OK, I usually am pretty family oriented on the weekends, but I have been on a "me" jag the last week. Every few years I feel a little stagnant and feel the need to get out and stretch my brain a little bit. Meditation has been helping, but I felt the urge to learn a new skill.
So, knowing that my husband would be around to pick up the slack and that this particular weekend was going to be light on "have to's" for the family and big on "what shall we do's?", I decided to sign up for a class that I have been wanting to take for ages. Photo emulsion.
It was so COOL! The class was from 9-1, just enough time to feel refreshed and come home with some good ideas. The process itself is quite simple, though it does require some specialized equipment. Not cheap specialized equipment. The sort of equipment where I ask myself, "Theresa, do you REALLY need it? How often will you use it once the excitement of 'new' wears off and you hear the your fiber boxes and bags calling again?"
Confession: I have been known in the past to buy various and sundry bits that I feel will be good additions to my "stuff" piles. Some of them have worked out great, others not so much. For instance, the rug hooking frame I asked for for Christmas a few years ago has only been used three times. I have learned that I sort of prefer to hook on my lap, Nantucket style. It is great for punching, though, so I know I will drag it out eventually when I have to crank something out uber-fast.
An example of a FABU investment was my chocolate temperer. Don't get the wrong idea- I don't make chocolate on a daily basis. Not even a monthly basis. But when I do put the effort in to make handmade chocolates, they are gorgeous, tasty (because I can use excellent chocolate without worrying about goofing it up by improper tempering) and are fulfilling to produce. Chocolate work is some of my favorite artwork, truth be told. It is wicked evil on the teeth and rear, though. Proceed with caution!
So, the question remains; do I or don't I? It IS my birthday month, so I am sure to have enough money without impacting our savings. But will I use it enough to justify the expense?
Thus far, all I know how to do is make images that can be transferred to tile, glass, or paper. The machine can also make a different kind of image transfer that is more like a watercolor. It can be used to manipulate images as well.
Decisions, decisions.
Tonight I used some of the scrap images from the class to make a new tile, two fridge magnets, and a pendant. The ones done on glass remind me of daguerreotypes. I need to throw a layer of glaze on and see what the durability is like. If good, then I could use the machine to make all kinds of jewelry components. (Mmmmmmm. I may be talking myself into it.)
I could make my daughter's teacher a pendant with the school logo on it. I could make my mom a bracelet with the grandchildren's images on it. But would I?
I am fickle, dear readers. I have to mix it up or I become bored. I always needlefelt concurrently to whatever else comes up, but I can feel my synapses starting to pop. Tickle-y.
We'll see what my birthday brings. I still have 11 days. Perhaps by then, this will all seem like a distant memory and I will wonder what I was so excited about in the first place.
Hope everyone is well!
Happy crafting to all!
On this page are two of the tiles I made using vintage images. This last one is an image transferred to watercolor paper. Doesn't it just cry out for watercolor pencils? It is saying, "Please, make me even MORE charming!"
Until next time!
Theresa
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