moundbound

when i first started out these Spaceboy letters they were in a way, somewhere my flooding heart can just bleed a little. i mean that that in a sap and love sense, my bum ticker has only so much room in this body till it gets a little antsy.
over the years, Spaceboy has grown into being such a part of me that when i look up at that superb moon, my heart's brain-stuff starts to tell me another story of when he and i were together just about everytime.

in the last few years there have been several people that has told me that the moon or wolves reminds them of me, some of them let me know of wolf doco's on netflix or moon and space activity.
i can't deny how much this tickles me, having such a tight heartstring to anything to do with the  moon/space or relating to wolves.
i've decided to run with this and having an itch to make some neato handbags, i was on the hunt for inspiration!

i had my first date with my new public library card and just before leaving, i came across this pretty fantastic visual reference book about space, i completely "clutched my pearls" when i first opened it.
this was exactly what i needed to get on these intergalactic handbags.
i needed to know the colors of the different gases that make up so much of what we don't see from down here, like the gorgeous clouds in a star cluster or the breathtaking trails left behind by supernovas.
since i can remember i thought that space and the images that we got from satellites were so mesmerizing.

in my somewhat frequent thrift "window shopping" i came across a decent amount of lightweight black canvas and a heavier weight light blue canvas, i thought both would be perfect to use as handbags but also for playing around with bleach painting.
i've always been tickled by the idea of bleach painting but the idea of using such a harsh chemical on the things i like to make always kind of pushed me the other way to trying it out... that is until now.
when my brains show me something this great, how can i NOT make it?

i still have to do a burn test to figure out the contents of each but it feels like mostly cotton which is exactly what i like to work with. i tried a little bit of watered down bleach on the blue, that gave me an idea of how to make the different values of the gas clouds but i know i need to experiment and sample a lot more.
the idea is to use the bleach painting to make those gas-like clouds and then go in using dyes (like dylon packs) to paint in the different colors. once the base is all set, then i'll use french knots and hand embroidery for stars...oh and maybe a few patchwork planets.
i'm still in the beginning stages of all of this but it is pretty exciting. being done with school has left me somewhat ADD with projects but i'll be focusing on this project for the next while.
as always, every step taken from having the thought i see in my brains to creating the real thing in my hands is making my bum ticker go all fluttery, yum!

the two things i'm hoping hard for will be that this work out as well as i think they should and to get accepted for the City of Craft december show!

one of the pics from my application: miniature crochet vile necklaces

we don't get word till September 15th of who gets in so please cross your fingers, eyes and hearts for me! i've wanted to do a City of Craft fair for a good solid year now and without schooling taking over my life this year, i'm able to apply. can i get a woop woop?

before i cut out, i must mention the wonderful trading adventures i've gotten myself into with some talented ladies. 

my fellow craftmate and ladyfriend Sarah Dee and i agreed on a trade. partly 'cause i wanted to do a trade with her before she left for home and also 'cause her shoe collection was not the greatest. not so much style as much as just having hand-me-downs or way used and even an entire size larger.
being the helpful strawberry type, i just had to help her out and thought these shoes would be just dandy.
i drew the happy birdy and the bubble pipe on tracing paper to pin to the shoes, surprisingly it was easier than i thought to embroider it all. oh yea and the lyrics are from an adorable Glass Beef song miss Sarah would always (and i mean always) sing around me.

the next trade i'm currently working on i can't show too much of 'cause then it'll ruin the surprise of the trade...which is kind of the goody part about doing trades. i will say that i took something from my sketchbook.

i "met" miss Jen of the Humble Carnival via instagram. she had posted asking if anyone was up for a trade and i couldn't say no. i've done two over border trades and it's always a treat to get in touch with the fellow crafters up in here. (by here i mean earth, imagine an alien craft trade?)
i was still in embroidery-mode after Sarah's shoes so i kept at it for this one but with yarn this time. i'm always surprised how the back can be just as interesting as the front.
i'll post again when i have more progress on these space bags and trades, promise.

internally yours,
sister valentine