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.