I think I'm in for Saturday at 1:00.

No more Tandy Leather in Birmingham... darn it... used to be right up the road from me.

~michael

Mr. Sanders,

Check this out...not sure if it's any help:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?for......amp;cat= Leather&city=Birmingham&state=AL

Order online from Tandy. They ship from the closest one. I buy suede from them several times a year and have been for years.
-=tabman

Saturday it is!

Lucy wants to see the color match on the leather (hair) first. The horses match but the harness work has to too.

Michael, have you considered again about joining us for the Eureka Springs gig? (February Linking Ring page 175) You never know who you will see there!

Tabman? Use my dealers' table?

Got to go. Busy day. I need 6 minutes of TV. (You would think that would be easy at my age.)

Bob

I didn't notice this post...from March 3rd LOL

Anyways, about the Mona Lisa thing, have you read The DaVinci Code? Not quite sure who said it first though....



Daniel

Animals to feed and some photos to gather and I'll be on my way to B'ham. Lucy is with me.

I'm bringing an old nest of boxes I acquired when the world was still flat. I think it makes the newer manufactured ones look rather primative for operations. When Lucy and I are at the Cavalcade of Magic, I plan to show it in the collectors' secion.

See you all in B'ham.

Bob and Lucy

Latest pics and discussion of the PMZZ meeting and 'field trip' at http://www.pmzz.org, y'all come.

That nested box set was truly awesome. I loved how the gaff was hidden. I definitely learned something new about hiding in plain sight.

When's Tabman supposed to get back?

~michael

I just got back and checked in over at the PMZZ forum. Looks like yall had a great meeting in B'ham.

-=tabman

I think the plan is to meet near Nashville next month???

~michael

OK, I checked and there is a Tandy Leather shop on Nolansville Rd in Nashville. If anyone has time to visit my shop out here in the boonies let me know and I will repair the bridge.

-=tabman

Tabman,

Thanks for the info on the Tandy store. I'm sure Lucy and I will try to spend some time there plundering through things. (It may be good that I do business with a Tennesee bank.)

If you would tolerate the visitors, Lucy and I, for two, would love to see your shop. If it's warm enough, we could just swim the creek and you won't have to fix the bridge. From the sounds of the storm damage there, there should be a tree we could use for a foot-log somewhere.


Gentlemen,

If haven't been whittling on your new box of wood, you're behind. Lucy carved a naked lady out of a chunk of her wood this weekend. (Claimed that she was already in there. She just got her out!) Next she's working on two horses at a pool.


Syd,

Lucy tells me that you are a painter. Have you painted on silk? I have a want list a mile long!


Michael,

This morning I got email from China. Enjoy the diagonal silks. They may be the last ones like that. They are no longer available. I'm ready for plan B.

I did get old prices on this shipment of silks. The fuel prices will surely kick the prices up next time. The dollar gets killed everytime that happens.

Thursday is St. Patrick's Day. This Methodist has to get to work on some Catholic magic before then. The Sisters here make me an honorary Catholic for the show! Last year my force card was the two of shamrocks. I'll have to find my green dove harnesses.

Bob

Sure Bob, force me out of hiding.

I've painted on canvas and paper and wood and metal, but not silk. The closest I've come is painted fiber, before it becomes thread and cloth. The silk painting I'm familiar with uses dye on white silk. You could use colored silk too but the color reproduction gets touchy when you overdye one color with another color. I suppose you could use regular fabric paint but it wouldn't sink into the fiber and I'm not sure how durable it is.

By the way, it makes perfect sense to me that Lucy needed to let the lady out the wood.

Sydney

Never tried carving much... except turkeys on Thanksgiving. I never jump right into a piece (or a box) of wood. I have to play with it a few days and get it used to its new home. The inspiration becomes a mutual agreement. If I just start cutting away, I usually end up with a body I need to dispose of... and a lifetime of guilt.

~michael

Hi Syd'

I usually don't compute. Here I am just because I like the company.
About silk, I have done a silk painting, I think it was about 40 years ago. I did the outline drawing in brush and india ink, and then added dots of water color watching carefully how it ran and absorbed. The painting still hangs in my Aunts living room, but I'm sure it is not washable. If you have any ideas about this please share them. We are planning to use Rit liquid in an air brush. I know we should use a mordant, but I have forgotten everything I ever knew about mordants, and it wasn't much to begin with. By the way, India ink ruined the brush.

Lucy

Yea Syd!

So we got you out too? (I never even saw that block of wood though!)

I don't think just any paint will work since the silk has to be soft and flexible. Tonight I bought some Rit dye and ironed some white silks. Tomorrow after Exchange Club, I'm playing artist. (What will get red Rit out of carpet?)

Lucy and I enjoyed our outing with you two. We look forward to the next one.

Bob
The Amazed Wiz

Hi Lucy,

You may know this but... Rit dye is a union dye. It will work with fabric from plant fibers (cotton) or fabric from protein fibers (wool, silk). Some people have trouble using Rit dye on protein fibers. The biggest problem you will have with Rit is that the silk may not take up all of the dye. The parts of the dye that work for plant fibers may wash out. Most people like to use acid dyes. Check Jacquard if the Rit doesn't work for you.
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/3796-AA.shtml
I could swear I've seen Jacquard fabric paints and dyes at Hobby Lobby, although in kit form. They probably have some water soluble resist. For silk you can also use food coloring, Wilton's cake icing dyes, or Kool-Aid without sugar (don't laugh it works). Those are all acid dyes. Use either citric acid or vinegar as the mordant. Rit supposedly already contains mordants but it will work better if you pretend it doesn't. I usually use vinegar because its handy. I don't really measure, I just add a generous glug depending on the amount of liquid. Some people add a little table salt for protein fibers but I never do. Once you get it painted, you will need to heat set it. Rit seems to need more heat setting than the acid dyes. You can do that by steaming or by ironing under a pressing cloth. You could even put it in a black plastic bag and set it on top of a car all day when it's sunny.

Hope this helps.
Sydney

Bob,

I had a blast on Saturday!

Don't get the Rit anywhere near a carpet. Remember Murphy's law.

I just realized I need a picture. Guess I'll have to work on that.

Sydney

Syd,

That's some great info on the dyes. Thanks much! I had no idea that food dyes would work. Years ago, someone gave me some bottles of aniline dye in powder form, but I never could find anything it would dissolve in. After time I just threw it away.

My main gripe with RIT dye is that they have some lame colors (except black). Most look more like Ren Faire clothing, which is ok for that application, but RIT doesn't have the vibrant carnival colors typical of magic silks.

Any special process to follow if I wanted to dye half a yellow silk red, or a white silk half red, half yellow?

~michael

I'll second that



HUZZAH!