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A collection of creative publishings related to tie dye and sewing. Known for geode tie dye techniques. Corky Lorenz is available for local photography & branding projects. Projects & local visits Corky creates educational tutorials for sewing and tie dye, here. You can browse community events in Northern Indiana, featuring expos, gardens, and festivals, below. What is the cost of admission at Fernwood Botanical Garden? Admission to Fernwood Botanical Garden costs $12 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $7 for children. Kids under 4 get in free. Members visit free all year, and some events or photography sessions may have extra fees. Button November 3, 2025 What is the Sims Education Center at Fernwood? The Sims Education Center at Fernwood Botanical Garden is a library and event space. It focuses on nature education, with books about plants, wildlife, and conservation. It also includes bird watching stations, hands-on learning areas for children, and rooms available for community events and private gatherings. Button November 3, 2025 Is it worth visiting Fernwood after the flowers are done blooming, in the fall? Even after the flowers fade, Fernwood Botanical Gardens stays alive with color. The trails are lined with bright leaves, textured bark, and a few late blooms that prove how well the gardens are cared for. Button November 2, 2025 Pies at the Fernwood Cafe They have fruit pies and hot food pies! Inside the visitor center is the Fernwood cafe, where you can find treats and food made to order. Button November 2, 2025 Model trains at Fernwood Botanical Gardens There are two different train displays at Fernwood. One is inside, in the building where you buy your tickets. The other is a short walk from the entrance, on the trail. Button November 2, 2025 Bird watching at Fernwood Botanical Gardens Follow the trail to the Sims Education Center. It's the grey building with plants on some parts of the roof. Inside, you'll find bird watching stations. Button November 2, 2025 Geode tie dye process notes The geode style is known for crisp lines and concentric bands of color that resemble agate slices. The fabric is tied with sinew and dyed with fiber reactive procion dye. This is a rayon jersey cardigan, dyed with my favorite color combo: citrus yellow, peach, wasabi (dharma), and jet black (jacquard). Sewing Cloth Pads Getting started with how to sew your own cloth pads can feel overhwhelming, at first. Here's a list of links that will be helpful. Download the beginner sewing pattern to get started. Dye Color Swatches This is an on-going project to display a collective dye library , of colors from any brand. See community dyed fabric swatches .

Admission is $12 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $7 for children at Fernwood Botanical Garden. Members visit free all year. Includes membership and event pricing info. What is the cost of admission at Fernwood Botanical Garden? Admission to Fernwood Botanical Garden costs $12 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $7 for children. Kids under 4 get in free. Members visit free all year, and some events or photography sessions may have extra fees. Fernwood memberships are available for individuals, couples, and families. A membership includes free daily admission and reciprocal access to many other gardens across the country. The herb garden and a common backdrop for wedding ceremonies at Fernwood. Locally, that includes Wellfield Botanic Gardens and Potawatomi Conservatories, both excellent companion destinations if you enjoy plants, trails, and calm spaces. Special events like LIGHTS at Fernwood may have separate admission pricing. For the latest discounts and details, visit Fernwood’s official website . The indoor fern conservatory and model train display. Corky Lorenz November 3, 2025 Fernwood

Discover the Sims Education Center at Fernwood Botanical Garden, a peaceful library and event space featuring nature books, bird watching stations, sensory play areas, and modern design. What is the Sims Education Center at Fernwood? The Sims Education Center at Fernwood Botanical Garden is a library and event space. It focuses on nature education, with books about plants, wildlife, and conservation. It also includes bird watching stations, hands-on learning areas for children, and rooms available for community events and private gatherings. The Sims Education Center at Fernwood is basically a library with many interesting and eye-catching books about plants, wildlife, and preservation. Some of the books look like knowledge you wouldn’t be able to find easily anywhere else. The education center also has several bird watching stations with binoculars and chairs positioned in front of large windows. You can sit and watch birds land in the trees or near the feeders outside, which makes it a peaceful stop during your visit. There are multiple seating areas, including one room with a rug and rock-shaped pillows that look like a toddler’s dream. The rock pillows match the rock stacking activity in the same room, creating a fun balance between sensory play, exploration, and learning. It feels thoughtfully designed for families. If you have multiple kids, it’s a great spot to rest while they explore in a contained, safe space. Whether you’re just arriving or taking a break from the trails, the education center offers a calm place to plan your next activity at Fernwood. This building also serves as an event space for weddings, receptions, and private gatherings. Each room has a different capacity, and the atmosphere fits everything from small meetings to elegant celebrations. I especially liked the lighting design and the use of raw materials in the flooring, simple but sophisticated in a way that suits Fernwood’s natural setting. Corky Lorenz November 3, 2025 Fernwood All Articles

Even after peak flower season, Fernwood Botanical Gardens in Niles, Michigan is worth visiting for its fall leaves, late blooms, and scenic walking trails. A quiet, colorful place for anyone who enjoys trees and seasonal change. Is it worth visiting Fernwood after the flowers are done blooming, in the fall? Even after the flowers fade, Fernwood Botanical Gardens stays alive with color. The trails are lined with bright leaves, textured bark, and a few late blooms that prove how well the gardens are cared for. Surprisingly, for November 1st, there were still a few flowers in bloom at Fernwood Botanical Gardens which is a testament to how well they maintain the foliage and gardens. Plants don’t last long if they’re dehydrated or neglected, so having anything blooming right now is incredible. But mostly, what you go for this time of year are the fall leaves and changing colors. It’s genuinely enjoyable to walk the trails and see the variety of tree species, noticing how each one changes differently. Some leaves go from green to yellow to orange to red, while others stay green longer. The shapes and colors make it feel like a living field guide to trees. If you enjoy trees, this is a great time to visit. The few flowers that remain are just a bonus. There are also other attractions like the train displays, art exhibits, and indoor collections, more than enough to fill a visit even when the main blooms are gone. Corky Lorenz November 2, 2025 Fernwood All Articles

Here’s how the RecPro team lifts new air conditioners onto the roof of an RV to install them. How do you get a new air conditioner onto the RV roof? There are 2 main ways that people get the AC lifted up to the roof. When it’s available, they use a forklift. Most people use a ladder and help to slide the box up. Last week, at RecPro, the content team was recording new install demonstrations for air conditioners. I noticed that they coordinated with the forklift operator to get the units up and down faster. They would take it out of the box and lift it up and down. In the past, the team would use a ladder to move the whole box. Without unpacking it, 2 people pulled from the top of the RV, while one person pushed from the bottom. I’ve even seen videos of an RV tech getting the AC box up the ladder alone, with careful technique. Corky Lorenz October 7, 2025 All Articles RV

A small patch of stuck shed on a hognose snake’s head or eyes is common and usually clears up on its own. A simple moist hide with damp moss helps loosen it safely. What should you do if your hognose snake has stuck shed on its head? Sometimes a hognose snake will finish shedding its body but still have old skin left on the head or eyes. This is normal and usually clears up on its own once the snake has access to a little extra humidity. In the main image, you can see that the snake has some shed sticking up on its head. The rest of its body had already finished shedding cleanly. My friend said the only other spot that can sometimes hold onto shed is the very tip of the tail, but this snake just had it over the eyes and forehead area. When a snake has a bit of stuck shed, my friend said he’ll just put some moist sphagnum moss under a hide in their enclosure. The snake can go in and out as it wants, and that extra humidity helps loosen the shed naturally. It’s not something you really need to worry about. Just make sure they have a humidity option so they can take care of it themselves. In this image, you can see what the snake looked like about a week before shedding. The scales have a translucent, cloudy layer sitting on top of them, that’s the skin that’s about to come off. I took that photo with a macro lens because at around five months old, baby hognose snakes are still small enough that it’s hard to photograph them clearly with a normal phone or lens. Corky Lorenz November 2, 2025 Hognose Snakes All Articles

Photos from John Chausmer Reptiles at the 2025 Tinley Park NARBC Expo. Featuring striking boas and ball pythons on display, photographed by Corky Lorenz. John Chausmer Reptiles at Tinley NARBC Expo This vendor brought an impressive variety of boas. The patterns and colors were striking. I was happy to be able to walk up and observe this boa up close. John Chausmer Reptiles brought an extensive display of boas and ball pythons to the 2025 Tinley NARBC Reptile Expo . I passed by their table twice and was able to catch a closer view of this gorgeous orange snake. Thank you for holding him out to get the fun photo! They are active on Facebook and their own website . It seems like this breeder has a long history of documenting his work. When I searched online, I came across several youtube videos that you might be interested in watching if you are considering acquiring a new snake. Corky Lorenz October 14, 2025 Tinley NARBC All Articles

Explore the Sims Education Center at Fernwood Botanical Gardens, where kids can rest, read, stack rocks, and use binoculars to watch birds through the large viewing windows. Bird watching at Fernwood Botanical Gardens Follow the trail to the Sims Education Center. It's the grey building with plants on some parts of the roof. Inside, you'll find bird watching stations. When we first started walking through the trails at Fernwood, we weren’t really sure where we were going or what we would see. One of the first things we came across was the Sims Education Center. The new Sims Education Center, used for workshops, weddings and private events. We wandered inside and were delighted to meet someone at the front entrance who welcomed us and was very friendly. She let us know that we could explore the education center and take a look at the bird viewing area or the library. There was also an area for rock stacking, which looked like a lot of fun for kids. What was really neat to see was how many stations they had set up for bird watching. There were large windows with binoculars and chairs so you could sit and wait for birds to come to the feeders outside. The stations for watching birds I imagine this is a great space for field trips or if you’re visiting with your own kids and want to keep everyone in one place. Guests can look at books, bird watch or stack the rocks, or the rock pillows. It’s a nice little rest spot where everyone can take a break during a walk on the trails. Corky Lorenz November 2, 2025 Fernwood All Articles

The Fernwood Café in Niles, Michigan serves pies from the Grateful Pie Company along with breakfast and lunch options. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside Fernwood Botanical Gardens. Pies at the Fernwood Cafe They have fruit pies and hot food pies! Inside the visitor center is the Fernwood cafe, where you can find treats and food made to order. When I arrived at Fernwood Botanical Gardens and paid for my admission ticket, I noticed the café to the right of the visitor desk. I wandered over and saw their cute little pies in cardboard boxes. Someone working in the café greeted us, and we decided to sit and order a chicken pot pie. I was glad to get a snack before walking the trails because I didn’t realize how long we’d be out there. It was nice to have a little energy boost before seeing the trains and walking the trails. The chicken pot pie was delicious, and I ended up getting the lemon lavender bar for dessert, which was also really good. The pies are made by the Grateful Pie Company, which stocks its pies in the café. You can buy them to go or sit down and order a slice. The hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and they serve breakfast all day as well as lunch foods. Corky Lorenz November 2, 2025 Fernwood All Articles

Tinley Park Reptile Expo photos coming soon! If we met in person and I took your photo, it will be uploaded in 2-3 days. Corky Lorenz is a photographer from Elkhart, IN. She will be visiting the Expo on Sunday and plans to take photos of displays, rare animals, and vendors. This page is meant to be a fun way to share the photos with the person who brought the animal. There is no charge for the images. If you see one of yourself or your business, you are welcome to use it on your social media or website. Tag me so I can see where it ends up! (@corkylorenz on all platforms) For press or PR use, please contact Corky . Corky Lorenz October 10, 2025 Tinley NARBC All Articles

The farmer’s market held its first ever evening event which featured live music and a variety of vendors present for shopping under the string lights. Mishawaka Market Under The Lights For the first time, The Mishawaka Farmers Market was held at night. Vendors and guests enjoyed the overhead string lights along the riverwalk. The Mishawaka farmers market is a very popular event on Sundays throughout the summer season. When they posted on Facebook that they were holding an evening market under the lights, I was intrigued. I just happen to be available that evening so I headed over and hoped to get some pretty pictures with the sun setting and the string lights overhead. Parking was kind of chaotic because there were so many people trying to park at one time. I told my friend that it felt like there was a swarm of cars trying to find parking spots. If you’re going to the farmer’s market, you need to make sure that you don’t park in one of the residential lots that is marked only for those residents. I ended up parking on the street a few blocks away and didn’t mind the walk back to the Riverwalk. It seemed like the two hour event was very popular and people were really enjoying themselves. There were a ton of dogs, which is always fun to see, and there was a live music performance that people enjoyed listening to while watching the sunset. The Mishawaka farmers market is a very popular event on Sundays throughout the summer season. When they posted on Facebook that they were holding an evening market under the lights, I was intrigued. I just happen to be available that evening so I headed over and hoped to get some pretty pictures with the sun setting and the string lights overhead. Parking was kind of chaotic because there were so many people trying to park at one time. I told my friend that it felt like there was a swarm of cars trying to find parking spots. If you’re going to the farmer’s market, you need to make sure that you don’t park in one of the residential lots that is marked only for those residents. I ended up parking on the street a few blocks away and didn’t mind the walk back to the Riverwalk. It seemed like the two hour event was very popular and people were really enjoying themselves. There were a ton of dogs, which is always fun to see, and there was a live music performance that people enjoyed listening to while watching the sunset. Corky Lorenz October 5, 2025 All Articles

A Josh’s Frogs employee offers water to a chameleon during the NARBC Tinley Park reptile expo. A calm, close-up look at reptile care in action. Josh’s Frogs employee offering water to a chameleon at NARBC As I was passing the display, for Josh’s frogs, at the Tinley Park Expo, I noticed a delightful interaction. A chameleon happily catching drops of water from a paper towel being squeezed. Corky Lorenz October 13, 2025 Tinley NARBC All Articles