Author Archives: smillil

By the light of day?!

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By the light of day?!

I’m still trying to find the best way to photograph my work to share in the virtual world. To this end, I’ve been working on converting a cardboard appliance box into a light box of sorts and having some fun with photo editing to try and capture the true colours and textures. Here’s some examples of my latest work…

Picture Time!

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Picture Time!

In the ever elusive, ever continuing search for good pictures of my pieces… they always look so much better in person… I decided to try for an outdoor photo shoot today. The rain held off and my back deck proved to be a fairly warm springtime spot to unleash my inner photographer. I had some fun with creating a backdrop but I’m still not 100% pleased with the pictures, still a bit dark and not bright enough, IMO. Oh well, it was nice to get back into the old stock, air everything out and admire work done when there wasn’t time to step back and enjoy it.

This little piggy’s off to market… The SeaPort Farmers Market ☺️

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it’s that time of year again, I’m heading back to the Seaport this weekend for a full day of marketing on Saturday, come see me on the mezzanine, visitors are always welcome… Though you may want to hold off until my first coffee 😉 I’ve been busy making new pieces from my recent amazing local thrift store finds, see the picture for a sample of the incredible silks, velvet and hand-wovens I discovered… if only there was an emoticon for rubbing my hands together or maniacal laughter! I’ve also been thinking about how to setup my table this season, definitely want something colourful and fresh, have collected a few interesting display pieces over the winter. I’m also preparing for an upcoming huge show…. Stay tuned for the exciting details.

A sampling of recently discovered vintage treasures

A sampling of recently discovered vintage treasures

There’s something cooking…

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image image imageAnd while it’s yummy and full of colourful goodness, I wouldn’t recommend digging in 🙂 I’ve been having so much fun with my plant based dye kit from Blue Castle Fibre Arts and with a ginormous bag of natural wool from a sweet little Cotswald ewe from Middle Sackville named Sweet Pea 😊 here’s a sample of all the beautiful colours coming from madder root, indigo, turmeric, soap nut and whole other bunch of natural dyes. stay tuned for samples of new pieces using these lovely colours.

It’s getting colder and the creative juices are flowing

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It’s getting to be market time again 🙂

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I just sent in an order for new roving from HandMaiden (Fleece Artist) and am looking forward to being inspired by their amazing colourways. I’ve also ordered some natural roving to dye with my new natural dye kit. I’ve been experimenting over the summer with the lovely plant based dyes from Blue Castle Fibre Arts (http://www.bluecastlefiberarts.com/). No white fabric in my house has escaped unscathed and there was a whole lot of excited “what are you cooking”??… oh 😦 .

The first tests have  produced some amazing colours on my Cotswold rovings from a lovely little ewe called “Sweet Pea”, who lives in Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia. I’ll post some pictures of all the lovely yellows/oranges (turmeric), greeny/grey (alkanet, madder & indigo), reds/peach (madder & soapnut), forest green (tumeric & indigo) and turquoise (indigo & golden shower bark). I can’t wait to see how these colours looks on the merino sliver from Hand Maiden…. stay tuned.

New website, new inspiration :)

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While folks are digging into their summer garb, I find myself wanting to dig into my treasure trove and try to capture the crystal clear colours of this brightening landscape. So while market days may be on hiatus for beach days, I want to keep working on my felting… maybe it’s time to build that line of art pieces and housewares??? Rugs and wall-hangings, anyone? Stay tuned.