Paper + Stitch = Plenty of Fun

Have sewing machine and paints, will travel. That was my motto when I signed up for Tweety Jill’s “Mixed Media Art Girl Cards” class at She Scrapbooks in The Villages, FL this past weekend. Jill brought the stamps, inks, stencils, modeling paste, creative ideas, and much more. So we were off. Four students learned to combine the paste, tinted with paint, along with stamps to create backgrounds on cardstock. We then added stamped images, sayings, and some messy stitching to complete the graffiti-style note cards.





The girl images are stamped, using Dina Wakely rubber stamps, either directly on the background, or onto cardstock, and then cut out and applied. The messy stitching details are added last. The machine does go nicely through the dried paste, though it slowed a little where it was especially thick. The card on the left is still in need of a saying. The envelope on the right is one Jill gave me after using it to demonstrate ink pads applied through sequin waste (punchinella), and spatter painting to add further interest to our designs.




We were happily elbow deep in all the class supplies, and gave it all our spontaneous best. I still have traces of paint and ink left on my hands the day after, despite a thorough scrubbing. I forgot to bring barrier hand cream with me which really helps with clean up. This is an over-the-shoulder view of one of my classmate's work.




After creating three of the notecards, I spent some time stamping and creating elements that I can combine with other images for furture cards. It’s always fun to use others’ stamps that I don’t have at home. It's kind of like other people's fabric scraps- always more interesting than my own.





These are a few of the girls, and envelope embellishments I’ll incorporate. I can hardly wait to see what they will become! By the way, I photographed these cards on a beautiful piece of hand-painted fabric I won from the 100th post on Sonja Hagemann Designs blog. It's just lovely, and I'm not sure yet what it's going to become either.








And here’s a glimpse of Jill’s teaching station with a few more of the sayings and images she demonstrated. The four hours of our class flew by, and I still needed to shop. The clearance corner yielded up a few treasures, and I got a small  Gelli plate for printing on paper and fabric plus a couple of gift items. This shop is worth a visit if you get to central Florida. All in all, this was a productve and creatively satisfying day. I hope to take more classes from Tweety Jill- she’s great fun and her ideas flow non-stop.

Here, there, and practically everywhere…

That's where I seem to have been. September into October has been a rather chaotic time for us with our daughter’s move from New York, and things are just starting to settle down. All of which means that I’ve not spent a lot of time sewing and crafting. But I’ve spent a little time … which is a great help to keep me in balance. This fish is a collage project made by my quilting friend Joanne who joined my guild for a 3-day quilt retreat the week following the two spent on the road with the big move. The fish is a bit collaborative as she invited all of us to add refinement and details to the piece. She left the workroom and we really got into it, cutting small motifs from everyone's fabrics and jazzing up her fish. Joanne and I used to work at a magazine together so I told her we wanted to give her something to edit! She had to travel back to PA, but she’s already reassembling the fish and will share a photo when it’s complete. I got several quilt projects moved along toward completion, but nothing fully done. It felt good to hear the hum of the sewing machines and conversations in the workroom though. I find that very soothing.






One project I did complete at home is a pet bed for the local animal shelter. Our guild makes dog beds and cat hammocks, filling them with fabric and batting scraps. I had placed this one on the floor to fluff and redistribute the filling evenly. Look who had to take it for a test drive! Lily gives it two claws up.





This post seems to be the all-animal, food, and travel edition. With some cooler fall weather, we took a bike ride in Melrose, a lovely community not far from here. There are several galleries, and a new one called Artisans Way had this Blues Brothers display on the lawn. Clever and eye-catching.





And look- the building fell on the witch! Those ruby slippers are mine for the taking. This was an interesting place with lots of lovely jewelry and art pieces. A return visit is on my agenda.





I’m not sure if this looks as appealing as I found it, but lunch was an unusual and very tasty combo of smoked salmon and asparagus in a wrap with black beans and rice at Blue Water Grill in Melrose. Yummy.





Another nearby place I visited recently is Crone’s Cradle Conserve, a sustainable ecological preserve and organic farm. They hold festivals a couple of times a year and feature local produce and foods. I’d been meaning to visit for several years, but was previously put off by the l-o-o-n-g drive down a narrow sandy track to reach them. But the drive was worth it. Tours of the farm and greenhouse were available along with a buffet of foods like goat, wild hog, gator, vegetarian dishes, desserts, and herb iced teas. Visitors bought a ticket for each dish we wanted to try.





I have lived in Florida for awhile, but had yet to try gator meat. So here is my gator kabob. Ummm… tastes like chicken? Actually it does. It’s very mild, though a bit chewy. I left, picking gator from my teeth. Better than the other way around, right? Because they are eco-friendly, the staff served meals on glass plates, with real sliverware, offered beverages in mason jars, and used bandannas for napkins. A pretty presentation, and a very interesting place.





Jake the resident cat kept me company on the adjacent chair while I ate, and never requested any gator.





Here’s another reason I sometimes find it difficult to get things done- my "helpers". Scooter is resting on the fabric, and Lily on the cutting instructions. Both love to maintain a paws-on approach to my projects.







Joanne and I also spent a day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park when I picked her up in Orlando, and I was reminded of the Tibetan tradition of prayer flags, and how I need to make some more. They are small and satisfying projects to just get my hands on fabrics and try interesting new techniques.





We were fortunate to get a look at this gorilla crossing the stream on a fallen log. He was quite entertaining. By the time Joanne got her camera ready, he was showing his backside to everyone! She got a great shot- ha! Back to more quilting and journaling soon I hope.

Speaking of Faces…

This “Flower Girl” wall quilt came about after I became interested in drawing faces and trying them out in fabric renditions. A quilting friend was working on two face quilts she’d begun in a class with Mary Diamond, and I was fascinated by her projects. I could hardly wait to give it a try on my own. Hopefully my resulting whimsy girl is pretty and not scary! I sketched the face on the background fabric and then emphasized the features with single-strand embroidery stitches to shade and define it. Her hair made from floral motifs is covered with tulle and accented with bright beads. You can see those a bit better in the detail shot that follows.




I learned a lot about making faces, and clearly have much more to learn. But the good news for me is that I never knew I wanted to, or could, create faces. It was so much fun and I’m happy with her.




While I was at it, I decided to try a variety of quilting techniques in the piece which I’ll enter in our guild quilt show next month. I couched knotted yarn lines on the background and then stitched with a feather stitch between the lines. And I added another blossom to one corner of the asymmetrical border just to balance things out a bit.


And now that we are done traveling up and down the eastern seaboard helping our daughter move here from NY, I’m off to a week of quilt retreat and hopefully recharging my very depleted batteries! I’ve always heard that a move is among the top three stressful events. I had no idea somebody else’s move would count, too! Phew. My sewing machine has been neglected, but will spring into action over the next few days. I’m ready.

Let’s Face It…

Let’s face it, there are times when we all need this message- keep calm and quilt on! Do you find that quilting and art projects help you to be more peace-filled? I’m a firm believer that creative endeavors are therapy of the finest kind. This mixed-media girlie is another new project I made under the instruction of artist Bonnie VanDenHandel at She Scrapbooks. I’ve been wanting to draw faces, and this was just the right opportunity. Since we are our own worst critics, I won’t point out the mistakes in this project- you can spot them I’m sure. But overall, I’m pleased with how this turned out, and I like the message. I’ve had many opportunities lately to “keep calm” as we just traveled to NY to help our daughter move here to Florida. Long story short, our smoke-spewing truck, our horse trailer intended to bring the contents of her apartment, and her two cats are still up north in NY and PA. We are in Florida with a UHaul, a tow dolly and her car, her, all the belongings, and her dog. The kitties hid themselves and showed themselves to the neighbor when we were already gone. She's caring for them and the rent is paid until the end of the month. So there is more to be resolved with another trip north to retrieve everything. And there have been many blessings amid the challenges. So that’s my current saga, and why I feel quilting and crafting are such a gift in my life. They truly do help keep me calm. But on with the show….







This is Bonnie’s class sample. She’s a trained artist, and I just love her work. We began with a burlap canvas and built layers up on it. Pretty, pretty.






Here’s teacher Bonnie herself. You can see a bit of this wonderful shop behind her. It’s hard to keep the credit card in my purse when I’m in here!





This is the canvas we began with. You can see that Bonnie’s sample was a little different with the text background.





We got to work with paint, stamps and more to build our projects.





There were two of us in the class, and this is my classmate Lori’s girl. She moved the flowers around on the project several times so that her girl was, at first, a heavenly angel and later gone Hawaii. The class name is Chicky Chicks. I think they’re actually Cheeky Chicks. Hope you enjoy seeing them. Will have to see how often I can post until we get things more settled. But I'll be back. Oh yes, and after the dust settles, I get to go on a quilting retreat! Won't that be just what's needed to put my head back on straight?

Can You Judge a Book by Its Cover?

I think you can when it’s this lively! I had the pleasure of taking a bookmaking class with Bonnie VanDenHandel at She Scrapbooks in The Villages, Florida, a couple of weeks ago. Not only did we cover making an accordian-style book using one large sheet of watercolor paper, but we also did a marathon printmaking session using a Gelli Plate. And this book is the happy result. The front and back covers have strips cut from my Gelli-prints adhered and then embellished. We used gloss medium to add that bit of shine to the surface and to make sure everything is stuck down tight.











After I “warmed up” by making prints on plain copy paper, which were the ones I later cut up for the cover strips, it was time to print directly in the book, layering paint and texture on every page. As you can see, I’m quite fond of bubbles for surface texture. Once assembled, the book stands up on its own so you can see all the color goodness inside.











A view from the back of the book shows more color pages. The Gelli printing process is full of wonderful surprises as you combine stencils, stamps, and multiple paint colors. It’s pretty much mistake proof so it’s perfect for beginning art journalists like me. Once the pages were printed, we added the covers and a ribbon closure. Now I’m ready to fill the book with…. I don’t really know yet! For now, I just enjoy making the prints and books, and feel quite accomplished getting that far.











I made the flower accents using Bonnie’s paper punch and leftover Gelli printed papers. A little black cardstock and some jewelie accents helped them to stand out a bit. Even the charms on the ribbon closure are paper. The heart is a handmade bead made from layers of paper hearts and finished with Glossy Accents. The butterfly is also from a punch that Bonnie had for me to use in class.










Here’s my talented instructor Bonnie VanDenHandel of VDH Studios with her class sample book. Bonnie was born on the Caribbean Island of Saint Maarten and studied art and art education in the States. She now lives and works here in Florida. Below is a close-up of Bonnie's book, and one made by another of her students. I’ll be signing up for more of Bonnie’s classes at the shop in the future. Of course I realize that endeavors like this one require yet another set of supplies and materials. So my sewing and craft room is ready to split its proverbial seams. However, I'm sure that making this book is just the beginning of even more mixed media fun!

Swapping by Mail…

I just took part in a fun prayer flag swap that began right here in Blog-land. Jan of Laughing Dog Arts commented on this blog that it seemed as if we both liked many of the same things- a variety of sewing and craft projects, bits and pieces of assorted materials, animals… just lots of things in common. She noted it might be fun to do a swap sometime. We decided to go ahead and trade a prayer flag shipped in a mail art envelope. My prayer flag for Jan started with some hand-dyed and stamped fabric given to me, to which I added lettering, paint, embroidery, vintage trims, and a rolled fabric flower. The white header and casing is a vintage dress front. So much of this flag is created from “found” items. Funny thing about prayer flags… I notice that while I’m assembling the bits and pieces for the project at hand, there are two or three small piles of other bits that just seem to go together. So the next prayer flags are inventing themselves as I work. This tells me that this is an endless project and that I’ll return to it again and again.






You can tell from her blog title that Jan is a dog lover. When I saw this appealing image of a dog in a magazine, I clipped it out and decided to alter it for her envelope with overlays of paint, painted papers, and stitching. There always seem to be some images in advertisements or brochures that need to be saved and used somehow. This was one of those.









The address side of the envelope is just some Washi tape, and recycled paper bits. I figuratively hold my breath a little when sending these, but the mail does go through! And as it turned out, Jan’s birthday was right around the time she received her prayer flag, so it was like a birthday gift. Further coincidence is that my birthday is also in August, so her flag for me was like a gift as well.






So here is the prayer flag Jan sent. We had a chuckle when we noticed that both of us topped our flags with vintage linen and lace. I love the painted and stamped piece she used as the top layer. It has lots of metallic paint lines and squiggles. The photo below is the back of the flag base with stamped images of coyotes and crows.





Jan even pinned some hand-made fabric beads on the header. So pretty!





Speaking of pretty, here’s the file folder she altered with paint, stamps, and stencils, and then stitched closed. I opened it on one side very carefully so as not to rip any of the mailer. I plan to use it, possibly for a journal cover. There’s so much to look at, and it’s so creative. I love the items Jan sent, and I think we both are very happy we decided to swap our work!

The Humble Cereal Box Transformed …

One thing that appeals about mixed-media paper projects is the use of odd bits and pieces. After all, I’ve been saving those for years! The supplies are trying to overflow the storage space, so it’s time to put them to work. Things like little silk flowers, buttons, ribbons- you name it. I thought it was going to be used in quilts somehow, but nope. It's for journals, cards, and projects like this. These heart ornaments started with an empty cereal box for the base and just grew from there, layer upon layer. I saw the idea in “Altered! Art Projects” by Tweety Jill Publications. And how about that funky flower adornment? That came from viewing a tutorial by Jenniebellie. She’s a delightful, arty instructor and has an entire YouTube channel of fun things to make. And if there’s one thing I love, it’s making stuff!

This heart combines text paper, painted paper flowers, yarn, ribbon, beads and more. It may not be done yet- there’s still room on that surface. Knowing when to stop is not my strong suit, so this may still get a few touches.

This heart still needs some “messaging” in the form of cut out words of encouragement added to the surface. The flower in this one is made from two pieces of vintage lace trim that I spritzed with color. I’m asking myself where the creative urge to make all this has been hiding for so long. I decided it’s actually been there all along. However  years back, when managing a household with children growing up and teaching full time, I decided I needed to choose one hobby and focus on that in order to keep things a little bit more orderly. So I gave up cross-stitching, macrame, garment sewing, knitting, etc. and focused on quilting, my very favorite. Now that I have a dedicated creative space, the genie is back out of the bottle and I’m off pursuing every project that catches my eye. And a lot catches my eye! What fun.