Lately Iʼve become obsessed with veins, the jagged, compressed lines that give marbling its resemblance to the stone for which it is named. This month I experimented with over marbling repeatedly - three, four, even five times - and focusing solely on creating veins, rather than any other aspect of the marbling pattern. Instead of white cotton I used colors, and really enjoyed the effects achieved. It was fascinating! I learned a great deal, and look forward to making many more prints with this focus.

For several years I've had to put marbling aside due to other demands on my time. I've missed it, and have looked forward to returning to it.

Now I've dipped my toe back into the marbling tray, fumbling and bumbling and trying to recall things I used to know so well. It's been comical, and also rather frustrating, to be reminded that any skill requires practice, and five years away from it means I have some catching up to do.

To start with, I created a bunch of balsam fir sachets for the holiday season, and experimented with decoupaging some marbled cotton onto wood slices. It felt great to get back into it!

This week I posted the first holiday gift boxes in my store. Each box includes a hand marbled 100% silk satin scarf (11" x58"), a color quote from a renowned artist, a full color insert showing 12 ways to wear a scarf, a blank gift enclosure card with envelope, and fabric care instructions. I'm pleased with the way the simple Kraft paper packaging highlights the colors in each scarf. 

These ready-to-go gift boxes simplify your holiday shopping - they are all set to pop into a gift bag and put in the mail or under the tree! Find them in my store. Have a particular color in mind? Get in touch - I may be able to accommodate you.

Included in each gift pack:

So fun to be included as a "Featured Artist" on Dharma Trading Co.'s website! I always enjoy reading about what other crafters are doing, and it's nice to be able to share what I'm doing as well.

Dharma is the source of many of my marbling materials. They are a fiber arts supply store extraordinaire, with a tremendous inventory and some of the best prices around. I highly recommend them to anyone doing textile arts of any sort.

The summer has flown, as always, and autumn has begun. That means that show season is gearing up, and I'm switching into massive marbling mode.

My mind is full of colors and patterns that I will try to transfer to silk and bring to shows in the next few months. The weather is beautiful, the skies are blue, and the leaves are gradually turning brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. This seasonal blaze of color always makes me want to marble everything in ochre, crimson, mango, buttermilk and mocha. 

This is a scarf I made last year, inspired by the foliage. 

You know I love a good upcycle, and I build my own displays from repurposed materials. I've been using a rack I made with panels from two different baby cribs and a pair of men's pants racks. This is how it looked:

But, as with most display fixtures, it wasn't until I'd used it for a while that its shortcomings became apparent, including the fact that it was a bit heavy to manage easily, extremely cumbersome to set up, crowded and busy looking, and not sufficiently durable for the craft show circuit. Worst of all, it did not make it easy for customers to look at my scarves. 

So I set to work remaking it. Now my table display is just two crib panels, to which I've added Shaker pegs. I think the scarves show better, and it's easier for customers to reach them. And it's much easier to set up, too - always a bonus! I really like the way it looks:

And I also turned the end panels of the crib, which have a nice curved design, into a standing floor rack:

I'm really pleased with the new racks. You can visit me and my upcycled displays at a number of shows through the holiday season - be sure to check my show calendar!

The past two weekends I've had the pleasure of participating in two art & craft shows in Greenwich Village (NYC). The crowds were big and friendly, my vendor neighbors were nice, and I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with the many delightful people who stopped by my table. 

The boost I get from the people I meet at shows really keeps me going through the inevitable marbling misfires, like color combinations that looked great in my mind's eye but resembled dog food when they hit the fabric; or losing an entire batch of scarves because for unknown reasons the color just didn't adhere to the cloth.

On another note . . . Until now I have been marbling my scarves on both sides to avoid a blank back. It's tremendously time consuming, and I'm not always pleased with the results, so  I decided to try hand dyeing the fabric first, then marbling over it. Tonight I dyed my first batch, a gorgeous turquoise blue. Can't wait to try marbling over it, and see what results! (Note to self: check rubber gloves for holes before starting - gives a whole new meaning to "hand dyed"!)

At long last, it is really Spring here in the Northeast. Today was just gorgeous: brilliant sunshine, clear blue skies and warm temps in the mid-70s - fantastic! I took a walk and photographed the beautiful colors of everything in blossom.

Lately I've drawn marbling inspiration from the soft colors of this wonderful season. Oh, the the bright green of new buds and young leaves! The warm yellow of forsythia, daffodils and dandelions! The soft pink of magnolia and tulip trees . . . the fresh white of pear and apple blossoms . . . and the piquant surprise of an occasional red amid the softer colors. Marvelous!

Here are some of my images of Spring in Bloom, and the scarves the season inspired.