I’ve amassed a bunch of these napkins so Saturday I dyed some. I have a good collection of regular thrift cloth napkins since we use them every day, but I didn’t have enough of the same kind for a small get together we are having next month with some ole friends. I thought it would be nice for all of the napkins to match, but not necessary be the same color. And I didn’t want to leave them white, so I did some low immersion dyeing.

Napkins waiting for wash out

I had ice dyed these two vintage napkins earlier. They are in my exhibit at the library.

Ice dyed vintage napkins

They took the color wonderfully and you can see the design but it’s really in the background. I thought the napkins I dyed Saturday were from the same bunch, but they weren’t.

What a surprised when I rinsed them out.

Newly dyed vintage napkins

I had no idea the pattern would resist dyeing! I had planned to marble over them, but I think they are too pretty to mess with. I was playing it safe with the above dye colors. So for the last two napkins I thought I’d throw caution to the wind and mix some of the colors and add two colors together. And I love these!

I’ve found lately that when I really try to control my dyeing (or any artistic endeavor), I’m not as happy with it. Just like these two, I just started mixing colors and then poured them on top of the napkins. I love the surprise.

That said, I’m not disappointed with the solid color napkins, but they just reminds me of what I get when I play safe. Pretty, but not really me.

Now to dye the tablecloth. Not sure what color it will be. Any ideas? And do you find in your art that you play safe?

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The blueberries are really doing great this year. Can’t wait until they ripen.

Blueberries

I’ve been in the process of moving some of my favorite irises to smaller beds where it will be easier to take care of and also for us to enjoy.

Irises in one of the front beds

This iris I bought many years ago – Cherub Smile.

Cherub Smile

I don’t remember the name of this one and I can’t find the label!

These peonies came with the house and they are especially lovely this year.

The neglected raspberries are blooming. They are not really in a good place so we’ve just left them alone. Guess they don’t care what we think!

Neglected raspberries

We are always blessed with blackberries and they are blooming like crazy.

Blooming blackberries

The new peaches are getting bigger!

Peaches

One of the areas I’m real proud of is our shade garden. Since we lost that last large elm, the shady area in the slope garden is now sunny so I’m moving some of those hostas to this area.

Shade area

We specifically picked these hostas for this area including this huge one – Sum and Substance – after seeing it in another garden on the SWIMGA garden walk. The leaves are so big.

Sum and Substance hosta

But in addition to the fruit and perennials, here are a couple pics of our gardening.

Lettuce cold frame

And the main garden which Dave’s got half planted. If you want to know anything about the food he grows for us, check out his blog Here.

Main garden

I spent an hour or so dyeing yesterday afternoon. Here is a sneak preview of a new project.

Thanks for taking the tour. Hope you are enjoying your Sunday.

The post Another Sunday Stroll appeared first on Bloom, Bake & Create.

My completed April Calender journal

I found I really enjoyed the larger writing area, so I made a big change for my May journal.

First of all, I bought these cute napkins that remind me of Italy. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with napkins. This was going to be fun!

Italy napkins

I painted the background with bright yellow and glued the torn napkin on the pages. Instead of making a calendar spread,  I divided the pages into two weeks.

The first two weeks in May journal spread

Well, it looks like I am a dropout of the Art Journaling Calendar Challenge 2013! Those small squares and even the fold outs just can’t contain my words.

In addition to writing, I’m adding a little doodling and drawing. I think I’ll be able to continue this practice throughout the year. It’s funny. When I started this I wasn’t sure I’d be able to even write enough to fill those tiny spaces. It’s been fun and I really enjoy documenting my days.

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