A Closer Look at Ottoman

Books on Natural Dyeing

I finally got a couple of books (Christmas gifts) to get going with some natural dyeing.

I cracked open this first one a few nights ago. I've just been reading a little at a time since I certainly don't have the sort of time I did in college to read. So far it's very informative. I'm starting slow with this process because I really need to be careful working with these materials since I have a 5-year-old in the house. Really, I'm only going to be working with the safest of the safe and this book was recommended to me as a good one for such.

This next book is very exciting because, for example, keeping powdered copper and iron around makes me nervous with a young child in the house...so it's nice to know that I can make the dyes in copper pots or cast iron pots instead...much safer! I haven't done anything but flip through this book so far, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.

If you have a favorite natural dyeing book, please let me know...I'd love to get some more books on my wish list. Now...back to thinking about cooking dinner...it's going to have to be something quick since it's already past 6:00....

 

New Product: Gift Tags (and a wee how-to)

Well, the tea-dyed, iridescent-layered paper got cut down to size...and made into gift tags. Yes, the holidays are just around the corner and I've a bit of inspiration for you.

For You - Gift Tags (set of 10)

These gift tags come as a set of 10 with a V-cut just like ribbon. As a child, I remember thinking that the little v-cut ends of ribbon were made as if by magic.

Since they are completely handmade and repurposed from scraps, they have irregularities and vary in length 1-2 inches.

Each is subtley iridescent in red, yellow, or blue and the listing is for a random mix (unless you're desperate for a certain color). As a reference, the first picture of this post shows the yellow (reads as gold).

I also have a personalized listing...

Personalized Gift Tags (set of 10)

Personalize this set of 10 gift tags with whatever you choose, each can be a different word/short phrase...however, please keep your word/short phrase to about 10 characters (including spaces).

To wrap a gift in this monochromatic packaging, here's a wee how-to:

1. Wrap your gift in vintage paper (the kind used to practice writing in school) or newsprint.

2. Use ecru crochet thread (mine was thrifted) to tie a bow and before tying the knot, slip a...

3. For You - Gift Tag or Personalized Gift Tag through the thread (you can use a tapestry needle or somesuch if this proves to be tricky).

I hope your week is treating you well!

 

Process: Tea Dyed Paper

I've been slowly dyeing paper with tea. I have some thoughts as to what I'm going to do with it. The paper is long left over from my printmaking days in college. The sheets were big enough for making small prints, but I don't know when I'll have access to a press again...so they're torn smaller to work easily with. It feels good to be using this paper after so long. I think there will be more done to this paper before I'm done...I love when objects have a history and I think that imparting that feeling on this paper will be nice. Layers.

More Oak Galls and Yearly Change

Yesterday evening, Boo and I went in search of more turkey feathers as they were around quite a bit the day before. We didn't find any that were in decent shape, but Boo found some oak galls on the ground under an oak tree that we hadn't checked before. Then we noticed that this particular tree was loaded with oak galls. So, we went back to the house and Boo got his wheelbarrow and I got the camera. Hurried back to the tree and I started picking. I only picked what I could easily reach...there were many more.

The photo above is of a large oak gall on the branch which is stronger and different looking than the ones on the leaves (the tree made them afterall, so I suppose the material on the leaves and branches are a bit different). I'm starting to wonder if the ones on the branches will make a stronger dye than the leaf galls. I plan to make the dye seperately to see what happens (first, I have to do some research on how to make this particular dye...I'm such a beginner).

There's our loot from one tree: 119 oak galls in all! You can see the gall that was growing on the branch to the left that has a line nearly bisecting it...it's the largest.

Here's the biggest I've found...it fell from a tree after a windy afternoon:

It's the type that grows from a branch. There's another one like this in another tree, too high for me to reach. I hope it falls soon! I think that these get so big because the leaves fall from the trees each fall and the galls on the branches can continue to grow. I wonder?

It's funny, last year I was posting continuously about blackberries...this year, it's about oak galls. The blackberries aren't in abundance like they were last year, or at least they aren't ripening well. The weather is cold and rainy again and I hope it doesn't stay this way...two months of summer just isn't enough. We had a cold and wet spring and usually it doesn't get cold and wet until October. Sigh.

Yes, each year is different. I'm noticing this much more these days because I'm collecting more from nature. Jenny and I talked about this recently. Last year, we were canning plums like crazy and there were only a few apples on her trees. This year, the plums are few and she has tons of apples. The weather is different...the fruit is different.

Happy Monday, dear reader!

Thunderstorm!

We had a wonderful thunderstorm yesterday which helped with the thick hanging smoke from a forest fire and dropped the temperature something like 30 degrees. There is nothing like the smell of a summer rain! The winds from the storm also gifted the ground with some oak galls which I snatched up as quickly as it was safe to go outside after the storm.

This photo reminds me of one Eva took of her own galls she collected.

Careful Collecting

As shown in the last month or so by various posts, I've been collecting quite a bit of natural bits and pieces in my surrounding area...mostly for dyeing purposes. Here's what I found last week:

Firstly, do you recall the seeds Jenny gave me last year that I sprinkled about after the first rain of the fall? The Nigella (love in a mist) has flowered and dried. I won't be using these seeds for dyeing, but I thought that the forms of the dried seed head and seeds were beautiful.

I also found another oak gall, this time on the underside of a leaf (which I could reach) that was still attached to the tree (I have since found another).

You can see where it was attached to the leaf on the right side of the form (above).

We've also had some wild turkeys around. I found a turkey feather (what I believe to be a turkey feather) the day after they had been around quite a bit. I also saw some a couple of days ago, a mother and four half-sized babies.

Lastly, we are lucky to have redwoods in our area (even though we are not on the coast). I found some cones under a redwood tree and Boo and I collected some up. I'm not sure if they will work as a dye, but Barefoot Shepherdess gets lovely browns from alder cones, I figure it's worth a try.

I've been reading some lovely posts about mushrooms lately (speaking of collecting). I know Oregon is known a bit for wild mushrooms, but I don't know anything about it. So, I revel in the beauty of these posts (and there's so much more mushroom beauty from both of these gals...these are just my favorite posts)...here and here (and psssst...natural dye from mushrooms here).

Eucalyptus, Oak Galls, and Lichen

I brought some of the eucalyptus bark to Jenny's the other day that I had collected from the ground around one of my parents' eucalyptus trees (the one my Mom thinks is a Lemon Eucalyptus). We soaked the bark for a bit (I would do this longer next time) and brought it to a boil twice and let it cool in between (well, it really should have boiled for awhile, but it was hot and we were trying to conserve energy as well). Then put the concoction in a canning jar with some crochet thread and it's been sitting on my window sill solar dyeing (I have no idea if this will work with bark, but what the heck).

I think I will be dyeing more when the weather turns cold and I have the wood stove going. That way I can feed two birds with one seed.

I also found two more oak galls the other evening. I love that they are all different colors.

I see that the ones on the bottom of oak leaves still on the trees are growing and turning brown, I should start seeing more on the ground soon.

Over the weekend, we were in a very forested area with chartreuse lichen growing all over the trees. Fortunately, there was a lot that had fallen on the ground. So, I grabbed a bag and started filling it up. Yes, it dyes chartreuse.

Here's a better look at the color.

Right now, the zip-top bag is the best way for me to store the lichen. There may be some wee critters in there that I don't want in my house and it also looks like an attractive home to other critters that I'd rather not house (maybe because I just got rid of that mouse nest that came with the plastic owl from the last post and I'm still thinking about it). However, I'm starting to realize that these bits of nature that I'm collecting to use as a dye are quite beautiful and would look lovely in a collection of jars. Hmmmm...we'll see....If nothing else, they would be great in jars during Halloween. Those oak galls could be labelled "mummy eyes" or somesuch!

 

Dying to Dye

Oak gall

After mentioning in the last post that the embroidery floss I used for the three Lichen Jar pieces are naturally dyed, I must admit that I've been stalking the Internet gathering information on how to dye with natural sources myself.

This process actually started when I was in college, trying to constantly make things not only from scratch, but from natural materials and from recycled materials. But, I then got into beeswax and making my own paper and that was the end of that (by the way, I'm still s.l.o.w.l.y. working on the fine art, it's just that I juggle so many interests at once). When I started needle felting, I inquired at my little local yarn shop about natural dyes and the gal mentioned that the shop didn't recommend natural dyes because the mordants were often so toxic (that they included heavy metals). So, I resigned to the fact that natural dyeing just wasn't for me. Then, recently, I found some dyers online who don't use toxic mordants and still are able to achieve beautiful results; Barefoot Shepherdess (who naturally hand-dyed the embroidery floss I started using) is one of them...you can find more blogs of gals that dye using natural sources on the left-hand column of my blog.

So, my recent endeavours into natural dyeing started with the tea-staining of my fabric that I use for my for your Wall pieces and Jars...but I also have a 5 gallon bucket full of black walnuts that have been steeping since the fall that I have to process. I also have oak trees that have galls on the undersides of their leaves...and the leaves eventually fall from the heaviness of the load that the galls put upon them. In the late summer and fall when I walk under the oak trees, I occasionally step on them and they POP. I've started to collect them as well. Last, but not least, I collected some bark off the ground from one of my parents eucalyptus trees on my recent visit...my mom believes that it is a lemon eucalyptus, but I couldn't confirm it, the leaves are so high that I couldn't test it out to see...or rather smell (yes, the leaves indeed smell like fresh lemon when touched or crushed).

Well, I have a bit to get myself started. Now, with the help of some books that I plan to get my hands on soon and some more internet research...let us see what happens!

By the way, there was an post on Modish today about natural dyeing. You can find it here.