Hand Dying Silk Ribbon with Tea

Okay, so if you know me, you know I love tea and everything to do with tea. 

When I drink my morning tea I use a teapot and a pretty little teacup and saucer along with a creamer. 

When I am in a big rush and need to take my tea with me in the morning I put it in a pretty ceramic travel mug but it’s just not the same.

There are quite a few artists that use recycled teabags in their art.  I was planning on dying some silk ribbon to take with me to AFICC and the Quinlan conference this spring.  So I thought why not use tea?

I took out four canning jars and placed four teabags in each.  I then poured boiling water into each jar and placed the ribbons in the jars to sit for 24 hours.

I used Celestial Seasonings Chamomile tea, Bigelow Red Raspberry tea, Bigelow Jasmine Green tea, and Twinnings Lapsang Souchong tea.

I used only one type of tea in each jar to see what color they would make.  The hardest part of the process was waiting for the ribbon to soak and dry before seeing how they came out.

Of course I had to make some pretty cards to wrap the ribbon around!

This is the ribbon dyed with the Chamomile tea.

This is the ribbon dyed with the Red Raspberry tea.

This is the ribbon dyed with the Jasmine Green tea.

And this is the ribbon dyed with the Lapsang Souchong tea.

I wonder what colors avocados and red cabbage will make?

Until next time…….

Warm hugs,

Marla

Getting Ready for Teaching at AFICC

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

I apologize for not posting in such a long time.  I have been busy working on getting ready to teach a brand new class at AFICC in Columbus Ohio this April.  I will be teaching a three day class on how to make my Moulin Rouge Dancers.

 

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

I had so much fun creating them I thought I would share all of the techniques I used to create them.

 

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

In the class I will be teaching how to use a wire armature to create a lively pose.

 

Creating an Armature for a Cloth doll by Marla L. Niederer

I will also be sharing a variety of advanced and unique needle sculpting techniques.

 

Unique Needle Sculpting Techniques by Marla L. Niederer

Creating two different skin tones with watercolors and how to use watercolor pencils and artist pens to add facial details is also covered in the class.

 

Using Watercolors for skin tones by Marla L. Niederer

Last but not least, needle felting a hairdo and costuming will also be shared.  If we run out of time for any part of the costuming, a step by step tutorial is included in the class kit.

 

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

I’m really looking forward to teaching at AFICC.  I taught the Goddess there two years ago and it was so much fun.

Katherine and I

Cyndy Sieving and her staff really work hard to run a very well organized and exceptionally fun filled Figurative Art conference.  If you are interested in joining me in the fun you can find out more information on the Artistic Figures in Cloth & Clay Conference in Columbus Ohio April 25^th – 28, 2019activities by clicking on the following link.

http://cyndysdolls.com/

Hope to see you there!

 

La Fae Verte and her dragonfly wings by Marla L. Niederer

I am also scheduled to teach a class on how to make dragonfly wings for dolls and bears at the Philadelphia Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention May 2^nd -4^th

http://www.quinlanmuseum.com/convention/

 

Bridgette by  Marla L. Niederer

And if you prefer to take your classes in the comfort of your home, I also have several art doll making instant downloadable PDF tutorials for sale in my shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/OrsinisAngels

Until next time………

Warm hugs,

Marla

If you wish to read about the back story of the Moulin Rouge Dancers you can see it here
https://orsinisangels.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-story-of-moulin-rouge-dancers-and.html