Metallic Inchies & More Rusted Fabric

(Clockwise from top left - Diana Hess, Jenni Strachan, Sally Ambrose,
Charron Trainor, Kathryn Robertson & Kali Neel)

Yesterday's mail was wonderful again - I received (finally) my copy of the Nov/Dec Somerset Studio and the metallic inchies from the latest Inchie Swap coordinated by Kathryn Robertson. It was very hard to get a good photo of these inchies as the metallic bits are so reflective but I am sure you will get a good idea of how wonderful they are. Such variety and so many interesting ideas. They are going to look fantastic once they are all mounted and framed - a future project for when I have time to really fiddle around!

I also participated in the associated goodie swap bag and these are the contents of the terrific bag of fabrics, trims, sequins and bits and pieces that I received from Diana Hess. They will all be very useful and I especially love the fabrics - I love having lots of interesting bits and pieces of fabric.

Earlier this week I had a "serious" go at doing some more rusting of fabric. I was much more particular this time and wrapped the vinegary/salty package up in plastic , weighted it down and left it in the sun for several days. It may have helped that we have had absolutely stinking hot weather all week (in the high 30s or in the lands of Fahrenheit between 100 and 102). I used a lot of quite large rusted items including an old saw. This morning I unwrapped the package and I am really pleased with the results. All of the fabrics worked really well included sheers, cottons, silky synthetics etc. Some of them had been previously rusted so the additional rust has just made them so much more complex in the patterns/shapes that have developed. The first photo was taken as I unwrapped the fabrics.

This is the collection of metal bits I used this time.

This the fabrics on the line after they had been soaked and then washed. Gorgeous,hey?

This is a close up of a couple of the results.

And this is a picture of the rusty pieces I am planning on using next!! (Old metal bands from wooden cart wheels found in the outback by Joseph who thought I might like them!)