Aloha from Hawaii

Its our first day here in beautiful Ohau and we were able to tour part of the island, see Diamond Head, the big waves and surfers and the lush and colourful foliage all around.
Sadly, it rained most of the day but we enjoyed seeing so many interesting sights. Its my first time to Hawaii, but my husband has been many times. I took pictures of some new stamping ideas that I will post later.
Tomorrow we'll drive around a bit more and then board our ship, Carnival Spirit, a bit later in the day. I'll be teaching on the days that we're sailing back to Vancouver, beginning later next week.

Another Stamping/printing idea

My friend, Ruth, sent me an image that she created using casters she no longer needed. In these days of re-purposing stuff I think it opens up the door to all sorts of ideas. What can we find around the house, yard, garage that can be used to create design. My husbands tool box is starting to look quite interesting! Do you think he'll miss anything??

Stamping Idea from Debbie

Debbie lives in Israel and sent me some images that she used on her blog for stamps. I like that she has created the reverse image, that gives lots more scope of what possibilities there might be. Visit Debbies blog at: http://debbiesfiberwork.blogspot.com
Debbie has some very interesting stuff there and be sure to check out her links, wow! I learned a lot!
How are your stamps coming along?

Dyeing Article

The latest issue, May 2009, of American Quilter came last week with my article on "clamp dyeing". Its always fun to see your work in print!!!

Clamp dyeing (itajame in Japanese) is a method of creating pattern by blocking out areas of fabric by compression when putting the fabric in the dye pot. I use lots of different tools to do this but most often wooden or plexiglass shapes and spring clamps.




I use a regular dye bath recipe and large buckets so I can get lots of fabric into the bath. Sometimes the clamped fabric packs can take up quite a bit of room as well.
Here are some pictures to illustrate the clamping method.

Chinatown

I was in Vancouver a little while back and took some pictures of the market in Chinatown. I love the arrangments of fruits and vegetable, the vibrant colours and the intriguing food. I'd love to taste some of the more exotic items that are offered, not sure I'd know how to cook them!



There's a wonderful cooking show on the Food Network that I really enjoy watching called Kylie Kwong: Simply Magic---Check it out if you can or visit her wonderful website http://www.kyliekwong.org