Embellisher

Hello,

     I thought I had everything ready to go yesterday.  Not quite!  I spent almost an hour looking for the instructional CD that came with my embellisher.  It came in one of those little paper sleeves.  I thought it was sitting right beside my computer, waiting patiently for me.  My husband even joined in helping me try to track it down.  It appears to have gone the way of the the extra socks that disappear from my washing machine to my dryer!  I'll have to call the store today to see if I can get an extra disk.  I think it showed how to change needles etc. and would be very helpful.  

     So, then I thought maybe it's online somewhere.  I wasted another half hour or more trying to find video of people using embellisher.  No luck with that either.  This gave me the idea, somewhere down the road, I hope to add some instructional videos to my site.  I need to learn a little more about blogging first so be patient with me.

 

     I did read the instruction book before I began and have posted a couple of photos of my first attempt.  I was just playing with different fibers to see how they will work .  The sample with lot's of different choices I used felt as my base and randomly added bits of yarn, roving, ribbon, several types of sheer fabrics.  I wanted texture in the final piece so I didn't felt everywhere.  It is pretty lumpy and bumpy, so I have to figure out how to get the texture in the piece and still have it lay flat.  Lot's to learn!  

The second piece is a hand dyed silk hanky that I have had for quite awhile and could never decide what to do with it.    I want to add something more to that piece yet.  Maybe some yarn or ribbon and some hand stitching.  I like the colors and the feel of it though.  The base for the silk hanky is the sleeve of an old wool jacket.  I bought some wool jackets at garage sells and goodwill and took them apart.  I washed them a couple of times and now I will use them for backing for different projects.

     I have the twelve needle embellisher.  Today I want to learn how to remove some of the needles and see how it changes the effect of the finished project if I just use a few at a time.  Have a fun day everyone!  Don't forget to play a little each day! Janet

New Blogger

I have decided to start blogging as a way to hold myself accountable.  I want to further my education and enjoyment of the fiber arts.  I hope to keep a record of my journeys on this blog.  By writing down what I have learned I can keep a record for myself.  This will work two fold for me.  On those days when I feel like I'm not accomplishing much, I can look back and say "Hey, I guess I'm doing pretty well!" and I will be more likely to keep learning if I'm writing it all down.  Yesterday I went to a play day with my small quilting group.  We played with soy wax.  I have never done any batik work at all so this was new for me.  It was so exciting watching the creative process emerge in the seven of us involved.  There were some gorgeous fabrics created and I can't wait to see what develops from them.  I know that I will be experimenting more with this technique.  I still have a lot to learn there.  The biggest learning curve for me is to get caught up in the moment and not worry about what others think or whether I am doing it 'right.'  I think the times I create something I truly love are the times I block out the world and just go with my gut.  Experimenting is the name of the game and I need to join in! I posted two photos of a couple of the fabrics I created yesterday.  I painted the black and brown with jacquard paints.  I'm planning to dye the other that just has the wax on it so far.  I think the dark one looks a little like a meteor shower or something space related.  Today I have set aside to play with my new embellisher.  It was a Christmas gift and I still haven't used it!  I had a couple of projects with deadlines I wanted to finish first and I have been reading to try to learn more.  Now it is time to jump in and create.  I can't wait.  I've seen so many beautiful things done with an embellisher.