Feeling all arty farty

Got a bit stuck with the bib as I couldn't decide if it would work better sewn together right sides facing then turned and top-stitched (which I thought might be a bit too bulky with the toweling backing, or maybe left right sides out and edged with coloured bias binding to go with the scooter (I'm thinking red as it would work for either a girl or a boy). Leaning towards the later but, oddly enough, I don't actually have any red bias binding so the whole thing was put aside.

Instead I finally got round to playing with the bleach pen I brought home from The States with me (I did warn you I buy odd souvenirs, didn't I?) It had been sitting in my craft cupboard waiting for the right time to come out and play and after I saw knit-o-rama's bleached dishcloth I had to finally do some experimenting.

The last of the black denim I used for Taph's knitting bag seemed perfect for the job. First try I left the bleach on for about 10 minutes then rinsed. That resulted in the brown designs. So then I reapplied the pen to the two smallest, added the spots and left it overnight. Et voila!

Feeling an arty wank coming on, I can say this piece was created on the approach to the celebration of my 6th anniversary of becoming an Australian citizen so was majorly influenced by this event. You can see the duality of citizenship in this piece with the koru motif representing my New Zealand heritage and the influence of the native Aboriginal dot painting coming through as well. (Do you think I'd get a job as an art critic?)

Or I can just say what was originally just going to be a sample piece may well now become a placemat. Or a cushion.

Oh God, another decision to make.

And a warning if you plan to play with bleach pens. They're strong little suckers. Probably best to wear a white shirt when dealing with them. Definitely not a good idea to wear your favorite old Esprit cotton knitted hoodie...