Salty Ocean Waves

I love the salt technique, it is so easy. Paint your scarf and while it is still wet, throw the salt on. I used ice cream rock salt to create this piece.

It looks like ocean waves. Love, love, love the texture on this one! 

This scarf is for sale on my etsy site:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/dianapelto

Things are starting to move!

   So I sold a random scarf to a random person on the internet last week from my etsy shop! My first sale on etsy that was to a complete random person! I was so excited!
   Then my friend Kerri, who is my husband's cousin's wife and also a clothes buyer for Piragis in Ely, told me to bring my scarves up next time I come to the cabin and she bought seven scarves for the store! I couldn't believe it!
   And last, but certainly not least, I got accepted into the Little Falls craft show! Lots of good, exciting things! And I just noticed that I ended every single sentence with an exclamation point! Overuse of punctuation!

   Here are a few of the scarves Kerri bought for the store so if you are dying (get it...dye...dying...haha) to get your hands on these, you will have to call Piragis and order them or make a trip to the most beautiful place in the world...Ely, MN. Thank you, Kerri!

Eyedropper technique

I was watching "The Voice" on TV the other night and one of the contestants had a beautiful teal dress with a hot pink belt. I thought those colors went well together so I went downstairs to the "studio" and began to paint. The scarf I came up with looked a little flat so I thought I would like to put some texture in.

I had seen somewhere on the internet that you could take an eyedropper full of alcohol and drop in on the silk and it would create a bubble effect. So I bought some rubbing alcohol and proceeded to drop alcohol on the scarf and wherever it went looked great but then it dried up quickly and you could barely see it anymore. I scoured the internet trying to figure out what I was doing wrong and couldn't come up with much.

The next day I went back downstairs and thought I would try dropping dye directly on the scarf and voila! I had the texture I was looking for. It's amazing because the color I dropped with the eyedropper was a dark blue and it mixed with the turquoise and greens and hot pink underneath perfectly!

This little treasure is for sale on my etsy site.

www.etsy.com/shop/dianapelto

Update: this scarf was purchased by Piragis in Ely, MN and is for sale in their shop. However, don't forget I can do custom work.

A new Susan Moyer frame!

I am so excited! I guilted my husband into letting me buy the Susan Moyer framing system because he is buying a boat. Let me tell you, even at a couple hundred dollars, this frame is cheaper than a used boat! It is supposed to be the rolls royce of frames. I had to get used to the frame and putting it together which took me two evenings and many swear words. I actually picked up the phone at one point to tell the kind people who sold me this that is was a piece of you-know-what until I figured out that those screws they sent with the frame really did have a purpose. I was trying to set up the frame like lincoln logs and it kept falling over. Once I looked at the instructions for the tenth time and lost some of my blonde hair, I realized I needed to screw it together. And voila! It was as sturdy as they claimed it would be.

Of course I had to start a project right away and whipped up this little scarf as a trial to see how things would work. It turned out summery and cute.

If you would like to purchase this scarf it is for sale in my etsy shop for $25.

www.etsy.com/shop/dianapelto

Burned out velvet

Burned out velvet is so fun to work with because the velvet design always turns a different color than the rest of the piece. This scarf has a nine inch fringe which I can't really say I enjoyed ironing after I washed it. It literally took me about half an hour of ironing while my growling husband waited for me to get done ironing so he could turn the light off in the bedroom and watch the Twins game in peace. Silly boys and their balls!

If you want to buy this scarf it is for sale on my website at http://www.etsy.com/shop/dianapelto 

Update: this scarf sold on my etsy site however if you love, love, love it, I can do custom work that will be almost the same.

New Spring scarf

I created a new spring scarf this weekend. I started out by wetting down the scarf. Then I put plastic cups in a plastic tote, spread the wet scarf over the plastic cups and pinched a piece of fabric on each cup. Starting with purple, I painted three petals on each cup and then painted in leaves. I painted the pinched pieces of fabric yellow. This is one of my favorite scarves so far! It is for sale on my etsy site at www.etsy.com/shop/dianapelto.

Update: I donated this scarf to the Jim Schultz benefit, but never fear!! I can do custom orders if you love it!