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Showing posts from May, 2010

Pen and Ink Tails

I have an addiction to pens.  I admit it.  I would guess I'm not the only one in this group that can admit to that.  I know I'm not the only one in my family who has a 'thing' for pens. On returning home from work one day I found red ink paw prints all over my living room floor!  What the heck?  On closer inspection I found bits and pieces of my Pilot Parallel pen.  Drag.  Trinity (our female golden retriever) had left a trail of destruction.  Plastic bits and inky paw prints  throughout my home.  I knew it was Trinity because she had ink stains on her fur.  Farley, the perfect golden retriever had no tell tale signs.  Oh well, I guess it means a trip to Gwartzmann's as they have the best price for these pens.  I'm always up for a trip to an art store.  I couldn't be too mad at the dog.  The pen could be replaced and was. Skip ahead a couple of months.  This time there's mysterious black marks on my floor.  Now what?  Well it was my Sailor 14kt gold

are you sick of my kaleidoscopes yet?

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I never tire of them!  I think they are so beautiful.  It amazes me that one image can produce so many different kaleidoscopes!

more kaleidoscopes

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Three more pansy kaleidoscopes.  I am going to print one of these and bead it for the bead journal project.  Won't that be pretty!

kaleidoscopes again

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I used the same pansy picture for these three kaleidoscopes as I did for the three that I posted yesterday.  I have six more to post from the same picture.  The possibilities are unlimited with this software!

kaleidoscopes

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I was having some fun play with Kaleidoscope Kreator today.  I started with a picture of a pansy and pictured above are three of my kaleidoscopes.  Stay tuned for more!

embellisher

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Almost two years ago I got to take a two day workshop with Beaney and Littlejohn.  It was a great workshop.  We worked with needle felting machines for part of the workshop.  I enjoyed learning how to use one but thought I could live without owning one. However, I did purchase a hand held needle felter.  I quite enjoyed working with it and have produced some nice work with it.  When I saw the Janome felter at an auction I thought what the heck if I can get it cheap enough I'll buy it.  Well, I got it and am really enjoying it.  It works so much faster than doing it by hand. The piece above I felted and then free motion quilted.  That\s a lot of machining for a girl that prefers handwork!  I love the texture that was achieved by felting and quilting.  I don't think I could have achieved this look with handwork.  I may use this a background for some beading for the bead journal project. 

for the birds and Fibre Arts/mixed media

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I belong to the Fibre Arts and mixed media ning as you can see on the sidebar.  They run monthly challenges.  In April I won the random draw and received a lovely package of goodies and a book.  That was just too fun.  I love getting packages in the mail - it's like Christmas. The journal page above is my entry for this month's challenge which is 'for the birds'.  The feathers have a really cool iridescent color to them which you can't see in the picture.  :(

more photography

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All creation sings!  Truly, nature does make my heart sing.  It restores my soul as does making art.

watercolor pencils/crayons on silk

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Pictured above is beige silk. This is the same silk that I painted with Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils.  I love that the Inktense pencils don't change the hand of silk.  Also, the shine of the silk still comes through. The sample above is dupioni silk that was colored with Derwent watercolor crayons.  The color moved really well on the silk.  It actually works better than on paper.

photography

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This butterfly was a gift to me today.  The last week or so has had me wondering if anything good was ever going to happen in my life again.  So when I noticed the sun shining on my deck this afternoon I thought it was time to treat myself to some rest and fresh air.  I noticed three butterflies in my neighbor's lilacs and had to get my camera.  Is this a great shot or what.  I cheered right up.  Nature does that for me.

It is a compulsion

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I want all the colors.  I simply HAVE to have them.  I could never be happy with just the box of 8 crayons!  Well, never is too harsh a word.  If I were stuck on a deserted island some where and only had the box of eight crayons I guess I would be happy with them.  It would be better than nothing.  In reality I live in incredible abundance compared to most of the world and I can almost always get what I want.  To that end I had a good mail day as I received my most recent indulgence. Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils are absolutely scrumptious!  They come in seventy two wonderful colors.  I purchased the largest set I could find last year and then immediately regretted not waiting to find the largest set available.  I should have known better.  I have been purchasing the rest of the colors one by one and now I have the full set.  I have experimented with using them on silk and really like the results.  I will have to post some of those experiments.

interesting book

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This book I made in a workshop.  It's an interesting book.  It was a bit complicated to make.  I don't think I'll make another one as it was just a little too fiddly.  I don't generally like to make anything twice anyway. 

bead journal project for May

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I really like this piece.  I made silk paper and then did some needle felting to it.  I added some embroidery and beading.  I attached it all to some silk charmeuse.   The top photo is a close up of the beading but really you shouldn't view this piece too close.  I wish the photos did it better justice.

feeling nostalgic

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My mom made the quilt pictured above.  Mom was always doing some sort of textile work.  Quilting, knitting, crocheting and sewing.  She could do them all.  She gave me her sewing machine a couple of years ago.  It still sews like a dream but she no longer wants/needs to sew  She is still knitting though..  She is almost eighty and likes to keep busy.  The quilt pictured above was made by my Grandma, my Mom's mom.   She too was always quilting etc.  Probably more from necessity than anything else.  My uncle Ron graciously gave me this quilt as I didn't have anything of her making.  I hear that she also hooked rugs and always gave them an artistic touch.  The patterns were always of her own design.  I am pleased to have come from a long line of textile artists.

Fearless Painting

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Oh my gosh!  I had so much fun today.  I took a Fearless Painting workshop.  We did some cool warm up exercises in the morning.  These two paintings I did in the morning.  Laurie really kept us moving.  I love classes like that.  Fast and furious is just my style.  Lunch was brought in for us.  It was fabulous, really yummy.  I ate two pieces of dessert!  In the afternoon we worked on one large piece.  I think that there is more that I would like to do it but I think it is basically okay.