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  • Dying Yarn with Kool-Aid

    So I finally tried dying yarn on my own for the first time, and I decided to ignore the expensive dying kit I bought at the KW Fair and go for Kool-Aid technique first. I was really surprised, I’ve never done this before and the results turned out beautifully, definitely a fun home project for anyone looking to make their own custom yarns! I don’t have a lot of wisdom on the subject, but for the record here is what I did in case anyone else wants to try it.

    Here is the yarn I used – 200 grams of pure Alpaca. I’ve read that Kool-Aid doesn’t work with synthetic fibers, so I used an all natural skein of pure wool that I bought from an Alpaca farm a few weeks ago. I tied the hank up in a few places to make sure it wouldn’t get all tangled on me, and soaked it in hot water for at least half an hour before starting.

    For step 2 we poured out almost all the water, we wanted just enough so that the water only barely covered the yarn in the pot. Then Tito (for I am hopeless at these things) put the yarn on the stove and brought it to a slow simmer. The trick is to not bring the heat up too fast, or to stir it, because these things can cause the yarn to felt.

    These were the Kool-Aid flavours we chose. We had no idea what the colours would turn out as but were hoping for red, orange and pink.

    While waiting for the yarn to simmer we mixed the Kool-Aid. We used very little water, just enough to dissolve the crystals. Don’t add sugar!

    When the yarn was simmering we started to add the Kool-Aid – I poured one colour at one end of the pot, another colour at the other end, and the third colour down the middle.

    Orange, cherry and strawberry turned out to be….red, reddish and orangy-red ;o) I’ll need to find more flavour options next time!

    After adding my colours I let the yarn simmer for another half hour, just to soak it all in. You want to see mostly clear water – so you know the dye is all in the yarn now. We then took it off the heat and allowed it to cool on it’s own.

    When it was cool, we drained it into a colander and used an old towel to gently press out the rest of the water. The results are already looking very cool. Judging by the state of the towel after it seems that it’s quite colourfast.

    Afterwards we draped it over an old easel to dry, and left it there overnight.

    This is from this morning; the colour is great! It’s not quite dry, but when it is I’m really looking forward to working with it. I’ll be picking up another few skeins of alpaca this weekend, and some different flavours to try it again. More pics to come when I see how this knits up ;o)

  • Wedding Photography – Eva & Sean


    I wanted to share photos from my most recent wedding today – Eva & Sean were absolutely amazing to photograph! Their wedding was full of the most amazing people as well, we had a great time meeting all their friends and family who welcomed us warmly. We had an opportunity to do some shots in one of my favourite parts of Toronto – the Rouge Hill beach area behind Rouge Hill GO station. It was one of those days when it’s just about to rain and the sky is very dramatic. Eva stood on the rocks and let the bustle out of her dress and the results were so beautiful, definitely one of my best shoots ever!

  • Glass tiles

    This week I wanted to feature a new medium I’m playing with that everyone seems to love – using glass tiles to carry artwork. These tiles can be used to make pendants, fridge magnets, keychains, zipper pulls…. I’ll bet there are tons more that I just haven’t thought of.

    These Serenity Prayer pieces were made as a gift for a dear friend – but they also show how words and sayings can be laid out to fit within the tiles as well. I’ve also used this method to show logos.

    I also toyed with the idea of using photographs of portraits instead of just landscapes.

    The tiles come in a few different sizes, and prices are as follows:

    Small – 24 mm Circle $25

    Large – 35 mm Circle $35

    22 x 30 mm Oval $30

    24 x 48 mm Rectangle $30

    Small – 24 mm Square $25

    Large – 35 mm Square $35

    I can use my own artwork, or yours, but please contact me for guidelines regarding digital image submission. nothing complicated – images need to be able to crop within the size you’ve chosen, be a decent resolution, not be copyrighted etc.

    The tiles are glass, and the bails on the back are silver. I use jeweller’s grade ice resin to seal the back, so your pendant is waterproof and won’t yellow over time. Please email me with any orders as I’ve taken my Etsy store temporarily offline – while I prepare for my fall art show =o)

  • Merging two loves – yarn and clay.

    Late night double posting today; I wanted to share some things I just got out of the kiln – these are yarn bowls and yarn bells for knitting and crochet. The construction is simple and elegant, you place your ball of yarn either in the bell or in the bowl, thread your yarn through the groove and knit away! The pottery keeps your ball turning smoothly  while you work, keeping it dust and pet-free, while also preventing it from rolling away on you. I’ve tried out each one myself, and they work like a charm :)

    *Post Update* – these beauties are now available at the Purple Purl here in Toronto. They got a mention in Canadian Living Magazine and people love them =o) Want to order one, but don’t live in Toronto? Have a custom request? Email me at hello@thebluebrick.ca! Or click here to see my latest pieces =o)

    yarn bell

    Yarn bell

    yarn bowl

    yarn bowl
    yarn bellyarn bell

    yarn bowl

  • Inspira – the European series

     

    More Inspira goodies this week, these bracelets were inspired by photos of mine taken in Paris, Venice, Barcelona and Rome. The colours, textures and mood of each piece are drawn directly from the photos, and my memories of the cities. Each piece is hand-woven with gold/white gold plated findings. The beads are a variety of materials, depending on what suited the mood of the shot, but include swarovski crystals, stone, wood, japanese delicas and glass.

    Rome:

    Paris:

    Venice:

    And finally, Barcelona:

  • Inspira – Newfoundland Icebergs

    I’m inspired by so many things, and I love to express that inspiration in so many different mediums. Lately I’ve been playing with an idea called ‘Inspira’ – the idea that a photo can inspire a bracelet, that a skein of hand dyed wool can inspire a pottery glaze, that a sunset can be expressed in a pair of crystal earrings…. you get the idea ;o)

    This latest piece draws it’s inspiration from 2 sources; The colours and textures are drawn from a photograph I took last summer of icebergs in Newfoundland. I loved the stately way they moved across the ocean, these icy giants. The deep blue of the ocean, the frosted white of the ice, the clear deep blue of solid ice veins and the stunning aquamarine of the ice melting into the ocean all found their way into the mix.

    The charm bracelet shape of it is inspired by the first bracelet my mom designed. It’s playful yet solid and unpredictable nature seemed evocative to me of the natural beauty of icebergs. The bracelet is based around a silver chain with silver findings, white & frosted white stones, and a variety of blue and white swarovski crystals, finished with silver filigree cones and powerful, easy to clip magnetic clasps.

    This is one of the first pieces of jewelry designed to be for sale at my upcoming art show this Christmas season, entitled ‘Inspira’. More pieces to come soon =o)

  • You threw off my groove…

    This past weekend Tito and I drove out to the beautiful town of Merrickville, ON – a town dedicated to crafters of all kinds. They have several pottery and glass blowing studios, a brilliant artist who carves gourds and a metal smithy.

    On the way we had an unexpected treat – we passed a llama and alpaca farm. On a hunch Tito turned the car around and went back to see if they sold their own wool and would let us have a look around, and they did! They were very welcoming to us, and I ended up falling in love with one chocolate and one white alpaca, so I bought 200 grams of each. I might try my hand at dying the white one myself.

    We’ll definitely be going back that way – while in Merrickville we signed up for a glass blowing workshop in a few weeks – I’ve never tried it, I’m so excited!

    I’ve been inspired to find and visit other wool farms in Southern Ontario now, it’s a great way to get all-natural wool, with the lowest carbon footprint, and as a bonus you get to meet some lovely people (and animals). Below are some pics from our adventure, I’m pretty sure those llamas are gossiping about Tito in one of the pics ;o)

    Look at these cuties ;o)

    They don’t seem too impressed with us though!

    Black sheep!

    Beautiful farm country.

    The two skeins I purchased – I can’t wait to see what comes out of these!

  • I love turquoise!

    I wanted to show off a purse that someone ordered from me recently – it’s crocheted in an open shell pattern holding one strand of worsted brown yarn with one strand of Tanis’ Blue Label Mallard. The handle is leather from Americo Original on Queen West. I added vintage buttons and crocheted flowers to finish off the look.

    **Edit – I’ve been remiss! I initially found the pattern here: Sorry for not including that earlier ;)

    The client also wanted earrings to go with it, something classy yet complimentary to the purse. After much sleuthing around I found a chain of polished agate, the colour is gorgeous and I think it’s a perfect match =o)

  • Wedding Photography – Lynn and Jason

    I wanted to show a sneak preview of this week of the latest wedding I’ve shot – Lynn and Jason Murphy are dear friends with whom I’ve now done a maternity shoot, a newborn shoot of their beautiful girl Emily, and now their wedding! The following are some of the shots I was really proud of – enjoy =o)

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  • Pretty things =o)

    Just some shots of recent work here, the first cosy mug has been finished and last night I made a cute little bracelet  with Tanis’ Blue Label Grape =o)

    Hand-thrown, two-handed, post-skating, hot chocolate wooly teacup =o)

    The crochet pattern is called ‘wave’ and the colourway is Stormy by Tanis Fiber Arts.


    More Tanis goodness here – this cutie was made with leftover yarn from a skein of the colourway Grape.

    Crochet Wheel : Ch 8, SS in first ch to make a loop

    Round 1 – Ch 2 (counts as first DC) DC 19 more times into ring, SS to close (20 DC)

    Round 2 – Ch 1 (counts as first SC) sc again in same space, sc twice in every DC around, SS to close (40 SC)

    Bind off leaving enough tail that you can use it to attach the side beads.

    Make a few of these loops, get some fun wooden beads and use the bind off tail to thread through a few times.

    Find or make a cute clasp (in this case I’m using a bronze leaf, a few jump rings and the backside of a toggle clasp, run through both end loops to close the bracelet)

    Voila! In less than an hour you have a gorgeous, unique, crochet bracelet.