Thanksgiving passes, and Halloween cometh.

Since I'm Canadian, Thanksgiving was last weekend. That means I have very little time to make our Halloween costumes. It also means that the frost has started to appear in the mornings.*sigh* The girls are both being Smurfette, and I think I've decided on bright blue sweatsuits to go under their white dresses. It can be really cold on Halloween here, and they need to be able to go outside. I want to be City Hunter. Only, you know, I'm not a guy. So, a female ninja? City Ninja? In military coat and boots, maybe? Truth be told, I just like the black flu mask. Sad, but true. (Who thinks I could use it as an excuse to get new boots!?!?)

Thanksgiving in Saskatchewan. Yes, that is the moon.

We had a lot of fun at the farm for Thanksgiving. Got to see the twins, and my bigger niece too. My little daughter spent the whole time whispering everything in my ear so quiet, it was more like breathing heavy. She gets soooo shy. The big one changed diapers all weekend. Since it was also Hangeul Day, we got our names. Amaryce = 연미 (yon-mee), Gwendolynn = 수경 (soo-kyong), and Ellora = 예은 (yay-eun). They seem about perfect to me. I love them!

I have a head and hands in need of a body. Polymer clay, not real! (You're morbid!) I'm thinking wizened, feathered, and maybe he eats ants.

His eyes aren't really blue like this. They are actually an iridescent black. Doesn't he look like a friendly bug eater? Like a happy old bird. Now I just need to find the time to make him a body. I've never done a whole body before, so it should be interesting!

Don't you just love him?

Anyone ever done a wrapped wire body before? Any tips?

Hangeul Day Project

Hangeul is the name of the writing in Korea. October 9th is Hangeul Day. The website we are using to learn Korean from is called Talk To Me In Korean. The teachers from the site are putting on a display of Hangeul written by their students this year, and we thought it would be fun to submit entries. Since I do almost nothing without fibre in it, I thought it might be fun to try out a new batik technique I saw recently. Turns out that as long as your dye uses cold water, you can actually use white glue as your resist! So, first I picked what to write.

 My first attempt. Sloppy, and way too big.

I decided to write "I Love South Korea". Well, sort of. As close as I can tell, since I don't speak Korean well yet. It took hours to get the words looking like I wanted, and then I finally got to the shirt.

 

The glue is applied.

I placed my stencil, written in washable black marker, under my shirt, and added a layer of glue in the lines. This took longer than anticipated. A lot longer. Turns out I can only manage this with a toothpick. I don't know if it was because I was using old glue, or maybe the brand is just thick, but it really didn't run well. Then, I left it to dry. ALL DAY!! Actually, once I put a fan on it, it went a lot faster, but still.

The inside after drying.

After is was no longer tacky, I turned it inside out and removed the excess paper. Now, the instructions implied that all of the paper should be glued on. This was my first sign of trouble.

First of the dye.

I got out the easy tie-dye kit I had hiding in my stash, and got out the red. I started by squirting it on, but it didn't look like I had enough, so I put it in a spray bottle, and that seemed to work better. This shot is after the front top half was covered. I then flipped it, and did the back. Once the bottle was empty, I filled it with water again, and did the bottom half, front and back. Then, following the directions, I sealed with plastic.

Sealed with wrap. Doom imminent.

I left this for about 2 hours, and then I couldn't resist peeking. The glue was tacky again! I uncovered it, and paced around, thinking I'd screwed up. I spent hours coming up with fun, but labour-intensive ways to save it if the words weren't visible, and then finally went to bed.

I soaked the shirt for 10 minutes in cold water, and then spread it out for inspection. The words look a little lighter, and the washable marker did bleed a little, but only the last step will tell.

I tossed it in a hot water wash, as instructed. Two, actually. And then I dried it on hot in the dryer. And...voila!!

My submission.

The shirt isn't red, that's for sure, but I still like it. I definitely needed another coat of glue beforehand, and another shot of dye in the end, but it still worked ok! The writing on my neck is the hangeul for Hangeul Day. Doing that in the mirror is harder than it sounds!! 

This is Gwen's submission.

So, I sent off both pictures. However, I only got a response from Gwen's. I had fun making it, and I guess I'm okay if it doesn't get included, since it doesn't really look like writing, but still, I'm definitely pouting right now!! I would happily do one on paper, if I get response in time, but since it's the middle of the night there, and it's due tomorrow, I might be out of luck. Oh well. OH!! We requested Korean names, so we might get to see those on Oct. 9th, too. The girls are excited. I'm doing another shirt, long sleeved, with more writing, more glue, and in red and blue next. Watch for it, and let me know if you've ever tried batik!!