Finds and Things

Sunday, December 10, 2023

This is just a random post to discuss some art finds and vintage things I recently collected (and a small AI art experiment). This month, I attended Interwoven Expressions again, and was a wee sad to not see one of the artists I was hoping to. Aside from something she made, I kept my budget to only include craft supplies. I picked up this towel dyed with pressed flowers. I love the colors and texture in it. I think it came from Tammy Tyler of knit one, purl too.

I also grabbed this silk ribbon by Winding Wool Creek Fiber Mill. I don’t have any silk ribbon that is variegated in this way, so that will be fun when I finally think of a project for it.

But then I couldn’t stop myself from picking up this little owl; I already purchased something from Denise Benczik the very first time I went to the event, but I simply had to have this because I was quite attracted to her mix of textiles. I don’t really need more things just sitting on shelves to collect dust, but since it inspired something in me about creating art, I rolled with it. Funny how easy it can be to justify our decisions;)

Then, whilst visiting my home town recently, I met up with a friend at a peddler’s mart. Here I also wanted to keep my purchasing to crafty bits. I scored a nice ceramic dish for my upcoming dye experiments, and this little doily thing that I hope to use in an upcoming Stitch Club workshop.

I also couldn’t turn down this teeny tea cup pin cushion.

I grabbed some other fun things that hopefully will turn into art, but I’ll save photos of them for their eventual outcomes. I did buy a nice tea cup for my gramma, having brought a jade plant clipping that needed a home. I had gifted one to my brother in a red tea cup (I think it’s since died), and my friend in a stoneware mug already (her green thumb might keep it alive), and left tiny clippings in case my parents had room in their RV. The plant is my MIL’s and I’ve tried to grow my own clippings a few times now without success. Let’s hope this version makes it!

A super nice surprise from the peddlers mall were these two little wonky deer.

I picked them up and was explaining to my friend how my gramma has a big version sitting on her shelf that I’ve always been quite fond of. Then, my friend offered to make them mine as a Winter Solstice gift in honor of our friendship. Can’t say no to that! 😉

To end, this item doesn’t really deserve a blog post all by itself so I’ll just stick it here. I have been learning Adobe more thoroughly as you may recall, and wanted to see if I could use their AI generation (Firefly) as a basis to make art. Not in and of itself, but as the sketch to build upon with paint or stitch. I also recently purchased the Camera Lucida app after much thought, so I combined these two ideas together. In Firefly, I typed something like “creepy cave” for the background (it was more wordy than that, but I forget exactly what I typed). Then, I made another image of a “Female RPG ranger with torch” (or something). I had the spiderweb border pulled from the internet forever ago (I try to be much better at marking where I got items to give credit now). In photoshop, I combined the three of them then printed it out on my B&W printer. I set up my Camera Lucida app to view the image, and then traced around it on normal computer paper. So far, so good – I think this combo-technique will help me create the images I have in my head that I can’t seem to get out into real life. But, since I had nothing else to do, I decided to just play with this, so I outlined it in a sharpie. Then I used a set of water color pencils to shade in some color, but there were only 8 colors to choose from, so that added some limitations. And, because I had used regular paper, I knew adding water would make it very crinkly. I couldn’t find my rubbing alcohol to see if that would work, but I found witch hazel. It crinkled the paper some, but not like water would have. And it spread the color out some, but also not like water would have. Overall, from start to finish this might have taken about 30 minutes – a very quick experiment just to see the process. And as such, I give this experiment a passing grade, but not a very high one;)

 

 

See more posts related to:

2 Comments

  1. Marjorie

    Try aloe vera to wet the pencil and make it permanent without getting it too wet. I’m not sure about curling, but I think it is less.

    Reply
    • thecrafties

      Oh, what a great tip, Marjorie! I will have to try that next time.

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Looking for more cases of the Crafties?
Hexie Dreams 18

Hexie Dreams 18

My fussy-cut EPP Hexie Dreams quilt is coming along. All the flowers were stitched into rows and the rows are being stitched together now for the final push. I also share some of my dear sewing supplies!

read more
Stitch Club: Maue

Stitch Club: Maue

TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club with Joetta Maue prompted a stitched piece from a photograph and I’ve recreated an adored image of my late grandparents.

read more
Hexie Dreams 17

Hexie Dreams 17

A quick update on my fussy-cut EPP hexie dreams quilt. A whopping 131 flowers are now complete, yay!

read more
Stitch Club: Weighton 2.1

Stitch Club: Weighton 2.1

Haf Weighton lead another TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club workshop on architectural layering, and I was inspired to render New Albany’s Culbertson Mansion based on a photograph by Daniel Andis.

read more
Stitch Club: Sproule

Stitch Club: Sproule

April Sproule led a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club using a spiral concept. I felt like this would be a nice project for a friend and asked her for a color palette, hence the unusual-for-me color theme.

read more
Felted Crimson Toadstool

Felted Crimson Toadstool

A long while ago I purchased the Crimson Toadstool needle felting kit from Benzie Designs and finally worked it up.

read more
Collaged Slow Stitch

Collaged Slow Stitch

I made a quirky and weird slow-stitched collage to try to push through a creative slump. It was much more about doing than the outcome.

read more
Stitch Camp 2023

Stitch Camp 2023

I stitched this mixed media piece following Gwen Hedley’s instruction through TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Camp.

read more
Tea Cup study

Tea Cup study

I was inspired to stitch up a stack of tea cups which lead to starting a second project that I’m still thinking about.

read more
Stitch Club: Clover

Stitch Club: Clover

Jette Clover lead a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club using scraps and a stamp. I used a country farm stamp with a big red barn as inspiration.

read more
Stitch Club: Tume

Stitch Club: Tume

Kate Time lead a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club on narrative bead texture, and I was inspired to have a play!

read more
Open Press Project

Open Press Project

I ordered a small print press from the Open Press Project and have begun experimenting with pressing leaves.

read more
Stitch Club: Notman

Stitch Club: Notman

Emily Notman lead a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club where we would learn to make a jar wrap, and I was inspired to create a scene along a lakefront at sunset with cattails blowing in the wind.

read more
Stitch Club: Bliss

Stitch Club: Bliss

Oliver Bliss lead a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club recently centered on color blocking, and I was inspired to stitch up a skull with flowers.

read more
Nina Stajner + Lake = Swan

Nina Stajner + Lake = Swan

I worked up Nina Stajner’s swan coloring page from the Lake app in a (mostly) single solitary stitch: the stem stitch.

read more