Friday, March 4, 2016






FEBRUARY

a teabag a day 








what's this?  cans of sample acrylic house paint from my local 

ace hardware store.  my friend told me about them 14.5 ounces for 

the sale price of $1.99!  to my surprise, the paints were individually

hand mixed!  look at the colors!   apparently the stores have regular sales so 

that means return visits for me.







these are a gift of beautiful senellier pigment powders

that i just learned how to mix and make my own 

watercolors!  oh my gosh, what a gift for a girl like me!







to add to the new color, pigment theme, i boiled

red onion skins, yellow onion skins, avocado skins, 

and avocado pits as inspired by an exercise in 

misty mawn's make do art online workshop.







she recommended labeling the bottles right away.  

i can see why now that i made them~~  the batches 

look so similar and it would be impossible to keep them

sorted without a label.






here are the samples i took at varying time periods. 






samples of avocado pit dyes.  print paper on the right

absorbed the most  dye.  i have boiled batches of papers 

with flower petals  and onion skins.  they make lovely 

stationary and journals.

have any of you tried making and using natural dyes?  i would love

to hear your experience and get ideas on how you like to use

the dyes.  



it's friday and i am looking forward to a creative 
weekend.  on fridays as always, i post with a lovely
creative group hosted by eva and kristen, paint party friday.
peek in on the  artists there if you get a chance... and 



Have a lovely

W E E K E N ED


X O X O X O

  

14 comments:

  1. Lovely work, and have fun with those pigments. Happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

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  2. lots of yummy colors and options for colors and tints here! those powdered paints look wonderful. The only natural dyes i have tried are with tea and coffee.

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    Replies
    1. An artist friend this week said I wish I had more time to create all the ideas I have in my head.... I know what she means :)
      Irene

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  3. Wonderful post this weeke Irene! Love your teabag portraits! Great!

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  4. I always learn so much when i visit here Irene. :) Those colors are so gorgeous and those teabag portraits! Fabulous. Acrylic paint in small cans for $1.99. Wow. Can't go wrong there. :) Have a great weekend! xx

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  5. Irene what an interesting post...love the handmade dyes...Cupcake has been into a dyeing phase lately with commercial dye though... Love all the tea bags in that collage...gorgeous!! I know people who buy premixed paint at a reduced price as they are rejects for one reason or another. They use them for furniture projects and such... The samples are a great idea...and a little more pricey here in Canada...please share what you create with the pigment paint...so interesting!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  6. what an amazing week of creative endeavours... this is fabulous. those papers that you dyed look amazing... can't wait to see you create on them...xx

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  7. Ohhh I got to Home Depot and buy up their paint that people brought back. I get 8OZ jars for .35 cents. I get gallons for a few bucks. I love that. Your photos of making natural die brings back memories of my mom's kitchen. She made her own colors for years. It is so much fun and the colors can be amazing. Like yours. So lucky to get a gift of pigments. Last, all of your faces are amazing. Have a very nice Sunday.

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  8. We used to use onion skins to dye Easter eggs (real eggs boiled with the skins tied on with wool).
    I can't be sure but some of the pigments look as if they are cadmium colours - do be careful when you handle them. Beautiful bottles to look at though.

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  9. Your wonderful idea of painting on teabags is so inspiring. Each and every painting is exquisitely lovely. Happy PPF!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Beth. I cannot take credit for the idea, though. I saw them painted online and thought it would be fun to try. Once I did, I was hooked!
      ~~ Irene

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  10. That is a great idea!! I am really glad to know all this. I just needed some colorful ideas for my daughter’s birthday party as planning for a surprise party on her 5th birthday at local birthday party venues. Hopefully, will be able to plan things to perfection.

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