Alcohol Inks - Play Day 2

First!  HAPPY EASTER!  

No, it's not one of my dogs.  I captured this from the Mod.Dog grooming salon in Florida!

Yes, I am a tad behind in my posts!  We are only here in Florida for another 2 weeks and these last two weeks are always SO busy for us!  Between getting with friends to meet one more time, or to go to our favorite eatery or just packing up can really keep us busy!

I finally uploaded my pics for the pieces I did last Monday at our Alcohol play day (Play Day 1 is here ).  These are the pieces I sprayed, dunked or brushed with alcohol inks!  With the exception of this piece, which I've left as it is/was!  It was a thermofax screen printed piece on while that didn't have a lot of definition from the printing.  I did some rubbings on it from one of my hand cut stamps but it will remain as is until I decide what to do with it! I don't think the inks would have enhanced it much.  I do want to thank Beth for showing us some tips and tricks to using the inks!

This was the quilted piece that I wanted to spray.   I couldn't really decide what to do with it or how to spray it but luckily I am surrounded by great friends and artists!  Kay (Quilts + Color) suggested I just fold the piece and spray!






And that's exactly what I did!

You can see the folds, then the piece was clipped which helped it stand up so I could spray!

And here is the first spray using red Dynaflow paint (mixed with water and alcohol).  Next I folded the opposite way and sprayed with Rit dye (mixed with water/alcohol)

And the end results...well, so far that is!  I'm not finished with it yet.  Just another piece that I have to meditate on for awhile!

And this is my 'drop cloth' I used to mop up the remaining inks!  Again, suggested by Kay!

 You'll need to look at the play day 1 post to see this piece before I play with the inks.   I used different crayons to do rubbings on the white fabric.  I couldn't decide what to do (I know...I was very indecisive using the alcohol inks!) so I just took the piece of fabric and placed in a bowl of yellow Dynaflow paint (again mixed with alcohol and water) and let it soak for about 20 minutes.

 Here are the 3 rubbings alone.  This rubbing I had used Inktense blocks,which you can see washed out.  But that's because they are watercolor blocks! You can still see some of the rubbing.

This section I used oil pastel crayons

And this section I used Neocolor 1 crayons.

I made a freezer paper stencil and sprayed blue Dynaflow paint (yep, mixed with alcohol and water).

I removed the freezer paper...spray did cover quite well.

This was another thermofax screen printed piece that was blah.  I sprayed the upper left corner with alcohol, then laid down a 'gear' stencil, then sprayed with Rit liquid dye (mixed with water and alcohol).  I was disappointed that the colors ran.
So, for the rest of the piece, I just sprayed the dry fabric with the Rit/alcohol mixture.  I like this much better.  I did get another suggestion from Beth to lay the stencil on top of the area that ran and use oil pastel crayons to define the edges!  How cool!  I will do that when we're back home.

This was just another small piece I used the Neocolor 1 crayons and did rubbings.  Should be a good piece for fiber cards.









All in all it was a fun day and my  last get-together with the ladies this winter.  Would I use the inks in the future???  Not sure...I do like my thickened dyes, color pencils, etc.  Not sure I see a lot of benefit on fabric although, Beth has done some beautiful pieces using alcohol inks.  On paper you get some great results but I don't make cards anymore so - but maybe I should!  HA

Alcohol Inks Play Day Part 1

Not a lot of words on this post but a lot of pics!  But first...check out the message inside the Dove wrapper I had last night!  How perfect for today's post!

 I had a fun day on Monday with some of my Florida buds playing with alcohol inks on fabric!!!  Sure is a different technique, which I don't think I have the hang of yet but I'll keep trying!

Nancy played with some inks and alcohol on freezer paper!  Pretty cool!

This was Beth's piece - inks on Yupo paper

Yes, we did use inks on fabric too!

Kay was giving me some good suggestions for using the inks/alcohol on fabric!  This is a quilted piece that I sprayed on alcohol ink. 

This was Beth's fabric which was under some freezer paper she was playing with!  Love this piece!

This is Nancy's piece that she added more alcohol to!  

Beth's piece using  a stencil and spraying with alcohol inks and alcohol

Another one of Beth's fabrics that were sprayed with inks...some areas had alcohol sprayed direct on fabric and others sprayed with alcohol on top.  my favorite area is the upper left!  

I haven't taken pictures of my pieces yet...will do that tomorrow and post the next day.  I really enjoyed the process but also realize that I need to get better with the spraying.  I don't like the dribbles that occur from time to time.  Or I just need to ignore that!

Baby got some new wheels!

Bob has been trying to decide about getting a new golf cart or having his old one revamped!  Bob bought the old one about 12 years ago and it's been good to us!  But,  I did try to talk him into getting a new one and he did so a few weeks ago.  Here is our newest wheels!

Yep...we have our names on the cart!  He is also looking for dog decals too!

The seat is really comfy and I love the colors Bob picked.  He did a good job!

Bob put the Michigan decal on both sides.

For rainy days or cold/windy days you can put the sides down and it's great!

The cart is really nice and the dogs also love it!!!  We have always taken the dogs (starting with Mandy) on a golf cart ride nightly while in Florida and they all have loved it.   Some folks in the community, who don't golf, still have a golf cart just to take their dogs for rides!

 The nice thing about this one is the back area...that is now Gigi's favorite spot.  I still have her leash on but she sits on a blanket in the crate and is quite content.

We ride around for at least 20 minutes each night and some nights longer than that!  It really is fun as the community is quite large so we just drive up and down the streets!   Along with all the other folks!

I really am happy Bob got his new cart!  Now to get him to  leave it in 19 days when we head back up north!   It's going to be hard for him to leave his cart!!  But he'll have something to look forward to next year...if God willing and we can come back!

More of 'this and that'!

Earlier this week at the hair salon, this lovely lady  came in to visit!  Her name is Daisy Duke and she is a service dog!  And a sweetheart!  She's no little girl either!  Daisy helps her mom climb stairs, walk and just stays close to her.  I remember seeing her last year but never got a picture.  Daisy has tons of hats and outfits and everyone smiles when they see that face!  She wears her sunglasses as she likes to have her head out the car window!  

And look at what I received in the mail!

It's from my blog buddy, Sherry, from Createology!  She is so talented and is SO very giving!  She is always sending out lovely items she makes and send to her friends!!  And I'm lucky to say I've received several lovely gifts from Sherry!  Thanks again Sherry!!!  You are a sweetheart!

Speaking of cards...I made this several weeks ago but forgot to take a picture.  I was with the lady who received it so I did get a picture.  The fabric was from our stamping day a few weeks ago.  Always nice to have some fabric on hand to make a fiber card from!   I was limited on the thread I had so yellow it was!

I always love showing pictures of our friends.  This is my bud, Sally and her hubby Dan.

 The cafe her in the community have a BBQ each Sunday so the 'guys' had Sally and I come for dinner.  Both the guys had the Jamician BBQ (chicken/pork/brisket/rice/vegies) but Sally and I didn't!  We still had a great dinner and the guys dinner was only $6 and included a well drink!  The Ocala Palms cafe is new and they are in the process of trying out new food items and specials.  Bob and I love their Taco Tuesday.  For $6, which includes a Corunna Beer you get chips, salsa and 2 tacos in flour shell!.  You know how much we 'oldies' love a good food or drink special!

Of course, I have to include Mr. Blue's progress....I've started on his face/arm area.

I do a lot of unbeading but you have to at this stage to make sure the beads and colors are in the right spot.  I think he's coming along.  I just hope I can keep that sweet face!  I am working on another project for the online group.  The theme is The Eyes Have It and I'm already moving along quite well...can't show any of it yet!  Not until May 31st!  And since we'll be traveling home that first week, then Dr. appointments, staying with kids and seeing my buds I sure won't have a lot of time to work on that project!  I need to get as much done this month as I can...which means, Susan and I may have to head to a quilt shop!  My fabric stash here is null!  Any excuse will do!

A little playtime

I was tidying up my stack of supplies on Monday, as well as packing up supplies for a playday next week when I thought...hmmmmm...why not play with some rubbings....actually, I had some white fabric and a piece of screen print that was a  tad bland...good pieces for rubbings.  So...what else to do but play!

We are going to work with alcohol inks on fabric next week and I thought this quilted piece would look better with a different color than, no color!    It's a white piece of muslin I  free motion quilted with tricolor thread.

I'm thinking I can somehow put a wash of color on this piece!  

I used this stamp on the screen printed fabric.

 I screen printed this earlier in the winter.  And with a little rubbing it turned out not so bad.


I used  a Gelatos pigment stick rubbed over the stamp for the bright green area.

These next two pictures are the same fabric above but showing areas that I used Neocolor 1 crayons on.

 I wanted a mix of Neocolor 1 crayon and Gelatos pigment stick.

I used Inkense Block on this piece....

Oil Pastel crayon on this one....

And Neocolor 1 crayons on this one.  

I had a rubber stamp with me that I use for rubbings on a narrow strip of fabric.  Again, good testing  using Neocolor 1 crayons as a resist.

Guess we'll see in another week how they work with the inks!

Yep, I'm still here!

This is the time of year, or our winter, that the weeks go flying by.  Of course, the month of January always seems so long to me but then the days start to fly!!  And so, now our count down begins!  We are planning to leave the last weekend in April.   I always have mixed feelings on leaving.
Sad to leave our Landlords!

 Sad to leave the 'gang'

My art friends!

My sister!

My bud who rides shotgun with me on my outings!

And so many other friends here in Florida.....


But I am also looking forward to seeing family and friends back home!   Besides,  I have a lot of lunches and dinners to go to in Michigan!  How else do you say "Hi, I've missed all of you!"