dont throw away that fogged paper!

Got fogged paper? Dont toss it, make some sweet prints!
These are some colorful prints I made with random objects I found in my kitchen . . .




My roomate showed me this really cool photographic process called lumen printing, and it's super easy to do! All you need is fogged photo paper (any kind, old works best) and some natural sunshine. (And if you wanna get fancy, a board and some plexiglas for sandwiching flat objects) You can lay or sandwich flat plants or any interesting objects you have lying around on top of your fogged paper and expose it to the sun from 30 minutes to 4 hours (iv really only done 30-60 minutes and they turned out great. Using the plexiglas to flatten your plants/flat objects on top of the paper ensures a little more detail and less blur from sun movement, but if you just lay them down you can get a softer, more abstract effect. This website has more detailed instructions as well as lots of other really cool alternative printing processes.

It really fun seeing what colors you get, all papers seem to be different. Also, it seems color changes based on the humidity and temperature of the object as well. Organic objects seem to produce a wider range of color.

have fun and waste not!

sewing projects!

Wow, it seems like I haven't posted in forever! Winter break went by pretty fast, but I did manage to fit a few fun projects in.

My sister and I went to visit our grandparents in Florida for about a week, and like always we filled our days with sewing, cooking, and of course our daily strolls on the beach:) My grandma is an amazing quilter (mom learned from the best!) and my sister and I love working on sewing projects with her. This year my sister made a quilt, and I made a few smaller projects . . .

I made this wallet from a pattern my grandma had stashed

now my roomates won't get annoyed with me everytime I have to find something in my wallet, no more ten minute digs, Im organized!

I got to use some really gorgeous vintage buttons my grandma had saved

when I got home from our trip I wanted to prove to myself that I wouldn't forget all my newly learned sewing skills, so I made myself a little sewing kit! complete with mini scissors, thread, pins, and needles . . . basically all the mini sewing tools I could find in my mom's old sewing studio.

So I really hope to continue sewing, (especially since now I've semi-mastered how to thread a bobbin), and use my skills in some of my other projects. I'd really like to use my fused plastic bags to make some simple wallets or even some small zippered bags like my sewing kit. Also, I've been cutting out blocks for a t-shirt quilt I've started. I'm collecting all my old t-shirts that I really don't wear anymore and I'm going to make them into a comfy cozy quilt. Sooo many sewing projects so little time!! Most of them will have to wait till the summer when I'm finished with classes. o well.