Hooray! I'm done. Who knows if any one will want to buy them, but I'm happy to have them completed.
Friday, March 14, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
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?
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?
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