Becka's Project Journal

10 Days Old

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:12:00 +0000

Doing his impression of a tree frog.

Stocking Stuffers

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:07:00 +0000

Daisy Cakes Soap is one of my favorite etsy shops. Try her Turkish Mocha, Kumquat, Almond Biscotti or Elements of Bamboo. It all smells heavenly.

Edit: (ARGH! Typos. The link works now)

Nephews

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:57:00 +0000

I have 6 nephews, who are all super cool human beings. My oldest is 14 (is that right? how is that possible!) and the youngest is a week old. Because I have been doing a lot of looking around on etsy lately with the new one due, I thought I would show you some of my favorite gifts for the boys in your lives.

This printof a hugging bear family from zukzuk makes me smile.

Holly at grovecraft makes great cycling hats - something warm and cozy that fits under your bike helmet.

Want to knit something for your nephew? How about a monkey from fuzzymitten?

I have several CircularAccessories shirts. I think this one, called "The Hunt" is great fun!

How about a mountain biker ornament for your tree?

You know I love puppets. These from owlyshadow puppets are awesome.

Maybe not such practical gifts, but what are aunties for anyway?

Fairy Godmother

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:12:00 +0000

Once in a while in my job I get to be a "fairy godmother". Giving a scholarship, making a certificate for an award, even accepting a new class proposal sometimes feels like I am doing a little magic for someone. Yesterday I got to be a part of giving away three $5000 grants to artists. Sometimes Mondays are cool.

New!

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:06:00 +0000

It has been a little quiet around here because I have been busy becoming a new auntie.

This is Erik. He's new.

He is a little early. He decided that nobody had enough excitement for election day. Have much baby knitting to finish.

today

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Spooky

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:34:00 +0000

Costumes and more costumes

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:37:00 +0000

I was not organized enough this year to post my annual costume-a-day but you can see them in the archives! Just click that label down at the bottom of the post that says "costume-a-day" and it will take you to see 24 quick and easy costume ideas that you can throw together in the next week. It's my trick or treat to you!

10 inches

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:10:00 +0000

I feel like I have lost 20 lbs! More than 10 inches cut off today and donated to "Locks of Love". The "before" picture is actually from August - it was the only shot I could find with my hair down, so it was longer than that. I just keep shaking my head to feel how light it is.

Dyes

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:53:00 +0000

I had a comment in a previous post and I thought I would answer it here instead.
"How long does it take you to dye your fabrics? They're so gorgeous."

It depends on what I am dyeing. To do most kinds of silk, I can steam set it and the actual dyeing part takes about 5 minutes. First, I mix up colors. Most of the dyes I work with are in powdered form. Sometimes with silk, I use food coloring or koolaid though. Then I "do stuff" to the silk - fold it, crumple it, stitch it - anything to give the fabric some texture. Then I put dyes on it, usually with squirt bottles, so I can control where they go. I usually only mix up 3-5 colors and do a lot of blending to get everything else. Finally, I either steam set in the microwave (2 minutes) or set it with a mordant and let it "cure" for 1-4 hours. Rinse, dry and iron.

Cotton is much the same, but not steamable to fix the colors. So cotton has to sit in the dye for an hour or more.

So, it's pretty fast depending on the complexity of the pattern I am doing. I tend to do a whole bunch of small pieces at once, so I will have a dozen new pieces but only about 9x12 inches of each one. (The photo above is acually a batch of t-shirts sitting on our back step.)

Knitted

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:08:00 +0000

Pattern: Ilean (downloadable on Ravelry)
Yarn: Louisa Harding Castello, wool, poly, nylon, acrylic. Close up it looks like a thread of blue, one of black one of shimmery gold. Used just a little more than one skein.

It's basically a loop that I can slip over my head. It was a rainy day today and this was quite cozy. An easy to memorize pattern (which is usually very hard for me). Love it.

Kale

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:01:00 +0000

I love the texture in these photos. Hope they inspire something creative for you.

Thank You

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:21:00 +0000

A big shout out to Schlaifers Enamels. I needed a rush order to finish up some bridesmaids jewelry and it's already in the mail. Their customer service is top notch, friendly and they are my heros today!

PMC

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:48:00 +0000

PMC = Precious Metal Clay

I have worked with the silver metal clay before with mixed results. It is a little bit like trying to sculpt with bubble gum. I have not been pleased. But a week or two ago, I got a book about using enamels with pmc. I thought the book might give me a little guidance - this stuff can't be that bad to work with or no one would use it. I have to say, the author is my hero. So far, my favorite bit of advice has been:

When working with metal clay, a good rule of thumb is the 10-80-10 plan. This means plan to spend 10% of your time working with the wet clay, 80% of your time on the greenware sanding and finishing, and 10% of your time on postfire finishing.

PMC works in several stages. You have this wet bubblegum stuff that you make in to something. Then you let it dry overnight. Then you have a dusty clay "greenware" piece that you can sand and file to your heart's content. Then you fire it. I did not appreciate the greenware stage appropriately. I just cut the circles, stamped the leaves (see below) and then left these to dry. All the rest I did in the dry stage. What a difference.

I am thrilled to pieces with these two new silver enamels.
(edit: can't get the other image to post tonight. I will try again tomorrow.)

These are silver, stamped with a hand carved stamp and then filled with enamel. The discs are about the size of a quarter and are slightly rippled, giving them a kind of organic look. The ripple was purely a coincidence - I fired them on a three pointed trivet and they bent a bit while firing. I liked they way it looked, so I didn't try to flatten them. It's like a leaf in a puddle.

I also invested in a tiny little dremel tool. It has a lovely wire brush attachment that polished these up to a nice brushed finish. Not too shiny, just right. They will be in the shop soon, although I may just have to keep one for myself.

Puppets, needlepoint and fax machines

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:18:00 +0000

A lovely long weekend for me. Sigh. And it's almost over.

I spent today cutting out puppets, getting ready for the holidays. I have 90 cut out and in bags now. I still need to do about 10 lions and some penguins and then I will be done cutting. I do some kind of a new animal every year. Last year was a rhinocerous. The year before was a moose. This year I am going to try hedgehogs. I have them cut out, but I am not sure how they will look quite yet. I like to do puppets in stages - first I cut; then all the machine sewing - bodies, then ears, then heads, then beaks and things; and finally curling up with movies and the hand sewing. It will take me about 30 hours to finish all of these. Yipes!

This evening, I finished up a few odds and ends and then designed a little tiny needlepoint elephant. I am going to make more ornament kits for my etsy shop. I found two packages of hardanger cloth, which really looks to me like tiny cross stitch fabric, at the thrift store. They are bright red and blue and were just begging to be made in to something cute. I haven't decided how to finish the ornament yet, but I think they might be little heart shaped "pillows" with some vintage fabrics on the back.

We also figured out how to make the fax machine on our printer all-in-one thing work. The place I order enameling supplies from doesn't have online ordering and so I usually fax the order in. I discovered that I have a special order for enamels in the works and I am out of all kinds of my favorite copper blanks, namely the ones I need. I have my fingers crossed that they can get my order out to me soon!

Hello out there!

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:15:00 +0000

Ok, I do really seriously want your roommate stories! Come on people.

A co-worker of mine told me about her roommate "Rosemary". To make a long story short, it seems that dear sweet Rosemary had imaginary friends. She had a friend who died and she had to speak at his funeral, she went to London to visit her ultra-cute boyfriend who had a freak accident and was hospitalized there and sent long email conversations to her friends. All made up and ultimately confessed to. 2 years of total fiction. Wow. Beat that!

If you really don't have anything to share, then go check out my new vintage rabbit ornament kits. I love to design projects and these turned out so cute! The kit has all the instructions and materials you need to make a cute cameo style rabbit ornament. I even put in some of my little stash of vintage fabrics.

Roommates

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:19:00 +0000

My first college roommate was named Kim. Kim was a sophomore who hadn't found a roommate, so she got a freshman by random assignment; that was me. I talked to her on the phone once before school started and she basically told me to bring nothing - she had everything and it would all be perfect. It was all perfectly mint green and peach. Her carpet matched her towels which matched her sheets and blankets, which even matched the carpet "cleaner" and air freshener she loved - fresh peach. I still think of her every time I smell artificial peach.

I was telling one of my summer camp groups about my roommates. I don't remember why. But I got this great idea. I want to do a series of art pieces all about roommates. Not sure what exactly it's going to look like yet, but I have some great ideas percolating.

So here's what I want from you: Please inspire my art! Tell me about your roommate. Basic info, quotes and fun facts. Either leave a comment or drop me an email.

Roommate: Kim
Basic facts: College dorm room, business major, crispy bleached blonde hair
Color scheme: Peach and mint green
Her story: She stopped speaking to me about October and left little notes "I will be vacuuming on Tuesday, please move your stuff." and "Please do not print anything on your computer when I am here. I need to sleep and I don't appreciate it." My friends called her "the PsychoB*tch". She never spent a single weekend at school but went home every Thursday night and didn't appear again until Monday afternoon.

Roommate: Wendy
Basic Facts: College Dorm, flunked herself out playing computer games
Color scheme: Anything goes with black
Her story: Both Wendy and I were ditched by our original roommates. They decided they wanted to live together about a week after school started so they went and got everything switched and informed Wendy that she was moving in with me. Wendy had a pet rat named Wolfgang. He was very much not allowed in the dorms. She spent all of her time in the computer lab playing "MUDDS" with a bunch of trenchcoat-wearing friends and never went to class. I referred to her friends as the "Lost Boys" and I became "Captain". We made s'mores in the microwave once and burned the marshmallows. Wendy only had 2 cd's - Prince and Meatloaf.

Gallery Show: Freedom, the Fiber of our Nation

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:34:00 +0000

Sexual Revolution
Becka Rahn
2008

"In so many ages and so many places, a young girl is considered the
property of her father, brothers, or husband. She is not given the
opportunity to study and pursue a dream, but is expected to marry and
have children or become a commodity to trade for family status and
prestige. My experience has been very different. This piece is a wish
for all young girls to experience the freedom that I have enjoyed by
growing up in the time and place that I did.

In this piece, I used the idea of fertility to represent that freedom,
because it is used as a symbol in many cultures. Acorns, snakes,
elephants, lotus blossoms, rice, pine cones, frogs and pomegranates
are all motifs embroidered and woven in to textiles used to wish
fertility to a new bride. In the style of "Space Invaders", a video
game representing my place and time in history, the girl in the
picture is shooting down these symbols. The number 1960 is the date
that the birth control pill was approved. The letters RSR are my
initials.

Hand embroidered with hand-stitched appliqué. Cotton threads and
fabric."

You can see this piece in person as part of the "Freedom: The Fiber of our Nation" show at the Textile Center Joan Mondale Gallery, now through October 18.

State Fair

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:31:00 +0000

We managed to get to the State Fair for a few hours one evening. I found my "quilt on a stick" The ones that won ribbons were lovely, but very traditional quilt sorts of patterns. The butter princess sculptures were near where Andy got ice cream at the dairy barn. The "spaghetti & meatballs on a stick" looked yucky, but we had to take a picture. The lamb was in the baby animals barn and was about half a day old. So cute and sleepy.

Catch Up

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:10:00 +0000

Time to catch up with summer projects. I went around and took a bunch of pictures of thing I have finished recently that never made it to the blog. Here are some of the highlights:

My new laptop sleeve. It is lined with cute japanese dachshunds fabric.

Fishy Skirt. I need to hem this still so I can wear it on Friday. Bright tropical fish and three stripes of ric rac.

Some cotton yarn that I dyed this weekend.

Coral and crystal earrings.

My very first fabric design from Spoonflower.com. I am a beta tester. I haven't done a thing with this fabric since it arrived. I will post as I investigate.

A pillowcase top made with a little fabric from this great vintage fabric swap I participated in. The elephant (yes, it's an elephant) from the previous post is more vintage fabric. A flouncy skirt from random clearance fabric. Simple tube with a drawstring and a flippy flounce.

Finally, a skirt made from two remnants picked up at Crafty Planet. (Thanks Rachel for making me get them). I appliqued little bits of the lacy print on to the polkadot print to create the illusion of a border that goes all the way around.

Contest On a Stick

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:18:00 +0000

The Minnesota State Fair prides itself on being the home of 59 different foods on a stick. No kidding! Check out the video or the official "food finder" site. Not wanting to be left out of all the fun, the Creative Activities section of the fair decided to add a new category this year - "Quilt on a Stick". To qualify, your quilt must be 8x9 inches, consist of a minimum of three layers that are hand or machine stitched together, and have a sleeve on the back, which holds a paint stir stick. At the last minute, our entire staff at work decided to enter our quilts-on-a-stick! The category has several ribbon and cash prizes associated with it. How can you resist entering, with the possibility of being able to say "I won a blue ribbon for Quilt on a Stick"?

My entry is above. It is titled "Wallflower". (Although it is not present in the photo, it does indeed sport a stick.) I intended it to be a bit of a mystery and it has stumped some of its viewers, who haven't picked up on what exactly they are looking at. Leave a comment by August 21 (Fair opening day) with what you see in my "quilt on a stick" and I will award a prize of Kitchy State Fair Goodness to a random winner.

pretties

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:22:00 +0000

Out of curiousity, I counted how many silk cuffs I have sold though my etsy shop and came up to more than 70. Wow! I looked back through the photos and thought about how much I really like making these. Each one is different, but all beautiful.

busy doesn't begin to cover it

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:19:00 +0000

* Since the last post, I have supervised 7 more camps, finished the Fall class schedule with 30+ classes, attended 2 work related parties, and designed a postcard.

* The power cord for my iPod died, 3 weeks after its warranty was up. Happily it was just the cord and that was easy to replace.

* The photo is a "doggie bag" that Rachel and Andy designed for one of my classes. I gave them the idea and they figured out how to make it. Cute huh?

* We went walking to see the petroglyphs near my sister's house. Lot's of pretty wildflowers in the meadow.

* Today we are planning to sit in the back yard and read. That's all.

This week at camp

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:25:00 +0000

we made:
handdyed fabric
bean bags
wet felted pictures
cat purses
animal pictures from fabric
felt bugs to watch your plants
handspun yarn "cotton candy"
washcloths
knit tiny blankets
played in the scrap bin
learned to thread sewing machines
cut out 12 pairs of pajama pants
... and we still have a day to go!

meet yoda we did

beckarahn@gmail.com (Becka) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:10:00 +0000

Did the Science Museum's Star Wars exhibit with my dad this weekend.
* The wookie costumes are amazing. The detail is unreal.
* Princess Leia wears double knit polyester.
* It was an honor to study Yoda up close.
* Thank you to the exhibit designers that made the display so that you could see the Milennium Falcon model from about 8 inches away. Details need to be appreciated.

We saw an exhibit of Muppets when it came to the Childrens' Museum here several years ago and I have to say, nothing compares to seeing Ogra (from the Dark Crystal) for sheer "wow", not even Yoda. She gave me chills.