AlishaVernon.com

I’ve been doing a lot of teaching myself to hand dye fabric, through quite a bit of trial and error. I’ve done direct application (tie dye), vat dyeing, and fabric dyeing in a washing machine. I love color, so dyeing is a lot of fun. It’s like before it’s a plain white fabric and then something magical happens and it has a whole new life. So far washing machine dyeing is my favorite. The tricky part is remembering to set the machine back to agitate so it doesn’t drain before the fabric has had enough time in the dye bath. I bought a timer at Wal-Mart yesterday, but I broke it. Jim said, “Never buy anything, that needs to work, at Wal-Mart.” He should write a book of wise sayings.

I like to call this piece “In Search of the Perfect Pink”

So just what have I been doing on my, more than a month long, haitus from blogging, you ask? Have I been making any art at all?

My next few posts will attempt to fill you in…….if ya wanna know.

EMBROIDERY

I’ve been doing a lot of teaching myself to hand embroider and getting my technique just right to create nice letters with minimal fabric pulling around the letters. I’ve also been playing around with tie dye. Below is a picture of 4 tie dyed hand embroidered onesies that I did for the Magdalene Home. It’s a home in Medford where teen girls can live, who are either pregnant and/or have children and have no where else to go. It’s kind of interesting how I even found out about this place. I remember Jim and I were on a drive and I was in a pensive mood. I was thinking about things that I want to do with my life, and so on. I was asking God to give me some guidance, or something. I closed my eyes and I got sort of, and image. Pretty vague, but all I knew is that it was a place where pregnant women, who where in need of something, would come. Later, out of curiosity I started Googling to see what kind of organizations there were like that, in my area, and that’s when I discovered the Magdalene home. I didn’t think much about it for almost a year until I started making these onesies. I got an itch to donate or help out, and making things for people has always been my favorite way of showing my love, so I emailed the director and asked if I could make some onesies for the babies that live there. She was very excited and said “of course.” She invited me to come by for a tour and to hang out with the girls and teach them how to make them. I was super excited, and last month my sister and I drove to Medford and got a tour of their place and dropped off these onesies. (I have them wrapped so you can’t see that whole thing.) I hope they liked them.

This morning started with an egg mcMuffin and hashbrowns from the golden arches, in efforts to prepare myself for my visit to the ER to get my stitches taken out. Ya see, last week, around this time, I dropped a glass and with my cat-like reflexes I tried to catch it. Well I did….with the inside of my hand, right after it broke in several pieces. I had to go to the ER and get a few stitch-a-roonies. It huuuuuuuurrrrrrt. I told the Doctor I was a wuss and didn’t know how I’ll ever be able to give birth someday. He said there were people a lot more wussy than I, and not too worry, because that’s why they make epidurals. Oh yeah, and when he was giving me the shot to numb me up, I was trying not to make a peep, but inadvertent little sounds and squeaks sneaked their way out, and it was making the Doctor laugh. I told him to focus.

…………….and today was the dreaded day of taking them out. It only really hurt when they were trying to wedge the scissors under the thread to cut it, because my cut’s still pretty sore. Pros: I got to miss 3 days of work. Cons: It was my last week working there and I was planning on a bigger paycheck, and now I’m a little behind on my business start-up timeline. So, I’m officially unemployed and working the best I can to get my business started.

Well, okay, I could probably do better by not wasting time watching Court TV and the Montel Williams show today. I watched an episode today with Sylvia Brown, and now I’m a little freaked out. Now I’m off to buy supplies for Sweet and Spunky.

Adorable custom onesies coming soon, to a website near you. (I know, you’re probably pulling you’re hair out screaming “No! I can’t wait! I want them now! NOW!”) ……okay probably not.

So, basically, I’ll admit it. Doing something regularly and consistently doesn’t appear to be one of my strengths. Playing well with others, sense of humor, good handwriting….those kind of things….I have those in the bag. (yeah, and in case you’re wondering I did win the “excellent handwriting” award in 3rd grade. But anyway, my point is that I started this site during a time that I had no job and really nothing else to do besides cook, clean, play with my dog, and hang out with my husband, and sister, not even any friends yet to distract me. Since my last post I quit Staples (after 2 days of training…ugh) , got a job at a local coffee shop, became the Bomb at coffee making, and I just put in my 2 weeks notice last week. (“wow Alisha’s kinda flaky,” you’re thinking) Some may see it that way,,,,I like to call it “smart.” Here’s the deal. My job drains me physically, puts me in a bad mood mentally, time off is impossible, it’s understaffed, oh yeah, and you’d better not even think about getting sick. My poor dog barely gets walked, my poor husband is wondering when I’m going to start cooking dinner again, all creative painting energy has subsided, me and my sister never have the same days off. I’m just not happy. So, after hearing me whine over and over, my “fix-it” husband says,…”figure out of way to fix it instead of just whining and being depressed.” Gasp. After being shocked by his “insensitivity” I realized that he was actually right. I decided to go for my dream of having my own little home business. I really value control of my own schedule. I don’t want to have to miss any more thanksgivings with family. (like this year) I don’t want to have to work the night before a final. In the future I want to be a stay at home mom, but I also want to contribute to the income and have a business as side project to keep me sane. Yes, that business could be painting, but my painting suffers when making money from it is the focus. So, if all goes as planned my business “SWEET AND SPUNKY” will launch sometime during the beginning of December. It will feature hand dyed, custom embroidered baby clothes. So, you can get your baby’s name, nickname, or any other saying you like, hand embroidered on a onesie, in the color of your choice. I’m very excited, and hopefully, with more control over my schedule, I’ll have the time and energy for the things that really matter to me. Plus, I have some new painting ideas looming in the forecast, so stay tuned. Oh, and if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to my blog. It’s on the right there, under “Pages.”

-Alisha