Rubbah Slippahs

I found the shirt at a thrift shop and knew right away I wanted it, but didn't know what I'd do with it. I liked the linen-like texture with the bright island print. Very quickly I decided it had to become the background for my next round of fabric postcards for the A2M exchange group.


I disassembled the shirt, saving the labels and buttons for other projects. I cut my Peltex 72 to size (4" x 6") and fused the shirt pieces to make the fronts of the cards. I tried to be sure each card had a nice, tropical flower.

At first, I just had pretty rectangles until an article about "Rubbah Slippahs" (flip-flops to us mainlanders) in the Hawaii Tribune-Hearald. I had subscribed online to keep up with the volcano and local events in preparation for my trip during Spring Break. I had never been to Hawaii and only had a few days, so wanted to be sure every minute counted - even the time just sitting on the lanai eating fresh papayas and bananas!

The concept was born, but the execution took some thinking. I decided on grosgrain ribbon for the straps (originally they were to be green, but when I saw this blue it just popped out at me). Below is my first attempt. It looked okay, but not right. I cut the corner on a curve and it was better. Then, I realized that the toe strap needed to be off to the side, not in the center.

I was busy before leaving home, so all the materials had to come in a bag with me to my Mom's. Luckily, she had bought a sewing machine a few months back. I ran out of thread near the end and the local fabric store was out of that thread, but another brand made a close enough match to complete all the cards.

I planned to write and mail all of them from the island to add to the Island Spirit. I wrote several during our breakfast stop about 20 miles south of Kona. We were eating outside at a small, rustic cafe - lots of fresh fruit and a fabulous view. But the best parts of breakfast were the little geckos on the railing! My daughter and I were thrilled!

The postal worker in Hilo would not accept my postcards because of the curved corner (and I had forgotten to pack my cellophane envelopes). I didn't want to argue, so I put mailing off until later (wound up mailing from California after the trip). Funny, when we got to Volcano House, they sold wooden postcards in the shape of surf boards! I guess it depends on who is working at the time! :-) Aloha!

Cocoon

Sometimes (a lot lately, actually) I am disappointed that I'm not accomplishing more art - especially for not getting back to my daily hearts. I miss doing them, and know I could be more faithful. My goal is to become a working artist, so everything I do now is "education" and "training" and "market research." It is (hopefully) my next career and I try to be serious about my pursuit of artistic expression.

To combat my tendency to self-criticize, I remind myself of all that I do accomplish! Recently, I looked back at just a few of the things I've done over the past few weeks and decided I was right to not berate myself. I completed and mailed my 2nd batch of postcards (see below), spent 7 hours caring for my granddaughter while my older daughter was in the ER (thankfully, it turned out to be nothing, but the day was gone - and you need to know I'm going to be a grandma again in September!), spent another evening running both my daughters around so they could see their father who happened to come through town), took the dog to be groomed (you can see his eyes again!), prepped potatoes and salads for several hundred for a fund raising dinner (then attended the dinner after another meeting; my younger daughter is going to Africa in July) and completed a fabric "sculpture" of a butterfly and cocoon for an art display at church. This morning I even managed to plat that package of strawberry plants (that would die soon, since I'd had them for several weeks).



All this in addition to the standard fare: teaching full time, running younger daughter to work and various volunteer activities, preparation and teaching an adult Shepherding Group (like a Sunday School class; I don't teach every week, though), hosting Deaf Young Life Leadership meetings (light snack and beverages), trying to keep up with reading my artsy books and magazines, quiet time, and the usual attempts to organize and keep up with household chores and stuff.

None of this is meant to be a cry for sympathy or any praise for doing nice things. I simply share my thought process. It helps me get it out there and be more objective AND hopefully be being open about my struggles with self-acceptance others can maybe identify similar tendencies in themselves and be kinder to themselves. I meet people all the time who give and give and sacrifice, but still get down on themselves for not doing more. Every so often we need to step back and see the half-full cup of water!

Spring Green

I just finished my next set of 6 postcards. I used a bright green fabric (the colors do not show up well in this photo) for the background and added long lines of straight stitching in bright colors. I wanted to have solid yellow circles, but nothing in my stash seemed right. Then I saw it - the bright yellow duct tape! It was just the ticket. My only mishap was forgetting about the duct tape and briefly ironing on the front of one card! I doodled with some metallic blue paint to cover the damage.




We've had some very welcome sun-drenched days and the crocuses are blooming. Spring seems to be on the way and I wanted to bring some of that freshness and whimsy to the cards. I hope the recipients get a smile with their cards.

Finished Card

Painted Mistake

Back of cards

postcards

I finally finished the postcards and put them in the mail last week. Each has additional painting and a small heart of microbeads. Each card also has a small picture on the back so recipients know their card is part of a group.

Things have been hectic lately, but I hope they settle down soon so I can get back to my art. :-)

Group Postcards

Today I finished the main stitching on the overall heart design. I even like the way the stitching looks on the back!


I covered everything with contact paper and sticker hearts before adding some metallic paints. I used a small roller for the teal and a brush for the purple.


Then, I removed the stickers. I will play a bit more with this before cutting into 6 postcards and embellishing further.

Yellow Bow

Just grabbed the two closest pieces of wool felt and found some contrasting embroidery floss. First did a running stitch around the heart, then wove the yellow through the running stitches to make the loops. I finished with a bow so I wouldn't have to finish off the thread, then couched the "tails" of the bow. Of course, I just had to add a button. I thought I'd try spray starch to protect the loops, but it also wound up flattening everything.

Cold Day, Warm Heart

We haven't actually had much snow for a few days, but some of the raindrops are slushy and my daughter had 2 snow days this week. We may even get some flakes overnight. The first half of my week was spent preparing many last minute details for the basketball tournament our school is hosting. The rest of the week has been focused on taking photos, supervising students taking photos (part of their final exam) and preparing photos for sharing in slide shows and eventually on our school website. I've been working 10 to 12+ hour days. I left after only 10 today because I'm beat and still fighting the beginnings of a cold (and I had to do laundry so I can go back to work tomorrow!). Another full day tomorrow, a few hours of meetings on Sunday (my daughter is going on a mission trip to Burkina Faso, Africa, in July), then I plan to put on my PJs, curl up on the couch and enjoy the Super Bowl!

Art has taken a back seat this week, but I have sketched and worked on the big heart that will become postcards. Today I made a quick wool heart with rustic stitches and a silvery snowflake just to honor our chilly week.