it hasn't exactly been a quiet summer

two weeks have just vanished somewhere,

never to be seen again.

i madly dyed scarves and packed cards

and took them to the Post Office where 

the kindly Postmistresses managed to get stamps on to the boxes

(most of them, anyway)

and send them on their way

i made a dress for a friend

and dyed a kimono for her as well

unfortunately the kimono apparently picked up a somewhat 

smoky smell from my studio

which i didn't notice, being accustomed to the slight smell of bushfire 

that seems to hang around the cauldron

but which intensified in the humid climate of the east coast

happily she was able to neutralise the aroma by soaking 

the offending garment in water with a 

teaspoon of eucalyptus oil added. phew.

i sent another dress to a new home in Victoria

(fingers crossed it arrived safely and fits, i haven't heard yet!)

and dyed some cloth for Poet's Ode (to be made into cushions)

in between i was taking care of my granddaughter

while her parents kicked up their heels in New Orleans

she's been handed safely back now.

running errands today i noticed the tree loppers had been at work

so i gathered up a pile (never let a chance go by) 

after dark i layered leaves and cards

sandwiched them between two bits of brass

and stuffed the bundle into a wee pot i picked up in New Zealand last year

 

i particularly like the bakelite handle.

back in 2007 i had a bigger version of this

and used it in a summer school class i taught for Whitireia at Kapiti.

unfortunately the one student who needed to leave early 

to attend a yarn fest somewhere (while we were on a field trip)

mistakenly took my pot with her (she had a similar smaller one). 

win some, lose some.

at least i have a baby pot now!

while on the subject of winning and losing

it seems the ink on the wandercards is by no means as stable

as that on the sample i had originally tested.

as you can see

'in the armchair' has pretty much been scrubbed.

so if you have invested in these cards, 

please only dye the blank ones

otherwise you'll lose a lot of information.

you can still colour them,

by beating in leaves (hapa-zome)

by grinding leaves and flowers in a mortar and pestle

and brushing the colour on

or

by rubbing colour in from petals

or just using your watercolours.

 

(i'm so pleased with this post-consumer recycled 

paper stock that i'm going to order a quantity of blank cards

just for dyeing)

 

lastly i'm delighted to announce that a three-day version 

of being (t)here will be held at Poet's Ode on the long weekend in April.

if you want to take this class in Australia

this is your last chance for the year

as the one at Beautiful Silks sold out before it was announced

and

the class at Scott's Head filled within days

otherwise

you'll have to hop the ditch next year

and join me in the lovely Ludd Valley instead!