Playing with Buttons

I was surfing the web for some information on champleve buttons (I only have one of these treasures). Anyway, I got sidetracked by this this cute article for sewing buttons (outside the holes) with embroidery floss.

My only champleve button...

Below is a small vintage MOP button (with beads and embroidery) added to the wedding collage this morning:

Vintage MOP button with carved chevron design

Embroidery with SharonB (It Rhymes!)

As everyone must know by now, SharonB of In a Minute Ago is very generously posting crazy quilt embroidery stitches everyday for one hundred days. I know I won’t have time to work on them everyday but I’m going to try to follow along as best I can and see if I can’t get a couple of UFOs finished (during the reign of the present monarch)!

Detail (detached chain stitches with straight stitches and beads) of a cq wedding collage I started over a year ago…


Detail (quarter buttonhole wheels) of a cq lingerie case...

More Books!

We went to the boardwalk in Ocean City the other night (for the best pizza in the world at Mack and Manco’s – super thin and crispy crust – yum!). And, of course, we stopped in the Atlantic Bookstore for deeply discounted books. I added these to my stitch library: Easy Heirloom Embroidery (with lots of nice full-sized floral redwork patterns) and The Embroiderer’s Floral – beautiful and useful books at $7.98 each!

Try it Tuesdays - Corroded Metal

This week’s Try it Tuesdays challenge is to attempt to recreate rusting and corroding metal using aluminum foil and paint. Here are my first two attempts:

Patriotic Santa in Progress

I’ve been busy working on Santas. Last year, I mentioned I was creating a patriotic Santa but was “stuck” on how to construct the hat from the pattern I drafted. I put it aside until now. I’m pleased to say the hat is finally finished (!) although I may decide to add some blanket stitching around the edge of the brim. Anyway, here it is on Yancy, my patriotic African-American Santa in progress. I just won an auction on EBAY for a sweet little vintage (48 star) flag for him to hold. I need to add his beard and a few more buttons to his outfit and he’ll be good to go.

Top Hat (Front and Back)

Try it Tuesdays - Collaged Background

The current Try it Tuesday project is to create an altered background collage with painted and antiqued torn paper. This is just too much fun! This technique can be used on all kinds of surfaces: altered book pages (like mine), old CDs, cookie tins, etc. Check out the group pool on Flickr for some terrific examples.

I used both smooth and textured papers for my collage. Then I painted the surface with a combination of yellow acrylic and russet Lumiere paint. After the paint had dried. I applied antiquing gel.

Try it Tuesdays - Papermaking

Here is my Try it Tuesdays effort for this week - papermaking. I used some really old construction paper and odds and ends of other papers and mixed them to a pulp in my old VitaMix blender. I bought that thing twenty-five years ago promising to make ice-cream for DH with it. Every once in a while he reminds me he’s still waiting for his ice-cream. But I digress… Then I added some cornflower, coreopsis and wild geranium petals – and some mica flakes. The mica doesn’t show up in the scan, but it really sparkles.

I would have never been tempted to even try papermaking if it hadn’t been for Try it Tuesdays. And I loved it! And will be playing with this some more!

Serviceberry Berries!

The berries are ripening on the serviceberry tree. These disappear quickly as the mockingbirds love to eat them.

Nature Journal Sketch: Serviceberry Berries

Try it Tuesday - Easy Transparency

Here is my experiment for this week’s Try it Tuesday challenge. First, I made a high contrast black and white image of an old picture of my Grandmom, scanned it and ran it through the laser printer. Then I transferred it to clear packing tape as per the directions. I cut a floral motif from an old gift bag and glued the transparent image on that with soft gel medium. I then glued everything on an old scrap of painted lutradur. I painted matte medium over the top to cut the shine down on the transparency and added a little embroidery and some beads - just for fun…

Vintage Memorial Day Postcard (Stash Sunday)

This week’s Stash Sunday theme is Memorial Day. I purchased this postcard (dated 1908) recently on EBAY (with the idea of using it to embellish a patriotic Santa).

What we now celebrate as Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day and began shortly after the American Civil War when flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers to honor them.

Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

Blackberries grow wild in the backyard.

Nature Journal Sketch: Blackberry blossom

Try it Tuesdays!

I was searching for altered book groups on Flickr last night and found a link to the coolest blog, Try it Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, a new art technique is demonstrated for everyone to try. There’s even a drawing for prizes every week, too! Here’s my first attempt at Karyn Gartel’s Easy Acrylic Backgrounds. What fun!!! Check out the Flickr group for some really yummy eye candy. And join in…

In the first sample, I used Karyn’s painting techniques on a gessoed page from a blank book of handmade paper that I purchased years ago.

In the sample below, I applied Karyn’s techniques to a page that had been previously collaged with torn papers.

My Belated Mother’s Day Present!

While surfing EBAY awhile back, I stumbled upon a pattern of gorgeous bohemian-looking outfits (just the kind of clothes I love!) for a doll named Marley Wentworth. I had never heard of the doll so I looked up information on her in Yahoo and - oh my gosh! - I had to have one! I found the exact one I wanted (the basic brunette brand new in the box!) on EBAY this week (DH stayed up until 2:30 or so in the morning to place the bid!). And we bought the clothing pattern, too! Everything arrived yesterday (Friday) – and I am over the moon! I know I don’t need any more projects but how could I resist? Here is the link to the pattern designer, d-zinerclothes4dolly. She has some wonderful designs available as “Buy it Now” auctions.

Meantime, I have one more Santa near completion and two more started… so I’m making a little progress.

Pattern and Marley

And Speaking of Sassafras Leaves…

I have been working on my mobile for the final Personal Symbols lesson. I chose the sassafras leaf as a starting point (just like I did for the Symbols painting – see March 2006 Archives). Here is the front and back of a decorated leaf (one of four units). The finished mobile will have three small leaves hanging from one large leaf (all with different facial expressions). I haven’t worked out the logistics of how the thing will go together, yet. Just decorating the leaves is taking forever! And to be honest, it’s also kind of strange looking! But I love playing with the materials. I painted Peltex for the backgrounds and sewed on painted lutradur with embroidery thread for the fronts. For the backs, I am just embroidering a design (like the one below) with a buttonhole stitch. Fronts and backs will be beaded and then whipstitched together.

Using Peltex on both sides creates a sturdy little piece. I must order more of that wonderful stuff!

"Baby" Sassafras Leaf (Front and Back View)

Baby Sassafras Tree

One of the things I love to see in spring is the baby trees sprouting up. Here is a sketch looking down on a little sassafras tree.

Nature Journal: Baby Sassafras Tree

Vetch

Here is a common weed called vetch. I love the shape of the leaflets on the stems and the delicate little lavender flowers. I just can’t bring myself to pull these out of the garden…

Nature Journal Sketch: Vetch

Katrina "All That Jazz" Quilts on EBAY!

I just read Sharon B’s blog entry for Tuesday and the Katrina “All That Jazz” quilts are up for auction on EBAY. Here is the link to the largest one. The other two are here and here. These quilts are exquisite and are going to such a worthy cause. All the artists really outdid themselves!

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

The lilac bush is blooming; filling the air with its heavenly fragrance… This Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucas) alighted only just long enough to have his picture taken. While the males are always yellow; the females can sometimes be black or brown. This is to mimic the coloration of the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) which is poisonous.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Today's Lunch!

This is one of my favorite meals, consisting of bow tie pasta, feta cheese, ripe olives and plum tomatoes mixed together with lots of fresh mint straight from the herb garden. Nothing is cooked except the pasta and you just add a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. I served a green salad on the side with apples and alfalfa sprouts…yum…

Lady's Mantle (Also Called Dewcup)

Here is a little sketch of a lady’s mantle plant in the perennial garden. The weather has been so warm and pleasant these past few days. We are still burning the woodstove at night, though.

Nature Journal Sketch: Lady's Mantle