Mother's Day dip-dyed gift wrap

My crafty daughter made some gift wrap for my Mother's Day present that was so cool I have to share it. She folded a sheet of packing paper (that cheap, porous kind) into a little package and then simply dipped the corners in food coloring! She tried computer printing paper first, but said that didn't absorb the coloring enough.

Here's the tutorial she used: http://blog.landofnod.com/honest-to-nod/2011/07/things-to-make-tissue-paper-tie-dye.html

It reminded me of this fabric (above and below) that I dyed with a similar folding technique in a class about 17 years ago, but I like hers a lot better.

And look at what was in the paper -- a T-shirt from Goodwill that fits perfectly and is so true.

Then my son gave me a box of gourmet chocolates (also cheaper than a therapist) with this very artistic lid:

My son is far away and couldn't be with me for Mother's Day, but here's my daughter on the phone with him. Thank goddess for camera phones that let us share photos of us as we're talking. (She's babysitting the fluffy bunny for a friend.)

Doesn't get much better than this:

I hope the rest of you moms and daughters had a wonderful Mother's day.

  Have a colorful day
 

Umbrellas and sunshine

My sunny neighbor Rosemary!

My neighbor Rosemary has one of the sunniest dispositions of anyone I know, equal only to that of her husband, Dick. This week she was all excited to show me an umbrella she had just received printed on the inside with Chihuly glass art. She knows I love color, so she thought I'd like it. I DO!

Rosemary and Dick's flowers

Even though it's early in the gardening season, their yard is bursting with lush,  colorful blooms. Dick tends to them like they are children, and they bloom beautifully. Here are a few.

Rosemary and Dick's flowers

Yellow flowers from last year's collard greens.

This yellow stalk is from the collard greens that Dave planted last year. We thought the rabbit would like collards, but she didn't, so we just let them grow to enormous proportions until they flowered this year. I brought this one inside to brighten the kitchen.

I-5 rest stop in Oregon

And here is a little green from recent trips.

Manchester State Park, Pt. Orchard, WA

Have a colorful day

Sea stars

Naturalist holding an ochre sea star.

It's time to hit the beaches again with Harbor WildWatch, the group I volunteer with that teaches the public cool stuff about our local sea creatures. We had our training last weekend and I got a lot of pictures of sea stars, one of my favorite inhabitants of the Puget Sound. These ochre and mottled sea stars were about a foot across, and there were a lot of them draped over rocks or snuggled in sea weed waiting for the tide to come back in.

Underside of a mottled sea star, showing its tube feet.

Sea stars use their tube feet to slowly move over the bottom of the sea floor in search of food. They eat mussels, clams and other shellfish and they use their suctioning tube feet to grip their prey.



Penrose Point State Park near Lakebay, WA

In case you're wondering what type of environment these creatures live in, here are the two state parks, Penrose Point and Manchester, where I took these photos. They're on the Puget Sound near Gig Harbor. We went out during low tide. During high tide the sea stars are underwater and you're not as likely to find them.

Manchester State Park near Pt. Orchard, WA.
Note the sea star in foreground.

Can you see the white circle off center on each of these two stars (above and below)? That's the madreporite, where water enters and then circulates throughout the arms.

An ochre sea star.

People often call them "star fish," but they're not fish. I love the way they drape and arrange themselves on the beach -- almost looks like they're dancing.

A little blood star that was almost hidden under rocks.

 

A leather star, which feels leathery.

A mottled sea star -- more slender than the ochres.

Reflection of one of our naturalists over a mottled star.

An ochre star snuggles in until the tide comes returns.

 Have a colorful day

Comfort Quilt Day

It was that time of month this Tuesday -- Comfort Quilt Day! We gathered at the quilt store here in Gig Harbor to work on more quilts for cancer patients, eat chocolate, and talk and laugh.

Since it was sunny, I had Carol (who started the group more than 10 years ago) hold up a few tops outside for their photos. The breeze kept whipping them around her legs, but you can get the idea. They were VERY colorful and fun.

CRAZY CATS!

 

Inside, the chaos gradually came together to form more quilt tops.

A few more on the design wall.

I finally finished my four-patch top, which I started last month and worked on at home. I can't believe I matched all those corners!

Have a colorful day

Earth Day and quilt acceptance

Detail, "Spring Meditation" by Sherrie Spangler copyright 2013

I got appropriate news for Earth Day -- my "Spring Meditation" quilt was accepted into Sacred Threads 2013! The quilt celebrates the renewal of spring and how in the dark of winter I meditate on the new growth, warmth and sunshine that comes with spring.

"Spring Meditation" by Sherrie Spangler copyright 2013

I painted all of the fabric except for the face and some of the sheers that were used in the side borders. The face is a photo of my daughter, which I printed onto cotton after I warmed up the colors in Picasa. The last thing she said when I asked her to close her eyes and pretend she was meditating was, "I don't want to be on a quilt!" And I said, "I won't use your face." Oops. Well, I did run it by her while it was in progress.

In other Earth Day happenings, I volunteered yesterday at the Harbor WildWatch booth in Gig Harbor during the Paddlers Cup event. Like our sign says, "Ask Questions. Touch Stuff," and this dog tried really hard to touch the giant sunflower sea star in our kiddie pool.

The sunflower (Pycnopodia helianthoides) is the largest sea star in the world, with a maximum arm span of about a meter. We didn't measure ours, but I'd say it was pretty close to that.

Kids (and adults) love to touch the sea stars -- we tell them to use one finger and to be gentle. The star below is called an ochre star (Pisaster ochraceus), and it can be either ocher in color or purple, orange, pink and all shades in between.

Our divers and naturalists (that's Naturalist Rachel below) collect the creatures from the water near our booth and return them to the same spot after we close up. We make sure to keep them in the shade and to aerate the water or change it periodically. Our main purpose is to educate the public about the rich marine life of our area in the hope that they'll want to protect it. http://www.harborwildwatch.org/



"Just kidding just hurts!"
So true.

Meanwhile, the Paddlers Cup drew hundreds to watch the kayak, canoe and paddleboard races in the harbor. Here are some paddleboarders lined up and ready to go:

Have a colorful day

Felting with Irina

Irina sprinkles soapy water on the wool fibers
before we felt them.

Last night, a friend and I took a felting class at a little fiber studio here in the harbor. In just three hours, we went through the whole process of selecting our colors, laying out the unspun wool fibers and beating, rolling, vibrating and massaging them into felted scarves.

 

I pulled off whispy pieces of wool in different colors
and arranged them on the long table.

I had never felted anything by hand before. My only experience with felting was years ago when I knitted a giant wool tote bag and then felted it in the washing machine.

Detail of wet, soapy fibers during the process.

Irina explained that the wool fibers have little barbs on them that open up when they become wet. When the wet fibers are manipulated, the barbs hook together and cause the fibers to felt together.

Cheri uses an electric sander to work on the fibers.

With my tote bag, the washing machine did the manipulating. In our class, we manipulated the wet fibers by covering them with plastic and going over them with electric sanders and rolling pins. We wadded them up and hurled them against the table 90 times. We rolled them around pool noodles and then rolled them back and forth for 15 minutes, leaning on them with our forearms.

Don't mess with teacher!

Almost done!

After a rinse in warm vinegar water and then cool water, we squeezed them dry between towels and they were ready to wear! 


Cheri models her scarf beside Irina.

My scarf in my favorite turquoise-coral combo.

Irina's studio is packed with her gorgeous felted scarves and FUN hats. She's moving to Florida in a few months, but she said she's thinking of doing on-line tutorials. Here's her info, in case you'd like to check out her beautiful work.



One of Irina's felted hats.

 

Have a colorful day