Beautiful Yarn

I can teach you how to dye gorgeous fabrics and also unique yarns.  I dyed some skeins of cotton yarn recently, so that you can see the possibilities of creating your own beautiful yarn. The process is the same as for dyeing fabric.  I am using fiber reactive dyes for plant fibers; cotton, rayon, linen, hemp, bamboo, etc.  I also love dyeing threads, ribbons, lace, doilies and many other fibers.   

This is the class that I teach at the local museum.


Try Dyeing Fabric
2 Saturdays: April 25, May 16
10 a.m.—1 p.m.
Instructor: Janelle Marks
Cost $35 / Member $30

Are you a quilter or a knitter? Learn how to dye and decorate your own fabric and yarn to use in your creative endeavors. Price is per workshop. Supply list provided.
http://ellasharpmuseum.org/?page_id=643

I am also available to hold a class for individuals or groups. Just send me an e-mail to set that up. 

Do you crochet or knit?  What are your favorite things to make out of beautiful yarns?

I would love to hear from you.
Janelle

Coloring Like a Kid

This week the art quilting group that I participate in, tried another technique.  We got to color like kids with crayons.  It was a fun technique to play around with.  Instead of coloring on paper we colored on cotton fabric.  We used wax crayons and colored pencils.  I drew free-hand on my square of fabric with a graphite pencil.  I did look at some drawings of flowers for inspiration.  Inspiration is a wonderful thing.   

After I drew the design, I colored it in with crayons and a bit of colored pencil. I used a hot iron and paper towels to melt and remove most of the wax while leaving the color behind.  I found quite a few tutorials about the process on-line if you are interested in trying it yourself. 


Now for the pictures. 

Next time I use this method I would make sure some things worked better.  I ironed freezer paper onto the back of the fabric for stability, but it had some bubbles in it.  The bubbles created some lines while I colored that I wasn't too happy with, but it is fine for a first try.  I also want to keep improving my whimsy faces, so that they look even better.  Practice, practice, practice I must do.  If you see a lot of faces here, you will know why.  

I want to turn this girl into a small quilt.  I have the perfect fabric picked out for the edges, from my snow dyed stash. Hopefully I will have her done by the end of the month.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Janelle 

A visual View of the week

I have been working on more pages in my art journal this week.  I do enjoy working and experimenting in my hand made journal. I have also been making gelatin prints.  They are so fun to make. I love the feel of drawing and printing on gelatin.  Now that I have all the prints I have even more paper for collage or backgrounds.  You can never have too many painted papers!

This page has a heart gratitude book.   I made pages for my family members and wrote notes on each page.  All the pages are decorated differently.  This page is from Lifebook.  

On this page I sprayed Dylusions ink and dropped acrylic inks and sprayed the page with water.  Then I created flowers from the blobs.  I wanted to experiment with glazes and negative painting. It is a fun process and one that I will come back to again. 

Here are a few of the gelatin prints that I made. 

I hope that you enjoy the visual view of my week.
Have a great weekend,
Janelle

Journal Goodness

I have some more art journal pages to share with you.  Journal pages allow a wide variety of expression, practice, experimentation, and fun.  I recommend that everyone try some method of visual expression whatever that may look like for you. 

Have a great weekend.
Janelle