A Winter Muse?

Honestly, since spring has sprung, I have not felt the urge to work on L&L projects.  Perhaps when we are into the hot, dry summer phase I will feel differently.    But the muse is quiescient right now.

Tiny Storefront

This new tool in beta from PayPal is quite the cool thing. Just to play around, I placed a storefront at the bottom of the blog. I wanted to put it at the side, but it is too wide and spills over top of the blog entries. It also does a weird thing with the photos where even if I put them the size it says it wants, it only shows the top half. So I added a direct link below the storefront so someone could look at photos directly. The storefront technology is pretty well done overall and has neat features.

Never mind that I believe I have a total of three readers of this blog or that L&L does not put its best foot forward through photos! It's kind of fun, though. I checked into Etsy, and I determined that for such small items, there was no way I was going to pay a fee just to list them.

Framed Lace Motif Pieces

I have been working on obtaining frames for some pieces. Since funds are tight, I tried to do this while spending as little money as possible. I think I did pretty well.

These two pieces are in 5x7 frames that I already had. They were sitting in a closet with items I didn't want on the walls in this particular house, so I scavenged and repainted them:


The next three pieces are in 8x10 frames I obtained from a thrift store for $1 apiece. I repainted them. The first frame makes the boldest statement:


The next one I like to think of as a colorful spring meadow framed in a brilliant blue sky:

Sanding and painting the frames took some patience. There are quite a few nooks and crannies. Because the Lumiere paints can be sort of see-through, I painted the frames first with regular dark blue and dark purple, and then I put the Lumiere paints on top as a second coat.

This last frame is very interesting to me. This frame was pink-stained wood already, and it was almost a match. I just sanded it lightly and applied two think coats of pearly white paint. I think it fits the motifs fairly well. I like its simplicity for this piece:

I also have made progress on the lace piece in my previous post, and I'll try to post about it soon. Right now I would like to finish the little storefront that I was working on a few days ago and got stalled on.

MistyFuse: Success!

Thank you to the person who suggested in a comment that I iron the MistyFuse on to the lace before I cut it up. This worked like a charm! I am very happy about this.

Here's a photo of the lace layout:
Now here's a photo after an initial layer of paint over the lace:
I was a little worried that the MistyFuse would show through the holes in the lace, but it worked just fine. And there's no trouble this time with the paint appearing "flat" instead of shiny. So I think I'm finally good to go on this kind of project! Took me a while . . . oh well. I am looking forward to working on a few more pieces like this, and then I want to do a few more bookmarks.

Sold: One bookmark

Well, I only sold one, but that's OK. It was, after all, a used curriculum sale, so people were not expecting to buy art.

What I actually found more encouraging is that quite a few people looked through them with active interest, and a few people asked how they were made. The only bummer is that the one that sold was the same one I was considering keeping for myself! Oh well--that will motivate me to start some more bookmarks.

BTW, we sold a fair amount of curriculum, so it was good all around.

Bookmarks: All Done!

Hooray! I'm done. Who knows if any one will want to buy them, but I'm happy to have them completed.

Resurrection: L&L Style

The Itidarod is winding down now, so I have some room to breathe. Let me fill you in on what I've been thinking/doing in the rare moments between sled dog racing stuff.

When I posted last, I was wondering whether the piece was salvageable. After some more depressing fiddling, I decided to stop. I almost threw the piece away, and then I reflected on how long it takes to prepare a piece of Lutradur, and I hesitated. I flipped it over to the other side where I had pasted a few pieces, and decided to try something. Getting my fingers all "paint-y," I did a piece the looong way and painted the back one color, then cut out individual pieces, painted them individually, and then used more paint to stick them to the back. This was what I had been trying to avoid in the first place, but honestly, it felt GOOD! I finally felt like I was making progress.

The downside to this method is that since you can't rearrange the pieces as you go, I couldn't get as "tight" a pattern as I did before. I can't remember if I posted my original pattern (before I had to take the pieces off to do the layers of MistyFuse), but here's what it looked like:

ASIDE: I did get a comment on my last post from someone named "mistyfuse" that I intend to try next time. (Manufacturere? MistyFuse guru?) This person suggested that I back the lace, then cut the lace up, arrange it, and then iron it again. I think I will try on a smaller piece than 11x14, though! If this works, I will be soooo elated! This person's other suggestion was to use Teflon instead of parchment paper, which I will try next if needed.

Anyhoo, I didn't know those things at the time, so I started "over" the only way I knew: by pasting down each piece by paint. This took a while and was messy (true confession: I strongly dislike getting my hands icky), but the result wasn't bad. I found though, that with the random placement of pieces, a random pattern of paint looked too chaotic. So, I experimented with a loosely representational image of a stream. It's not much in the way of a picture, but as a simple pattern it seems to work:

The difference between the blue stream and the green banks was quite stark so I did a gold wash over the top. There are also some color subtleties that don't come out well in the photo. Right now the piece is drying after having glitter spray applied.

When I decided to do the stream thing, it ended up not looking quite right in 11x14 format. I cut it down to 8 x 10 and I like it much better. The good news is that I ended up with two new, attractive bookmarks out of the excess.

That is the other project I have been slowly working on: finishing and edging the bookmarks. I also ordered some bookmark tassels to put on them. I am down to my last few that I hope to finish today, and when I finish them, I hope to post a picture of the whole lot. I am hoping to sell some at an upcoming used curriculum sale. I am also considering framing some of the lace motif pieces and bringing them along just to see if there is any interest.

I am also knee-deep in pricing used curriculum. It's currently all over my workspace in the laundry room that is also used for crafts, so I can't do too much messy L&L stuff until I'm done.

Well, off to price more used curriculum. If I get cleaned up enough to sew the last bookmarks, I'll put another photo up today.

MistyFuse: Woe is Me

Depressing. This project has been downright depressing. I have been too depressed for several days to blog about this project or even take a photo. But I got brave today. Just like Ree, I'm keepin' it real ; ). Here it is:


Blech.

After a panicked SOS phone call to Needleroozer, I figured out how to use the stuff. THANK YOU! I followed her clear instructions and got the layers fused together. But.

But.

The MistyFuse does not work and play well with my style, apparently. I like the shiny background of the Lutradur and then the lace on top. However, the MistyFuse, although fused, is still "there" and somehow cuts down on the shiny-ness. Seriously cuts down on it. I tried to apply some layers of paint over it, but it still looks like a black hole underneath. I call it the "dead" look. I couldn't seem to compensate for it although I tried several things. I tried to add some colors on top but it's still just awful, IMHO.

Let me show you what I mean. I threw down a random bookmark (not even close to one of my favorites). The bookmark has a fair number of Lutradur surface only shiny places, so it's a good contrast. The photo shows the bookmark next to a section of the piece in question:

Quite a difference. And it's a difference that matters, to me anyway. So, after I took these shots, I literally drenched the thing in purple shiny paint, trying to salvage it. It took quite a dousing to get inbetweeen all the cracks of the MistyFuse. But now the paint is soooo thick that the whole thing is a textured monogamous surface and you can't distinguish the lace pieces from the background.

Well, my brush was loaded from the heavy paint layer, so I cut a few more pieces of lace, painted them too, and stuck them on top of the whole mess, just to see what it would look like. My thought was, "Perhaps I can just start completely over and use this as a background." It's still drying, so I can't move it to a sunny spot yet to get a good photo. But I'm not sure it's going to work. I'm not sure this piece can be salvaged. Got any bright ideas?

Finished Bookmarks #3 and #4

I'm pretty happy with both of these sets. I actually finished them all in one day! I found myself with a block of time today because the weather was GORGEOUS and I couldn't bear to keep the children inside doing bookwork. I let them go out before lunch, served them lunch on the back patio, and they are still out there. There are large excavations going on in our dirt pit. Those who know me IRL can request photos via email if you'd like, but I'm not willing to post them publicly (sorry).

Anyway, I spent my time watching the engineering feats (complete with water to make mud from the dirt) through the window while sewing these bookmarks up. I have a few more batches after this, and then I'll be done.

I'm sort of taking a breather between "pre-Iditarod" studying-up and "tracking the race," which starts in earnest on Sunday. Then it will be head-down again, full-steam-ahead. This has been a busy, teacher-intensive time, but so far they seem to enjoy it.

Possible Hiatus

Got MistyFuse.  Got parchment paper.  Now, got *no time.*  

I've embarked on a major homeschooling unit study, following the Iditarod, so if you don't see any updates in this space, that's where I am.   (I am doing this because we are going to AK this summer and I want the children to learn about the state before we go.)

But if I get a chance to try these things I waited almost *four weeks* for, I will certainly let you know how it goes.

Thanks to Needleroozer for answering my SOS a few days ago.  Sorry I was in such a rush.

Finished Bookmarks #2

Here are four more bookmarks that I stitched today. I also stitched one more, but it was the same kind as yesterday's, so I won't waste your time showing you that one.

The wide lace nestled together (bookmark #2 from left) looks really cool as a piece of any size, but it sure is a pain to stitch around. The edges of that one don't look nearly as uniform as the others.

Yes, they all have a purple theme, but I'm stitching the ones first that I can use my purple thread with. I am trying to minimize rethreading, changing/redoing bobbins, and all of those sewing hassles. Did I mention that sewing isn't my fav thing? Oh, sorry, I'll give it a rest now.

One major good thing is that I went through DD's wardrobe with her last night, and I don't have to sew any clothes this spring! I have to let out a couple of hems, insert a couple of lace pieces to help with low necklines, and that's all! I had enough clothes put away waiting for her to grow into them that she is in good shape for spring. Next winter will be another matter . . . but I plan to "be Scarlett O'Hara" about that.

I. Hate. Sewing. (Also, Finished Bookmarks #1)

Well, I tried adding some numbers in Photoshop to the bottom of the photo, but they look soooo small . . .

These four bookmarks are from a piece that I didn't like how it turned out overall. They are OK as bookmarks, I think. Since I already had them basically finished, I just had to cut them out, add glitter spray, and paint the backs. This is why these were ready for sewing before some of the other bookmarks I've been blogging about. Those are coming along too but are not quite at this stage. More on those in the coming days.

I experimented on a piece of fabric before I started stitching these, but I guess the fabric bunched up. The Lutradur, however, most certainly does NOT. That means that I didn't think the border would be too wide, but it was!

My first try, the (1) bookmark on the left has a verrrry wide border. Machine was set to width of 5. Yikes. Try (2) was a width of 4. Still too much. Try (3) was a width of 3 1/2. Better. So I did (4) the same way.

NOTE TO SELF: Set width no wider than 3 1/2 for small projects.

And to my dismay, Needleroozer was right, and I had to go around twice. That's a lot of thread, and a lot of time. Just these four took me almost an hour! And I had to reload the bobbin (it had a lot of thread on it to start with, too). Waaaah.

This part of a L&L project is too much like work: I. Hate. Sewing.

Since it was sunny and fairly warm, I gave my children some time off of inside school and let them play outside in the dirt pit (a favorite spot). This is how I had time to work on the bookmarks in the middle of the day! ; )

However, the sunny day and the sewing reminded me that I really need to do some sewing for DD this spring. Ack.

So I guess after I get these bookmarks done I need to take a break from L&L and do some sewing.

I. Hate. Sewing.

Did I mention that I strongly dislike sewing? Oh, I guess I did. Sorry. End of rant.

Bookmarks at intermediate stage

Here are shots of some of the bookmarks in their intermediate phase. Truthfully, I think some of them are done, but I'm reserving judgment. Since glitter doesn't normally show up in the photos anyway, I took this before I applied glitter.

Here are four more below. Actually, I finally found a use for the hideous yellow ; ). It actually works well to accent the green on the sides of the "river" in the bookmark at the far right.

Here are five more: Some of these need more work, I think. I am thinking particularly of the bottom bookmark lying sideways, and the bookmark on the far right. The middle bookmark lying down is my favorite of the bunch.

Also, I know there are stray flakes of a different gold stuck on the top bookmark. I was painting the back and somehow some got on the front. I have to figure out how to either get rid of them or paint over them. Grrr. I already tried to scrape at them a little, with no success.


I like how the curves in the scrim bookmarks turned out (third from left in first photo and far right in second photo). If I make more bookmarks, I will make more of those. But I want to finish this batch first. In addition to these, I have some bookmarks I cut from "reject" pieces that I'm spiffing up a little, individualizing them a bit. And I have to paint all the backs and stitch around the edges. So I want to do all of that before I start more. And I don't want to end up with too many "in stock."

Bookmarks, Bookmarks, Lots O' Bookmarks

I decided to get some bookmarks worked up to take with me to used curriculum sales when I sell my stuff this year. There's one coming up in March, and another one will be in May or June. I thought it would be a kick to see if I could actually sell something! I don't know yet how much to charge.

Here are the first four. I decided to use some colors that were left over from my original Lumiere sampler pack:

I think I have a little more copper in the bottle. I think I might try rubbing it on one of the green hem lace backgrounds when these dry (one of the green pieces had copper underneath, and you can still see it a little, which gave me that idea). These have already been trimmed.  Also, on the hem lace pieces, I pressed them under a book while they were drying to keep them flat.

Here's three more. I really like the composition of first one (on the left), but the color is hideous. I just DO NOT like the yellow gold that came with the original set. I hate mustard the food, and mustard the color. And it looks even worse in the picture than in person! I tried to use this color up on the big lace that sucks up paint. I plan to thoroughly paint over it.  After I do that, I think this bookmark will shape up nicely. It is a similar composition to my first framed piece.

The next two bookmarks I'm not sure about yet, with the little bits of lace. I'll have to see what different paint layers do to make them more interesting. The color on this shot is a little strange--the bookmark on the right is actually silver, not blue. Again, I was using up paint for these foundational layers.

Here are some variations in scrim. The scrim is stuck, the bookmarks have been trimmed, and they now have a foundation color. I tried some different patterns of scrim. It will be interesting to see how well these are highlighted by layers of paint. They don't look very spiffy now, but I think they will turn out well.

The last four bookmarks are a step behind. I hesitate to post these, because they look pretty awful before they are trimmed, but then I decided to try to "keep it real." I had some more of the big lace, so I made another bookmark with it. Note to self: Halo Gold Violet is a very pretty color, but don't use it for a foundation color when you're gluing on lace. The gold tends to build up on the brush and makes a mess. Save it for highlights.

As for the burgundy one, I think I'm really going to like this one. Can you spot the double round center in one spot of the lace? This is where the lace edges met each other on the original pillowcase--they were glued together solidly. I kind of like it in there. It reminds me of the Oriental custom of deliberately placing one flaw in a work. I might keep this bookmark for myself! Also, it's the last of this kind of lace, which makes me sad. I'll have to start looking in thrift shops for more, and I don't know if I'll find more or not.


Here are the last two in progress. Whew! That's a lot of bookmarks! The purple one on the left has three different scraps of lace left over from other projects. Actually, I lied above. In the middle of the purple piece--THAT'S the last of the lace I like that I don't know if I will find again. I'll have to see how this one piece turns out--I'm not sure about it.

The blue piece on the left photographed strangely. The lace is the same color as the background, but here it appears lighter. I don't know why.

I also got brave and cut up three other old, experimental pieces for bookmarks, including the waterlogged disaster. I might spruce some of them up with new layers of paint here and there. This gave me about ten more bookmarks. As I cut up the old pieces, I realized that I've learned a bit since then about how to actually do this, which was encouraging.

All in all, I was pleased with the progress I made today. I know it has looked like I've been doing "nothing" on the blog, but I was indeed cutting out and preparing the bookmarks. I'm STILL waiting for my Joggles order--it's been 10 days since it was mailed. I emailed her this week and she said that sometimes it has taken three weeks. Boohoo. But I figured out how to lay my other two pieces out of the way, so I'm going to console myself with bookmarks until my MistyFuse gets here. I am enjoying doing them after doing several larger projects--I think I find them less intimidating.

Waiting for MistyFuse

I know I haven't posted in a while.  The last project that I was trying to flatten didn't turn out so well.  Some water leaked through wax paper onto my white history dictionary, which made me a VERY unhappy camper.  Very.  Also, the excess water clogged up the lace so that much of the texture was lost when I finally got the crazy project flattened after about four days of trying.  Sigh.  Experiments don't always turn out well!

So I picked up the clue phone and ordered some MistyFuse.  I have two other projects prepared and laid out, lace pieces and all.  One is a strips piece like the failed one, and another is a "bits" piece.  My MistyFuse should be here any day, so when it comes I will proceed and blog accordingly.

Response to Book Meme

When Needleroozer tagged me, my reaction was, "Huh?  What on earth?"  Being new to blogland, I was unaware of these kinds of activities ; ).  But I went to her blog and figured out what's going on. 

The bad news is that the nearest book is really a tome:  Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student by Edward Corbett and Robert Connors.  I am reading it to prepare to teach a high-school grammar and composition class in the fall.  Here's my selection:

"In summary then, let us say that when we are engaged in any kind of deliberative discourse, we are seeking to convince someone to adopt a certain course of action because it is conducive to happiness or to reject a certain course of action because it will lead to unhappiness.  The two main special topics under the general head of happiness are the worthy and the advantageous.  In developing these special topics, we will sometimes have occasion to use some of the common topics, such as the possible and the impossible (when urging the advantage for instance, of a certain course of action, we may have to show that the course we are advocating is practicable or easy) and the topic of more and less (when seeking to direct a choice from among a number of goods, for instance, we have need of criteria to help us discriminate degrees of good)."

Long sentences, no?  Here's who I'm going to tag (don't know how to do live links yet):  DuraMater and Little Red House.  I read some other blogs, but I don't know them well enough to feel like I can tag them *blush.*  But hey, I tried to participate, which is a big step for me!

An Ode to . . . the Unabridged Dictionary!

I bought this dictionary almost 10 years ago on a whim. Now it resides in a prominent place on our homeschooling bookshelves, or it did until I started doing L&L. I keep pulling it off the shelf to weigh down projects. It helps hold down pesky lace motifs, it straightens out hem-lace backgrounds, and now, hopefully, it will save my bacon with this new lace strip project.

Maybe I should add it to the ingredients list!

What a tangled web we weave . . .

. . . when we try to do a project like this without MistyFuse. I've been trying to hold off on a Joggles order for a little while (short of $$$), but I might not last too much longer. After applying a LOT of paint, the best I could do was this:Not exactly flat, is it? Let's see it from the tabletop view:Looks more like a pathetic landscape than a L&L piece . . . sigh. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I put a piece of wax paper on it (paint still wet) and then added these tomes:WTMBoard users will note what I did NOT bring even into the VICINITY of wet paint:It's my copy--I bought it fair and square! Right after it was announced to be going out of print and there was an uproar on the boards, I walked into my local B&N and saw it on a display shelf. Well, I plucked that baby right up and marched to the cash register--it was the last one they had. Then, when the new one came out, I bought one of those also. I'm like that. Now I have both, so one child can use one and the other child can use the other. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I don't think the red ones are going for $200 now, but it was kind of amusing while it lasted--to think I had such a valuable book in my possession ; ).

Anyway, I digress. I'm going to follow up this post with a short meditation on the importance of the dictionary to a L&L project. This has to be about the fifth time I've used it.

And stay tuned to see if the books can save the day with this project.

P.S. Do you think I can convince DH that I need more oversized, heavy books for . . . ahhh, lemme see . . . homeschooling . . . what subject, say you? . . . ahhh, Art, yeah, Art! Hmph. I didn't think so, but it was worth a try.

Lace Motif Pieces Finished (for now)

I plan to put them away for a few days and then see if I want to make any more changes, but I think I am done. I put two coats of glitter spray on each one. After I frame them, I will take new pictures and replace these, but here they are for now:





LB liked this one better in the pastels. I do have one more motif that I might do later in dark colors and then pastels on top like she suggests, but I have a new piece that I want to do first.

But I think I'm done with representational pieces for a while. I'm ready to do something different. I have a new piece of Lutradur drying right now with its first coat of foundational paint.

Lace Motif Piece #5

This is the last piece I have planned in this series. I am just getting going with it. I did the background in gold, then added highlights of purple and pink. I had decent success rubbing some dark purple just on the surface of the lace with my finger to highlight the details. This piece needs more richness of color.
Edited 1/18/08: I changed my mind. I don't think it needs more color. I think a limited palette is better for this piece. I did highlight a little in gold and add some glitter:
I think I'm going to put this one away for a few days and then decide if I'm going to do more to it.

Lace Motif Piece #4

Here is the other "curly" piece that I didn't get tamed in time. Oh well. This piece is turning out fairly well, although the gold wash canceled out more of the purple background than I planned. Maybe the wash wasn't weak enough. And I'm sorry I don't have an earlier picture of when the whole thing was dark purple. That was actually pretty interesting. Maybe that's the key to 1, 2, and 3--maybe they're too light.

Edited 1/18/08: I added some dark highlights to this piece, and I'm pretty happy with it. Again, like piece #5, I think a limited palette works better here.

Hem Lace and Curling Up--The Cure? Unabridged Dictionary

I have learned more about using hem lace. Yes, it does make the piece curl up. I have a lot of trouble with motif #3, the butterfly piece, for example. But I learned on two subsequent pieces (that I will post about in a moment), that I can put them under an unabridged dictionary overnight (with wax paper covering the pieces) when the hem lace is almost dry and they will flatten and stay that way. Pieces that I have tried to flatten later in the process don't work as well.

Wall Hanging Completed and Up!

Hooray! This little place in the hall has a wall directly across from it, so I had to stand slightly to the side in a doorway to take this shot. That's why the shot appears "crooked."

On the right side of the picture you can see the edge of the piano and have a peek into our schoolroom (we homeschool). On the left side of the picture you see a sliver of the long hallway to the laundry room, hall bath, and garage.

I'm very pleased with how this turned out. I just hope that I live in my purple house for a good long time so that I can enjoy this hanging in the setting it was designed for. Special thanks to Needleroozer for timely and helpful suggestions along the way.

Why I pasted lace motifs on separately

Needleroozer was kind enough to phone me today, and we had a wonderful, wide-ranging chat. But I forgot to mention to her why I pasted the lace motifs on separately . . . so I thought I would post it here. For these pieces, the layer of scrim or hem lace is just the background. Getting the background to stick takes a LOT of paint. By the time I finish, the piece is so saturated that it takes about 12-18 hours to dry. I've been reticent to try to attach the motifs at that time, thinking that it would just NEVER dry.

And so to save time, I've been painting the motifs off to the side while the background is drying and then using fabric glue to attach them. I probably *could* attach them with paint if I'm using the same paint as the background, but if I used a mix of paints (such as in the blue piece with the one motif in the center) and I ran out of that specific mix, it would be VERY hard to match. And since attaching the motif takes a lot of paint, the paint I used on the motif would spread to the background in what I think would be a yucky way. So, painting and then gluing seemed the least agony. But if someone has a better idea, I'd love to hear it.

With my current method, it takes a while (layers) to make the motifs seem integral to the piece instead of sort of hovering on top of it. One thing that has helped has been a weak wash over the entire piece, but this is a challenge if I really want to retain the background color, as I do in the butterfly piece. I'm still trying to figure out how to integrate the butterflies without washing out the background too much.

Lace Motif Piece #3

Here is the last one. I know it looks a little strange for the butterflies to be pink. It's what I had extra of at that moment--they won't stay pink. I made a hem lace strip background for this piece to fit the butterflies and flowers theme. The corner pieces look better when the piece is framed (I tried it before I glued them to see what it would look like).
Edited 1/17/08: Here is how it looks now. Of the three representational pieces so far, I like it the best.

Lace Motif Piece #2

This is the second piece, with three very lovely fans. I'm thinking that this piece should have more complicated colors in the final version because there is less compositional detail. I like the scrim stripes as a background for this piece as well.



Edited 1/17/08: Here is how the piece looks right now:

Lace Motif Piece #1

This is the first of three representational pieces in progress, with another two planned. I am hoping to place these pieces in frames. I laid down a background of "scrim stripes," painted the lace motif a correlating color, and then glued the motif down. In this picture you can see that the glue is not yet dry (the white spots).



Edited 1/17/08: I shortened the previous entry, keeping only some milestone photos. Here is how this piece looks now:I'm not sure whether I like it or not. I did the pastels, including highlighting different areas on the lace motif, but they seemed a bit too bright and distinct. So I did a gold wash over the whole thing, but now of course it is pale (although more unified). So I might put this away for a few days and decide where I want to go with it.

Edited 1/18/08: And now for something completely different. I went bold and limited palette with this piece. I redid it completely in bright blue and then rubbed on some subtle gold highlights:So, what do you think? Pastel, or bold? Which is better?