Wolf's Den

I dunno...

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:32:07 GMT

Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, but the new scarf is a disappointment thus far.

It took 3 tries to get something other than burnt orange, and it's still not a deep red like I wanted, but is more of a scarlet red with darker areas and lighter areas.

I've just started pulling the strings out, only one Kumo design is showing up so far, clearly, the other few are so faint as to be almost nonexistant.

Not happy with it.

Maybe it'll get better when I get it all pulled out and wash it again. Maybe the design will show up better. Who knows.

But right now, I'm not happy with it.

And it was supposed to be a wedding gift. Now, I don't have the time to do another.}:(

I ... just dunno.

New Shibori Scarf...

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:29:30 GMT

From this, the one on the right is the finished scarf. The one on the left is being worked on now...

To this... Scarf was 14"x72" by the way...

To THIS... hard to believe that large of a scarf tied down into something less than a foot long and 3 inches wide...

To soaked in soda ash solution, then dunked in blue Procion MX dyes, allowed to dry, then rinsed and allowed to dry again...

To pulling out the strings, two days later...

To washing again and ironing it flat (this was wet)...

To the finished product. This is Kumo Shibori. This is awesomeness.}:P And makes 5 types of Shibori I have attempted and succeeded in varying degrees.

As yet unnamed, so as yet unlisted.

Work in progress

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:46:51 GMT

I dyed 3 silk scarves 2 days ago, 2 Habotai and 1 Crepe De Chine. I was trying for a nice rich golden ecru color. Well, only one of the three came close. This isn't that one. Heh.

One the dyehard email list, they were discussing Shibori and the 'Kumo' or spiderweb method that someone else had a specialized tool for creating this style with. So we were brainstorming how to do this method without that tool.

Yesterday, I asked Mark to stop by the store and pick me up some string on his way home. All he could find was Jute twine. So that's what I'm attempting on one scarf to see if it'll work.

It's a slow process, and I've already given myself a blister. Add to this, the silk is 14" wide and 72" long. This is going to take awhile.

Hopefully it'll all be worth it.

New scarves at Artfire and 1000Markets, as well as updated photos of others.

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:19:09 GMT

First up is the new scarves.

'Water'
13"w x 68"l
100% Crepe De Chine Silk

* * * * * * *

'Water' is a hand dyed 100% Crepe De Chine silk scarf, carefully dyed in the Arashi Shibori method.

Available HERE or HERE.

'Under the Oaks'
Hand dyed Silk Scarf
11"w x 60"l
100% Habotai (China) Silk

* * * * * * *

'Under the Oaks' is a unique hand dyed and sunprinted 100% Habotai silk scarf.

Available HERE or HERE.

'Boneyard'
Dark Series III
11"w x 60"l
100% Crepe De Chine Silk

* * * * * * *

'Boneyard' is a unique, hand dyed 100% Crepe De Chine silk scarf, that has been carefully dyed in the Arashi Shibori dyeing method, using Procion MX dyes. It was then discharged, and overdyed again with Procion MX dyes, resulting in the unique colors and patterns you see.

Available HERE or HERE.

The following scarves have updated photos...

'Northern Lights'
100% Habotai Silk
8"x54" flat, 6"x54" pleated

Available HERE or HERE.

'Witching Hour'
100%Habotai Silk Scarf
8"x56" flat, 6"x56" pleated

Available HERE or HERE.

'Autumn Splendor'
1st Annual Dante-Inu Commemorative Birth Day scarf
100% Habotai Silk
11"x60" flat
10"x52" shibori pleated

Available HERE or HERE.

'Dreaming of Autumn'
100% Crepe De Cine silk
FLAT- 11"x58"
Ruffled-3"-4"x58"

Available HERE or HERE.

I'm working on one more new scarf at the moment. Then that may be it until after the first week of August. I have some beadwork pieces I need to finish and get listed.

Sneak Preview

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:42:05 GMT

Sneak preview of 2 new silk scarves- one in crepe de chine, the other habotai. Hope to have them listed for sale by Monday.

New Silk Scarves Listed.

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:22:41 GMT

Witching Hour by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

'Witching Hour'
100%Habotai Silk Scarf
8"x56" flat, 6"x56" pleated

Third in my new Dark Series, 'Witching Hour' is an Arashi Shibori, OOAK hand dyed silk scarf, with hand beaded points, using sterling silver seed beads, Fire polished Austrian crystals, silver-grey rounds and silver tone, heavy skull and crossbones charms.

Black as the deepest hour of night, with hints of deep blue and silver from Pearl Ex powder suspended in fabric medium, then dry brushed on and thoroughly steam ironed for durability, this unique piece is perfect for wearing as a neck wrap or even a stylish belt.

Available Here

Northern Lights Silk Scarf by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

'Northern Lights'
100% Habotai Silk
8"x54" flat, 6"x54" pleated

Hand dyed using Procion MX dyes, this gorgeous, OOAK silk scarf was Arashi shibori wrapped, then discharged, then over dyed again, giving it a myriad of depths to the colors.

Within one scarf, you'll see deep navy, blacks, indigos, violets, silvery whites, even pale blues and lavenders in the folds.

Available Here

And finally, the Hand Dyed 100% Cotton Bandanas-

Akita Rescue Bandanas by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

100% Cotton, Hand dyed Banadanas
32" on long side, 21" on short sides
To be hand stenciled with Akita Stencil at ' point', in choice of Silver, or Gold.

These cotton bandanas are lightweight, hand dyed and easy to wear. Perfect length for not only wearing wrapped around your hair, but also as a neck kerchief.

Dyed using Procion MX dyes, and to be hand stenciled day of purchase in your choice of either Silver or Gold.

100% of the proceeds from each bandana sold goes to benefit Akita Rescue.

Your choice of colors-

A- Firey Oranges
B- Bronze and Loden
C- Cinnamon and Clove
D- Vanilla and Plum
E- Turbulant Ocean
F- Oak and Nutmeg

Available Here

more coming soon.

This annoys me to no end.

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:36:37 GMT

The general misconception that simply because some of the supplies can be cheap, the finished product needs to be as well.

How do I put this...

I do this for a living, or try to. I KNOW what they cost. I also know exactly how much certain fiber reactive dyed for use with those scarves cost, what it takes in terms of my time and my energy to create ONE of my scarves. I also know how much it costs to simply list a scarf and sell it (20 cents to list, 3.5% of the sale, on Etsy), as well as how much it cost for packaging that I use and what it costs to ship.

Now, given this is my JOB, if I don't pay myself, then, yes, I could probably sell a scarf for roughly 20.00 and make a profit. Especially if they or I don't donate anything.

But given that I value my time, my energy and my talent far more than that, and given the fact that I donate 50% of my proceeds from each sale, I simply cannot sell a scarf at bare bottom prices. Which is what a lot of people do.

Yes, Dharma is relatively cheap, IF you only buy the Habotai, IF you only use certain sizes. I don't just use Habotai, I don't just use the smaller sizes. I use Crepe De Chine, Stone washed Crepe De Chine, Habotai, Charmeuse, etc, etc... as well as a wider range of sizes.

That adds up.

Then you add in the cost of certain fiber reactive dyes, that I do not buy from Dharma, and in order to get any sort of profit from THOSE, you need to buy in large quantities, and for certain colors, THAT adds up.

Add in Soda Ash, Synthrapol, PVC pipe for Shibori if you decide to go that route, string for shibori, Thioxurea for discharging, beads, FireLine, charms, semi precious stones, whathaveyou if you decide to embellish them, whatever soap and fabric softener you prefer to hand wash your finished piece in after rinsing the excess dye out, your water bill, your electric bill, and gee, it's not simply 5.00 to create one scarf anymore.

But customers don't see that. They see a gorgeous scarf at a low price, and they see another gorgeous scarf at a higher price and automatically want the cheaper price. And expect that everyone should sell at the cheaper price.

That's where I'm coming from.

Yes, it is a nice thing they are doing, donating their profits, etc. But for them, this appears to be mostly a hobby.

I don't.

I do this as my job and people coming in saying, oh it only costs such and such amount to create one of these, is wrong. That would be like telling a famous painter that because their paints were so cheap, that their canvases were so cheap, they should sell their artwork cheap too. It doesn't work that way.

Let's break $20.00 for one scarf down-

I mean breaking 20.00 down...

That's-

2.00 for the scarf blank.
2.00 for the mailing of said blank to you.
2-3.00 for a 2oz container of ONE Procion MX dye color, depending on the color, of which you can get maybe 2-3 scarves out of IF you skimp on the dye, so say 1.00 for dye.
maybe 10.00 for the water and electric you use to dye the scarf.
maybe 50 cents -1.00 for packaging, depending on packaging.
then 2-3.00 for mailing if you just stick it in a plain envelope and go regular mail.

Total- 18.50-19.00. You make ONE DOLLAR. That's it. That's not even minimum wage.

That's not even paying yourself for your time or the cost to list the scarf.

IF you list the scarf at 20.00 on, say, Etsy. Well, there goes another 20 cents right off the bat. You sell the scarf, there goes another 25-30 cents, roughly. You use PayPal for receiving payments, there goes ANOTHER 25-30 cents.

That's another 70-80 cents.

You make exactly 20-30 CENTS. That's it.

Could you make a living on 20-30 cents per item sold? I sure as hel can't.

Road Trip!

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:43:07 GMT

Heading to New Jersey with Caena, Mark, sister in law, the bro in law and niece tomorrow morning.

Going up to have an early Thanksgiving with the parents in law.

Kind of hoping they have snow, so I can get pics of Caena playing in it.

Should be interesting- 4 adults, a 7 yr old and a 5 month old puppy in a Chrysler Town & Country minivan (rental, my idea) for 8 hours...

Sooo I'll be back Monday.

Next week, I have 4, possibly 5 silk scarves to photograph and list, as well as the cotton bandannas. Thinking of running a End of year sale too, to try to clear out a bit of stock, so stay tuned for possible discounts on my silk scarves, chainmaille and beadwork.:)

Have a great weekend. Don't do anything I wouldn't do... which isn't much. Most of all, be safe out there.

Dante-Inu Commemorative Birth Day Scarf

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:53:33 GMT

Autumn Splendor by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

This stunning silk scarf is the 1st of the Dante-Inu Commermorative Birth Day Scarves. Only one a year will be released, every November. No two will ever be alike, in coloring or style.

Autumn Splendor, close up by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

ARSF Auction Scarf II

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:01:55 GMT

ARSF Auction scarf II by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

ARSF Online Auction Scarves

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:50:02 GMT

At nearly any given time, various Akita Rescues ae trying to raise money to offset costs. Relying mostly on donations, you can imagine how difficult this task can be. One type of fundraiser they do is online auctions.

Recently, I donated 2 silk scarves to the ARWNY auction. Well, I put it out there that I could and would, gladly, donate scarves to other Akita rescues who would be interested in some for their auctions.

Akita Rescue Society of Florida (ARSF) recently took me up on that offer. Their auction will be held, online, around the beginning of next month. I will post the direct link when it becomes available so you can bid on these scarves if so inclined.

Remember, all proceeds go directly to the Rescue's funds and aids in the care, and rescue of Akitas in need.

Both scarves are 100% Habotai (China) Silk, 15"x60", hand dyed, hand stenciled.

Scarf #1-

Scarf #2-

Eventually, I may duplicate the colors, but definately not the patterning or stenciling, of these scarves. So that makes them One of a Kind, Unique, as per usual.
Again, the ONLY place you can get these particular scarves, will be via ARSF's online auction.

If you like what you see, but don't want to wait, keep an eye on my shop, Dante's Spirit, for future scarves in these scarves' color schemes. Currently, now through Dec 31st, 50% of each sale in my shop, will be donated to Akita Rescue.

ARWNY Annual Raffle, tickets available now!

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:21:28 GMT

Remember these scarves?

Well, if you really like them, now is your chance to buy tickets for the raffle in which they will be given away.

Akita Rescue of Western New York is holding it's Annual Akita Picnic/Fun Day on Sept 13, 2008. At this picnic, raffle drawings will be held for a wide variety of Akita related and non Akita related items.

My 2 scarves will be raffled off as a set. You can own these 2, OOAK , 100% Silk scarves, for mere dollars in the grand scheme of things.

So buy your raffle tickets now. Buy LOTS. all proceeds benefit Akita Rescue.}:)

We're buying a good amount and putting them towards the dog bed/toy basket.}:) Our next Akita won't want for toys if we win. Heh.

And remember, these scarves won't be offered up anywhere else. If you want a silk scarf, and want to help a good cause at the same time, there are still Dante-Inu Memorial Scarves available. 2 Silver and 11 Copper. 50% of each sale goes to Akita Rescue.

Newest Scarf...

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:14:20 GMT

Murder and Mayhem by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

I did say I was going dark...

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:56:25 GMT

Tree Frog by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

Doobie doobie doo....

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:31:12 GMT

So 2 of the 3 scarves are ready, photographed and waiting for their photos to be finished with editing, so they can be listed in my shop.

DawnFire is taking abit longer as I'm doing something somewhat elaborate with the beads on that one.

Did finally decide to go ahead and list the variation of Cosmos I and II (see-here for example) , so that'll be listed as well. The variation is that this one doesn't have the sponge painting.

Ok, back to editing photos.

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:29:13 GMT

DawnFire, WiP, closeup by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

Trio, Work in progress....

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:47:25 GMT

Trio is 3 different Habotai silk scarves I am currently working on. Fresh from the pole, 2 are Arashi, 1 is Bomaki.

I'm also working on another beadwork piece, as yet to be named.

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:09:50 GMT

Polished Brass, finished by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

(OH YAY! It worked!!! WooHoo! Rock on, Squeaky!!!!!)

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:36:44 GMT

Polished Bronze I by *WolfSilverOak on deviant ART

For those that are interested...

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:15:11 GMT

Ocean Dreams has been listed for sale.

I have 3 more in various stages, that should be ready by Friday(listed by Friday, photos as soon as Thursday afternoon), in 3 different color palates. So keep an eye out. First come, first serve. Remember, there is only ONE of each. Colors can be duplicated, but there will never be another one of the very first ones.

Every once in awhile...

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:21:33 GMT

I create something that just blows me away. That completely catches me off guard and vastly exceeds my highest expectations. That makes you not want to stop taking photos of it. Today, a piece has done that once again.

I wrapped this silk scarf the same night I wrapped the Water shibori. I just unwrapped it today.

I let it completely dry, then rinsed the hel out of it while still on the pole, washing it with synthrapol as well, to get as much excess dye out as possible. When the water ran clear, I let it drain, then laid it over the heater vent to dry over night.

I had a name for this piece before I even had it dyed. I knew what I wanted and how I wanted it to look. I got that and so much more....

This is 'Ocean Dreams.'

11"x60" 8mm Habotai China Silk scarf, IF it was ironed flat. Right now, it is 3"x58", before I add the beaded ends on the points. Hand dyed with Procion MX Desert Green, folded and Arashi Shibori pole wrapped then hand over dyed with Procion MX Mixing Blue.

After I add the beads, it will be for sale in my shop. I will most definitely be creating more.

Newest Scarf Listed

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:01:21 GMT

Fossilized III