I have to let you in on a secret: the veil in my Begin Again series was actually just a curtain from Goodwill. I couldn’t find a veil in the style I wanted that looked antique enough. So, I went to my local thrift store and perused the bed sheet and curtain section. When I found the perfect little curtain I bought it for just a few dollars even though it was bright white and new.

When I got it home I brewed a giant batch of tea and soaked the cloth in there for hours and hours. The curtain I got was a synthetic blend and not absorbent, so it took a long time of dying to get anything to stick. Here’s an example of the veil from the series after it was dyed and photographed:

Tea dying is the art of antiquing fabric on the cheap. It doesn’t take a lot of effort or a lot of money to make the new look old. Here’s a breakdown of how to do it. If you try this, please share pictures of the results!

Materials:
Black tea
White fabric (preferably cotton)
Pot + water

Step 1: Unpackage about 20 tea bags of generic black tea. Alternately, you can use loose leaf tea (I might have done that if all that I had was pretty expensive to replace). Use more tea bags for a darker look or less for lighter.

Step 2: Boil a big pot of water, large enough for your fabric to be submerged.

Step 3: Put your tea bags in and soak for a few minutes.

Step 4: Turn off the heat and put your fabric inside the pot with the tea bags. Let the tea bags remain inside for the duration of the dying process. I recommend using the lid so the heat stays in.

Step 5: Wait until your fabric turns the color you want. I recommend at least 30 minutes which will yield the following results:

Step 6: Hang to dry.

Step 7: Use in your gorgeous photography! And show me!

I couldn’t help but be infatuated with the flow of red fabric yesterday, so I opted to try again for an opposite style image. Blue fabric instead of red, and candles burned out instead of flaming. I thought it was a nice counterpart. Not to mention entirely too much fun to freak my neighbors out. Sometimes I wonder if they’ll be glad when I move, or if they will miss me. Sometimes I even wonder if they might find my blog. Doubt it.

For today’s video I’m sharing the setup for this image (and consequently yesterday’s as well!). It has been nice shooting a little bit later in the day (I shot this at 8:30am rather than 5:30am). However, tomorrow I’m back to the early shoots, and it is going to be a FUN one! Instead of shooting really early today, I went hiking instead. I walked with my love along a river and picked blackberries as we went. It was incredibly delightful.

So that said, real life calls today. However, this weekend will be one of no real life whatsoever. I’m headed to Joshua Tree on Sunday and can’t wait to create while I’m there!

I had an epic hike planned for this morning, my alarm set for 4am and the car all packed. My body had different plans. I woke with a lot of joint pain (not to worry, this is normal) and decided to take care of my body a little bit better today. Instead of heading out to the forest, I made my own little studio by hanging a black piece of fabric in my garage! The light was beautiful, and my neighbors were, undoubtedly, suspicious. I was taking a 10/10 in creep factor.

I get asked sometimes how I manage to run a business, take photos, etc. with an illness. (For those who haven’t read previous blog posts, I have Fibromyalgia, and I’m doing fine). Some days are great and some are not. Some days I rock my awesome cane, and other days I can climb a mountain. It varies. And not just for me, for everyone.

We all suffer from something. Mine isn’t very bad. It isn’t comforting to know that there are people who suffer worse than I do, but that does make me shut about about it most of the time. I don’t like to complain or whine or make excuses. I get my work done, plain and simple.

But some days you have to take care of yourself, and instead of overexerting like I used to do, I refocus and plan again. I take a step back and ask what will be better in the long run. Today I didn’t go hiking and I didn’t get to see my beautiful forest, but I had, dare I say, an even better time. I paraded my red fabric clad figure all around my driveway, walking as creepy as I could with my head down, obviously, to scare my neighbors. And I created something I love.

Today, my success looked like a sleep in until 5:30am, a sheet hanging in my garage, and a flame princess. Heck yeah.

To anyone feeling less than your best, mentally, physically, or both, I hope you know it is okay (and rewarded) to take time for yourself, to do what you need to heal, and to put pride in your well being. And, big hugs from me.