A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

making fabric

Feeling so much better and so glad to be creating again. I didn't even know where to start when I found myself with a few free minutes in the studio yesterday. I haven't had the energy to do anything for almost a week, and I pretty much have to be on my death bed not to at least move piles of supplies around a bit. I've been wanting to dye some more papers using my new stencils and try out a new technique with Liquid Sculpey and also make the DSQ oven mitt and there is Sue's Alphabetica journal that arrived this weekend and and and....

What I decided was to play a while to get in the mood and I ended up making some more fabric, this time from fusing a dyed paper towel to felt and then quilting it.  (I know this must sound weird, just keep an open mind.)

I was reading recently in an older issue of Quilting Arts or Cloth Paper Scissors about making fabric from tissue and kraft paper and decided to try it with my dyed paper towels and then quilt the whole thing up with gold thread and free motion stitching. (I can't get enough of the gold thread!) I wish you could feel this. It has a wonderful feel to it, almost leathery. Because I used fusible webbing to fuse the paper & felt there is quite a bit more strength to it than you would think. There is even a bit of stretchiness about it. I love it and want to make some bigger pieces soon. Here is a little close up of the texture, if you can tell:

We've also been doing lots of gardening so later I'll have some pics of the new pots and plants...not to be confused with new pot plants.... oh, I'm just sooo funny.

some vintage fabric might make me feel better

Well, it looks like Soren's teachers will have to get their thank you gifts a little late. No purse making for me this week as I've been sick sick sick. Fever, chills, aches & pains and a sore sore throat. I can't even tell you the last time I had a fever...it had to be in college. Anyway, I had no problem going to the doctor yesterday to found out what I feared was true--I have strep throat. I vividly remember having it in high school and was sick for 2 weeks. But now, one big (and painful!) shot of penicillin later and hopefully, I'll be feeling better in another day or so. John came down with it yesterday, but thankfully, got the antibiotic early so maybe he won't be too sick. That's actually the good news, for me anyway. I mean, of course I don't want him to be sick, but the man has been working insane hours at the hospital through all of this and wasn't even going to get to take his day off today except now he has to. Thankfully, it is really rare for little kids to get strep, so maybe we might even be able to have a few family moments between the frequent naps and when the ibuprofen is doing its thing. Isn't that what they say, adversity brings families closer together? Yeah, huddling in bed together to keep warm when it is 96 degrees outside strengthens that familial bond.

I need to get well quick, though, because I have it in my head that I need to make one of the oven mitts from the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book (sorry, too tired to link) ASAP so I can have the proper apparel for my new foray back into the kitchen. I've been wanting to try some new recipes but can't do it without a vintage fabric quilted oven mitt--please! Besides, being stuck in the sick house has given me some time to hunt for vintage fabrics on eBay and I have a few good ones coming my way. I'm still a bit disappointed about missing the funky chicken fabric, but--hey!--I got the vintage alphabet didn't I?? It is another sickness, I tell you. And if you are the lucky one who snagged the 2+ yards of funky chicken fabric, congratulations. Just don't tell me unless you want to do a little swap or something....  ;-)

two down, two to go

I haven't made any bags for a while, but this week I needed to make 4, so I started with one I've had in mind for a while hoping for inspiration.

This one is actually for me ;-) but the rest are gifts I waited until the last minute to complete. I found this wonderful piece of sheer fabric and embellished it a bit with gold thread which is difficult to see in the photo. Right as I was finishing up, I received my woven ribbon from Les Bon Ribbon which I added to the handles. Here is the rest of the ribbon I got:

I have to interject this because I have been searching for a good source for woven ribbon forever and absolutely love this place! The prices are fabulous and they ship Fed Ex so I got my order in like 3-4 days--what can be better?? Thanks to Amanda for sharing the link.

Back to the bags. Months ago my mother in law asked me to make purses for my sisters in law, and it turned out to be a lot harder than I imagined. The perfectionist in me kept second guessing until finally, the deadline was approaching and I had to suck it up and get to work. I'm really happy with how they each turned out.

My sisters in law have such different personalities, almost opposites, so I wanted the bags to fit just right. I drew out the patterns for both and this was the first time I made a top flap, but I love it. Elizabeth's is less structured with a more bohemian feel to it:

Eliz's purse is almost suede-like and since the patchwork fabric had lots of detailing, I added some gold thread machine stitching to the handles and a bit of hand-stitching, too. I decided on the hand work b/c I enjoy it, thought it would look great, and wanted to watch Munich with my honey and still feel like I got something done.

On another front, my Alphabetica book is en route to the first player, Leticia. Here are the opening pages and sign in page:

By Thursday, I need to have two more bags done, then I can move on to new stuff. I totally want to do more stitching & quilting b/c of my new books. But first, new totes for Soren's awesome preschool teachers. Just one little way to say thank you to two amazing ladies.

just thinking...

Change is good and necessary, but usually I don't like it. I like my routine. I like when things are nice and predictable and safe. I don't always dislike change, it's just that I want to be the one to cause it on my terms and in my time. Well, I don't have to tell you that life doesn't always cooperate with our plans. The past year has been full of many changes, some that I could never have predicted and that I may not ever understand. A year ago in March, a very close and dear friend who happened to be the pastor of our church got the flu which turned into pneumonia and within a week he had died. He was 40 years old. Otherwise healthy, with two small children. I mean that kind of change. This week we were again reminded of how fragile life is and how quickly things can change without warning when a friend and co-oworker of John's was in a 4-wheeler accident and is now in ICU with a massive head injury. He's like 30 years old.

And the thought that keeps resonating with me is that I don't want to waste my life. That is like my biggest fear. Losing my husband or children would be a close second, but coming to the end of my life and realizing that I had wasted it on trivial things would be the worst. And I worry that most of my days are spent that way. I was going to post about the wonderful things I got for Mother's day, and I will because I am thankful and I am blessed. But when I sat down to write today, something different came out. I don't want my days to just be about the stuff. The stuff I want, the stuff I make, the stuff I need, the stuff I do, the stuff I'm preoccupied with. If it is all about me, then I've missed something somewhere.

I do try to live my life by what I believe to be important, but "life" ends up to be a series of days and often it is too easy to get caught up in things that don't really matter or only matter for this one day. I mean, at the end of my life, am I going to look back and wish I had done more thrift shopping? Am I going to wish my button collection was just a little bigger? Okay, so I might actually wish I could go thrift shopping or run my fingers through my button collection just one more time...but that isn't what I want my life to be about. So, I guess change is good if it causes you to stop and evaluate how things are going from time to time. I mean, the days sometimes go by so slowly, but the years fly by.

Change for the good: I've resigned all my design team positions and plan only to do designing on a freelance basis, i.e., work that I can earn real money for. I've narrowed my focus to concentrate more on my mixed media art and crafting that centers around my home. Also, I'm going to start homeschooling Soren for kindergarten in the fall. It is something I've always wanted to do, but have been afraid to do (afraid I'd screw up my kids, afraid it would be too hard, afraid I'd never have time for myself, afraid I'd suck at it.)  This time I don't feel afraid.

A few years ago I read an excellent book by Edith Schaeffer (the daughter of Francis Schaeffer, Christian apologist & philosopher) called The Hidden Art of Homemaking, creative ideas for enriching everyday life. I think I might reread it now. Maybe I'll even share a few bits here along the way.

But before I go, I have to brag on my wonderful husband who truly spoiled me over Mother's Day weekend. Soren had been running a little fever on Saturday, so we kept him home from church on Sunday, just in case. When Maisey and I got home, I found that John had cleaned the whole house, even the kid's rooms! Soren brought me a card and my Mother's day present, two new CDs I've been coveting: KT Tunstall and Jack Johnson. I was thrilled, but then John brought out another card filled with cash. And the rest of the day belonged to me. They took me to the fabric store, the book store, out to eat and let me stay as long as I wanted...no kids to chase around, no one getting a sudden shopping headache, and money to burn. Just spending time together doing stuff I enjoy doing. Do I have a fabulous husband or what?? Okay, so here are the pictures:

The flower buttons are my favorite. And the books. I'll have some book reviews for you later. And if you've made it this far in my post, thanks for listening.

melting tires & machetes

When we got up this morning, the windows were all fogged up from the humidity outside. At 9 a.m. I checked the local weather and it was already 87 degrees but with a 97 degree heat index. At 9 a.m. it already felt like 97 degrees outside! The high temp today will only be 102, if we are lucky. And it is barely May!! The real heat won't come until August & September.  That is when the earth & air only cools down to 85 for a few hours at night for at least 2 months. That is also when it is possible for a toddler to sneak out of his daycare at 9 a.m. onto the playground and get 3rd degree burns from the hot tire swings. (Does anyone remember hearing this news report last summer??) So for all of you still waking up to morning coolness and enjoying the new Spring weather...can I come stay with you for a few months???

And for more strangeness, though funny, Maisey (she's 3) told me at lunch, word for word: "Mama, next time Daddy goes somewhere where there are alligators in the water and leaves me there, I don't think I'll like that 'cause I'll never see him again!" Of course this is not near as bad as your 2 year old (Maisey again) telling a family friend that her Daddy sometimes threw her on the ground and chopped her with a machete. It is just good that she told it to someone who knows her well enough....

the artful life

Good news for fans of Victoria magazine! Stampington & Co. is working on a new magazine inspired by Victoria all about "living the artful life". If you are familiar with Stampington's other publications, like Somerset Studio or Legacy, you know this new one should be beautiful! I was absolutely crushed when I found out Victoria would no longer be published. I had only discovered it about a year before and carefully saved every wonderful issue. (Usually I cut out what inspires me and then toss the rest.) The only bad news is that we have to wait until Jan 2007 for the premier issue. But if the rest of this year flies by like the first five months has--it is almost half over!!--I'm sure the new year will be here before I'm ready. Meanwhile, though, you can get more information about Somerset Life here, including art & article submissions.

And there's more good news!  Susan Tuttle, an amazing fellow MMCA artist, has started a new collaborative online art project Art Words. Each Sunday, she will announce a new theme and participants will sometime in the next week post an art journal page interpreting the theme to their blog and link to the Art Words website. The new project just began yesterday and already there are some wonderful entries to see over there. Go check it out.

If you've thought about starting an art journal and haven't yet, let me encourage you to do it! As I've written before, there is nothing else that has helped free me artistically from my own perfectionism and fear of how others will judge my work than keeping an art journal. There are no rules. Grab a blank notebook and just sit down to play. Doodle, paint, sketch, cut & paste--whatever pops into your head try it without evaluating it and just enjoy the process of art! Especially if you think you aren't the creative or artistic type--you need to try this! I guarantee that you will surprise yourself. Oh, and then post over at Art Words so others can be inspired by your artistic courage! ;-)

Alphabetica Project

I finished up a new art journal for a round robin I am participating in inspired by Lynne Perrella's book Alphabetica. I made the book basically using Teesha Moore's instructions here. I've made several of these and love the stability and also adaptability of these simple books. The fabric spine is the key. I added a piece of  cardboard to my spine to give it extra strength since our books will literally be traveling all over the world over a pretty long time period. I also Scotch Guarded the fabric just in case!

Our theme is letters, typography, and also numbers so I decided to go with the number thing for my cover. The flower image is a stencil that I drew and painted with watercolors. I was going for a paint-by-number look. Do you remember doing these?? I wonder if they are as much fun as an adult as they were when I was a kid? The cover came together really quickly so I decided to spend a little more time adding lots of texture to the back.

Here is the inside pages cut from watercolor paper and sewn in 5 signatures. Of course, when the book returns to me, it will be filled with the artwork of 26+ incredibly talented ladies. I can't wait!!

mail and birds in my backyard

Some random pictures to update you on all the good stuff around here. My music swap CD arrived from Bess. I absolutely love it, and look at this pretty case she made:

I also got some fabulous charms from Jenny of Queenthings fame.  She even included one of her bird magnets. Love birds.

I finally finished sewing my second piece of clothing. (My first one you can see here.) A supposedly simple dress for Maisey. Ha! If my mother-in-law, who is a master seamstress, hadn't made a timely visit, this thing would have never been finished. The sleeves nearly killed me, but now that I think I know what I'm doing, I'm ready to move on to the next thing: a similar dress in blue already cut out and waiting to be sewed.

Don't you just love that reproduction vintage fabric?? LOVE it. I am hoping that once I get this simple pattern down, I can do more variations and make it up a bit more creatively. For some reason, I can really see a lacy white pinafore over this one.

And my new favorite thing:

It is supposed to be a charger, but at $25 a piece, that is a bit steep to me. Ohhhh, but I love it though! The bead work is so beautiful and the colors are so striking. I have it in the center of my dining table and it just throws so much color into the room. And, it is safer from the kids than a fruit bowl, aka frisbee.

And the other morning I managed to get a photo of 3 of the 4 wild parrots (or macaws? I always get them confused) in our yard before the sprinklers came on and gave me my second shower. 

Aren't they beautiful? On the way to school we saw two black-bellied whistling ducks on the side of the road. Unfortunately, we had the bird book, but not the camera.

I am finishing up a new art journal and will hopefully have some pictures for you tomorrow!