Tag Archives: silk scarves

Bazaart 40 Countdown

Yikes! Where has the time gone. When I send in my application it always seems like a long time to go before Bazaart will happen. We usually find out in late March or early April if we’ve been juried in this year. It still seems like a long time until mid-June. Somehow that time gets shorter every year until BOOM – it’s only a month away! This year is a special one – it’s Bazaart’s 40th Anniversary on Saturday, June 15, 2013 outside the MacKenzie Art Gallery on Albert Street in Regina, SK

Bazaart40 button .

What is Bazaart? It’s the largest outdoor arts and crafts show and sale in Saskatchewan. It’s juried, which means that every year a committee chooses the vendors who sell there. You have to be juried into Bazaart EVERY year, even if you’ve previously been juried in. Bazaart is about quality workmanship and unique and interesting items from artists and artisans. There’s music and food creating a wonderful creative atmosphere for shopping. It’s a lot of work for vendors to get there and set up for a one day show but it’s worth it! It`s always great to see fellow artists and artisans and welcome new ones.

This is my 3rd Bazaart. I have return customers who look for me there in Booth #119 - the same booth I`ve had every year . Since Bazaart is my 1st Sale of the year, I often premiere new types of snow dyed items there. Last year it was chiffon scarves. This year – well, I’ll keep that under my hat for now.

Bazaart is a fund raiser for the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina SK. You can check out all the details here http://www.mackenzieartgallery-bazaart.ca/ including a map of the booths and information about participating vendors.

You can follow me here or on my Skyswept Designs Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/SkysweptDesigns to see what I`m up to getting ready for this year`s Bazaart.

Hope I see you there! Stop and say hi.

Cypress Hills 2013 Summer Sampler

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I am pleased to be one of the artists featured Saturday, May 11, 2013 at the Cypress Hill Park Summer Sampler at the Royal Canadian Legion in Maple Creek, SK. You can come and take a short workshop (1 hr or less) from a variety of the artists who will be doing an Artist Residency at Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park this summer. My Artist Residency will be from July 19-August 5, 2013. I am really looking forward to the longer session this year.

I will be offering my silk scarf dyeing workshop at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm. Cost is $10 per scarf and includes everything needed to make an 8inx54in silk scarf. There is a limited of 12 persons per session so you should call Connie Phillips at (306)662-3629 to reserve your space.

First Workshop for 2012 – Silk Scarf Dyeing

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Tonight was the first workshop for 2012. It was a private booking for Dyeing Scarves with Color Hue Dyes activity. We ended up with 4 girls, a mom & her friend + another mom (my friend) who helped out. These are usually fairly relaxed events that take from 1-2 hrs depending on how many ppl there are plus how involved in colour mixing the participants want to be + how many scarves they make. Sometimes it’s a birthday party activity (love getting to share in the birthday treats!) I’ve done this activity with all ages (2-92 yrs), all kinds of groups (seniors, youth, school and special needs groups) and even families wanting to make gifts for themselves and others. I’ve even done it on a drop-in basis as guest artist at Cypress Hills Park last August http://skysweptdesigns.com/2011/08/silk-scarf-dyeing-at-cypress-hills-park/ .

New method of twisting scarf

Angie ( a mom) used a new (to me) technique for twisting her scarf. She did both of her scarves in the same fashion.

2nd scarf done with new twisting

results from using new twisting technique

The colour choices for her second scarf were quite interesting as well. I may have to try this combination myself (another bonus of having different people in the studio is finding new colour combinations I may not have thought of on my own.

another new technique - dyeing the hem itself

Chloe took the time to painstakingly dye the hem by itself which was a very nice and different effect I had not seen or done before. Another technique to try!

Kaitlin's Scarf - such rich colour

Kaitlin used just one colour and kept adding dye until she achieved the rich colour she wanted.

adding dye drop by drop

Jessica took the time to add her dye drop by drop to achieve the look she wanted.

Jessica's scarf completed

I love the subtle colour changes and pools of colour in Jessica’s scarf.

Corey used a variety of colours

Corey used a variety of colours in her scarf to good effect, escaping the dreaded brown results from mixing opposites on the colour wheel. She had made a scarf previously when Girls on the Move visited my studio in May 2011 and had requested her mom to book this activity to celebrate her birthday.

Marvann's scarf using another new twisting technique

Marvann gave me a challenge – to mix her the 2012 Pantone colour of the year Tangerine Tango. I had a bit of challenge mixing it but came up with a colour she liked. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of her finished scarf using her new (to me) method of twisting the scarf before dyeing it.

Each participant ended up making 2 scarves so it was a fairly busy couple of hours before we got the the cake Marvann had made (very tasty!). All in all it was a great way to start 2012 workshops.

If you’re interested in having your own scarf dyeing or other fun crafty activity for yourself and at least 4 friends, contact me by phone or email (info on contact page) to set up an activity for you. I can handle up to 10 (sometimes) people per 1-2 hr activity in my studio. More might require an alternate venue. I’m happy to discuss options with you.

BAZAART – 7 Days and Counting

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Here is one of the apple blossom sunprinted scarves drying.

Today was spent hand painting scarves – using the apple blossom petals to sunprint. How many people get to say that part of their days’s work/art making involves picking apple blossom petals! They are already falling off the tree so just tapping a loaded branch sends them cascading into the basket, on my hair and clothing. I wondered what the passersby were thinking as they saw me reaching into the tree for the blossoms. I wanted to use the apple blossom petals first as they look to be on their way out.

sunprinted blossoms on painted branches

As I worked through a number of scarves using the apple blossom petals, I tried to use them in a variety of ways. I will be interested to see how the final results turn out when the silk scarves are ironed.

more small scarved drying

One of the people working in an office in my studio building is also a quilter and interested in learning how to do fabric painting when she retires in July. She checked in early this am to see what I was working on – and quite intriqued with the whole process of sunprinting. She offered to bring me some tall grasses from her yard at lunch time if she had a chance. She dropped them off after lunch. I was ready for a change of palette by then, so I mixed up some colours that would showcase the grasses and leaves.

sunprinting with grasses and leaves

more leaves sunprinting

It will be interesting to see how these leave sunprint. They are very fern-like but not that easy to keep flat on the fabric.

scarves drying in my "retail" area

By the time I left at 3:30 to drop off my art at the courier company and go to the Art Gallery of Swift Current to do the walk and talk with the current exhibit’s artists, there were scarves drying every where in the studio, on the tables, under the tables, everywhere!

scarves drying everywhere

I pretty much covered all open available flat surfaces!

End of the day shot of work tables

This is what the TOP of the work tables looked like at the end of the day!

Due to a volunteer commitment this evening, I wasn’t going to be able to attend the usual Artist talk for this exhibit. I was able to attend the “walk and talk” for the art club at 4 pm. I’m so glad I did! The exhibit is “Chance Operations 2″ with both artists in attendance. http://www.artgalleryofswiftcurrent.org/exhibitions/current.html. Rhonda Neufeld and Rodney Konopaki decided they wanted to work together in collaboration. As part of their process they had to work through what that meant. The exibit is a result of their explorations of working together. I am still processing what they said. I found it extremely interesting and thought provoking to think about working like that. It makes me think more about my own work, the how, the why etc. I am exceptionally glad I made the time to attend!

I’m off to the Lyric Theatre to volunteer at tonight’s Showcase event – Tastes of Asia – doing my usual stint selling liquor tickets. It’s going to be a late evening for me. Hope I can still be productive in the studio tomorrow. I have a quota of scarves to paint!

BAZAART – 8 Days and Counting Down

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Today was off to a slowish start after having disrupted sleep last night – I was awake for several hours in the middle of the night due to not eating before/when I took the analgesics for my knees (I skipped supper). When I got to the studio I ironed the remaining snow-dyed scarves that had dried overnight after being washed. I decided to leave the hand-painted ones I’d washed to iron, etc when I process the scarves I’m painting today.

I set up my tables to accomodate painting scarves – cut about 30 pieces of waxed butcher paper (10 for each size of scarf) for them to rest on while drying. I picked out the transparent Setacolor paints I plan to use. I tend to do things like this in batches and pick a palette to work with each session. I figure that doing 20-30 scarves each day should give me a good variety of colours and styles.

Ready to start painting scarves

When I took my 2 day fabric painting workshop with Mickey Lawlor, she told us about having some petals drift on to her painted fabrics while drying in her yard. (This anecdote is also in her SkyDyes book). Since I have an apple tree in bloom outside my studio window, I decided I would try sunprinting with some of the petals – they are almost done blooming. So I went out and “picked” some petals to use on the scarves. Tapping the branches gave quite a cascade of petals into the bowl, on my hair and on me.

Apple Blossom petals for sunprinting

After living in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia for close to 30 years, apple blossoms are definitely a part of my art-making but this is the first time I have sunprinted with them.

scarf with apple blossom petals in place "sunprinting"

My goal is to try to paint 10 scaves of each size today – this may be a bit tricky since I have less available floor space to lay them on to dry while I paint others, especially the larger ones.

small scarves drying on the floor

By the time I go home tonight, the tables, floor and any leve surface will likely be covered with drying painted scarves.

Silk Scarf dyeing with 10-11 yr olds

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One of the activities I offer at my studio is the chance to hand dye your own silk scarf. I started this with a group of seniors last year at the request of their recreation director. Since then I’ve had several groups of folks come and do some silk scarf dyeing. I will do it for as few as 4-5 and this party was for 11 (including a mom). It’s not specifically a workshop, but more of an activity. I show them my array of scarves and they pick colours from those.

Color Hue dyed silk scarves

We learn a bit about the colour wheel (what colors work together and what colours don’t) and depending on the group – some may even mix their own colours from the pre-mixed dyes I have ready for them. I instruct the folks how to use the medium – get them to practice with plain water as well as extra dye on paper towels before actually dyeing their scarf. When they feel comfortable with the tools, techniques, then we start dyeing scarves. It’s fun to watch as hesitation moves to comfort and experimentation.

Dyeing her own scarf

Depending on the group, what they want to do and how many scarves they want to dye, it usually lasts from 1-2 hrs. The girls and I had fun and they themselves some lovely scarves. I heard talk of them planning to wear them to school on the same day.

showing off their finished scarves

When everyone is all done, they put their wet scarf in a baggy to take home – with drying and care instructions. Lots of happy faces here. They were really pleased with their results.

all finished and ready to take home

After they were done with their scarf dyeing activity, they did the usual birthday party activities. I was even lucky enough to get to share in the birthday cake! I should have take a picture of it. Mom make a small cake iced looking like tie dye with assorted cupcakes around it in honour of the scarf dyeing. Very creative.

Studio ready for Christmas (shopping)

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Today was the last of my “scheduled” craft sales. I realized this was my 3rd sale in 4 weeknends! Two of them were “open the door” events for me so I just had to set up my “retail” area and block off the rest from public view. All that coming and going means the working part of the studio has basically become a storage area between sales.

the tables set up in the gym outside my studio waiting for vendors to arrive and set up

Two crafty friends, Elaine and Cindy planned the Swift Current Gift and Craft Show for today in the gym outside my studio. They set the tables up last night after 11pm (IMAGINE!!)

I was happy I didn’t have to actually pack up and go anywhere. I spent several days this week finishing unpacking from Wintergreen show plus decorating the studio for Christmas. I decorated the door yesterday and had some fun with it.

Tag on parcel says - Let me help you WRAP UP your Holiday Shopping

I decided that my customer appreciation gift to shoppers this year is that I will pay the taxes on retail sales for the month of December. For most purchases that is 10 %.

sign below "parcel" on each side of the door

I set up my iPod bookcase stereo outside the door so I could play music for the shoppers. Notice the antler headband on one speaker – should I get another one for its mate? (grin).

View into the studio this am

Come in and have a look around the studio. It’s been awhile since I’ve given you the opportunity!

Scrunchy tree just inside the door to the left

Cindy decided the tree needed a topper so she took a pair of hand dyed socks and added them to the top to add some colour.

Just past the scrunchy tree is the Hobo Bag display – some of these will be put in my ArtFire Studio in the next week.

: hobo bag display

The show advertising mentioned people would have door prizes so I opted in to create a “Blue Christmas” doorprize worth $50. One of my small snow dyed silk charmeuse scarfs (8″x54″) + a pr of blue hand dyed bamboo socks + a blue scrunchy in a blue gift bag. I’m sure the winner won’t be blue when she finds out she’s won. (no answer when I called earlier).

My "Blue Christmas" doorprize display on a piece of my hand-dyed Pimatex PFD

You can see my covered 6ft banquet table just to the right of the door prize display. I used some of the room dividers to block off studio working area from public view (needed today!). This created about a 10′ x 10″ retail area comparable to many booth sizes. The table went back to the room divider blocking off the sink area from public view. You can see the banquet table and room divider on the pic below. Once the studio is cleaned up the 2 tier rack will “live” where the banquest table currently is.

the snow dyed collection on its racks on the right side of the studio

“The notecard rack is to the right of the scarves. It contains the various images (about 20) I market as notecards. The next displays are at a right angle to this photo.

L - hand dyed/hand painted fabric display (R) display of Photographs and magenets of my images (photos not juried by SCC)

You can see the mini lights along the top of the cabinets – I have them along the top of cabinets on both sides of the room. I love how festive they make the place feel when they are on (not so noticeable in the pics) The shelves on the right are bolted to the wall beside the door and the impetus for creating my “retail” area. You can get a glimpse out the door into the gym area on the right,

Shelves on wall beside door to studio

I put some of my smaller photographs in acrylic frames on one shelf and my finished totebags on the shelf below.

The rack holds my sarongs – all the various types. Baskets hold buckets hats of various sizes.

Sign above the hand dyed sarong collection

I have a black display rack on wheels with a variety of shelves, baskets and hooks that allows me a lot of variations in how I can use it. This is it’s latest incarnation.

The hand dyed sock side of the display rack

I am fairly low on Ladies size 9-11 size socks . I had a bit of a run on them at Wintergreen a couple of weeks ago. The other 2 sizes are fairly well stocked and some of them will be put into my ArtFire Shop as soon as I can get photos taken.

packaged hand dyed scarf collection side of display rack

You can see the infant buntings displayed on one end of the display rack to the right. My friend’s dd Cabbage Patch Ariane modelling one of the cotton fleece buntings. She’s been a real hit at several shows this year.

baby bunting display at one end of display rack

You can see how much is packed into this small display area – only room for a few folks at a time but I’m happy with how it’s turned out today.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of my studio today!

Grasslands Gallery – Val Marie, SK

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Recently Laureen Marchand, owner of Grasslands Gallery in Val Marie, SK http://grasslandsgallery.com/ visited my studio to see my work. She has added the work of several SW Saskatchewan fine craft artists to the other artwork she carries. She is also opening Fri-Sunday from Nov 18 – Dec 12/10 for holiday shopping. If you drive to Val Marie, she will also offer you gourmet coffee plus some very yummy homemade cookies. (I can vouch for both!)

Laureen Marchand, Grasslands Gallery owner

I was pleased that she took a variety of my scarves and shawls to add to the collection.

Assorted snow and hand dyed scarves, shawls of various fibres

Even more pleased to get an email the first night of her sales (and my first night at Wintergreen Fine Craft Sale in Regina) saying she’d already sold 2 of the plain hand-dyed velvet scarves and did I have any more. Yes I did! So I took some more as well as some of the remaining snow-dyed velvet scarves down to Val Marie (about 1.5 hr drive from Swift Current).

snow=dyed silk velvet scarves

(L) hand dyed sarong (R)more snow dyed silk velvet scarves

Grasslands Gallery opened only a year ago. Due to the weather forecast, I didn’t go to the opening. I was disappointed at the time but decided caution was necessary even though I’m a very intrepid driver in most condtions. It is very open, flat and windy with few houses or towns for a good part of the trip. Driving off the road is not a fun experience in a low traffic area. (been there, done that). Today was my first visit.

View into the Gallery from the entrance

It is actually a lovely light room – the darkness is my photo taking. It was nice to see the work of SW Saskatchewan artists I know as well as some SK artists who were new to me.

Some of Elaine Robitaille's amazingly detailed polymer clay jewellery on display

Elaine Robitaille http://tooaquarius.com makes canes, beads, and jewellry from polymer clay. She is a master at her medium. Having taken a bead making class from her this summer, I am even more impressed at the intricate detail she is able to obtain in her work.

More of Elaine's work - earrings

I spent a lovely hour or so at the Gallery, absorbing the work, visiting with Laureen, and just being happy to have gone on a road trip on a clear travelling day. Unfortunately, due to recent snowfall, I didn’t dare go into Grasslands Park to see if any of my beloved Prairie Dogs (not gophers) were out. They are probably all hibernating now for the winter.

Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival Day 1

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my booth - ready for sales!

This is the 37th year for the Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival in Battleford, SK. It’s my first show as a Juried Marketing Member of the Saskatchewan Craft Council (SCC). I’ve been more than a little nervous about selling here because of that but very glad I’ve reached this level in my art/career.

The local paper sends out an insert about the sale the week before – this year I was mentioned as a new artist (using copy from my SCC press release). I actually had one person come and say they’d read about me in the paper. The newspaper person brought us a copy of it and asked me to send pics/story next year if I’m coming again and she might feature it. How can you not want to do that!! The doors opened to the public at 1pm sharp – there was line up of folks waiting to get in!

what customers see when coming in from the entrance doorright side of booth (looking in)

back of the booth

right side of booth

I was quite pleased with how my booth arrangement worked out. I asked for comments/ideas from some of the other sellers and they were were very helpful. I am really enjoying this sale. Everyone is so friendly and helpful to each other. We are all juried marketing members, most are professional artists and have been making their living doing this for years.

My first sale happened in about the first 15-20 minutes – one of my rayon sarongs and a hat dyed the same color. I was pleased to have such a nice sale first thing. It was nice to talk to appreciative folks about my work and the different processes and fibres used in creating it.

One customer decided she needed a cotton sarong for a visit to one of her children who lives on a tropical island (lucky her!!). She showed me some alternate ways (to me) on how to tie a sarong and volunteered to model it when her friends came by a bit later to see what she bought. She also gave me permission to show her in it on my blog (Thanks Ivy!!).

Ivy modelling one way to tie a sarong

Ivy showing another way to wear her sarong

Ivy purchased one of my cotton gauze sarongs.

It seemed like a long day (and was) due to my lack of sleep and forgetting to eat before the sale started. One of the other vendors came over and volunteered to sit in my booth during a slow time so I could go get something to eat. I had brought my food but ended up going and trying a hamburger from the outdoor concession booth then sat in the “marketers lounge” with some other sellers and ate it. A nice little break!

There was supposed to be a parade at 8pm (co-incidence re: our show time?) but due to a severe Tstorm starting just before parade time – it was cancelled or postponed (not sure which). I never did find out what the parade was for but still plan to ask about it. The evening was slow so we got a chance to chat with other crafters.

I was happy about the sales I made (even though I had anticipated more). Some of us ended up waiting a bit before leaving due to the torrential downpour and high winds outside. When I did get back to my motel, I ended up getting fairly wet bringing things into the room on more than one trip.

I’m looking forward to a busy Saturday at the sale. Sunday is apparently “you get what sales you get” day according to one marketer.

ParkArt in Moose Jaw

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I participated in this year’s Park Art show in Moose Jaw. It’s an outdoor craft show in Crescent Park in the heart of downtown Moose Jaw. This is also my first kick as a vendor at a show (other than my Open Studio last November) since my Farmers Market Days in Wolfville, NS. Here are some pics of my new booth tent finally set up with the items on sale.

Booth Tent set up for ParkArt show

I practiced setting up the booth earlier in the week so I would know how it goes up and comes down before going to the sale.

Customers browsing in booth

I was surprised how many folks could actually fit in the tent looking at things! I like my new ikea wardrobes – they make great display shelves – come down and fit in a narrow zippered bag for transport. The racks are also Ikea and come apart easily for transport.

Items I hand-dyed last weekend on display

These are some of the almost 150 items I hand-dyed last weekend. There are 4 types of sarongs, some handwoven cotton shawls, bamboo socks (now those are very nice and soft), hats and hobo bags. I did dye some items together in the same bin for folks who like to have a hat or bag to coordinate with a sarong or other item.

Hand-dyed scarves on display

I put the smaller (8″x54″) scarves into the Ikea holders (circles) for display. there are an assortment of silk, handwoven rayon and handwoven cotton scarves on the rack. I probably had 75-100 scarves on display. I’ve ordered clear boxes to package the scarves in to make them easier to pack/transport and display but they hadn’t arrived before I left for this show. My kinetic sculpture – Wind Dancers is attached to the corner pole and attracted a lot of attention. I think everyone that came near it “petted” it at some point.

Photo items on display in booth

I put an assortment of my notecards, magnets and framed photos on display. Folks liked being able to mix and match when buying the specials. Since the individual notecards and magnets are the same price, they can be combined in any assortment to take advantage of the show special pricing.

This show was a good learning experience/trial run for the next show – the Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival in Battleford, SK July 16,17,18, 2010. More info about the show and participating SCC artists available at http://bit.ly/dzmpSW.

What I learned was that I will be heading to Battleford to make sure the booth is all set up well before the show opens. And that I need to spend time making sure everything is ready and the car packed the day BEFORE I want to go for best results! It was also a good trial for an outdoor sale since I will be vending at the Regina Folks Festival, Regina SK Aug 6-8,2010. I also learned to make sure I take my snacks and food into the booth and not leave them in the car! Sitting in a hot car all day will melt a bag of Bridge Mixture into one big lump!

For the last hour of the drive home from Moose Jaw – I encountered thunder and some rain – I had to stop in Herbert (about 20 min or so from home for a rest due to tiredness) and saw these:

Left side of rainbow

Right side of rainbow

The right side of the rainbow had a second rainbow forming – I waited for a few minutes to see if I could take a picture of more of the second rainbow but it didn’t get much taller so I left.