Back on the World Wide Web

Hello!

We have finally regained internet access after our move last weekend...I feel out of touch with things at the min and have been sat here for the past hour updating addresses and accounts which is now making me rather sleepy as I think this is the longest I have sat still since last Friday! So yes, fairly tired.

The move itself was tedious - just when i though i'd sorted everything i'd remember something else, then there was the cleaning, the handing over of the keys to the new tenant who was a pain in the backside, and now there's the decorating! We have made a start on our bedroom but I am having a day off from it today and decided to cut the grass and cut weeds that are poking through our back fence instead.

Tomorrow I have appointments at B&Q and Wickes to design some kitchen ideas - an expense we could do without but we desperately need the lopsided cupboards replacing and a working oven sooner than we thought - it's very hard doing a food shop when you can't use an oven! Thank the lord for finance options.

On Sunday I am heading home to Whitby to visit family for a couple of days - this had been booked well before we knew our moving date as it is my Mum's birthday at the beginning of May and although she is telling me not to bother I am as it has been nearly two months since we last met up already!

Then on Wednesday I shall return to work....we won't say too much about that.

As with regards to Lissi, I have now offically re-opened all online shops for people to peruse once again. I have started to add some products to my 'Buy Online' section on this blog so that people can be directed straight to a shop if they see something they like. I have also started added some dye samples imagery to the 'Gallery' section for a bit of interest too. I have photos of new products taken a couple of weeks ago to edit then I can add these products online to share with you all. Hopefully they should start to emerge within the next week or so when things (might) start to settle down.

It's good to be back!

Plaque By Aiden Crafts

Moving Day

So today is the day; boxes packed, still bits and bobs unpacked....where has it all come from?!?!

But the day has arrived and we'll be off to pick up the keys shortly....this will be my last post for a week or so as we are to be disconnected and await reconnection in our new house, which I have been told can take 1-2weeks - I don't know how I will cope without the world wide web for so long but maybe it will make me concentrate on the wallpaper striping, skirting board sandpapering etc a little better without it!

So i'll be back soon, hopefully with good tales to tell :) x

Happenings...

I have a couple of things to share...

Firstly, we are moving into our very own home on Friday! I have been keeping (fairly) quiet about buying our first house as I have quite honestly been nervous throughout the whole process! We made the offer at the end of January and thought we would have been moved a lot sooner as there are no chains etc but it's taken over three months and we're finally going.

We've started to pack up our belongings this past week and discovered that there is a lot to shift and that the five boxes I had already managed to collect barely stored anything once we got started!

Here's a picture of Rosie exhausted from it all....

Yes, she had managed to get cosy in a couple of stacked boxes and fall into a nice deep sleep...as you do. She has no idea what is happening and hopefully she will adjust well in her new home.

Secondly, on the crafting front, I have invested in a wee box of DK Merino yarn...only 4.5kgs!

I have been wanting to dye yarn for some time but due to lack of outside space I had resisted, but now we are moving and will have a front and back garden to play in I decided I would stock up ready to take the plunge! I am hoping to dye yarn to sell in skeins as well as making limited pieces for my Autumn and Winter collections.

I will keep you updated when I come to doing some colour tests!

Gold !

Using the same techniques and testings as in the Previous post ( A New Glow ) I experimented with a piece of silk that had been dyed using onion skins.

The silk had been boiled in the dye pot for 30mins to achieve a lovely warm peachy glow, as shown on the left hand side of the note pad below. Having used this shade in previous work I thought it would be good to carry on experimenting to see what other colours can be obtained, and mixed up some colour modifer solutions.

The results are as follows....

(left to right, top row - Soda Water; Iron Water; Copper & Vinegar Water; bottom row - Vinegar Water; Copper Water.)

The variety is really clear and I was quite surprised at all the lovely shades that came from the same dyed cloth! I fell for the gold shade which came from the Copper & Vinegar Water solution.

The rest of the silk was then modified and below are a couple of products awaiting photo styling before being added to my shops...

Golden Neck-Tie Silk Scarf

Golden Triangle Silk Scarf

Let me know what you think!

A New Glow

I have been rummaging through my stacks of experimented fabrics recently trying to find things I can make some use of. I came across this long leafed eucalyptus printed piece of silk and thought I must make something from it!





However as you can see the print is a very subtle shade of green/brown and in some areas of the fabric looked dirty, though I know it isn't, it's part of the print, I'm not sure how a potential buyer would see this. I then remembered that I had bought a jar of turmeric spice powder to experiment with and it was still sitting in the cupboard untouched. So i decided to boil up a pan. I let the turmeric simmer for about an hour before straining the powder from the water and then adding the silk. (Again, my patience was not used in this experiment as I just tossed all the fabric in at once thinking about the spontaneity of it all!)


The fabric simmered gently for about an hour, and once dried gave a startling glow...



It is a lovely shade and great for summer, but I just feel it is too bright for my collection?!


So I decided I would cut a sample to experiment colour modifying with...
And so, out came the cups! I decided that if you're going to test something then you might as well test it thoroughly, and with a bit more caution than I sometimes do; so i mixed up five solutions as below...

From left to right - Copper & Vinegar Water; Copper Water; Vinegar Water; Soda Water; Iron Water.

You can see above after 15 minutes of soaking there was significant colour changes.

I compiled the results in my notebook next to each other so the variations can be seen clearly, ranging from bright yellows to murky beige and green....

I am leaning towards the duller yellow (copper modified) as I think it would sit nicely in with other colours in my current stock collection.

Though I can't decide for sure on which method to use for the full piece of silk yet, or if I should just even leave it the bright yellow as it is?!...would love to know your thoughts on what colour you would most likely want to wear....

Contents = silk + foliage = unknown

In a recent post I showed a photo of silk sitting contently in a jar of eucalyptus dye, well below is that very piece of silk!

As I explained in the post it had been experimented with for a compost dye technique and I hadn't been patient enough to leave it long. The marks on the silk are from the compost dye which had various leaves folded in with the fabric. The dye the silk has been sat in has been exhausted as it would normally be showing a deeper orangey-tan colour having stewed for so long. And so I decided I would experiment further....


I collected foliage from out and about outside my home. In the picture above you can see Ivy, Bracken, Laurel, Rhododendron and dried leaves from autumn, plus the odd flecks of purple are Crocuses that have seen better days.

They were all spritzed with water them folded tightly and squeezed back into the jar.....



I'm very curious as to what will emerge differently this time, if anything, and for how long I can wait before opening.....

Oh the life....

Rosie relaxing on a bean bag while doing a great 'Super Cat' impression !

(sorry, photo a bit rubbish but she was looking very frightening with the flash!)

More serious post to follow in the next couple if days x

Egg-Tastic ! !

I'm very excited about Easter this year as it is the first full Easter I have had off for many years!

So to celebrate i've collected some of my favourite 'Egg' related items from Folksy.

Spotty Dotty Egg Cards from Hannah Madden

Set of 4 Egg Cosies from Charlotte Macey Textiles

Hanging Easter Eggs from Fiona Design

Soy Wax Tea Lights from Mr Wick

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter !