Enchanted Art

On Vacation

2011-01-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

Life has been increasingly busy, so I am needing to take a vacation from making art.

This may sound counter-intuitive. Usually when life gets busy and stressful, I find that making art is a release and a relaxation for me. Over the past 18 months, being so fatigued with my pregnancy, and then busier and more fatigued with the new baby entering the mix--I just can't keep up with everything. My work (and income) have suffered, my kids are complaining about "Spaghetti Again?" for dinner, my house is an overrun cluttered mess, etc.

It has become frustrating and disappointing for me to look forward to some art time, only to have a cranky baby and not be able to get to my project. I am not complaining about the baby. He is a sweetie and a treasure--my little bonus baby, and the last one we will have, so I am enjoying this small window of time. But he is only 9 months old, and requires a lot of time and care, on top of my other daily duties with the other two kids, work, husband, house, etc.

So, in order to really enjoy where my life is now, and not resent the responsibility, I need to reasses my daily goals. I'd rather give up art time for a little while, and not feel like I am failing when I can't get to the projects that I want to do.

I have 1200 unread messages in my inbox--mostly from art Yahoo groups. I am going No Mail for awhile on many of them, keeping up with Art Charms and Collage UnLeashed, and a couple other small local groups, but that is about all I can handle right now. I just can't keep up with it all right now.

I am hoping to return to "normal" this summer, when Fletcher is a little bit older, the kids are out of school, and we can play outside. I might pop in here on my blog now and then, but I might not. I don't want to have the stress of wanting to post more frequently, and then not having time to. I'd love to be able to blog a couple of times a week, but that is just not in the cards right now. I hope that you all will join me again when I am back up and running!

I am also going to be concentrating some more time and energy on my neglected quilt pattern business. I began designing and publishing patterns in 1999--I can't believe I am going on 12 years! But I haven't produced much of anything new during the past few years. I am still building up my website, and I would like to continue to get my products listed on the site and develop a new pattern or two this year. I have a few things on the "drawing board". So, I guess that will be a creative outlet, but pattern design is a little different than just my art play time--it is more technical and I have to think about marketing, packaging, production, etc. Anyway, you might be interested in seeing my business website Elizabeth Anne.

I hope that the rest of you will be able to have a creative 2011, or possibly take time off to do what you need to do.

"I'll be back".

School Auction

2010-12-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

Every year, my son's preschool has an auction to help raise money for the school. These are a couple of the things that I made to donate--polymer clay pendants on an organza ribbon and cord, plus a couple of quilts.

One of the local quilt stores, The Quilt Works, kindly donated the tops, and I provided the back and batting, quilted and bound them. We all had a fun evening bidding on items and raised a bunch of money to help the school!

Bead Storage

2010-11-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

The subject of Bead Storage came up last week on the Art Charms Group. I thought that I would share with you my very unique first bead storage system--Skoal chewing tobacco cans!

I started beading as a freshman in high school, using tiny size 12 seed beads. As a young person, I didn't have a lot of money to spend on bead storage--I wanted to spend my money on supplies. Some of my guy friends chewed tobacco (yuk), but I discovered that the cans snapped shut tightly, and were just the right size to hold a hank of beads. Plus, they were cheap--I paid my friends .05 cents to save them for me. I would wash them out and put the beads in. The only disadvantage was not being able to see through the green tins. But I typed out labels (yes, on a typewriter), and taped the labels to the cans. I still use these cans for the older stash.

My newer stash, though, is color coordinated in the clear plastic compartment containers that you can get everywhere. I have about 3 shelves stacked with beads and wire in my living room!

In the Kitchen

2010-11-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me well, know that I am not a very good cook, nor do I particularly like cooking. So why did I spend a good portion of my time last week in the kitchen? Crafting of course!

I have been very busy whipping up some new batches of what I am calling "Silky Bath Salts", which are a mixture of salts and oils, as well as making some scented Hot/Cold eye pillows and neck pillows--sewn with my own hand dyed Sateen or Silk/Cotton Radiance fabric!

Here are some of the blends that I've been "cooking up":
Lavender/ Pink Grapefruit
Desert Sage/ Sandalwood
Vanilla/ Lavender
Peppermint Stripe and
Holiday Blend (gingerbread, cinnamon, and vanilla)

What I don't sell at the craft show will make great Teacher Gifts, I think!

Where Has the Time Gone?

2010-11-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

I need to get more recent pics off my camera and onto the computer--I am so bad about that--but meanwhile, here is a quilt that I made from start to finish for a customer who will be donating it to raise money for a dog rescue. I was pleased with the outcome. I hope it will bring lots of money for such a good cause!

Wow, its been several days since I posted about the CED. I have been absolutely swamped with my longarm quilting business responsibilities--it is my busy time of year, getting quilts completed for my customers to give as Christmas gifts, plus working on new class samples for January-April, and quilting a few class samples for other teachers! But, I have been making at least a bit of time every day to create, sort of....

Saturday--no problem! My own little craft night while watching TV with DH. I worked on some charms for the Blue, Silver and White swap on Art Charms.

Sunday--Totally wiped out from working on the longarm all day. After I got the baby down, again, I sorted through some of my polymer clay buttons that I am planning on selling at up coming craft shows.

Monday--Not a very creative day, not much time. Cranky baby = cranky mommy. I spent a few minutes cutting down some quilted book covers--again for the craft shows.

Tuesday--Better. I put the baby in the backpack for about an hour and jazzed up some of my hand dyed scarves with metallic fabric paint! Fun, and so invigorating!

Wednesday--Varnished my paper beads for the Autumn charm swap on Adornmentz. Painted some papers that I will be using in my mini art journals, plus spent almost an hour sewing the edges on about 10 books--that was huge! I kept expecting the baby to wake up again, but he let me create! Good boy!

Today--The kids were off for Veteran's Day, so what better than to take a trip to McD's and craft ! We were there for about 2.5 hours, and I finished my Autumn Charms. Off to get a little more work done tonight....

CED Day 5--Much Better!

2010-11-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

...Some recent painted canvas pieces. I'll use these for book covers, bookmarks, jewelry, and maybe even a purse.

Oh, what a difference a day makes! My son was sick last night, but today--all better! I don't think it was a full stomach flu, just some little bug. So, thankfully, we are all currently healthy in this house.

Plus, I had a more creative day today. The two boys ( age 4 and 6 months) and I "played" outside this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, about 68 degrees, just perfect weather! I got out some dyed scarves that needed a little something more, and was able to stamp metallic copper leaves on about 7 of them. My 4 year old played in the mud, made mud pies for me, and instructed me in playing a Goblin Trick or Treat game, which I could do while I was painting! I hung up the scarves to dry on our awning, so that the baby could watch them float in the breeze. My scarves do have a few little mud splatters on them, when my son got a little to enthusiastic with the mud, but I think they will wash out, if not, I'll keep them for myself!

And, I will catch up a little here, posting some projects that I've been working on this past month.

Fabric Earrings for the "My Favorite Things" swap on Adornmentz.

Dangles that I made for a swap on Art Charms--I used polymer clay beads that I have made.

CED Days 3 and 4

2010-11-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was NOT the most creative day ever! Got off to a bad start--my son's preschool called early to cancel school for the day due to the teacher's having the stomach flu. While I am glad that my son didn't get it (knock on wood), it was kind of a bummer because that meant I had to miss my monthly Mixed Media Mavens meeting, which I was looking forward to. Can't expect a 4 year old to sit quietly while a bunch of women gab about art!

So, I had my hands full with the two little boys home, then early release day for my daughter. The afternoon was spent gathering up my supplies and samples to teach my Art Quilt Embellishment class last night. I am always frazzled getting ready for a class like that! It was fun, but a little stressful from a teacher point of view--I always want to make sure I am not forgetting anything! We played around with different ways to embellish with beads and buttons, plus Shrink Plastic, Fun Foam buttons, Model Magic and rubber stamps, wire wrapped beaded dodads and more!

Home by 9:00 to finish getting the kiddos off to bed and feed the baby. By 9:45pm, I was out in the garage finishing up a quilt on my longarm machine for a customer. I have a bunch of work deadlines looming and am feeling stressed about that. Back inside by 11:15, just in time for Baby to wake up again! Off to bed at 12:15, having done no real creating except for the few minutes that I was demo-ing during class. I guess that that will have to do!

Preschool was canceled again this morning, so I do have the two boys at home. But I am going to try to sneak in some creating after lunch, before I pick up my daugher from school.....

....Later that day.....Oh no, my son has the stomach flu! It came on this afternoon. He hadn't eaten much all day, said his tummy hurt at lunchtime, and was a little "off" all day. It came on just after dinner. He is sleeping now, but I am on alert.

On the creative front, I did get a few minutes to work on my daughter's Christmas present pink, white and black quilt before my son got sick. That's something!

CED Day 2

2010-11-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

No pictures again tonight, you guessed it...sleeping baby in lap. But, I did have some creative success today. Fletcher slept for 1.5 hours this afternoon--woo hoo--so I took advantage of that quiet time to sew some art journal covers. I am using a couple of them as examples for my embellishment class tomorrow night, and also making them for the upcoming craft shows. I used some of my rust dyed fabrics, and on others my silk or sateen hand dyeds! It was great to get my hands on some fabric and sew again. It feels like its been awhile.

Create Every Day (CED) Day 1

2010-11-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Not able to take pictures just now (sleeping baby in my lap), but I did want to report on Day 1 of the Create Every Day Challenge.

I was able to squeeze in a little bit of painting on canvas today. I work on pieces about 15 x 20 inches or so, just painting "art cloth", not a picture of anything. If I leave the piece on my kitchen table, I can add layers to it throughout the day. Usually I do 3-5 layers. Using acrylic paint, it dries very quickly in between layers. Each layer takes no more than 15 minutes, so it is the perfect way to sneak in some art time in between chores, or when I only have a few minutes.

If I can get the baby to stay asleep, I can sneak in another 1/2 hour of art time before my bed time!

BTW, I have a link section off to the right of other artists who are participating in the challenge. Go check them out! And if you would like for me to add your link, leave me a comment here.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

My 8 year old dd painted hers like a Vampire--she was a vampire as well. My 4 year old ds made his pumpkin silly with "Mr. Potatohead" halloween shapes--note the mouth on the back of the "head"! I had a little fun with my pumpkin this year. Rather than messy carving, I took my trusy Sharpie pen and made a spider web and spider family. Notice the Mommy and Daddy spiders, plus 3 littler ones representing my 8 year old, 4 year old and 6 month old.

Create Every Day

2010-10-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

Peggy K. has issued a challenge to artists to Create Every Day during the month of November--read more about it on her blogpost here. I am joining her challenge!

Usually, creating something, however small, is part of my every day life as it is, just to release the stress of the day and refocus my energy. I feel better when I am creating. This past year, I have found it difficult to create every day. First, with the pregnancy, I was so tired and something had to give just so that I could keep up with the basics. Now that I've got a 6 month old, my creative time is still pretty minimal, but I am finding ways to work it in--like taking the kids to McDonald's playland and bringing along my supplies to make charms while they play!

So, I am making the committment to create every day for the month of November. I probably won't blog every day, but I will be sure to give you a run down of what I've been working on. I've got lots of projects lined up:
Autumn Charm Swap
Blue, White and Silver Charm Swap
Class Sample for Embellishing on Art Quilts
Hand Dyed Scarf Swap
plus, making lots of goodies for two craft shows coming up in November and December. I've got my work cut out for me!

Experimental Resin Swap

2010-10-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in another swap at Mixed Media Art Friends. This time, the challenge was to experiment with resin, and make charms--not necessarily jewelry charms. I made bottlecaps (kind of tradtional), starfish in resin circles (using a painter's palate as the mold), and some freeform resin dangles that were tinted and embedded with embellishments. I added a little copper wire swirl to these--fun! Haven't gotten back the swap yet, but I am looking forward to see what else everyone came up with.

By the way, my 8 year old daughter was enthralled with the starfish charms, so I had to make her an extra as a necklace for her B-Day. She loved it!

My First Mail Art

2010-10-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is the first set of Mail Art that I've ever done. I am participating in a mail art Birthday swap on the Collage UnLeashed group. Basically, you send a decorated envelope with some goodies inside to each participant during the month of their birthday. My B-Day is Dec. 27th, right around the corner, so I am looking forward to getting some pretties of my own in the mail.

These pictures show the fronts (with the flower and leaf stamps) and the backs (Wish) on the back. I used acrylic paint throughout. It was fun, but a little challenging to keep the envies from getting stuck, and keeping the adhesive strip on the back dry. Its tempting to decorate all of my outgoing envelopes now!

Shades of Autumn

2010-10-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is the latest batch of hand dyed fabrics. After I dyed them, I thought "what's with all the brown?" Then I realized that maybe it was a subconscious decision since Autumn is upon us, and these feel to me very much like the Shades of Autumn in New Mexico.

Hand Dyed Vintage Lace

2010-10-01T11:53:00.001-07:00

I "inherited" some vintage lace from a friend who was clearing out some of her mother's craft supplies. Great stuff, unfortuneately, most of it is yellowed and age stained. I've been sitting on it for a year or two, and finally decided to try dyeing it. I love the results! It is much more useable and enjoyable now. I have a plan for it....I will be unveiling soon.

Here is the lace along with some other fabric that I dyed, being rinsed out in the sink. It looked so pretty, all a-swirl with color!

And some of the dyed laces here.

Hobby Lobby

2010-10-01T11:51:00.001-07:00

You know you go to Hobby Lobby too often, when the check out clerk sees your baby and says, "Oh look, its baby Fletcher!"

The New Capri Sun Bag

2010-09-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

The Capri Sun (or Kool Aid) bags are so cute, but to be honest, the pouches are a pain in the *** to sew with! They are thick, slick, and don't ease at all like regular fabric does.

So I have been playing around for some time now, to develop a user friendly way to sew with these little guys, and I think I've got it! Here is the new version of my Capri Sun bag, using oil cloth as the top, handles and bottom. I like the oil cloth because it is easier to sew on, and I can make matching handles. It has the same bright and fun colors that the pouches come in, and it is waterproof and easy to wipe down with a damp cloth.

This size works great for a lunch bag or medium size purse. I am going to make some bigger ones with more pouches for a larger purse.

Hand Dyed Gradations

2010-09-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, two posts in one day! I'm on a roll.
I have been busy dyeing fabric this summer, but haven't taken much time to post pictures. Here are a few of the gradation sets that I did. They are seven step gradations, with two "parent" colors, and the "children" are all of the shades that these two colors produce.

I used complimentary or almost complimentary colors for several of these sets, to get the interesting browns in between.

The weather is starting to cool off here, so I am hoping to get a little more dyeing in within the next week or two to last me through the winter! Then, I am planning on focusing more on quilting and other surface design like painting, stamping and silk screening.

I am offering these sets on my Etsy site if you are interested.

Rust Dyed Fabric

2010-09-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

I love the look of rust dyed fabric, the earth tones, deep rusty color, and the visual texture of the fabric.

I had done a little rust dyeing about 2 years ago with some friends, and wanted to do more this summer, so I borrowed a big box of rusty things from my friend Donna, since I don't have the stuff laying around the house. I have done several batches on cotton dyer's cloth, and a few silk scarves (forgot to take pictures of those). I need to get back to making quilts, instead of just making the fabric, so I thought this would make an exciting quilt or two!

Here are some of my favorite pieces of fabric. Now, I will let them sit and "talk" to me for awhile, and see what I can come up with for a quilt design.

Hand Painted and Dyed Silk Hankies

2010-09-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I have several projects that I've made but haven't blogged about. I've been really lazy with taking pictures and posting. But I had some time this afternoon while the kids were playing and the baby was napping (in the Snugli pouch of course!), so I edited a bunch of photos.

Here are a few silk hankies, about 12 x 12 inches, that I had dyed last year. I wanted to play around with adding paint to the silk scarves, so I decided to experiment on the smaller hankies.

The orange one was done with a foam stamp for the rectangles around the edge and a paintbrush for the other parts, using Lumiere paint. I love the Lumiere! My skill with a paintbrush leaves much to be desired though.

On the other hankies, I was using black acrylic paint in a syringe, trying to "draw" with it. But I had very little control over how much paint was coming out of the syringe. I had to move very quickly. I hate the brown one--I'll have to over paint/stamp something on it. But that's how you learn, right?

My DH has been keeping up with my blog--Hi Hubby!

What's Your Rainbow?

2010-09-03T09:10:00.001-07:00

Apparently, mine is shades of Violet.

Your rainbow is strongly shaded violet.

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Mixed Media Postcard Class

2010-08-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Something else I've been working on this month is making samples and kits for a class I taught last week--making Mixed Media Postcards--with an emphasis on sewing/quilting. We are using materials like cotton fabric, burlap, hand dyed silk, scrapbooking paper, painted papers, recycled papers, painted dryer sheets, painted batting, sheers, buttons, beads, painted paper towels, yarn, vintage ribbon....you name it! You should have seen the look on some of thier faces when I explained the painted dryer sheet and paper towel bit. It is so much fun to introduce people to new materials and a new way to view art materials. We had a blast in the class. Here are some of the cards I made as samples.

This one features a dyed paper towel leaf on decorator fabric and taffeta.

On my own silk hand dyed fabric.

Great focal fabric, on a gold and orange joss paper, and embellished with beads, ric-rac and vintage ribbon.

This flower and leaf were made from collaged paper fabric and other papers. Dragonfly brad.

Another fun focal fabric, with an African flare.

Dryer sheet leaves with beaded embellishments. I love the translucent effect of the leaves.

Dyeing in Jars

2010-08-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe its been a month since I've posted! We have had a crazy busy summer, with the new baby, visitors here, plus a trip to Denver to visit family. But, I have been able to get some fabric dyeing in. I like to dye outside on my picnic table (covered with plastic), while the kids play in the yard. I can keep an eye on them and chat, but still have some Mommy play time too.

I still need to take pictures of the fabrics, but I did snap a shot of my new dyeing system. My friend Jan has been swearing by canning jars instead of ziplock baggies for doing low water immersion dyeing. After some frustration with the bag thing, I invested in 24 pint size jars. It is so much easier to spoon the dye concentrate into an open mouthed jar! I think I like this system, though the jars take up more storage space then my baggies did.

Anyway, my 4 year old son really likes it when we go out back. The other day he was whining at me, and I couldn't understand what he was saying. Then he said very clearly and loudly, "Mommy, I just want you to die!" I thought, oh my gosh, what have I done to make him so mad at me, and then realized he meant "dye". Too funny!

Buttons, Buttons

2010-07-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Still having fun with the polymer clay buttons. I have been playing around with marbelizing, spirals, color gradations and making different canes.

Albuquerque Folk Art Festival

2010-07-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to post about this--did forget my camera, so had to have a friend send pics. Two weekends ago, my dye group--Dye Fusion--and I were invited to display our work in the Fine Arts building at the Albuquerque Folk Art Festival. The five of us were able to hang about 20 quilts and our 3-yard pieces of batik and dyed silk. I think the room looked great if I do say so myself!

We got to meet a lot of nice people, and talk to them about our work. I also met a very nice local business owner who is interested in having me teach dyeing classes at her shop, so when I work out the details I will let you know in case you are local and want to come play! Here is my friend Lynn, a member of the dye group, setting up our pieces, and a picture of a few of our quilts.

Splotchy Dyed Fabric

2010-07-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Been having some fun in the back yard in the hot hot New Mexico weather here--dyeing fabric, of course. These are some "Splotchy Dyeds" that I have recently made. I love the way the colors play next to eachother. It is always a bit of a surprize to see how the colors migrate and blend. I love these! Can't wait to cut them up and make something with them. These are two 1 yard pieces and a detail shot of each.

More Painted Canvas

2010-06-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pieces of painted canvas that I have been working on. I am hoping to cut into them tonight to get going on my book covers, purses, and maybe some collaged mini books that I need to make for an upcoming swap.

Painted Canvas

2010-06-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the work of Alisa Burke, I have been playing around with painting on canvas. This appeals to me for several reasons:

--It is something that I can do while watching the baby. I can put a quick layer of paint on the canvas, and then I wait for it to dry for a couple of hours. Each layer takes maybe 5-15 minutes, so if he wakes up from his nap, I can stop what I'm doing and go get him right away--not like when I am immersed in dye!

--I can use up some of my old acrylic paint, some with a label on it from 1991--yikes! I have some old "dusty colors" that don't appeal to me anymore, but I am finding that if I mix it with another color, or use it in a layer in conjunction with other colors, it works just fine. I am trying to use up this old stuff to make way for some newer, vibrant colors.

--I can get my "art fix" without a big commitment of time or materials--both of which are running short.

--I enjoy working with the fabric after it has been painted. I am in the process of making some little art journals and notebook covers with this stash of canvas.

--It gives me an opportunity to play around with different color combinations, tools, and some of the stamps that I have made myself.

What do you think?

So Many Pendants!

2010-06-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a collection of some of the pendants I have made recently.

I have been noticing lately, all the stuff I have made that I can't use myself--I just have too much. But somehow, I can't stop making it. How many pendants does one woman need? How many earrings, bracelets, journals, bookmarks, scarves, fabric, etc? I have more than I could wear/use in a lifetime, and yet, I still make more. It is more about the artistic process, getting into the zone when I am creating, than about the end product, I think, although I usually like what I make too. Am I rambling???

I have also had to make some changes to my artistic habits since the arrival of the new baby. Namely, I don't have as much free time, and second, I have to be able to drop what I am doing at a moment's notice if he wakes up and needs me. He isn't in enough of a napping routine that I can count on when or how long he will nap. He also likes to be held, and notices when you put him down in his crib and wakes up.

So, I am listing more of my creations on my Etsy site. Killing two birds with one stone. First, I can let go of some of my creations and pass them on to good homes with people who will use and enjoy them, and second, I can take photos and list items on Etsy while I have Fletcher in the front "Snugli" carrier. He's happy, I'm happy. So, that's what I've been up to lately.

Mixed Media Necklace

2010-05-27T10:20:00.001-07:00

I made this necklace during TV night a couple of weeks ago. The central pendant is one that I made awhile back with polymer clay, and there are two matching polymer clay beads too--I love the copper/ patina look. I added copper wire squiggles with an assortment of beads, and linked them all together. It was fun to make, and I was happy to be able to use some of my polymer clay beads in a finished piece.

Spring is in the Air!

2010-05-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

Catching up on some posts here. Fletcher is 5 weeks old now--where has the time gone? He is doing great--loves to eat--and is growing nicely. My 7 year old dd loves loves loves him, and my 4 year old son is pretty enchanted with him, though he won't admit it!--and will tell you that he is allergic to babies! But he is a pretty proud big bro.

I am anxious to get back into some art making. Harder to do these days, but I am trying to fit small bits in here and there. I just get cranky when I don't have time to be creative, so it is an important part of my life that I need to make time for.

Anyway, here are a couple of swaps that I did in April, right before I had the baby, but didn't have time to post yet. The charms were for a Springtime Charm swap on Oh So Charming, and the papers were for a Springtime paper swap on Collage UnLeashed. The papers were painted and stamped, and the charms were made with shrink plasic, and the other set with polymer clay.

Welcome Baby Fletcher!

2010-04-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

He's finally here!!! Fletcher Quinn was born April 14, 2010 at 1:46 am. He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long--the smallest of my three children believe it or not--but he was almost 2 weeks early--so he'd probably have been a 9 pounder at full term!

Labor and delivery went very well. Funny story--I was actually teaching a quilting class Tuesday night, having contractions the whole time, but I was determined to do the class--yes, I am that stubborn! Came home about 9 pm to find that the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart, so I was at the hospital by 10 pm, and had little Fletcher less than 4 hours later. It went so fast, such a blur.

We are recovering well. Fletcher is a snuggle baby, loves to eat and be held. Not sleeping for very long periods of time yet--he tends to get a tummy ache 30-45 minutes after eating, and fusses for awhile, then I get him settled and its time to eat again! But I know that will pass, so I am just enjoying having him as such a tiny baby for this short time.

Knitting

2010-03-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Something about being pregant makes me want to knit--this happened with my son 4 years ago, and the result was many, many knitted scarves! This time, I am breaking free of my rectangle, and I have learned to knit a simple hat. This is the second one that I made, this one for my daughter. I am starting Baby's next!

The Latest Batch of Polymer

2010-03-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest batch of polymer clay buttons and beads.

I made some bracelets with some of the polymer clay beads that I have made over the past year or so. Sometimes when I am making these little beads and buttons, my husband will look at me and say, "Are you actually going to DO anything with all of those?" The answer is YES! And here they are. I made all of the little jump rings, eye pins and clasps (except the toggle clasp) out of wire.

Batik Silk and Cotton

2010-03-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

Still been puttering around, though less and less with Baby coming soon--just been too darn tired to do much more than work and family. I have been able to get some dyeing done. The 6 pieces here are cotton batik, and a couple of close ups. These pieces are 18 x 22 inches.

I also love to dye silk scarves and yardage. This red and orange one is a small section of a 45 x 108 inch silk piece that is currently on display at the Rio Rancho Esther Bone Library--a project that I am doing with 5 other ladies in my dye group. I am planning on incorporating some of these silk dyed pieces into my art quilting, so I am excited to do that when I have a little time!

The silk fabric dyes so beautifully and feels so soft and smooth, but is a little expensive to play with. I have a bunch of scarves that I've dyed that I will list on Esty as soon as I can get the photography done--that's a whole other challenge--but I will post when I have those ready.

Mini Art Journal

2010-02-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

This is a new mini art journal that I made using some of the paper fabric (see earlier recent post) for the cover. The inside cover is fabric, and there is batting in the middle to make it like a little quilt. The inside pages were all hand painted and/ or stamped. This is a small size to carry in your purse to jot down little inspirations. It is about 3.5 x 5 inches folded. I also made the polymer clay button that I used for the closure. These are so happy and fun to make. I am working on several to have for sale at an Art Quilt Exhibit opening night, where several artists will be participating in a Mercado, and to list in my Etsy shop.

Machine Quilting Fun

2010-01-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of things that I have machine quilted on my longarm machine recently. This first picture is of a border that I did on a customer's quilt. She had a very simple southwest star design in the center, and then this fabulous feather border print. She wanted the feathers to be outlined so that they really popped out. Took forever, but worth the effort I think!

This next piece is something that I did for myself. Remember those 1 yard hand dyed gradations from a couple of months ago? Well, I wanted to actually USE one, so I made a quilted tote bag. This is the front and the inside lining is the white part, which is actually not seen in the finished bag, but shows off the quilting design a little bit better. Did I remember to take a picture of the finished tote? Of course not--and now it is hanging at the Bernina store since they are selling my hand dyeds. So....I'll have to wait until I get it back or make another one. But I was pleased with the finished tote, and it was very gratifying to have made the whole thing from start to finish.

Paper Fabric Bookmarks

2010-01-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

I have been working on making several sheets of paper fabric to turn into bookmarks for a swap that I am participating in on the Mixed Media Art Friends group. This is my first swap in months--since I have been otherwise distracted recently--so it felt good to get my hands dirty again! Kelli Perkins has been doing a workshop through the group based on her wonderful Stitch Alchemy book, and is also hosting the swap.

Art Quilt Workshop

2010-01-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

These are the first two quilt samples that I made for a class that I will be teaching beginning in February at Ann Silva's Bernina Sewing Center in Albuquerque. We are working our way through the Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston. Each month, we will be focusing on a different aspect of creating an original art quilt. My quilts are all going to be 9 x 12 inches with the theme of "flowers and leaves". The theme is up to each individual student, but by selecting a theme, it makes for a cohesive body of work, and a way to focus in on an idea. The sign ups have been good so far, and I am really looking forward to teaching this class, and seeing what my students come up with!

State Fair Quilt Challenge

2009-12-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

Catching up on posts:

This is a 20 x 20 inch quilt that I made for the New Mexico Quilter's Association fabric challenge at the State Fair this past September. We were given 3 fabrics--the focal asian flower piece, the batik purple stripe, and the peachy and gold print. We had to use a "recognizable" piece of the focal print, plus one or more of the coordinates. The quilts had to measure 20 x 20 inches.

I always like those simple geometric squares, so went with that idea as the basis of my design, and then complimented the angular squares with the organic focal floral.

Life Changes

2009-12-28T09:51:00.000-08:00

Nope, haven't fallen off the face of the earth--just got pregnant! I am now 23 weeks along, and dispite being in the "honeymoon" second trimester, am still feeling extremely tired with ongoing nausea. So, needless to say, that is where my attentions have been these past few months, instead of making art.

Here is a picture of the little guy--yes, it is a boy! My 7 year old daughter is excited about the baby (though she was hoping for a girl), but my 4 year old son is not so excited--a little worried about the baby coming in and taking over his toys. But he seems to be slowly warming up to the idea as we are assuring him that he will get to keep his own room and his own stuff! He is starting to put aside some of his old toys for the baby--how sweet.

I have also been really busy the past couple of months with my longarm quilting business, because people have a lot of projects that they want completed for Christmas gifts or to enjoy themselves before the holidays. For the past couple of months, I have been barely keeping up with family, work, household duties and emergencies (like my washing machine overflowing and flooding our garage and my workspace), and trying to get enough rest, so my late-night art time has gone bye-bye.

I have really missed it though, and now that the busy season is over (even though I am still behind schedule), I need to add some of that art making time back into my schedule. This has been a light week, with company here and enjoying the holiday with the kids, I haven't been working in the garage in the evenings like usual. Instead, for the past couple of nights, after the kids have gone to bed, I have been able to bring out my hand dyed fabrics and begin two art quilts that I am hoping to enter into a quilt show next month. I feel out of practice and out of the groove, but it felt so good to cut, sew and press that fabric!

Hopefully, more art to come soon!

More Bleach Discharge

2009-10-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

These are some pieces that I made about a month ago, but have been so behind in blogging....
These were done a little differently than my process before. I used circles and leaves as "masks" and sprayed bleach on the fabric to get a resist effect.

These were folded and then the edges were dipped in bleach. Lots of different shapes you can get with folding.

This one was a shibori wrap that discharged a little too quickly! It is mostly brown, rather than its original black. Subtle, but a neat pattern.

Now I've just got to DO SOMETHING with it!

Thimbleweeds Quilt Retreat

2009-10-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in September, I was lucky to be able to go to the Thimbleweeds quilt guild annual retreat in Jemez Springs, NM. I went last year as a teacher, but wanted to go back this year to play!

The class I took was Pet Portraits with a great art quilt teacher from Santa Fe, Holly. I was a little too intimidated to do a fabric portrait of my dogs Anya and Coco the first time out, so instead got a couple of books from the library on fish. These are my results from the weekend.

This one is almost finished--just need to add some beaded eyes and maybe some bubbles.

The goldfish top is done, but not quilted. The fun part with this one was adding the non-cotton fabrics for the seaweed.

Just a fun fish "portrait" with a gilted frame--an African fabric that I had just enough of. I hand dyed the background, and the black and copper fins are black fabric that I bleach discharged to reveal the coppery areas.

I'm Published! x 2

2009-09-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

Getting into the back to school routine has really cut into my play time! I end up spending about 2 hours a day shuffling kids to and from school, then work while they are gone, in the evenings, and on weekends. So, my brain has been pretty much fried--too fried even to make much art. BUT....

I have been published in two different publications in the last month. The first is the Jewelry book that several artists collaborated on: Jewelry Beyond Time. Get more information and a link to order with a $5 off coupon here.

The second time was quite a surprise, as I have two jewelry charms in the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. I participated in their charm challenge earlier this year, but hadn't heard that my pieces were going to be published. Of course, I didn't take pics before I sent them, so you'll have to look in Issue 26. I'm on pages 51 and 56, with charms #3 and #57.

Hand Dyed Rainbow Fabric

2009-08-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

This summer, I have been dyeing a lot of fabrics, as you have seen a glimpse of in a couple of previous posts. This technique has become one of my favorites--making a rainbow type gradation from one color to another.

The top 2 pictures are detail shots to show how the colors blend. The other pictures are of the full pieces--about 36 x 44 inches--so you end up with quite a large piece of fabric to work with. I love how the colors blend into each other. Even with planning the colors and order, the end result is always a surprize how they blend--like a unique fingerprint. I can't tell you how many trips to the fabric store I have made this past month for PFD (prepared for dye) white Kona cotton! Total fabric addict here!

Shibori Hand Dyed Fabric

2009-08-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

As I was loading the pictures for the last post, I saw these pictures that I don't think I posted before. These were done with my dye group friends--the top ones are batiked and dyed fabrics, and the bottom one are various fabrics done with several traditional shibori techniques--fabric folding, pole wrapping, etc. I have had too much fun dyeing fabrics this summer!

200th Blog Post

2009-08-20T15:23:00.001-07:00

Apparently, this is my 200th blog post! Wow, who knew I had so much to say and share!

I am just popping in to post a couple of little canvas projects that I recently made, inspired by Alisa Burke's cool free-wheeling style. I simply painted plain duck canvas with acrylic paints, drizzled more acrylic, and added a little glitter (who can resist?) and a little faux graffiti writing with black sharpie. I turned them into a reusable notepad and pen mini portfoli and two simple bags with a zipper closure--about 6 x 10 inches or so. They are turning out to be great travel bags for little bead/ wire work projects or for sewing notions.

Weekend Sewing Retreat

2009-08-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

Catching up again. A couple of weeks ago, a friend invited me and another buddy to her cabin in the Jemez mountains, about 1.5 hours NW of Albuquerque. We spent a long weekend there, working on our quilting projects, watching the hummingbirds on the porch, taking a small hike here and there, and all-in-all having a totally relaxing girls weekend.

Mind you, I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old, so they got to spend some quality time with Daddy, while I enjoyed some much needed peace and quiet.

I was also very productive. Got 3 full quilts assembled (I had all of the blocks done before I went up). Here are two of them:

Party's almost over. School starts for one kid on Thursday, so its early mornings and rushing around time again. I think that this is the first summer that I haven't been looking forward to back-to-school. I've been having too much fun dyeing fabric in the back yard while the kids make mud pies, and "chocolate milk", and lakes, and moats, and snail habitats. My longarm quilting work schedule kicks into high gear when the kids go back to school, so I guess I'm just not ready for that yet. Oh well, it is coming, ready or not!

Parfait Dyeing

2009-08-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

I do have one more vacation to post about, but I thought that I'd get some art stuff on first. This is the other thing that I like to do during the summer time when the kids are home: fabric dyeing. I can set up the tables in the back yard as dyeing stations, and be out there with the kids while they play.

This time, a couple of friends and I played around with "parfait dyeing", which is a layering method of one fabric and color on top of another. The colors seep down to the bottom layers to create wonderful effects!

I am totally addicted, and have another trick up my sleeve that I will show in a couple of weeks when I get some new supplies in. Meanwhile....check these out! Which is your favorite?

Next Stop: Carlsbad Caverns, NM

2009-08-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Our second trip for the summer was to southern New Mexico visiting Carlsbad Caverns. My father in law, sister in law, and brother in law all came here to celebrate my FIL's 70th birthday. I had never been to the Caverns, and was a little bit apprehensive, as I am quite clausterphobic, but I am telling you, these Caverns were AMAZING!

We went on Friday night to the Bat Flight, where something like 20,000 bats fly out of the cavern in a spiral pattern to go out for their nightly hunt. No pictures allowed there, so you'll have to use your imagination.

The next morning, we went to their once annual Breakfast With the Bats--to see the bats fly back into the cave after their big night out--and as part of the first 100 people there, we were able to go on a lantern light tour of the caverns. These caverns are huge--we went 800 feet down, in sprialing switchbacks through different cave "rooms". During the lantern tour, things were VERY dark! Not fun to carry a terrified 3 year old through! But a very unique experience. So, afterwards, a couple of us went through again with the trail lit up this time.

I would definitely encourage all of you to go check them out one day--and as a bonus, you can stop in Roswell, NM which is about an hour away, and see the UFO capitol!

Summer Vacation

2009-08-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

This summer is just flying by! Particularly last month. The kids are out of summer school, and we have been gone for 3 weekends in July, so I am recapping finally. The photos are in somewhat random order, because I don't feel like wrestling with Blogger to get them rearranged.

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Iowa for a family reunion. The weather was very atypical for July in Iowa, thank goodness, and we spent a lovely several days with overcast skys and light rains.

One of my favorite sites was seeing quilt blocks painted on several of the barns throughout the countryside.

My grandparents were farmers--this is a picture of their old barn. Its seen better days, but still has so much character. I remember going to that barn as a little girl to help Granddad feed the cows and the barn cats!

And who can resist a little bit of Nature's Color Palate?

Surprise--More Polymer Clay

2009-07-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

Surprise! I've been working with polymer clay! Not surprized, huh? Yes, the obsession continues. For the past several weeks on our T.V. night, I have been dabbling with polymer clay as we catch up on our shows from the week.

These are some of the latest products: Blue and copper leaf beads, buttons and dangles. And here is a bracelet made with some of the tube beads.

DH finally asked me, "So what are you going to DO with all of this stuff?" So, I whipped up several pairs of earrings:

Added some wire spirals to a few for a little extra touch.

Painted Fabric

2009-07-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some samples of the fabric that I have made using Rayna Gillman's "Create Your Own Hand Printed Cloth" book doing the workshop on the Artist's of the Round Table group. The past two weeks, we have done silk screening and gelatin printing.

I had a little trouble with paint seepage under the stencils on the silk screen, but I am planning on adding some more layers to hide those little mistakes!

The gelatin printing was fun. I did some on fabric, and some on paper that I am going to use later for some of my little art journals.

Needle Felted Book Covers

2009-07-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

Playing around with my new Embellisher--these are a couple of medium size (5 x 6 inch or so) book covers. Just plain felt--cut out the shapes and went to town with the Embellisher. Added a few seed beads for interest. I am amazed at how much the original black background piece shrunk with all of the needle felting! I have since purchased some black duck cloth (canvas) to try the technique on again, as I know that the canvas won't shrink up much. Still have to add the pages, but thought I would post my progress.

What I Made With the Art Cloth

2009-07-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is the piece that I made using some of the Art Cloth that I created a couple of posts ago. The blue piece of fabric under the circles is what I just made, and I also used a couple of other pieces of painted/ stamped fabric, including the brown fabric with black stamped design on the top left(from a black bleach discharged fabric), and the red triangle fabric (batik), and the rust/ navy dyed fabric on the bottom left.

I used the polymer clay buttons that I have recently made as embellishments. Its fun not only to make the art cloth and buttons, but to actually use them in a project!

Coming Soon--Jewelry Beyond Time

2009-07-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that I will have a jewelry project published in the soon to be released book: Jewelry Beyond Time. Be sure to check in at our Latest Trends in Mixed Media Arts website for more information.

Not So Boring Polymer Clay

2009-06-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Went back to polymer clay last weekend--this time with some more exciting colors! Had a lot of fun playing with the different colors, making some patterns, mixing colors and doing some stripes and marblizing. I made a faux jade which looks better in person than in the pics, and was fun to do. I made a bunch of buttons to use on journals and art quilts, and some dangles and pendants to make jewelry out of. DH got me a book at the library, so I am reading that over to build my skills. I've got some more ideas to try out this weekend.

Art Cloth

2009-06-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

I have been doing more surface design on my fabric lately. Taking hand dyed fabrics a step further, and adding more dimension and visual texture to them with paint--stamping, squirting, stenciling, etc. I am currently hosting a painted fabric swap on Collage UnLeashed--where we are swapping 8.5 x 11 inch pieces of fabric using one or more of Traci Bautista's techniques that she lists in her book. Plus, I am working through Rayna Gilman's book, Make Your Own Hand Painted Cloth on A.R.T., so the stars are in line with fabric painting these days!

Here are two pieces of fabric that I have recently done. I used a combination of stamps, stencils and found objects.

Capri Sun Bag

2009-06-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

So....what's in YOUR dishwasher? A couple of days ago, mine was filled with a bunch of washed Capri Sun bags waiting to dry--great tip from my friend Donna. I have used many kitchen appliances for crafting, but I think that this is the first time that my dishwasher has played a part.

So, after all of the bags were washed and dried, I used 12 of them to make this bag. Not too bad for a first try, but I learned a valuable lesson--don't try to make a gusset by sewing the bags right sides together, sewing diagonal corners, and turning the bag inside out. It was a major PITA to turn it inside out! So, my next bag will be different.

I gave this bag to my 6-year old daugher, and now all of her little friends at summer school are requesting bags--oh my!

Bleach Discharge Line Drawings

2009-06-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some more bleach discharge experiments. I wanted to see if I could get some finer control over where the bleach went. This time, I used Electrasol liquid dish washer detergent with bleach, and put it into an empty glue bottle. It was a little bit too thick to get through the nozzle, so I had a little bit of a hard time squeezing it through, but not bad for a first try. The piece that is in the upper left, I did by squeezing a large amount onto the countertop, and swirling it around with my rubber faux finishing tool, and then laying the fabric on top. Got my counter nice and shiny too!

Painted Flower Quiltie

2009-06-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest quilt for the online class that I am taking with Terri Stegmiller. The background and flowers are all hand painted. This piece is a little bit larger than the previous ones, about 13.5 x 17.5 inches. Fun to mix different media and to do the different techniques that Terri lays out. She goes over a lot of different paints, resists, and alternatives. Fun class!

Polymer Clay Beads, Buttons, and Bangles

2009-06-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

I am pretty new to polymer clay, but I enjoy playing around with it. I made a batch of beads, buttons and bangles, with various textures and colors. You can click on the picture to get a better view. I just joined a couple of Yahoo groups to try to learn more about polymer clay, but I would love any suggestions you all might have.

I might use some of the buttons in a mixed-media piece that I am working on right now--I haven't decided. I'm not sure why I used such boring colors--remedied that today by getting a few brighter shades of polymer clay for the next batch. I'm also thinking that the little buttons would be fun as the closure on one of my fabric books.

Something Traditional

2009-06-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

I don't post my traditional quilting stuff here too often, but this is a new project that I just started. It is all out of scraps, the squares measure 1.5 inches finished, so they are fairly small. There are 56 pieces per 12 x 12 inch block if I counted correctly. So, this quilt might take awhile to finish! I've been cutting up all of my tan, brown, hunter green, dark turquoise and dark teal fabrics while watching T.V. Friday and Saturday nights. I am hoping to have enough for a queen size quilt, and will just stop making blocks when either I run out of fabric, or lose interest! I am trying to use up some of my fabric scraps that are taking up precious space, but that I can't bear to throw away.

Flower Quiltie #4

2009-06-07T18:19:00.001-07:00

I really need to find a catchier name for the quilt! Not my area of specialty.
This is the quiltie that I made for week 2 of my online class with Terri Stegmiller. We did a faux batik method--I won't tell you the secret--you'll have to take the class! But, I loved the result, and I plan on making more quilts with my other "batiks".

I also stamped the fabric for the background on the right side. It was a fabric that I had hand dyed several years ago, and it needed something more, so this was the perfect opportunity! I stamped various items with acrylic paint, and then spritzed with Color Wash.

Another Flower Quiltie

2009-06-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is my 3rd quiltie that I am doing for Terri Stegmiller's online class. For this one, I used several fabrics that I have dyed, stamped and painted. The flowers were made on my new Embellisher machine, and then appliqued to the background.

Mixed Media Collage Class

2009-05-31T14:27:00.000-07:00

I am taking an online class called Mixed Media Collage for the Fiber Artist with Terri Stegmiller. This week, we started with some little quilties to get our juices flowing. I made 6 sketches, and I have made 2 of them into quilts, about 9 x 12 inches or so, and have a 3rd one in the making.

This first quilt was inspired by one of the vintage fabrics that I received--peach background with pink and lavendar polka dots.

The second one uses some of the silk ribbon that I posted a couple of days ago.

I am going to use a bunch of the fabrics that I have dyed and/ or painted in the 3rd quilt.

Vintage Goodies

2009-05-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours is clearing out some of her mother's sewing things, and was kind enough to think of me before sending it all to an estate sale. We went over last weekend and came home with about 5 boxes of vintage fabric, buttons, crochet yarn, lace, and other sewing notions and knick-knacks.
She also gave me this "Bow Tie" quilt top from the 1930's. It is in OK condition though it has a few stains, tears, and there are 2 complete blocks missing from the corners, so I guess I'll have to remake them. I am planning on repairing it and quilting it.

Also, I got a treasure box of vintage buttons, and some really neat vintage silk and rayon ribbon. I love the packaging--the little hanks are folded over with an aluminum band, and I love the vintage look of the spools. I am using some of these items in some new quilties that I am making.

My New Toy

2009-05-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

So for Mother's Day a couple of weeks ago, my "kids" (read husband) got me an Embellisher needle felting machine! I've been drooling over one for the past two years, and keep talking myself out of it. I'm not sure what possessed him to get it for me, but I'm not asking questions!

I've been playing around with it, just to see what it does. I can tell that there are a lot of possibilities. I think I will just continue to play awhile, I don't want to set myself up for failure with planning too much. I made this little book cover with some various fabrics, yarn, and felt. Pretty cute.

Let me know if you can pass on any good needle felting websites or projects--I'd love to take a look.

Fiber Arts Fiesta

2009-05-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

Fiber Arts Fiesta was this weekend here in Albuquerque. It is a bi-annual show featuring all kinds of fiber media--quilting, spinning and weaving, doll making, lacemaking, mixed media and beadwork. It was a great show this year, with lots of vendors selling wonderful products and supplies--I bought a few things myself--I'll take some pics and post what I got later.

Anyway, I entered 3 quilts, one of which got 2nd place for Small Innovative art quilts, and I also received a 3rd place ribbon for one of my bead and wire chokers. I was really surprized!

I also taught a class on Friday afternoon for mixed media postcards. These were fabric based, but with a lot of non-fabric embellishments. The class was a whirlwind, but the ladies seemed to have fun. I made a bunch of kits up, and I have some extras, so I will post them on Etsy soon.

Handpainted Note Cards

2009-05-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

I have been having a lot of fun over the past few months painting papers. Many of the papers started off as being pages for some of my handmade books, but I was also trying to think of a way that I could show them off a little better on their own. I also sometimes do quilting and craft shows, and so I thought that these might make good pick-up items that people could buy for themselves or as a gift. I have done lots of different techniques to paint the papers including: stamping, resist, paste paper, brayer, monoprint, salt, and more. I also made a few fabric cards using some of the rust fabric that I made, and also some of the bleach discharge fabric that I did some time ago. Whether fabric or paper, I sewed each piece onto a cardstock card base, with lots of different kinds of threads. My favorite is the copper metallic! These little cards have proven to be quite addictive to make.

A Couple More from Fabric Art Workshop

2009-05-09T17:08:00.001-07:00

Here's a few more samples--the top one is done with a variety of rubbing plates, and the bottom two are acrylic paint on a brayer over the lasagna dyed fabric shown in the previous post.

Fabric Art Workshop

2009-05-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

I have been working through the lessons and techniques presented in the book "Fabric Art Workshop" by Susan Stein on the Artists of the Round Table group. These are some of the exercises I have done:

Copper paint applied with a brayer to black fabric

Cardboard rubbing plate

Monoprint on black

Monoprint from lasagna dyed fabric

Lasagna dyed fabric--this is actually a piece of satin with diluted acrylic paint--had to use what I had on hand!

Fiber Art For a Cause Preview

2009-04-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in my blogging lately--stress with work and other things--but I have been wanting to get back into the routine again. What better way than to show the pieces that I have been working on with a friend of mine, that we donated to the very worthy cause--Fiber Art for a Cause--which benefits the American Cancer Society. I lost my mother in law in 2006 to breast cancer, so this cause is near and dear to my heart.

Over 150 artists have donated 350+ collages to be "auctioned" off beginning May 5th. On May 5th, the suggested donation is a minimum of $80, and then on the 6th and 7th, it goes down to $40--but I wouldn't wait! Your favorite might be snatched up by then. Here is a link to a preview of all of the collages--Lynne and my collages are on page 36.

And here also are the four that we submitted.

Ebb and Flow

2009-04-05T21:52:00.001-07:00

For some reason, this phrase popped into my head for how things have been going lately. I think that I have been "ebbing". Busy with rush jobs with my longarm business, preparing our taxes, plus being sick--again--has kind of zapped my creative energy. I have been working on a set of collages for the Fiber Art for a Cause auction with a friend of mine--those were kept under wraps until we were done--I will unveil those shortly, but have to get the pics off my camera. I have also been working on some gift cards which have been kind of fun, and a way for me to get some painting and sewing done without having to think too much since my brain has been so fried! Again, I need to download some pics, but will do that soon.

So, no new pics tonight--just checking in to say I'm still alive! I feel a flow coming on....whew!

The Last of the Charms for Now

2009-03-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Polymer Clay Hearts

Fabric Beads

Bottlecap Charms

Here are the last of the charms that I am doing for the swap on the Mixed Media Art Friends group. There are a couple more sets that I forgot to get pictures of. There were 14 different sets total, 5 in each set, so that's 70 charms! I am *almost* charmed-out for awhile.

Paper Flower Book

2009-03-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

This is the paper version of the Flower Book Exchange, like in the previous post. Here are pictures of the 4 fronts, 4 backs, and the bound book. I began with paper bases, and added other papers, fabrics, and embellishments. Even though I used paper, I sewed almost everything down just as though it were fabric.

Fabric Flower Book

2009-03-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

This is a book that I made for a one-on-one exchange on Mixed Media Art Friends. It is made out of little 2-sided 4 x 6 inch fabric "quilts". The bases are all fabric, and there are paper embellishments on some.

It was a lot of fun to make, but fairly labor intensive doing 8 different little quilties. I punched holes in the sides and set eyelets in with my Crop-o-Dile, which really worked out well. I took pictures of the 4 fronts and the 4 backs, but forgot to take a picture of the final bound book--oops--but the binding is the same as the paper book.

Paste Papers

2009-02-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

My latest experiments have been with paste papers. I made them originally to use in my fabric/ paper journal books, but have also cut them out and used them in collages (that I will post when they are done). These are so much fun and very addictive. These pics are from the first few sets--I have some others that I made with rubber stamps and foam stamps, but haven't taken pics yet.

Another Fat Book and Recycling

2009-02-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

I am participating in another 120 Fat Book (4 x 4 inch pages) swap on Art Techniques. It is just a technique swap with the theme of using cheap or recycled materials. I chose to make hand made stamps out of sticky backed fun foam. I used white Gesso to stamp the image onto upcycled "chip board" that I saved from cereal boxes, coke 12 packs, used Priority mail envelopes, etc. It absolutely amazed me how quickly the recycleables added up. We have been recycling aluminum cans and plastics for years, but saving all of this extra food packaging was new to me.

After the Gessoed stamp dried, I painted the entire piece with a liquid watercolor wash. The Gesso resists the watercolor, while the background absorbs it. I really like the rich tones that I got from painting on the brown chip board base. I added some accent dots using the eraser end of a pencil and some acrylic paint. I'm ready to send these babies off, and can't wait to see the other 119 techniques!

Collage Mini Books

2009-02-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

These are a set of books that started off as paper towel collage. I did a swap with Collage UnLeashed last month, and traded some of my dyed, painted and stamped paper towels. I had to trim the paper towels down to 8 x 10 for the swap, so I had lots of little strips left over, and decided to make a couple of collages. The original piece was maybe 12 x 15 inches. I glued the paper towels down to a fabric base, then layered with a batik backing and cotton batting, just like a quilt. I added zig-zag quilting lines with a shiny variegated thread.

I then cut it down to make 4 little books measuring about 3 x 4 1/2 inches. I used several of my hand painted papers for the signatures inside.

These were just too much fun--they are going to go to a private swap that some friends and I are doing. I think that they would make great little Art Journals.

Happy Dancing Pig Postcard and More

2009-02-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

I've been playing around with fabric postcards again. A friend of mine gave me this pink pig fabric, and it was just screaming to be made into a fabric postcard!

I had this cool giant bumblebee fabric too, and so I combined it with several of my hand dyed fabrics to make this postcard--I also hand stitched the little "bee tracks" and sewed on a little copper bee bead:

And on the jewelry track, I made some earrings out of my favorite hand carved bone skull beads--you might remember these from a Halloween charm swap I did last fall.

These earrings were made with little "Chinese Coin" charms. I hand coiled brass wire, and made a loop for the coins to thread through. Kind of fun, and they have a neat movement when you wear them.

What am I going to do with this stuff? I don't know, that's why I put it in my Etsy store.

More Winter Charms

2009-02-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

I ended up making a second set of Winter charms since someone dropped out of the swap that I am hosting at the end. I dipped into my bottlecap stash, and made these little snowflake charms. Thanks goes to my DH for letting me come down to his shop and use his clear resin to top off the charms, and also his Dremmel tool for drilling the holes. I made a bunch more bottlecap charms since I needed to have the resin mixed anyway, so I will post some more of those as I get them finished.

Even More Charms

2009-02-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

I'm so much of a charm addict, that Blogger wouldn't let me upload all of the pics in one post, so here's a few more.

I'm a Charm Addict

2009-02-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

OK, I am offically a charm addict! I signed up to do several sets of charms for a swap on Mixed Media Art Friends. They are only sets of 5 each, so I figured that would be pretty manageable. The categories are: Spring, Fabric (including buttons and such), Beading, Metal, Found Objects, Game Pieces, and Other. Needless to say, I signed up for all categories! I have been working on my charm sets for the past couple of weeks. This is what I have come up with so far.

I decided to take pictures with a quarter for scale. I grabbed one, and it happened to be for New Mexico, my very own Land of Enchantment :)

Book Review

2009-01-30T17:58:00.000-08:00

The ladies at Scrap Friends posted reviews of our book "Exploring the Latest Trends in Mixed Media Arts". Go check it out here!

Skinny Book, Fat Book

2009-01-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

I just finished pages for two swaps--the first is a Skinny Book Swap with the theme Winter. The pages measure 4 x 7 inches. These are being swapped out on the Art Techniques group.

This next one is a technique swap on Mixed Media Art Friends. These are Fat Book Pages, measuring 4 x 4 inches. This one is the bleach discharge.

And this one is the Dip-n-Dye method of dyeing paper towels. Two of my favorite techniques!

Valentine's Fabric Postcard

2009-01-23T15:49:00.001-08:00

I made a batch of Valentine fabric postcards, using a variety of bright pink and orange fabrics. This is another projects where I cut the pieces into wavy strips--I am hooked on that I guess. I then appliqued each piece down using different stitches and variegated threads. I added the red accent fabric and heart. I sent a couple out already to my family, but I have a few extras, so I listed this one on my Etsy Store. I haven't been doing the fabric postcards lately, so it was fun to get back into it!

UFO--Colores de Flores

2009-01-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

This is another one of my UFOs, and another one of my original quilt pattern designs. The original quilt was a Southwest Style quilt called "Colores". Click here to see the original quilt. I started this other sample for a workshop sample, and I had wanted to use more vibrant colors and larger scale floral prints, so I am dubbing this one "Colores de Flores". I have it all cut out, there are 20 different fabrics. I have pieced 6 out of 20 blocks, so I'm about 1/3 done. Here are the two blocks that I pieced last night. I am really looking forward to seeing this one completed!

UFO--Polka Dot Polka

2009-01-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

Remember for my New Year's Resolution I said that I wanted to finish some UFO's? Well here is a baby quilt top that I finished today. I had had most of the blocks done, and I have been working on setting them together and adding the borders for the past week or so. This is one of my original patterns. It is completely pieced, no templates, even though it looks like the dots were appliqued or cut with templates. I love the bright colors for babies. This one was just a teaching sample, but if I can get it quilted soon, I think that I will give it to my step-brother and his wife who are expecting Baby #2 this summer.

Soy Wax Batik

2009-01-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

A few friends and I got together for an art play day and experimented with Soy Wax Batik. The nice thing about the soy wax is that it is water soluble, so it is easier to remove the wax than having to iron it out as with regular batik. We melted it in small electric griddles, and used a number of different things to stamp with: wooden stamps, metal items, foam stamps, egg beater, thread spools, whatever we could get our hands on. We also drew free form designs with an eyedropper or traditional tjanting. After you do the wax design, you paint the cloth with thickened dye. The dye has to be thickened since the soy wax is water soluble.

Here are some pictures of what I did. These are about 36 x 45 inches, and there are a few detail shots. I have only done one layer of batik and dye, and I am trying to decide whether or not I will leave them as is, do more layers of batik, or perhaps enhance with paint.

One More Quiltie

2009-01-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

This is the quiltie that I did for December on the Mixed Media Art Friends group exchange. The theme color was red--how could I resist doing a heart? I've been noticing that I've been doing this pieced background with wavy strips lately. I did the same thing on the black, orange and blue series, and I am currently working on some Valentine postcards with the same technique for the background. I love being able to use different threads and decorative stitches for the applique.

Happy Belated New Year!

2009-01-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

I meant to post on New Year's Day--whoops. Got sick, got busy, and got too much out of my routine. So, anyway, Happy 2009! I can hardly believe its here. I have been thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in the new year, things I want to change, things I want to continue with.

My theme for 2008 was "Create in '08", and I think I did just that. It was almost too much. I feel like I am coming down from an art frenzy of sorts, where I did a little bit of everything--quilting, fat books, skinny books, ATCs, jewelry, collage, painting, etc. I accomplished several goals that I had, plus some new ones that I hadn't seen coming. Five of my quilts were accepted into Art Quilt shows, I co-authored a mixed media art book, one of my quilts was published in Quilting Arts Magazine, and I taught at a fabulous Quilt Retreat. I learned so much, and really enjoyed the trip along the way in 2008.

But, here in 2009, I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed and unfocused. I have my hand in too many pots, and so I have spent the past few weeks taking a good look at what I want to do, and how much time I have, and am having to make some tough decisions about what I can keep in my life and what I need to let go. Difficult for me, because I WANT IT ALL! I want to be a good wife and mom to 2 small children, and a successful business woman and artist. I have been trying to cram it all in, and I have come to the realization that I can't do it all. Bummer. So my theme for 2009 is "FOCUS". Ya, wish me luck with that!

Among other things, I need to spend a little more time reviving my quilt pattern business. I haven't kept up with it, and I would like to refocus on that. I am also focusing on finishing some of my traditional quilt UFOs (Un-Finished Objects). I have a neat little database where I keep track of all of my projects. Currently, I have 40 quilt tops that need to be quilted, and 51 UFOs in various stages of completion. Ugh--I hate having that hang over my head. I feel suffocated. I have been going through them for the past couple of years and donating several projects that I know that I won't ever finish. I don't have a problem letting them go. I am also revising the plans for some--turning them into smaller pieces or cutting them up for postcards. I want to make a major dent in them this year!

I have to learn how to say no to swaps--another tough one! I have several swaps to finish out that I have already committed to, and I am not saying that I won't be swapping any more, but I am definitely going to have to pick and choose what I participate in. That is going to be hard for me, because I love the challenge and I love to see what other artists are doing. But my time is very limited, so....

I am looking forward to a couple of teaching venues that I have set up for 2009. I was invited to be the guest speaker for the Sew Creative Club at Ann Silva's Bernina Sewing Center in Albuquerque on Feb. 3rd, and on Feb. 7th, I will be offering two classes--Plethora of Pots and Book this Class. I am also going to be teaching a mixed media postcard workshop at the Fiber Arts Fiesta in May. I am really looking forward to branching out to other venues like this, and I hope to book some more for later in 2009 and 2010.

Comments welcome--what are your Art Resolutions for 2009?

A New Series

2008-12-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to work in series with my fiber art--I am going to make more of a commitment to do that in 2009. I have done a little in series, with postcards and some smaller challenge pieces, but I want to have more of an intent when I work this way. I have been interested in the color palate of black, with shocks of electic blue or turqoise and bright orange, so I am starting a small set of pieces here, and we'll see what happens. Here is my starting fabric palate.

And here are two sets of four "bases" that I will work with. The pieces are about 8 x 10 inches, which is a manageable size for me. I am looking to just experiment and see what happens. I have a few general ideas as launching points, but I know that once I get started, one thing will lead to another, and I am excited about that.

Winter Charms

2008-12-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

Another set of charms, this one for a Winter themed swap that I am hosting on Adornmentz. These are very simple, but I love the little glass snowflakes, and I have been waiting to use them for a couple of years, so I figured this was the perfect time!

Valentine Charms

2008-12-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

These are some bead and wire charms that I have been working on for a Valentine swap. I have been doing jewelry in the evenings lately while DH and I catch up on our shows on the weekends. I find it very relaxing, and gratifying to make something out of a few simple materials.

Altered Tin Swap

2008-12-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

A small local mixed media group that I belong to decided to do an altered Altoid Tin swap. We each drew names and had one month to alter the tin. I did mine with a "Life's A Beach" theme, with a shark image and shark teeth on the inside of the tin. I added small square shells, a cowrie shell, and some sand that I painted gold to the outside of the tin. This was my first altered tin, and a little more challenging than I had expected.

The tin that was made for me by my friend Lynne featured a beautiful needle felted piece on the top of the tin, and a metal embossed piece on the inside of the tin that says "Art". I just love what she did with it, and it is really my colors--thanks Lynne!

Charm and Chain Necklace Swap

2008-12-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

I did this swap on the Mixed Media Art Friends group. Ten of us made a charm plus 2-inches of some kind of chain. I made these wire wrapped glass beads, and little wire doodles with beads for the connecting chain. We will get back all different kinds of charms to make into an eclectic necklace. I am really looking forward to seeing what I get back.

Stamped Painted Papers

2008-12-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

These are some recent papers that I have been making to build up my handpainted paper stash. The flower and leaf were done with handmade fun foam stamps, the chinese characters were a store bought rubber stamp, and I used leaf rubbing plates on the other one. The stamping was done with acrylic paint, and then I did a liquid watercolor wash. I am running out of liquid watercolors--I hope that Santa brings me some more! I've been a good girl this year.......

Jewelry Set for my Sister

2008-12-14T22:07:00.001-08:00

This is a set of jewelry that I have been working on for my sister for Christmas. She requested brass metal, so this is what I came up with.