Oh, boy, the Grands are here!

There are few things in the entire world that make me happier than when I see our grandkids. I love my husband, our kids, their husband/wife respectively, but there is just something that warms my old mama heart when those babies hug me! They are ‘helping’ me water my geraniums every morning, and keeping an eye out for the wild turkeys that wander into our backyard. When they bring leaves or flowers in, they don’t know it yet, but they are helping me get ready for a Wen Redmond Workshop I’m taking in August. We love found objects, and with our gardens, we get lots and lots of “found treasures” as they call them.

For the last couple of years, I’ve done lots of eco-friendly dyeing with different fabrics, and with different things we’ve found either here or near-by… black walnuts, Michigan blueberries, Oak and Maple leaves, etc. I have no idea how the workshop will go, as I’m not a hugely savvy tech person, but always willing to learn. Willing to learn also means failing, but I’m good with that too. Every workshop I’ve ever taken I’ve walked away with tools in my creative toolbox, and sometimes that’s the greatest achievement.

Here are a couple of my ice dyed and eco-dyed fabrics using all nature & found material: blue/brown is ice dyed and yellow/brown highlights is natural materials. I credit The Modern Natural Dyer: A Comprehensive Guide to Dyeing Silk, Wool, Linen, and Cotton at Home by Kristine Vejar for encouraging her readers to just start looking around to see what they could use for dye.

Beth