Friday, September 19, 2014

it was a gully washer...

Wednesday night brought more than 8.5" of rain at my house and unbelievable thunder and lightning. It was sorely needed but getting it all at once always causes problems. Things have settled down now and just a light rain shower every now and then.

I did some experimenting with paint pens inspired by Karen's ledger work in SS5. I just made some simple lines on watercolor paper and then gave it a spray with alcohol to blend the colors. After it dried, I cut it up and just did a bit of embroidery.

click on the images for close-ups.


paint pens, alcohol and stitch

love these Crayola paint pens

We are working on hanky embellishment in SS5 and I finally decided on some men's hankies I have that are 15" x 15". I brought out some of my vintage cloth that I've dyed in past years and did a simple 16 patch. It will eventually get more stitch embellishment.....and there are 4 more similar hankies to play with.

man's hanky embellished with dyed cloth and lace and a smidgeon of velvet.

For those of you in the USA, Ken Burns has had a series on PBS on The Roosevelts. It is so interesting to watch what life and politics was like through those years.....different but no less chaotic than life these days. I've heard people say they wish they could go back to 'simpler times'. Times were not as simple as we tend to believe. The videos are available online HERE, if you are interested in watching. Not sure if they will work outside of the US.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

13 comments:

margaret said...

your paint pens have worked a treat and as for the block with the lovely hand dyed fabric a real masterpiece love those fabrics

Ms. said...

What a colorful expression 'gully washer' is. I am obsessed with the Roosevelts and have been for some time. Yes, I'm watching the series and sometimes twice and it's appearing in my blog posts as well. I'm a war baby after all...and here we are innundated with climate change march folks...some hudreds of thousands converge on the city for tomorrows march and the climate conference at the UN this week--'the joint is jumpin'

Glad the storm has passed to peaceful and you are getting some more pretty work done...I think Grace is still drowning...it was the tail end of the big hurricane but great for parched places.

Stitching Lady said...

I like to see you doing a ledger. With water colours. There is a Flickr group of Sharon B about journals. Quite interesting.

Rachel said...

I don't think life was ever simple - you'd just be exchanging one type of complication for another!

And intricate handwork has always been a good refuge..

Martha Tsihlas said...

Hello Deanna:

We sure needed that rain the other night, just not all at once! Thanks for the PBS heads up, those shows are always very interesting to watch. Cool stuff you are working on, keep up the stitching! !

karen said...

politics? I can't imagine they were ever simple.....
I always love your experiments and the way you push process....you have a very enquiring mind, a good thing I think.

Nancy said...

The watercolors are beautiful. I always wonder how you stitch on paper while keeping it so smooth! The times I've done this, my paper ends up so wrinkled from pushing a needle through and holding it, which I guess is just another 'look'. Ha!
Love the hankies, the colors are so pretty.
Glad your rain has come and calmed down. We could use some too.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

So often Mother Nature treats us to either feasts or famines. Glad the weather has calmed for you. Love the striped hankie!

Deb G said...

book marking that link!

Jane said...

Can't wait to see the hanky progress, love those colours and those paint pens open up so many exciting prospects

Anita said...

Lovely dyed fabric! are they silk? the hanky looks beautiful..

Nat Palaskas said...

Nicely done with paint pens effects! And I lovely the 16 patch with dyed fabric. You can do so much with dyed fabric. I love it with white too - Hugs Nat

neki desu said...

those pens look fun.i think you could also use them on fabric provided you treat it.

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