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Showing posts from March, 2012

alphabet altered book last set of pages

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So that is all of it.  What do you think?  I thought it was a fun idea.  It worked up fairly quickly as far as altered books go.  It took a few weeks but I have books that I have been working on for over five years!

alphabet altered book another look

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Almost done. 

alphabet altered book more pages

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I'm wondering if these pages with the interference paint are a bit boring and could use more color.  What do you think? 

alphabet altered book another look

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I am pleased that some of the shine and glitter shows up in these images!

alphabet altered book

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Since there is a break from Take a Stitch Tuesday this week I decided to post my altered book.  Each page I cut into the shape of a letter.  I then applied some sort of medium to each.  I used gesso (white or grey), opaque flakes texture gel, glass beads, transfer foil, blended fibers texture gel, and iridescent stainless steel coarse.  I then applied color to each page.  I used Pan pastels, watercolor crayons, interference paint, glitter etc.  The book is a riot of color.  Stay tuned for the rest of the pages.

cuff bracelet

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I stitched this bracelet a while back and just realized I hadn't posted about it.  This image actually captured some of the sparkle of it!  I love it when that happens.  It is a pretty little piece and I am just realizing that it matches a dress I have perfectly!

March crazy quilt project updated

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I added a bit more stitching to the block.  I am satisfied with it now.  I used some painted rayon seam binding on the right side of the heart.  I think that balances things a bit.  I feel like I have come out of my box with this block.  Previously I had  been stuck on embellishing the seams and wandering off of them was difficult for me.  I think I am finally getting it!  Also, I think you can see the sparkle a bit better in this image.  Sparkle is always good!

March crazy quilt project

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Hmm, not a great picture.  The butterfly doesn't sparkle in this image like it does in real life.  Drag.  Actually, now that I am really looking at this block I am thinking it isn't quite finished.  I find looking at photos really helps me to see what is missing/lacking.  I wonder why that is?

Take a stitch Tuesday barred chain stitch

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Here is my sample such as it is.  I have not done the barred chain stitch before this.  I can't say that I am in love with.  Maybe, if I practice it some more it will grow on me.  Sharon B at http://www.pintangle.com has the instructions hows to do this stitch.

Photoshop fun

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It has long been my intention to learn more about Photoshop Elements.  Tonight I decided to play around and see what I could do.  I am pleased with the way this turned out.  I played with the saturation and added a filter - plastic wrap.  This has a lot of potential!

A dos a dos book tutorial

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This video is so cool.  I have never seen a binding done like this one.  I am definitely going to have to try it.

TAST Whipped Wheel

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Sharon B at http://www.pintangle.com/ is doing the Whipped Wheel stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday.  I have never done this stitch before this.  I have to say that I LOVE it and will do more of it for sure!  The first stitch is on the right in the above photo.  I definitely did not pull the thread tight enough around each spoke.  Lesson learned.  The second one on the left I did better.  I tend to be a laid back kind of gal so that shows up in my stitching.  giggles

St. Jacobs Quilt Festival

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Here is the link to the classes at the quilt festival this May.  I am teaching Funky Flowers.   http://www.stjacobs.com/sites/default/files/Quilt%20Classes_0.pdf Pictured above are some flowers we will be making.

experimentation

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This is a giant bead I made.  It is prettier in real life as the hologram threads on it really sparkle but that is really hard to capture with the camera.    I wrapped a drinking straw with felt and synthetic fibres and then melted them with a hot air gun.  I added threads and beads.  Most of my family gets that it is a cocoon.  Some of them think it looks like the dog's breakfast.  Unfortunately, this picture tends to make me agree with them on the dog's breakfast.

TAST running stitch

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I am bit late posting this but better late than never.  The running stitch is new to me.  Such a simple stitch you would think I would have used it prior to this.  Sharon B's samples at http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2012/3/6/take-a-stitch-tuesday-week-10.html#comments are stunning.  The top picture is shows the running stitch done with wool.  The bottom picture shows that I wove some interesting knitting yarns through those stitches.  It is not quite finished but it won't take long to complete.

coloring ric rac

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A couple of weeks ago I picked up a bag of ric rac at the thrift store.  Not all the colors were to my taste so yesterday I experimented with 'dyeing' them.  The top picture I used Inktense blocks.  I wet the ric rac and applied the block directly to the ric rac.  I got nice intense color on the top.  The color did not bleed through completely to the other side so you can see it is much lighter.  Inktense does not change the hand of the ric rac at all.  I love that! The other thing I used to experiment is Dr. Ph Martin's Bombay India Ink.  Again, I wet the ric rac and then dropped in color with the ink dropper.  Lovely intense color but this ink did change the hand of the ric rac.  It made it a bit stiff.  Not really a big deal to me.  I love two for one so I took prints of the ric rac while it was still wet.  I think the paper could make an interesting background for a journal page.

This is such an inspiring idea!

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I am not sure if I would use the silk screen process as I don't have any.  I can think of other ways to do this though.  So cool.

Wellington County Museum art workshops

http://www.county.wellington.on.ca/document_info.aspx?id=7268 Here is a link to the Museum workshops that are happening this summer.  I am very excited to be teaching there this summer!  It looks like there are some really interesting workshops so it is worth taking a look.

bead journal project with clock gears

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When I joined the bead journal project a couple of years ago it was because I wanted to bead like Robin.  She is so talented.  I quickly realized that I wasn't likely to ever bead/stitch like that.  I felt inadequate and made apologies for that.  This year I decided that I would not feel badly about the way that I do things.  I would take this project and do my own thing and feel good about it.  It has freed me up to think about beads in a different way.  So this month my 'beads' are clock gears and watch face.  Of course I had to include some regular beads as well! The top photo is the whole piece.  Unfortunately I could not get the color right.  The bottom picture is a close up of the beading.  The color in the image is closer to correct.

bead journal project

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I am excited to work on this photo for the March bead journal project.  To recap, I ordered some calendars last year.  They featured my rust photos.  I was extremely disappointed with calendars and didn't feel that I could give them as gifts as I had intended.  The printer did not do a good job with the color.  So I decided to make lemonade with my lemons.  I really do hate to waste!  I figured I could bead onto these photos and I am pleased with the results so far.  For March I am using the photo/calendar page above.  I am using beads and something a little different.  Hopefully I will be able to post the finished project tomorrow.