Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Bring it, Fall

Funny that I am feeling the call of Autumn now that we've had two straight weeks of gorgeously sunny weather; still, it doesn't feel like summer sunshine. It's a slanted kind of light, a fall-ish sort of warmth, but lovely all the same. The turning of the seasons always makes me feel creative, and there's something especially inspiring about fall; maybe because it's Aaron's favorite season, maybe because I'm usually so relieved not to be hot anymore, maybe because there's such a contrast between the sweltering summer afternoons and cool fall mornings. Whatever the reason, I've been awfully creative lately. I picked up this book from the library the other day(did you know there's an entire section for adults at the library?!) thanks to some speedy driving on my husband's part; we were on our way to Tom and Sonia's for dinner and the library closed in just a few minutes, but my wonderful husband got me to the door of the library literally two minutes before closing. I grabbed my book and ran to the checkout desk, and while I stood there the lights turned off. I was that close to having to wait an entire day before I could get my book, and I wasn't in the mood to wait. Yesterday I went to the craft store and picked up some supplies for making stamps; I figured this would be the gentlest introduction to fabric printing, although I'm dying to try silk screening. Baby steps. I bought some plain unbleached muslin and made a hand towel, then did a few practice runs with the flower stamps I made before coming up with this design: As an added bonus, the ink smells funny so I feel like I'm working with special potions. I had to mix some inks to get just the colors I wanted, so that was fun too. I feel an addiction coming on here. I was already starting to like sewing a lot, what with being able to design my own projects and pick whatever fabric I wanted, but this whole printing my own fabric business opens up a whole new world of possibilities. I thought the fabric store had a pretty big selection and often had trouble choosing a fabric, but hand printing just might kill me. There is virtually no end to the possibilities. I feel a little like I imagine God felt when He was creating the world; I'll just make whatever pops into my head in whatever size and color I feel like.
And here is the little table and chairs that I finally finished staining. Pottery Barn kids has nothing on me.

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