I’ve been playing hooky the last few days. Maybe a case of over confidence? I am so close to being ready for Silver Bella that I am doing fun stuff instead of finishing the work that needs to be done. I hope nothing comes up unexpectedly and I don’t have time to finish after all…
Today was a tie dye day. Normally, we do our dying outside, but the weather was just a tad to cool, so this is what my studio looks like now!
Here is a shirt I dyed last time, its an ombre type style. To get this affect, you saturate the piece with the base color of dye, then splash on colors that blend, starting with lighter at the top, darker at the bottom.
Then hang it to drip for 24 hours while the dye sets. I love the way the colors bleed as it hangs.
Last year, these hoodies were sold at Silver Bella, and I wore mine so much this year that I almost wore it out. It was white to start with and after a year of enjoyment and use, you couldn’t call it white any more. So the dye was a fix to make the shirt "new" again.
I also embellished the faded (from many washings) printed design on the back, with bronze metallic and silver glitter fabric paints.
If my other tie dye creations turn out picture worthy, I’ll show them later. Right now, they are wrapped up in rubber bands and soaking away in plastic bags.
Beth indulged me and took a hooky day shopping on Thursday, we went to the Jr. League Holiday Shop in KC. Hmm. Not my typical type of shopping, and we kept saying that we felt like tourists in another land. Everything was NEW and expensive, not stuff either of us buy!
But then, we came across Deb Dusenberry’s Curious Sofa booth like a beacon of light in the darkness we found her beautiful displays of fab finds!
See why I was so happy? Her style is so perfectly perfect. That woman has an eye for beauty, I love everything she does.
And while there, I found out that Deb is driving up from KC to go to the Silver Bella vendor night, so I made sure to invite her to visit Carol and I in our "Glitter Lounge". Carol (who is a good buddy of Deb’s) and I are stocking our room with wines and chocolates and inviting friends up to hang with us there.
(Last year, after Silver Bella vendor night, we had a cocktail in the lounge, then a slumber party in Heather Bullard’s room. This year, Heather isn’t coming, so Carol and I will be having the girly night in our room instead.)
After eating enough free samples of gift basket style food offerings to justify our tickets to the Jr. League show (every other booth there had jam and crackers or spinach dip and pretzels), Beth and I escaped the newness of the holiday mart and made a run to Mission Road Antique Mall where Beth has a booth. We did a redo on her spot (sorry, no good pics of that, too bad, she has GREAT stuff- but there are pictures on her blog) and it was joy to play with vintage goodies after an afternoon of walking through booths of brand new goods! 
Remember me telling you about the art show at Blue Plate Dinners that I painted a pear for? We went to the opening last night and what a cool event! The art was all food related and displayed in one gallon zip lock bags.
Quite a few friends of mine had artwork in the show, so it was fun to hang out with them for the evening.
Notice anything odd about my picture? Well my hand is a bit colorful from the tie dying.
Most people didn’t even comment, they are so used to seeing me covered in something, glitter, paint, dye, etc. that it would cause even more comment if I showed up somewhere pristine…
Vicki gave me a blog award, how sweet. I always appreciate the kind thoughts behind those, I am sorry I don’t always follow through with them. For this one, I am supposed to list 6 things that make me happy, so I thought this photo summed up most of them-
1- Sugarwings!!!
2- flowers
3- summertime and sunshine
4- pretty colors
5- a day with the family
6- spending time in this town I am so lucky to live in, downtown Lawrence has so much to offer.
what a beautiful picture of Sugarwings amongst the flowers. I love how you gave your hoodie a makeover , it looks great. Donna
Hi Karla, I told Beth already in her post; I think you are lucky to have all antique markets and ‘new stuff’ markets, here it usually is mixed. And of course less vintage and antiques than new bags for cell phones and other stuff I don’t care about. I’m having a little give away/contest on my blog. I know you are very busy and I understand if you don’t have any time, but I should hate it when you thought: I should have known that. In other words you are very welcome to join. Have a great day!
It’s good to see I’m no the only one with paint or dye on my hands all the time. My co-workers are use to it now.
Aaah! Inspiration. My Silver Bella hoodie was christened with mustard from a malfunctioning mustard container at the movie theater- the FIRST time I wore it! Now I know what to do with it, tie dye it! Thank you Karla!
Karla, you made me giggle with the picture of your hand. You go, girl.
And, I love your list.
OMG now shame on you no gloves? I must say your hands look very funny… But your jacket looks lovely.
Hugs, Diane
Oh, your poor fingers! I’m a new reader on your blog, and I am enjoying it very much!
Oh My what lovely hands!! It looks like you were having a wonderful time.
My DS was looking over my shoulder at the pics on your Blog and he said oh no…What happened to her hand? LOL
I love to tie dye. Did you find yourself looking for over stuff to dye?
What a sweet pic of sugarwings. Was she “melling” the flowers??
Karla:) this is the very essence of why i think you are SO adorable and “real” { i hope you know what i mean by that}…your tie dyed hand is cracking me up!!! i love the hoodie that you made, SO cute!!! curious sofa’s booth looks delightful, wish i could have seen that in person…i love the picture of your little miss in her romper playing among the flowers!!! SO SWEET!!!
Your colorful fingers after the dyeing session brought up interesting memories of a time when I had my fingers (nearly) permanently dyed. I was an avid hobby photographer and spend many long nights in the dark room (yes, those were the days before digital cameras.) This one night I had been experimenting with enlarging a photo onto negative film (instead of onto photo paper) and then using that film to make some interesting effects like solarisation and relief printing. To develop this exposed film I had been dipping my fingers into the developer quite a bit, the the next morning the tips of my thumb, index and middle finger were dyed black. If I remember right, it took more than half a year to grow out because all chemical remedies (including arsenic!) did not work.
I never know what new art or craft you’ll be trying when I stop by your blog Karla! Now it’s tie-die, which my 18 y.o. son and all his friends are into…you are so hip & with it girl! LOL! Such a great idea to revive a beloved but grungy item of clothing, I have a white sweat shirt I love that I’m gonna tie-die…(in pinks of course!) thanx to you!
Oh yeah, I love that Curious Sofa style to, you are so lucky you got to see it IRL!
What type of dye do you use? I love that blue color! I can’t believe I totally forgot about ordering my silver bella shirt 🙁 ugh. oh well. I’m so excited! just a few weeks away!!!!
I wasn’t one bit surprised to see your hands covered with dye Karla [but I did have a giggle]. You totally embrace your creativity and that is what endears you to our crafting community.
The top looks great by the way.
Hugs,
Kerryanne
What fun u are having as usual–love the tied die hoodie–pretty color
catie
You are so darn funny with those dyed hands @ that party! I would have laughed like crazy if I was there with you.
What a fun project, I think my Daugher and I ought to dye some of HER shirts ; )
Kathy
Nothing like colorful fingers to show of a day of fun!
Sounds like you’ve been having a lot of fun lately! Can’t believe you were lucky enought to visit the Curious Sofa booth — their pics look so “me”!!
Hi!!
What fun !!
Pretty color!!
Besos
Karla! I’ve heard you wishing for that Canon Rebel and my camera has died…so I thought I’d look too…good grief! I thought it surely couldn’t be that much..now I see what you mean. Well.
What a beautiful booth and osais in the all that land of newness. I wish she had a website. The sweatshirt is wonderful!
Nancy
Can I please have that zebra print chair????? So beautiful!!!