Sunday, April 7, 2013

An Un-sticky Situation



Who knew that a sticky film of iron-on glue attached to parchment paper could give me so much anxiety?  Well, it is.  For those of you who love Steam-A-Seam 2, and I am one of them, seems like the Warm Company is having an issue with the release paper that the lovely sticky fusible web sits between. I love this stuff. Maybe that is my problem.  I think I might be addicted. Can’t live without it - or can I? 
Ironing Steam A Seam 2

The sweet girl on the phone at the Warn Company made a sad moan when she heard what I wanted - OK, I NEEDED!  My feeling is that my local grocery store has a lot of parchment paper down aisle 4, next to the foil, on the bottom shelf (that's in case they send a man to find it).  What I mean is parchment paper is EASY to find.  I could tell by her voice that I was going to have to find a new product for doing my art, at least for a while.
I have to either buy up the world's lot or find something different. I have a retreat in a week and half outside Dallas then I fly to Paducah for 5 classes at the big AQS show.  Then, 3 weeks after that the Alaskan Cruise.  I feel like I am trying to get to San Francisco but someone took my car and now I have to walk or ride a bike and I don’t do bikes.
 
Now what?  After I bought up all I could on the internet I realized that I can’t let my art and the technique I teach stop my creativity.  I have lectured all over the country about how mistakes and failures are waiting as aha moments in disguise.  Now I have to practice what I preach and it doesn't feel very comfortable. I hear my words coming back to me. 
 Look at this in a different way. How can I fix this?  Where is my seam ripper? What creative opportunity have I been given to solve.  I will make art even if I am on as desert island. I can’t stop.
Now, mind you, I didn't heard these encouraging  words until after I had a good cry, then got mad and moped around for a few days (I don’t want to leave out the good parts).  In my frustration, I decided to cut fabric for my class kits with the rotary cutter and chopped off the side of my favorite pointer finger. Ouch!
How bad can this get?  8 stitches worth and to top this off, this is the second time I have done this stupid move.  I just want to give up... but I can’t.
My whole life I have had to overcome difficult situations. From not reading until I was in the 6th grade to having people tell me I can't paint my house yellow and wanting to sue me to helping a child who had no one that cared to protect her.   All were painful but all ended well.
This is just applique, not rocket science.  I can try other fusible webs. So, I placed my order for Misty Fuse, which will arrive shortly and Wonder Under is working great.   I just like the stickiness of the S-A-S 2. But, I do have a glue stick! We’ll see. Creativity, I've heard, is the mother of invention.
So, if you are in any of these classes in the next month or so it will be fun to see what I show up with.
My Summer Rose pattern.

If it gets really bad I even thought of going back to, dare I say,  hand applique...
just kidding!