Super Awesome

Boiling out the bluebird shirt:


The results of the previously mentioned super awesome dye bath:

Batik Mania!!

Well you can see I've been busy...I wanted to post these here first to see if any of my blog readers wanted to buy these before I post on Etsy. They are $15 unless otherwise noted. There are some seconds at the end for less. Shipping would be $2 for one, and I will work out what it would be for more.


Orange peace baby, Gerber 12 month t-shirt


Orange Buddha baby, Gerber 18 month t-shirt


Sweet Cupcake, Circo 9-12 month onesie

Veggie baby, Gerber 18 month t-shirt SOLD

Earth baby, Circo 0-3 month onesie SOLD


Dahlia baby, Gerber 24 month onesie

Space baby, Gerber 18 month t-shirt

Earth toddler, miniwear 3T onesie SOLD


Bird baby, Gerber 12 month t-shirt


Steam boat baby, Circo 9-12 month onesie


Hawaiian baby, Circo 9-12 month onesie

Rainbow baby, Circo 9-12 month onesie SOLD

Seconds:
Strawberry baby, Circo 9-12 month onesie, $7



Giraffe baby, Gerber 24 month onesie, $7, stain looks less obvious in person SOLD

Rocket baby, Gerber 12 month t-shirt, $4

Carrots and a Public Service Announcement

I made carrot cake cupcakes. Not the best idea, when I make batches of things, I have no willpower at all. If I had to guess, I bet I've eaten 11 cupcakes in the last three days. They are so tasty though, and I used Aaron's Cuisinart and KitchenAid to make them. I love them, they make cooking fun again!


Now for a public service announcement. No matter how cluttered your counters get, the stovetop really should not be used as a flat storage surface. This is what happens when I try to boil out wax, cook dinner and turn on the wrong burner. Whoopsy-do.


This is what I was boiling:


Awesome purple carrot long-sleeved onesie!

I <3 Wisconsin

I made this pair of I love Wisconsin onesies for Emily in Illinois, who found me via Amber's blog Life In Color. I hope you enjoy them Emily :)

Anna's Jelly Shirt

Aaron and I went to this ghetto store in Springfield that sometimes has good deals on things like women's 100% cotton shirts. Which are hard to come by for under $10. Well I was stoked when I found these pink cotton shirts for $2. I decided to make Aaron's sister a jellyfish shirt at the last minute before Christmas. I was so excited at how easy, yet interesting the design was and how little time it took me. That is until I realized the wax was not releasing from the fabric. Some of it was stuck in the fibers and would not boil out. I've had this happen...on small things. And all I had to do was pretreat with liquid soap. But this had so many lines and dots and soap wasn't doing the trick. So I gave Anna her shirt at Christmas, but told her she couldn't actually keep it yet. I must have boiled this shirt 8 or 10 times and I was getting frustrated. Aaron's dad suggested I take it to a dry cleaner. Duh. There are three ways to get the wax out. This was the only method I had never tried. I know sometimes dry cleaners won't take batiks, but I didn't say anything when I dropped it off and I didn't feel bad because there was hardly any wax left in it, just enough to grease spot in a dryer. So I dropped it off a few days ago and picked it up today, it turned out wonderful, it's so soft.
I swear this fabric although labeled cotton, is not. It didn't feel right when it got wet and I've never had the wax adhere like that. Anyway, after all that, I think it turned out awesome.






Side View

In school related happenings, I have been kicking ass at radiography. My teacher is very strict and if you don't get an 85% or higher on your films, none of them count. So far I haven't had to throw any patients out and no retakes today! I hope the trend continues!
(I think part of my secret has been having male patients, bigger mouths make life easier!)

Aaron's Birthday

I made Aaron a batik back in May and can't believe I actually kept it a secret from him! His birthday was in August, but I wanted to give him this in person. He really loves it, and I'm glad I kept it as a surprise.

Curtains

I decided to make curtains for my bedroom, I began batiking today...it took a lot longer than I thought it would. About 3 hours for one curtain. I'm making 4. I decided to try and do one a day. What do you think for the main background color, avocado green or dark brown? The design will stay yellow.

My Fourth of July

I made this awesome heart in Oregon shirt today...Now that I know how to set the dye, I can boil the wax out! It's definitely not perfect, Oregon is a bit square, but I'm excited that I turned a white shirt into this on my first try!


The sheep were shorn today, they needed it! How frustrating to have wool in your eyes and not have any hands. The guy let me take pictures of the process, more here. It is definitely is an art form.


Pinned sheep


The wool was so much greasier than I thought it would be, I just touched some of the wool barely and my fingers were greasy. You can see how oily his arms are. I love how clean and pure the under wool looks.


All trimmed up


Flowers in the backyard


California poppies




Succulent bloom


These pictures are from my favorite hike near my house. There is an old growth stand just a 7 minute drive from my house. There is a pond there, from some sort of quarrying, and this is the reflection of the bluffs on the pond.


This pond is swarming with Taricha granulosa



Crazy horse fly I saw on the way back to the car. I thought about taking my macro lens, but decided against it. I'm glad I got a few clear pictures of it without. It was weird, and kept climbing slowly onto my lens.


The view on the drive home.


The hill near my house that I walk up frequently


The sky was so pretty tonight

I opted out of fireworks tonight, I didn't feel like dealing with the crowds. It was still a nice day.