made me laugh out loud.

A Gentleman by Any Other Name by Kasey Michaels
the first book of hers i read was a mystery. i didn't realize that she was primarily a romance author. i picked this one up thinking it would be like the mysteries, but struck out. it is amusing but very much a trashy romance in the best sense. i would recommend this one instead.

Maggie Needs an Alibi by Kasey Michaels

becka on 05.08.06 @ 06:17 PM CST [link]

Monday, May 1st

color me!

it's been raining here for 4 days straight. i have been just sitting here feeling guilty for not blogging anything interesting and blaming it all on the lack of sunshine making my brain in to mush. but then i stumbled across Celestial Seasonings Coloring Book Pages. Art from the tea boxes made in to lovely pages to color. i might have to get out some crayons tomorrow.

becka on 05.01.06 @ 11:20 PM CST [link]

May 2006
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