Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 4

Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 4

A short blog this week as ending one section

Darker

After washing and drying this is the result. Though it is definitely Darker is definitely is not Black

Torn Edging

On careful Inspection I find that some of the Edging is Torn.

Repaired

I have now Repaired the Torn section. However I would like you to look at the three photographs above. These were taken in the same room with the same phone but the shades are completely different.

You would think that this was from three different skirts. Also though I did my best to Dye the Skirts evenly on the second photograph you can clearly see a difference. 

Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 3

Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 3

Now to start the actual Dying

Bath Dye

I have filled the bath with 6 Litres of Water and added the Dye to the Bath.

Immerse Skirt

I place the Skirt into the Water. I ensure that the whole Skirt is Immersed. I Stir it for 15 minutes  then leave it to soak. I leave it for several hours Stirring every 45 minutes.

Empty Water

After I am satisfied that it is Dyed as much as it is possible to get I Empty the Bath of Water. By the look of it I am going to have to do a lot of Cleaning before putting the next lot of Water in.

Third Wash

I have already Washed the Skirt 3 times. The Dye is still pouring out. I am going to have to keep Rinsing and Repeating.

Giving Up

That is it. I have lost count of how many times I have Rinsed this Skirt. It has taken me all day and my Back is Giving Up. I have decided to try getting the rest out by Washing Machine.

Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 2

Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 2

Gloves on and ready to go.

Salt

Dying can be a pain. The one thing I remember from doing it years ago was that you needed Salt. I generally use rock or sea Salt and a grinder but I was sure that I had some in the cupboard somewhere.

Cooking Salt

I wasn’t sure how much Salt I needed or how much I had in so I picked up some more. The Salt and the Gloves I picked up before I even had bought the Dye.

Jug for Salt.

A problem I had was that I do not have a proper Measure at the moment. This means that I am going to have to Measure old school using a Pyrex Jug with weights on.

250 Grams of Salt

Ah ok I have seriously over bought on the Salt front. I only needed 250g. Never mind as Salt does not go off and it will come in handy if we get a bad winter and I have to Salt the path.

Dye Crystals

I put the Salt aside for a moment. Making sure that I am wearing my Marigold Gloves are fully pulled up and covering my arms I am now opening the Dye Packet and tipping out the Dye Crystals.

Dye Mixed

I add 500 Millilitres of Warm Water and Mix the Dye ready for the next stage. This is where it is going to start getting Messy.

Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 1

Dying Dilemma 2025 Part 1

In the past few months I have been trying to improve my health by starting Belly Dancing. It hasn’t been a great success due to a series of accidents that has prevented me from attending. However I intend to persevere. 

Looks Black

I have a few bits and pieces of Belly Dancing attire that I brought back from holiday. However I need the bigger pieces as well as the accessories. 

Rather than immediately spending a fortune I thought i would see if I could make something. I had a Black Skirt that looks the right sort at the back of the wardrobe.

True Blue

Okay a small problem. Although it looked Black in the bedroom in better light its True Colour is a Dark Blue I needed to change the Colour to match a Top I had.

Dylon Black Dye

With shops like Wilko shutting and the major supermarkets not stocking any I had a real job to find any Dye at all. I finally came across some in a Fabric Shop.

Dylon Instructions

Bad news. Although I have got some Dye it is a Handwash rather than a Machine Dying Kit.

Long Marigolds

One thing I was positive about is that it is going to be extremely messy. Therefore I have taken the sensible approach and bought some Extra Long Marigold Gloves.

Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 3

Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 3

I am still plodding through.

Finer Detail

After sorting out that little problem I am now continuing. I am adding Finer Detail to the Rocks and Nest etc.

Framed Puffin

I have finished the Picture and after wiping off all the excess dust it is ready to go into its Frame. Since it is mainly Black and Silver I thought it would look best in a Black Frame with a bit of White Edging.

Croc and Puff

I also bought the same Frame for the Picture of a Crocodile. This is one that I found that my mum hadn’t quite finished due to cataracts. These are going to look lovely on her wall.

Nostalgia

Remember the comment about buying Fishing Nets 40 Years ago? I couldn’t help myself and buy some for Nostalgia before the Shop closes.

Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 2

Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 2

Now I can get cracking on the Kit.

Outlines

I am ignoring the instructions because I have done these before and prefer a different way. Instead of starting at the top and working downwards I am going to Outline the major parts.

Detail Rocks

I have started adding Detail to the Rocks. This going back to the order that they use. I think it is to avoid excessive Fingerprints.

Problem

Glancing down to the bottom of the Picture I have spotted a Problem. At some point the Picture had got Creased. This wasn’t me but how it came. I will have to find a way to sort this before I forget.

Blend In

By carefully adding a few extra Scrapes here and there I have managed to Blend the Crease into the picture. It now looks (if you can spot it) like it is part of the Puffins Nest.

Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 1

 Puffin Pictures 2025 Part 1

Our local Art Shop is closing down due to the gentleman retiring. Let’s put it this way. I bought Fishing Nets from him 40 years ago. Therefore I decided to take advantage of his retirement sale.

Puffin Engraving Art

I have bought an Engraving Art Kit. This is for ages 8 and above for which I definitely qualify. If you ever wonder why I bother blogging Kits it’s so folks have a chance to see what it is going to be like before buying.

Engrave Instructions

The instructions for how to do the Kit are on the back. Needless to say that I have my own way of doing it.

Get a Tray

First of all you will need a Supporting Surface so the Card doesn’t Bend. A Table is best but if like me you don’t have one get a Tray.

Test Piece

Before you start on the Picture it is best to have a go at the Test Piece. They provide you with this so you can try out the Scraper Pen. You will be using both the Sides as well as the Point. I wrote my name using these techniques.

Board

Now you are ready to have a go at the Board. Incidentally this can get a bit messy so a Clothe or Duster is good to have on hand.

 Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 7

On to the final part. I was getting concerned because I was running out of time. This is day before the Carnival and needs to be ready.

Terrible Geometry

I always have trouble with Geometry. I’m fine with ordinary 2D Shapes but goes all to pot when I need Depth. I did them best I could but I have run out of Time so am drawing by eye rather than measuring. I am supposed to have Two Cubes but they have turned out a bit rough.

I will Trim them up a little when I Cut them Out. I will also add Dots because they are supposed to be Dice.

Backgammon in Play

I glued the Dice in place either side of the Centre of the Backgammon Board. Now to put down the Counters.

I could have done the easy thing and gone for the Starting Position with the Counters. However I thought that would be a bit boring. Therefore I have gone with a more organic feel. I have the Counters in Play including one that is sitting out in the Centre waiting to rejoin the Game.

Too Hot

Arggh it is Too Hot! This is not good. The glue is melting. I am having to reapply it and stick down the points.

Snakes and Ladders

It is the morning of the Carnival and my boyfriend is decked out with the Snakes and Ladders Board. It is Pinned to his T Shirt using gold Safety Pins. I have put one in each of the corners. Hopefully it wont get too windy.

Backgammon Ready

My Backgammon Board looks great against this Blue T Shirt. This has been a very cheap way to dress up and add to the fun of going to the Carnival. 

P.S.

I took some spare Pins with me just in case we lost any. We didn’t and everybody loved our outfits. What is more I only need to remove the Counters and use real dice to be able to play.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 6

 Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 6

I have Cut Out one set of Brown Triangles. Now I need to do the same with the Grey.

Grey Triangles

Instead of Measuring and Cutting into Sections I am trying a different method. I have tried to draw the Triangles from the Marks so I get more out. Trouble is it made it very difficult to see what I was trying to Cut Out.

Line them Up

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Starting with the Grey Triangles I placed them at the Bottom in an alternative pattern across the Board leaving a gap in the Middle.

Unfortunately the Triangles were very uneven as I had shaky hands whilst Cutting Out. Once the configuration was correct I glued them in place.

Down the Centre 

I place a Black piece of Felt down the Centre of the Board then proceed add more Triangles. The Triangles on the other side are directly across from the original Set. However the Colour Scheme is opposite. I made sure they were correct before gluing.

Mini Circles

Taking a small piece of White Felt which was an Off Cut I began to draw some Mini Circles.

White Set

I Cut Out the White Circles which I will call the White Set. I haven’t got quite enough so need to Cut Out some more. After I have fifteen Circles in my Set I shall do the same thing with Red Felt. This will give me thirty Circles or should I say Counters in total.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 5

 Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 5

I am moving on to another Board Game

Getting Started

Once again I am going to use Felt. I picked three Colours that I thought would work well together. Once I had those I could get Started.

Fold in Half

The Base for the Board Game is going to be Yellow.  The Light Brown and the Grey are roughly the same Size to I need to Fold them both in Half.

Divide in Sections

After Cutting in half my next task was to Divide into equal Sections. After that I Trimmed off the Excess

Cut Sections

In order to move on I had to Cut the ones that I had Measured in to Individual Sections. I have Eight in total.

Pointy Sections

The next part was to turn those Sections in to what I needed. At the Top of the Section I made a small Mark in the Centre. Then using a pencil and a ruler I drew a Line between that Diagonally to both Bottom Corners.

Once I had Drawn the Outline that I wanted I cut out the Triangle. If you want to get really technical it is an Isosceles Triangle

Oops Bit Short

Now I had one I could repeat the process with the other seven Sections. I needed more than eight pieces for what I had in mind. Taking the other Half of the Light Brown Material I continued making more Triangles.

I am not entirely sure what happened but for some reason some of the Triangles were Shorter than the others. Hopefully I will be able to work around it.

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 4

Carnival Calamity 2025 Part 4

With the Grid done I can start on filling it.

A Bit Small

Rather than use new pieces of Felt I have scoured my collection for odd pieces I can cut up. This piece however has come out a bit Small.

Much Better

I try again with a Bigger piece. This time it comes out much Better. I have been able to get some twists and curves in. This is a clue to what I have decided to make.

Slithering

I have Cut Out a variety of Colours of Slithering Snakes and Glued them on the Grid. This of course is going to be the old time favourite Board Game Snakes and Ladders.

Place Ladder.

I have Cut up some Thin pieces of Felt of different Lengths. I Glue them over the top of one of the Snakes. I will continue to do this with other Colours.

Hey Presto

Hey Presto I have a completed it. If I had more time I would have Overlapped the Snakes and Ladders more.