LOVE: a Challenge!

Ahh, February, the month of Amore!

"There are as many ways of loving as there are people in the world." 

~Mary Calderone

(more about this card at the end of this post)

Throughout the world, many symbols are used to express love.  Here, I concern myself with one, the most recognizable, the heart.

The ♥ symbol has long been used to express the core of a human--physically or emotionally, spiritually, and morally.  Even farther back in time, the ♥ was used to express the intellectual core of a person, the seat of the human mind.  Today, in our culture, we associate the ♥ with love.  

So without further ado, I introduce you to my favorite etsy team's February Challenge:

"In February we celebrate Valentine's Day.  My challenge to you: Create a love-themed item.  You can write a creative love letter, make a valentine, make a love-themed home decor item, etc.  Be Creative and Have Fun!"

This Challenge was presented by Edi of Memories for Life in honor of the Month of Love

I was inspired to get my fabric dyes out and create some heart shapes on clothing.

THIS

and THIS

 

became THIS

became THIS

and

THIS

I recently purchased cotton wash cloths and had already tie dyed some.  I wanted to create painted ones, too.  So I started the process of dyeing 4 cloths:

1.  tie 3 circles on each of 2 cloths

2.  soak all 4 in solution; wring out

3.  dye the circles and background color

4.  cure for 24 hours

5.  untie and wash

6.  soak all 4 in solution; wring out

7.  let dry

8.  paint

9.  let cure for 24 hours

10. wash and dry

That is the process in brief!

To paint, I laid out my towels (lovely, aren't they?!) and set up my supplies.

I mixed powdered dye with thickener and water and began to paint!  (You can faintly make out the 3 circles--soon to be flowers--in the photo above.)

the flowers start to take shape

and more hearts

hearts

 At this point the cloths are still thick with the dye paint.  After curing and washing, they look like this:

All the above can be found in my etsy shop, Splendid Little Stars. 
(In answer to a question in the comments below:  No, my dyed items do NOT bleed!  I use professional dye and have perfected my processes over a number of years!) 

To see what other teammates have created for this challenge, check out our team BLOG at the end of February.

LINKS: 

  Timeline: Heart in History, PBS

 Symbols.com  

Blogging Business Artisans monthly Challenges

Blogging Business Artisans February Challenge
 

more about the team and monthly challenges:

A new etsy team--Blogging Business Artisans--was launched last October. This team was formed to support and help its members grow artistically and professionally.  It's been a great joy to be a member of this team!

The idea was conceived of holding monthly challenges to help us grow and stretch our imaginations.  Team members must complete 6 of the 12 challenges within a year.
The first challenge, "New Techniques," was presented by Deb of storybeader  See my entry "New Mittens, Old Sweater!  a Challenge!" HERE. 

I'm linking up with my favorite teacher, Ms Jenny Matlock!  See others' completed homework assignments HERE. Come join in!  This week our letter is "L."

more about the card:

I put this card together at my friend Ginny Lee's house last night.  She made the wonderful heart with the flower.  The glittery red felt heart has a front and back hand stitched together.  The white heart is hand stitched to the red heart.  The flower (She made it!) and pearl are glued on.  The heart along with its attached paper clip is a bookmark that can be removed!  A lot of work and love went into this!  Thanks, Ginny Lee!

photos by me © 2012 all rights reserved