Shibori fabric covered buttons

Shibori fabric covered buttons
Originally uploaded by alsokaizen

Shibori dyed Fabric covered buttons, not completly happy with the result, next time I will use fabrics with a more complex pattern and some sort of base fabric, the metal button kind of shows through the thin cotton. all the blue and gold fabrics were made for Fresh Purls

Blue Shibori selection

Blue Shibori selection
Originally uploaded by alsokaizen

3 blue shibori fabric swatches dyed using clamping process and 2densities of dye

Gold Shibori selection

Gold Shibori selection
Originally uploaded by alsokaizen

3 fabrics dyed using a clamping method and 2 densities of dye

latest garden pics 008

latest garden pics 008
Originally uploaded by alsokaizen

This bed was dug and planted last fall, I'm pleased with the contrast between the plants, features: Purple smoke tree, 2 kinds of weiglia, coriopsis "moonglow", basil, and varigated sedum (sp?) I'm hoping to make the one I just dug resemble this someday

latest garden pics 001

latest garden pics 001
Originally uploaded by alsokaizen

Started digging this garden bed back in April, finally finished it last weekend, all those rocks from the bed made a nice border! Eventually I will put plants in but I may wait until fall and hit the sales.

lab stitch detail 002

lab stitch detail 002
Originally uploaded by alsokaizen

A SACRED 7 Days

Sat- Bought 6 plants for entry garden
Sun- Sold Sheep piece and Heart Triptych
Discussed possible contract fabric dyeing job for Fresh Purls
Began topstitch on 2 Labyrinth pieces
Mon- Continued topstitch work
Karate class
Tues-Dyed sky blue fabric for future sheep pieces
Continued topstitch work
Dug 3 buckets of rocks out of back garden site
Rough draft 1st Blog post and prepped picture for same
Weds- Initial Blog post
Continued topstitch work
Matted and framed 3 prints of Owl drawings for retail outlet
Thurs- Visited Its My Health and delivered prints
Discussed possible project development ideas
Studio time: Began working on dye work for Fresh Purls
Continued topstitch work (almost done 1st color!)
Fri- Karate Class
Dealt with icky IRS stuff
2nd Blog entry
There that’s a week of Kaizen acts for me…
June has been a good month. I’ve managed to keep chipping away at some projects, finished some and even sold some pieces. I now have work in 2 venues on the East Side: Day One and Fresh Purls and 1 venue in Natick: Five Crows. All of this feels like its pointing in the right direction.
When I look at the list up there it strikes me how powerful this tool is not so much because of the accomplishments but because I avoided Overwhelm.
When I started using Kaizen I focused on 1 small creative act a day, now I usually manage 2 or 3 depending on the circumstances. Previously I would head home from work wanting to do something to achieve my Big Goal in an evening,
Immediate Overwhelm.
(As well as a great way to end up playing Freecell all night)
So nothing would get done at all I’d end up feeling guilty and like a failure and then I would gather myself up and start the cycle all over again
Pressure to succeed-Impossible goals-Avoidance behavior-Guilt and recrimination-Resolution to do better-Repeat cycle until dizzy or sick.
I am now breaking free of that cycle. I am now actually achieving some of my goals. If I find I’m getting overwhelmed then I just have to break it down into smaller bits. My ego wants the Big Goal but for me to function with any consistency its gotta be the little bits. It’s a balancing act I have yet to master but I will keep chipping away at it!