Monthly Art Experiment for April

For this month’s art experiment, I tried an alternate technique for making fabric paper. This time the backing is felt (for a nice cushioned effect) and a layer of plain tissue paper is fused to it (with WonderUnder). Then a collage of decorative paper, printed tissue paper, stamps and paints is applied. Here are a few of the resulting ATC backgrounds. Instructions for this great technique can be found, here, in an article by Pokey Bolton(Quilting Arts magazine).

Somers & Field

These girls (Willow Somers and Daisy Field) are responsible for my walk down Memory Lane or, more precisely, 1960s Carnaby Street. I originally purchased the mini dress pattern (previous post) for them. I love their hair, especially Daisy’s iconic asymmetrical Vidal Sassoon cut. And their make-up is perfect for the time period. I remember white lipstick – yikes! These dolls (made in 2000, I believe) are from designer Doug James, the same artist who designs the CED dolls. His attention to detail is amazing. There are updated, articulated versions of Willow and Daisy, named Violett Somers and Gabby Field, and I’ll probably be adding them to my growing collection, although I am trying hard to resist...really I am...

"Quantized!"

Ellowyne found one of her mom’s old dresses in the attic – along with the de rigueur white “go-go” boots. Who didn’t have a pair of those back in the day?

I made the dress from this pattern.

The background is a big piece of lutradur I painted a few years ago in Susan Sorrell’s wonderful Personal Symbols class.

What I’ve Been Doin'

I don’t talk about work much, except to complain once in a while when it interferes with my play time! But, I have a little Flash assignment coming up and I had nearly forgotten how much I love that program! Almost as much as stitching! I tried to upload an example of what I’ve been working on but I couldn’t get Blogger to cooperate. Anyway, I’ve uploaded my little animation here if you’d like to have a peek.

Boy with Toy...

Took this photo today of DH on his new tractor. He spent Christmas night, until 6:00 the next morning, digging a draining ditch in the front yard by hand. (We had water coming into the house from all the rain!) When he came in, he announced he was gonna buy himself a tractor – and so he did, dad-gummit!

Happy Easter to All!

Monthly Experiment for March: Creating New Fabric from Scraps

Here is my experiment for March – just under the wire! It's a method for creating a unique piece of fabric by fusing fabric scraps, stamping with metallic paint, layering with sheer fabrics, machine stitching and cutting the sheer fabric to expose the stamped images. This is a technique I bookmarked to try (someday...) after first seeing it a few years ago in the Fall 2005 issue of Quilting Arts magazine (page 24). It is somewhat labor-intensive, but definitely worth further exploration...

A Few More ATCs Finally Finished...

Another Use for Watercolor Canvas...

I was working on my fabric postcards today and discovered that watercolor canvas makes a great backing and can be run directly through the inkjet printer. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of using it before!

Acme Flowers Stitched

I had a blast adding simple stitches to my felt flower postcard. I just need to add the backing and it will be finished.

Felted Postcard in Progress...

I will be adding hand embroidery to this postcard created on the embellisher machine. It was inspired by a bouquet of flowers I saw while standing in the checkout line a few weeks ago at the Acme. Bright orange and hot pink together always catches my eye... The background is made from torn strips of silk (from an old blouse), organdy and a little bit of wool roving on Kunin felt.

More Snow Dyeing...

I tried dyeing some PFD cotton in a jar with snow but the results were a little weak, so I overdyed it (still using the snow dyeing method) and got much more intense colors. I haven’t been rinsing off the fabric at all, just squeezing out the excess moisture by hand and ironing between two pieces of parchment paper until dry.

SNOW!

This photo of the backyard was taken today. The snow would be even deeper but much of it was compacted by the rain we had last night (before it snowed again).

Rockin' Robin...

Okay, is everyone singing, now? This shot was actually taken during the first snowstorm in January right outside my studio window. I grabbed my camera and made a quick shot before he flew away – all pleased with myself until I realized that I hadn’t turned back the exposure from the last time I used the camera. The photo was terribly overexposed. But I wanted to preserve the memory of that colorful bird perched in the holly tree with the red berries and the snow – so I used a couple of Photoshop filters and got this result. I think it resembles a vintage illustration from an old postcard. I am happy with this image and am thinking about printing it directly on fabric after I get my inkjet printer up and running.

Everybody’s Doin’ it!

Snow dyeing is my February Art Experiment There are directions for this process all over blogland. This is my first attempt and, if nothing else, it will serve as a little memento of Snowmageddon.” I used a piece of wet, slightly crumpled PFD cotton and draped it over a couple of inverted plastic bowls so the excess paint and snow could drain off. I used Dye-Na- Flow fabric colors. The first image is of the snow on the fabric with the dripped paint. The second is the final product. I kinda like it! When DH saw it he said, “Oooh, tie-dye!” The old hippie...

Waiting for Mr. Darcy...

DH and I are thoroughly enjoying the “Emma” series currently running on PBS. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I have been on a Jane Austen kick since last summer. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, so far, with the aim of reading all of her novels. I have them downloaded to my E-reader and ready to go!

I'm particularly inspired by the fashions of the Regency period and have purchased a few patterns to create costumes for my Ellowyne dolls. Here is my first attempt modeled by dear Pru. I think it really suits her. The fabric is just some old quilting cotton from my stash. Prints on dresses from this period were mainly small floral or fern designs.

Binky and Vince

I had to share this photo of Binky and his little friend, Vince (sleeping). Vince is one of the feral kittens we captured last summer. He has gone from being completely wild (His folder at the vet's office was marked "DANGEROUS.") to being the most affectionate cat we’ve ever had. He loves to cuddle with us and all the other cats. Tony, Vince’s brother, is taking a bit longer to tame but he is making progress. He doesn’t exactly love being held (like Vince!) but he tolerates it. He does enjoy a good belly rub – with much purring and kneading of paws in the air. And he gets along great with the other cats.

It makes me sad to think of all the potentially great pets that are destroyed because shelters don’t have the necessary resources or personnel to work with them.

“Nothing cures like time and love.” Laura Nyro

Charming “Mirror”

Been having fun playing with dolls! I made a funky little dress to go with the shoes I made last week. Modeling the outfit is Goodreau’s BJD Mirror.” She is borrowing one of Ellowyne’s wigs.

Simple Felt Flowers

I made these little felt flowers today to decorate the shoes. I found the instructions in a vintage Barbie pattern (as a handbag decoration). They are so easy to make. You just cut a small square scrap of felt any size you want (I used a ¾” square), run a gathering thread on the guidelines, pull tight and knot off. I added a little French knot to the center.

First Attempt at Doll Shoes

I got two 16” Goodreau BJDs (ball-jointed dolls) for Christmas and a couple of patterns to make clothes for them. One of the patterns was for shoes and I was really curious if they would fit. They fit perfectly! They aren’t quite finished, yet. I still need to glue on the fun foam soles and little heels. Now, here is my dilemma. The pattern says to use a glue gun for this operation. And the glue gun is definitely not my friend. I never fail to burn myself! I’m thinking maybe I’ll use tacky glue – the same stuff I use for Santa beards. Anyway, I wanted to show you a quick picture of the shoes so far. I’m also thinking about adding some sort of little ornamentation to the fronts. The pattern contains several variations of this shoe; with strap, double strap and scalloped upper – but I thought I’d just try out the basic pump, first. The shoes are made of a deep brown felt with a reddish cast but my workroom lights can’t pick up the color. I lined them with a tiny brown gingham check. I'm downright tickled with these!