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Watercolor summer

14 Sep

Watercolors have always seemed to mysterious to me. I certainly used them often enough as a kid, but always felt like there was a secret I just never understood. I even took a watercolor painting class in college becasuse I was sure that a college professor would certainly tell me the long hidden secrets. But they just talked about them like paints and colors, and I left the class still feeling like I was missing something. I mean, they never turn out like I expected, but once in a while, I would make something that looked ethereal and otherworldly. And I had no idea how I had done it.

And so, as a parent, I pulled out the watercolors and played another with my kids. I suppose it was when I started using watercolor crayons that I felt like I had some semblance of control over where the colors when on the page. I added the color with the crayon, then manipulated the colors with water. That made sense. It obeyed the laws of gravity, too.

And now I have dipped my toe in again and it feels less mysterious and more playful. I don’t alwasy know how the color will move, but I have made peace with that and just like to watch it move on the page, or see if I can catch the colors of the trees by mixing in a little more blue, or maybe it’s purple?

Curious about upcycling an old eye shadow palatte into a travel watercolor kit? Read more here.

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DIY Watercolor Palette (from Makeup Compact) »

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Who is this Raheli lady?

Raheli is a creative problem solver and fiber-lover in the Hudson Valley. She sews, knits, mends, spins, homesteads and writes, all while trying to get outside a little more often. (She/her) Read More…

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Meanwhile, on Instagram…

raheliharper

Darning while talking to myself about my options a Darning while talking to myself about my options about darning (aka: prep for my darning class at @fallkillcreativeworks, aka: kinda weird).
#mendmarch day 3 : cross - in the sense that the warp and weft *cross* over and under each other). But let’s be serious- this is really a photo of those tiny balls of gorgeous yarn that I got from @jbellvavra last year when she was cleaning out her sock yarn scraps. They are so 😍😍😍
Mending Kit: This is a bald-faced lie of a photo. Mending Kit: This is a bald-faced lie of a photo. Yes, these are *some* of my mending supplies and tools... but this desk is inside a whole room of fabric, thread, books, and one very cozy chair with lots of pins stuck in the armrests. But it’s hard to capture all that while actually showing what I use for mending. I mostly used embroidery needles, embroidery thread, scraps of fabric. I occasionally get a specialized item (the darning loom, heavy duty thread, the ripstop adhesive tape) but mostly, mending is about having a cute bag or tin to store your essential items. I mean, it’s about keeping it simple (so my supplies can fit in a cute bag and I can therefore mend anywhere). And by anywhere, I mean, the cozy chair by the fire. Sometimes I assemble my toolbox and serve as a Repair Coach at our Repair Cafe, but sadly it has been a year since it was safe to host one.
#mendmarch day 2: mending kit. Join along this month to work away at your mending pile! And I am teaching a darning class on Saturday - it’s virtual and you can find more info @fallkillcreativeworks (link in their profile).

Bags are from @brooklynhaberdashery and @kzstevens, vintage tin, all my scissors went missing for a while (and which they always do) so they will probably appear later. I do use the pilot frixion pens a lot for erasable marks... and I am using a bag-magnet still in its package (which I didn’t even buy) as a pin cushion even though I have so many cuter pin cushions 🤷🏻‍♀️🤪
Hello #mendmarch! So delighted to see you again! M Hello #mendmarch! So delighted to see you again! My name is Raheli and I have been. mender for 20 years! I mend because even if clothes are sold for very little money, they still have a lot of value. Humans have touched our clothes at every step of their way, and I want to be a good steward of these garments that people made. 
And I love the way mending, for me, becomes a practice of breaking down the Perfection that is presented as our ideal. My clothes get worn and marked by wear, and that is Ok. They break and tear. And that is Ok. It is a constant reminder that I will do these same things - be marked by my years, be broken - and this is hard, but it’s ok, because I can also mend and heal.

I am wearing my mother’s vintage shirt (which needs a hem fix soon), a wool cardigan that was a gift from my husband (mended cuffs!),a hand-dyed scarf from @thematerialsdesignco and a necklace that belonged to my grandmother. I am also wearing a thrifted (and mended) black dress, leggings that came from @dina.andretta by way of @molahandle, and a second cardigan (it’s damp and chilly today) passed along to me by @spreadablefats 😘 

I love that mending (and slow fashion in general) moves from commodity to community.
Look at these beauties! My cousin, @thematerialsde Look at these beauties! My cousin, @thematerialsdesignco is such a talented dyer! Can I wear napkins? Because I am going to wear the speckled napkins (on the left) as bandanas. Except there is also a scarf (purple) so I supposed I will wear that too. Once I stop petting them and making pretty arrangements. 😍 (although if I am being honest, there is a part of me that also wants to cut them up and stitch them into snails.  Or compasses. Must resist! 🤣🤪)
Mid-day photo shoot to commemorate the 53rd snow d Mid-day photo shoot to commemorate the 53rd snow day of 2021. 😉😂
Oh look. It’s snowing again. Oh look. It’s snowing again.
Today’s snail. Number 5. And my favorite so far. Today’s snail. Number 5. And my favorite so far. The white backing fabric used to be one of my grandmother’s cleaning rags. Not sure what it was before that, but maybe a summer shirt?
Yesterday’s snail. Yesterday’s snail.
Morning stitching, maybe l will stitch another sna Morning stitching, maybe l will stitch another snail this evening...
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