December 5, 2011

Happy Holidays

Ok so LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGg break deserves a prize. Lets see if anyone is even reading this anymore
All you have to do is Email MarissaInk 
WITH THE DATE of this blog post 
and you receive $5 off your current order!

Just a heads up, at this time there is NO WAIT! If you place your order before Dec 10th
I will have your order done by christmas. *Note: Payment must be received before I ship

September 14, 2011

Cars

So some of you may know this, but I will be going to Ducktail Run next week.
What in the world is Ducktail?? I am not supprised if you dont know, i didnt know until two years ago when my boyfriend took me to the annual show.
 Ducktail is a Car show [ Click ] in Gas City, Indiana.
 Its a four day event starting with "Early Duck Cruise-In" on Sept 22, next thursday and lasting until the 25th. It is HUGE! It is one of the largest car shows in Indiana, and possibly the midwest.

Me:  Why is it called Ducktail?
BF: ducktail was a "cool" haircut in the 50's,
 the show supposed to be classic hot rods
 and mixed with james dean rod run which is home for all mercury customs


You will see ducks everywhere, including people dressed up! 
Like any car show there are contests: 

Best Car Name

Best Neon Lights

Best Idle Drags

Best Flame Throwing

Best Muffler Rapping

Best License Plate Name

Best Duck Display

Chrome Duck Award


So with a place like that I could not pass up the opportunity to make some scarves. I am sure that most of you have seen my first scarf that I made, Classic Cars. What you may not know is that the four cars [painted twice for 8 cars on the scarf] are my bf's family's cars and they take them to shows. 
Ok so i think you know where i am going with this. 
full length car on a 14x72" fringeless scarf with purple background

Front of car on a 14x14" Silk pillowcase with Kelly Green background
So far i have made one new scarf and my first pillow case! BTW if you dont believe me: 
Me on graduation day with my favorite car

September 13, 2011

Dear ....

[Blows the dust off the keyboard] Although that is not a completely true statement because i have been using my computers [yes more then one] quite a lot. Between reading blogs, and checking emails, and just networking in general, But i had forgotten about you... my dear wonderful readers. [chirp chirp chirp] Yeah i am in one of those moods where i really feel like i am talking to the wind. But that will not stop me this time.. I WILL write a post!

What has happened since my last post...
I went to a concert and read many blogs... one of which has inspired a "super secrete" design that will only be revealed upon my first craft show...
YES that is right my friends, if all goes well I will be in my first craft show this coming november! The check is in the mail and after calling the place three times, it is pretty much guaranteed that i will be vending there...
Which of course has me slightly freaking out... and thus began the reading of even more blogs and books on how to do a good job.

You may have noticed the countdown above the post.. that is still counting down the days for the February Show application deadline, which i am still thinking about and plan to have it submitted with the photos of what i am making now. All in all i have suddenly become very busy and am praying that this will all work out and that everyone will be able to stay postive.
I would appriciate all your prayers and any help in getting ready. Thanks <3M

September 1, 2011

August 30, 2011

Introductions...

The newest member of MarissaInk is:
Carabella
Carabella in Falling Leaves, 14x72 Fringeless Scarf
A beautiful young italian breaking into the modeling business. Carabella, literally meaning "beautiful face", joined MarissaInk to help viewers see a scarf being used. Look to her for ideas on how to drape oneself in 100% luscious silk. 


Carabella in Roots, 8x54 Fringeless Scarf

August 29, 2011

Hello Kahlo

As promised I have a new theme to be reviled. This theme was brought about by a conversation about current trends and Mexican artists. These two designs were based off of the mexican artists Frida Kahlo's paintings are new and now available.
First design is based off of Frida Kahlo's Roots. It is a 8x54 fringeless scarf with orange background and large green leaves. 

The Second is based off of  Portrait of Dona Rosita Morillo, also a 8x54 fringeless scarf . It features a long blue-green cactus with three crimson flowers. 


























Turning Over a New Leaf...

Have you felt this weather? I don't know about you, but we have be having some great late summer/fall great weather... though I have heard that the high temperatures are coming back next week. But outside, in my grandma's driveway there have been leaves falling for a while. And she must use miracle grow on her trees because all of the leaves are huge. [Big Leaf Maple or Sycamore?.. much larger then my hand]
So after mulching them and raking them, I desided it was time to paint them. 
One is a 8x54 fringeless scarf with a light brown back ground and scattering of leaves in mulitple colors.
The other is a 14x72 fringeless scarf with a multi-colored background and leaves falling from one end to the other, starting small and getting larger.




August 27, 2011

Saturday

Enjoying a free birthday treat from starbucks. Thinking the smell of coffee might start up some creative juices

Today is going to be a really good day. Usually I write my posts in the evening or the morning after finishing a new design, but today [and yesterday] have been pretty lazy and not extremely eventful.

I did get four scarves steamed and washed yesterday, but other then that really didn't spend any time in the studio.  Some new photos WILL be coming... i did promise you earlier. But to get said photos online, i need to switch computers. [Earlier this summer I felt "selfish" for having two personal computers, but now i find them really helpful, because I can leave one in the studio and still have one at home]

So the Secrete Design Theme will be reviled VERY soon!
And hopefully I will have some other designs that I am playing around with also posted soon.

August 25, 2011

Nice clean studio. With new layout.

Tory fell asleep while i was cleaning. I think she is sleeping near the dehumidifier because it throwing out warm air

August 20, 2011

Hardly a trace of dye in the rinse water... That's how you know your test of a new steamer design works... Best birthday present! Saving myself tons of money! :)

August 19, 2011

This very cute sun dress is 80 at inVogue

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August 18, 2011

New Technology.

So some of you may have noticed that MarissaInk Online has been going through some changes, I am very sorry to anyone that had issues of trying to get on the website this past week.
With the change over of Layout and color schemes came some new technology. Some things are not quite finished but is working and availible for previewing.

One of the Most Excieting things I think is a new feature called .....
This is a fantastic new feature which allows you to submit ideas to me without having to bother sending me an actual email. [YOU]ink is a simple form that helps me understand what you are thinking and jump start the creative process. Questions include things like: colors, dream design, and what silk items you would like to see available. Also there is a place to attach two photos to give me even more inspiration. [YOU]ink is not a contract and anyone can submit a form, even more than one form. You are asked at the top of the form if you are interested in purchasing your idea or if it only for MarissaInk's sketchbook... 
which brings me to the next feature.........

This is a place for me to put sketches and ideas that I am considering but not yet put on silk. Here you will see a mixed bag of themes and have the opportunity use these unfinished sketches in your custom orders. **At the time of this blog post there are no sketches currently up, but there will be soon, as the final website changes go into place. 
Also there is now a Help page... and I am sure that will be updated and changed as time goes by. This page also has a collection of helpful ideas of how to wear ones scarf, which will also be updated as I am always looking for new ways to help you.


Finally there is the Newly improved Digital Store
Here will be an assortment of what is available to purchase. There are many tabs including: What blanks are currently in stock, and what has been dyed and ready for new owners. The digital store will be continually updated.... and in the event that MarissaInk opens an Etsy store, it will be converted...so you don't have to worry about learning any new links. 
So I think I have covered most everything. Love getting feed back! 


August 16, 2011

On the Road Again

Today was a day of a lot of walking, talking, and learning. My dear artist friend pushed me out into the real world today.... "fly little bird" [teasing]. In fact it was just a overall fun day learning about who and where would be good places for my scarves. We visited about 6 shops on the Zionsville Brick-street. Most of the shops where very nice, and spoke very positively [there was one who had a friend in the shop and so she spent most of her time talking to said friend once she found out we where not interested in buying anything]
But all in all it was a good experience. Some of our original ideas where crossed off as not possible at this time were as other ideas where brought into light.

I am delighted to tell you that some MarissaInk scarves can now be found in the SullivanMunce Cultural Center's Artisan Boutique. And I really hope that even if you can not afford a silk scarf then you will at lest stop in to see a wonderful exhibit on WW2 Stained Glass. [Admission is Free, but donations are welcome to contribute towards shipping costs]

August 10, 2011

Screen Paint

Today is a GREAT day! The weather is amazing!! And I just got the chance to raid my grandma's "closet"...well more like her garage, but same thing right?

You will never guess what I now have possession of.... Hint: Look at the title

Give up? I have three, THREE (3)!!! screens. This are six foot wall divider type screens. So I now can make a U-shaped room approximately  6' 5"x6' 5"x 6'. Today I had a few hours before going to the state fair to paint one side of one of them. Now only 5 more sides!

And where did you get the paint, you might ask? Well for the past two weeks my mom has been sending me to the Toxic Waste Collection Center with some old paints, and I just so happened to still have some left. [I have been taking about 3-5 cans per trip, along with other chemicals..so to not completely overwhelm them with how much Junk we have] So I have some white and three shades of blue that I am trying out.

 The one side that I painted today is light blue [And now that I have the screen inside I can see that its the left over paint from my bedroom, no wonder I liked the color :) ] Sadly, I have about used all it up with that one side.. but thats ok because I envisioned the screens to be either different colors or have light and dark rims. As you can tell ideas are still being mulled around, with lots of testing and just seeing how far the paints will go.

So do you have anything that I could barrow for a mock sale? To remind everyone, I am trying to apply for the Indiana Art Fair at the Indiana State Museum, and one requirement is to have a booth photo in the application.  So I would love ideas, suggestions, and even donations/loans [or point me in the direction] for this booth display.  I have hopes of finding/borrowing:

  •  a dress form, or something similar to display a scarf, technically i only need the neck and shoulders.
  • Mirror, and ideas of how to set it up...full length mirror? small mirrors? 
  • Folding table, would love access to the type that fold in the middle. 
  • Director's Chair, or a folding chair that looks very "classy" for possible Silk Pillow Case display.

August 8, 2011

Rawr... Part Two sneak peak

Ok so its back to the sketch/doodle pad for this next scarf. I am not a huge dino-fanatic... but I am someone that thinks the Phrase Rawr is pretty darn cute.
So I am back again with my little dinos, this time looking at the very popular. T-REX!
So after making SERVAL attempts, I finally got the essence of a T-rex I wanted: realistic yet kinda cute/friendly

Now I just need to figure out the colors. Now usually, I just "See" the colors in my mind's eye and don't really need to plan ahead. But sometimes [very rare] I do actually get out my colored pencils and lay out the full design. This idea is in fact one of the puzzling ones for me and got colored. [I think some of the reasons that I don't color them on paper is that dye colors are hardly ever the same color and I like to me flexible with how things turn out... and I usually don't take the time to "blend" colors on paper... since dyes on silk flow and bleed very easily] 
  So you see my beautiful sketch here, with three colors surrounding Rexy... those are my current visions of background for the main part of the scarf. The camera does change the colors slightly but the three I am considering is dark Red, dark purple, or dark green
The Red in the photo is not nearly dark enough... but looking at what I have here, Im leaning towards the green.  I really wanted to keep Rexy in "traditional" colors of brown, orange, and redish tints. Although real dinosaurs could have been neon yellow for all we know... You would really see that coming at you. no wonder they went existent.

August 7, 2011

Rawr... Part One

Well the newest scarf is fresh off the stretcher
"Rawr" in Royal Blue with a "Large Plant Eater" [Shunosaurus? Saltasuarus? Jobaria? Yeah I not sure which dinosaur you would say it is]

For those of you who have not ever heard "Rawr", its a 21st centry phrase: "Rawr means I love you in Dinosuar"
Some people say it comes from Michael Gondry's The Science of Sleep, Or a children's movie from the 90s... others say the origin of the word is uncharted since it dates back a few hundred million years. 
Either way you look at it, its still a cute phrase and very cute scarf if I do say so myself.  So expect to see Rawr in Royal Blue on the website under "For Sale" soon. Also keep your eye out for Rawr Version Two sometime soon.

August 6, 2011

Climbing up the Ladder...

Today was big for great sales... not only did my favorite store have a 50% off store wide [which I sadly never got a chance to go to] but there where many garage sales. And it just so happens that at one of these fine sales I found the first piece of my future art booth... crossing fingers that I really do manage to get everything in place. 
I also had an opportunity to show off my scarf work to a few of my mother's colleges. [Shout out to the girls with the Blackberry Pie!] 
After a few minutes of conversation, many new ideas have risen which I share here to 
  1. Get opinions... thumbs up, thumbs down
  2. Give a sneak peak into what may be coming out of the Studio
So one of the first things we discussed was of course what they personally would like to have MarissaInk design for them.
Such ideas were: More cars and trucks, Food -such as summer pies, lemons and limes, watermelon; Dogs- head shots with name, mix of breads.
Second topic of the night was how to help MarissaInk branch out and reach more people.
Personalized Weddings! 
  Ok so I have been thinking about this for quite a while in the far off dream of my own wedding. [Nobody Freak.... nothing happening and you already know more than me about it... haha]  But I had thought that it would be really special for a DIY Bride, which I'm sure I will be, to make-- or have a hand in making-- the ties for groomsmen, or shawls for bridesmaids. What a unique gift for them to take from your wedding... and it might even be warn more often then that dress you promised them they could shorten and wear to another event in their life. [Its ok, I have one of those dresses in my closet too.] 
 After all, satin and silk is often a main staple at weddings, so why wouldn't I look at creating something. Even if the bride does not want the item to be worn for the wedding [Who wouldn't?] it would be able to make something completely unique to give their attendants since all MarissaInk items are handmade and thus never perfectly duplicated,.
 *since writing this I have found a great current example of a DIY Bride bringing in Hand Dyed items. In this photo, a bride in Virginia contacted Handmade by Leah to create some hand dyed fabric bags to be used as candy bag favors for her guests. (And look at the blue!!) 
 

August 5, 2011

Cold Blooded... RAWR

This week I went to the Dr for my yearly physical.  And my favorite thing of the whole visit is getting blood work done... YEPPIIIEEEE!! [yeah that's sarcasm]
However I did have a brief oppertunity to share my scarf work with one of the nurses in the lab... Great big shout out to THE BEST LAB TECH, you know who you are!! [My arm only has a little tiny bruise and it only hurt a little bit, so THANK YOU for being so amazing. To fill in everyone else, Nurses seem to complain a lot about my veins. Usually I hear they are too tiny or that they move, so I usually end up with big bruises and a useless right arm for a day or two]

Anyway, not to pressure you if you are in fact reading this, but Super-Nurse was interested in a scarf for one of her "little rascals". Particularly the possibility of a dinosaur one. So with that idea in my head, I keep seeing  RAWR.... so now I looking up if that is copyrighted. But I think even if I never get in contact with her again, I will in fact try to make a cute-chic scarf with RAWR.

August 4, 2011

Antiquing It Up

Did you know that Antiquing is in fact a word? 
"Antiquing" is the act of shopping, identifying, negotiating, or bargaining for antiques. Items can be bought for personal use, gifts, and in the case of brokers and dealers, profit. Antiquing is performed at garage sales, estate sales, resort towns, antiques districts, collectives, and international auction houses.
Note that the word "antiquing" may also refer to the art of making an object appear antique through distressing or applying an antique looking paint application.
Anyway, today I had some errands that took me to Westfield and Noblesville... with a lot of time in-between stops. So what did I do? I looked at displays and went to two antique shops looking for ideas for scarf booth displays.

First up saw this rack with three rows of hooks. It was hanging WAY above my head, so the photo is not the best.

Also saw a lot of laders being used, handy because it is self supporting and yet collapses easily. I am leaning more towards a ladder right now, some where painted to make it less industrious.

But I also saw potential in one of the last things I saw.
Anyone have a guess at what it is?






The skeleton of a lamp shade! They had stripped the outer part and wrapped some ribbon around it.
I thought this was a very interesting idea.... the scarves could then be hung similar to a wind sock, possibly drawing more attention to themselves. Anyone else have any creative and cheap ideas for putting a display booth together?

August 3, 2011

Google This...

First off I want to thank EVERYONE who is reading this [please please please leave me a comment :) ]
Secondly, today has been a very lazy day, one which I have been spending a lot of time reading other peoples blogs. [Welcome to those who are reading this because I started following you today]
Today's google search words were: Art craft booth, art fair, and silk displays
Silk displays didn't really get me very far, but art craft booth did. Found some lovely new people on Blogger that where either new to craft fairs, talked about setting up for craft fairs, or just had advice on craft fairs. This week I received a email from Aunt forwarding me a flier for the 2012 Indiana Art Fair at the Indiana State Museum. The actual event will be in February of 2012 but all submissions need to be in by October.
Because that date is a little farther out then the previous fair [finding out about it a week before due] I am considering it... hence all the Googling... or is it Google-ing?
Anyway, so that being said there are some things that needs to be done before this can happen.
  1. The application requires a photo of the booth setup.
    • Thus I need said booth, and items for "setting up"
  2. I need to design all of the scarf blanks in my current possession,
  3. Also should try designing some of the silk ties I purchased at the Father's Day sale [Thank you Melissa at *Tangible Daydreams* for great blogs about painting ties]
  4. Then once all that is underway, I should finally be able to get:
    1. A Possible Esty store open as a precursor to the Craft Fair
    2. Finalize the cost of production... No more "in the air" costs!
  5.  FINALLY, I will have a working goal. This is the true test of if I can do this.
So now I would love to hear advice from you, or encouragement.

August 2, 2011

Come Fly with Me...

Today I might have been pushed, shoved, catapulted to my next scarf design. As you all should know by now my current designs have been around the theme of Stained Glass. When I was looking up ideas, this beautiful photo popped up and ever since has been pinned to my wall. 

I have not yet created this butterfly design because I honestly was not sure if anyone would really want a butterfly... or that it would not look cheesy. However I think my mind has finally decided that Yes! I should just go for it, I mean what do I have to lose? What was it that changed my mind today? 

Well I was at my Favorite Store and saw this shirt. And I ALMOST bought it Just becaused it looked kinda said in just black and white. [Yes I almost bought a XS that I would never EVER be able to wear, just so I could have the fun of painting the butterfly....sadly I was even trying to justify the purchase  by telling myself Cherry Coke could wear it. If you do not know who Cherry Coke is Click Here ]

So there we are, the next scarf to come off the rack will be a lovely Butterfly. Anyone interested in bug scarves? 

July 28, 2011

Two scarves in one...

Ok so I wanted to show you a little about the inner working of MarissaInk and the really cool thing that I did on wednesday with my Stained Glass pieces. So because I wanted to get a lot done in a short amount of time, I created this really simple stained glass pattern. I had done one simular about three weeks ago, but this time the "pieces" where much bigger and thus allowing less time {AND LESS BLEEDING!!!} 
 So I made one Monday night in Green, Gold and Rose. Wednesday I wanted someone else to pick some colors, because I almost always use the same color... My Favorites! So I wanted some new color combos. Thus we have Stained Glass scarf Two, in Red, Blue and Magenta. 
While i was taking a photo of it to send it to my boyfriend, I had my camera phone on the "negative" filter. So the scarf turned out like this instead



Now I thought those colors where REALLY great together. {Granted its leaning back toward my Favorite colors...ah the teals and blues :) } But I figured... Why not? If you already know the colors are going to flow together, and its right there as if you sketched it, then go for it. So I did.  You will notice that my final scarf is less intense in color. {I had someone tell me that "White Square" was too strong for them, and the point of all this is for someone to purchase them, so I am hoping that the calmer tones will be more appealing}
   








So what you do think? 
As always, MarissaInk scarves are all hands-on... 
Hand mixed dyes and hand painted so each is unique and one of a kind, but  I can try to match colors and designs can be revisited if someone wishes. 
[You sometimes see the same color more then once because I try to use up my leftover dye before making new] 

July 27, 2011

Today's Special Guest



Today I had a friend in the studio.




Tory came down the stairs to see what I was doing. Because I was not sure if there was any poison, or anything else she might get into I found a piece of rope and tied her to my frame.... She didn't really like being tied up, and as soon as Grandma saw her and informed me that there was no poison, she got her freedom. :) But she was pretty happy to just lay under the frame... and tried her hardest to get dye on her.



Last week she was doing the same thing to my Mom, laying under the ladder when my mom was painting our house, and managed to get gray spots. Also I had painted a plank and was letting it dry on the floor... Bad Idea... Tory walked right over it, giving me cute yellow paw prints. Luckily we stopped her on the tarp, BEFORE she put her yellow prints on our hardwood floors.

Stained Glass

For those of you who don't know yet, MarissaInk's current theme is Stained Glass. It was in conjunction with the new SullivanMunce exhibit [and because it was fun]. Also if anyone has been paying attention you will know that set a goal on monday to have at lest 5 scarves completed and tagged for my meeting on Friday. Well it is my privilage to tell you all that i have FIVE FINISHED scarves hanging in my room at this very moment!! And its only WEDNESDAY! {throws confetti and drops a bag of balloons} With that said I might try to make one more for the meeting, not sure yet.

July 25, 2011

"Fair" amount of Fun

So for those of you in Indiana, you probably know about Connor Prairie and the Marsh Symphony On the Prairie.  [If you would like to know more about them, click the links and find out about this awesome place and the events it offers]

Anyway, my grandmother went a few weekends ago, and heard an announcement about a Mini Maker Fair and County Fair being held at Connor Prairie. So I decided to look it up and like everything else I seem to be behind the ball on finding things out. The original application due date was today... but it is in my favor that they pushed it back to July 30th.

Now I have to decide if I should actually go forward and submit the application. It has a $100 deposit and if I want to be a vender, [which I am pretty sure that would be the point of me going] its another $100.
Ok, I think I have gotten my head wrapped around the fact that any promoting is either going to take lots of time and portion of my wallet. The main thing that is stopping me from filling out the application [since their is not even a guarantee that I will be accepted] is the "What we are looking for" on the website advertisement.
Maker Faire is a family fun festival to MAKE, create, learn, invent, CRAFT, recycle, build, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, science and technology.
  • Have a neat hobby, craft, or technique you'd like to share with others?
  • Do you know a craft or technique you'd like to share with others?
  • Built something in the basement your friends and family think you're spending way too much time on?
We want to see it, and we want everyone else to see it too!

What are we looking for?

•    Things that bridge the gap between the technical and imaginative
•    Hands-on activities (i.e. visitors to your booth can make something)
•    Student projects (K-12 or college)
•    Robots
•    Green Tech (energy production/monitoring, electric vehicles, etc.)
•    DIY Science and Technology
•    Old technologies, such as steam engines and other pre-1900 machines
•    Unusual tools, machines, techniques
•    Whimsical technical creations
•    Fixing and/or taking things apart
•    Using historic techniques to make strange or unusual things
We are not looking for arts and crafts that people would normally see in other venues. A display of landscape paintings would probably not be accepted, but a landscape painting robot, for example, will catch our eye. 
So I'm not completely sure Silk Painted scarves fit those categories. Maybe MarissaInk does qualify and I am just scared of actually filling out the application. Your input would be GREATLY appreciated.

July 24, 2011

Friday Friday Friday

[in my head that was more of a big booming announcer guy voice, like for a monster truck competition, NOT Rebbecca Black's Friday song, I am sorry for those who now have that song suck in their heads.... maybe this will make up for it. :)]

Anyway, as I was saying, this Friday, I have a goal to meet. Unfortunately, that is about as far as that goal goes... well not completely. In my mind, I want to have at lest 3 new scarves designed, painted, cleaned and tagged to take with me to my lunch meeting at SullivanMunce. I am thinking of continuing with the Stained Glass theme, so the designing shouldn't be too difficult. However, the painting is where problems have arisen.  As I have mentioned before, my little "studio" is in my grandmother's basement. It is unfinished and I have had problems with the dyes bleeding into eachother in the past. Right now the only fix is to have a dehumidifier run and have a hair-dryer on stand-by. But as a dear friend has told me several times this summer, the bleeds only testify that this is indeed painted by hand. [I hope that you all can think that way too]
So with that said, a minium of three scarves by friday [well actually Thursday night] should not be to hard to manage.
Any thoughts on design? If I find I have more time, what should my next theme be?

Mystery Box

So at 11:30pm on Friday, I was checking my UPS status on my newest art supply order. And to my delight, it said that it had been delivered. Thus, one could have found me in my pj's in the middle of my yard in the middle of the night. :) Yes I was so excited that I could not wait one moment to open the box. {Anyone who knows me, can testify that I was not born with patience}
So after what seemed like 5 minutes of tugging at the tape, I Busted the box open, and voila ...
Yeah I have a really big happy face now..... and a really empty wallet [Come on rain!!! I need mowing money]
So for all of you really eager readers and future MarissaInk owners, there is much to rejoice in!

  • 30!! six foot scarves!
  • 3 new colors of resist: antique gold, red gold, and russet
  • 7 more bottles of dye, with some unique colors: apricot, kelly green, and scarlet red
  • 3 more bottles of resist: black, silver, and clear
  • And 10 more scarf clips!
Ok, so now I need some wonderful people to get the word out that MarissaInk is ready for orders!  Maybe there will even be some kind of reward for those that recommend MarissaInk to their friends. Hmmm.... Possibly a "Buy One Scarf, Get One Half Off"? [I will point out that this does not imply that I will be cutting the second scarf in half... wink] Yeah that might be fun to try. So your mission should you accept it,  is to find one other person who wants a hand painted silk scarf and you could get yours for half the normal cost.** Or you can purchase two for yourself, why not? So send me an email at MarissaInk.

**MarissaInk creations are priced by: supplies + labor time [design difficulty].
Price varies from $25 to $60+, highly dependent upon the design difficulty.   In this BOGO1/2, the Scarf discounted must have a design equal or less complicated then the other.  At this time, prices are determined at finish, but an estimate will be given before project started. Please contact MarissaInk for more details.

July 18, 2011

Introductions

So apparently the newness of blogging has not worn off yet, because I have been sitting here for the past 20 minutes trying to think of something worthy of blogging about. Thus being said I found myself looking at my icon and realizing that you probably have very little background about MarissaInk and my self apointed mascot. So without further adieu, here is the one and only:
Cherry Coke! 
Anyone remember this
can design?
Cherry Coke, aka Cherry, is shown here modeling the first MarissaInk Scarf, "Like a tree".  Cherry stands at 3 feet, 4.75 inches [Cherry wanted me to be exact] and loves being my model. I found Cherry about two years ago, laying on a shelf at my favorite store. I immediately picked Cherry up, not knowing his name, and determined to take him home with me. However as I wandered more about the store, I debated if I should really purchase him or allow some parent to buy him for their child. Like any good saleswoman, I then strategically placed him in a Lazy-boy for some child to spot and started to walk away.  Two steps away, I looked back, and there in his eyes I saw his disappointment on being left once again. And as you well know, Cherry Coke now lives with me.
I am sure that everyone knows what Cherry Coke is named after,  but you might be wondering "Why?" True I do love drinking Cherry Coke, but it is more of that I have a family of Bears and they are all names of Soda-Pop [<- that is to please both the Pop drinkers and the Soda drinkers :)] I take a good look at the bear needing a name and I try to figure out what Pop [sorry, I am a "Pop" person] So Cherry has a redish nose that made me think of Cherry, etc. 

July 17, 2011

Posting on the Go!

Ok MarissaInk is now joining the fun of going mobile! This is the first post of hopefully many that will be typed in this convenient manner. And there is also hope that I will become much better at updating information and posting via mobile apps.

I believe i mentioned yesterday that I placed a new order for supplies. I am hopeful that it will not take two weeks and that they will be able to find my house this time. Last order UPS "could not locate my home". Their excuse was that it was the regular driver taking a vacation and that the substitute must not have known where my house was. I would say that the substitute must have just been lazy.
Anyway so the next task is to Finally get some of my scarves over to SullivanMunce since they seemed kinda interested in having some. For of those that don't know I have interned there two summers and it really is a great place to check out. They currently have a great exhibit on stained glass works that were created from glass of bombed out European churches. Click to go to SullivanMunce's website. 

July 16, 2011

Back to the Future!

Yeah, cheesy I know... but it kinda summarizes this post.

Like I mentioned in the post minutes before this one, I have technically received my first special order about a month ago, for Father's Day. My cousin wanted something special for her dad and I was willing to try anything. Previously that week, there had been a Father's Day sale at Dharma Trading and I had ordered a few ties, though I had never painted on one before. But like anything that you order, you need it sooner then you receive it. So after talking wistfully about making a tie for her, it just so happened that while we were looking for something to jump out at us, something DID.
A whole row of white silk ties at Wal-mart! So we talked it over, and she agreed to let me try. Since I had never done it, and didn't know if it would work we bought two ties.
The best stories are always when you are short on time, thus when I had 48 hours to completely design, dye, set, and let dry, it was crunch time.
The design was pretty straight forward, she had seen my Cars scarf and wanted me to try something similar on the tie. Her father loves Station Wagons, so after looking some up, I was working away with my resist on drawing 1980s Station Wagons side wood and all. Everything went well until the design was all sketched out in resist and it was time to dye, that is when I found out why I cannot just buy clothes at a store. The tie was Stain Resistant! Oh the hilarity!
Every brushstroke I made just sat there in a pool, waiting for me to move the tie and let it run right off. Its  very hard to paint something that is Waterproof with Water Based pigments.
I took a few hours to research online for any homemade solutions to make the pigment stay in the fabric. Finally I settled on painting very slowly, creating a very pale tint on the tie. It actually turned out pretty well, and if someone didn't know the story might even think it was completely on purpose.
Right now, I do have the ties I ordered and have tried a little dye on the back of one, and it flows just as easy as the scarves. But if ever I am in a pinch again, I will know what to expect.

First Special Order!

Ok, so currently I am hot and sweaty [Thank you Indiana Summer!]. I just ran across my field to deliver my first official scarf special order. [Four weeks ago I did have my special order tie, just in time for Father's Day but i will back track to that at a later time]. But anyway this is about my first Scarf special order.

My mother came to me wanting something special for her best friend Betsey [Betsey if you are reading this, Everyone was so happy to see you and thank you for joining the MarissaInk experience] So she came to me and asked if I could create something for her. I told her that it was on one condition, that even though  I have not sold any of my other scarves yet, that I could order more. [we will revisit that topic later, too]

Mom was kinda difficult to work with on the premise that she liked EVERYTHING I sketched up for her. [That's a mom for you :)] After settling on the color blue [I love working with my favorite colors, makes it even more fun to create], Mom gave me the following information about Betsey: she loves the water, boating, being outdoors, nickname Doodle.
I came up with about 6 sketches [and there are some that I will be trying out later, so keep your eyes open for more coming soon].
The final idea chosen was really simple and yet now that I have seen the finished project, I LOVE it! [I'm kinda jealous, Betsey, but I'm sure that you are enjoying it too]
Anyway, so here are some photos of the finished scarf:



Does anyone see the hidden image/word? Leave a comment if you know what it is, maybe you will win a prize.