nearing the finish line

The April BJP heart still isn't done. I'd forgotten how much work all the little details of putting together a wedding are and how time consuming it all is. I wouldn't trade it for anything though - it's been such fun spending so much time with the kids. The wedding is next weekend and then my time once again will be my own. I've signed up for 3 classes on joggles.com as compensation to myself for deciding my health just wasn't good enough to attend artfiberfest this coming fall and I'm really looking forward to them. Projects on the horizon include finishing the April BJP page, making the May page and then binding the hearts into a book. I'm also in the process of making a 3-D fiber/beaded gypsy wagon and possibly a project for the beaded book exhibition hosted by Beadwork Magazine. In the meantime, it was great fun to take advantage of a rare sunny day to take the hearts outside and take a picture of the 12 that are done all together.

I've just a bit more to finish on the April page - I've never had something go so slowly before - I just don't seem to have the interest in finishing it though I'm eager to start May.

Work continues

on the wedding dress. It's not quite how I want it yet so I'll be going to the children's house to work on it again this weekend. I could probably finish it if I had it at home but I'm worried about the puppy somehow sinking his teeth into it so it stays safe and sound in a dog-free apartment. I did however get a picture of one of my grandkittens helping me sew last weekend. Also here is a shot of the beading I'm doing on the shrug that goes with the dress. The dress is strapless, the bride has many tattoos so we're using the shrug for some of the more formal wedding photos (like the ones that will be sent off to grandparents). The wedding dress work was quite frustrating this past weekend as the dress looked amazing until I hemmed it and then the hem was all wobbly no matter how much steaming I did - In the way olden days (who remembers this?) we used to buy little weights that we'd sew into the hem of jackets and dresses when we had this problem - the women at the fabric store looked at me like i was insane when I asked about them. So I've found some wonderful beaded trim to apply to the hem to give it a little weight - I'm thinking this will do the trick however hand sewing trim onto a bzillion inches of dress hem isn't my idea of a way to spend a Sunday afternoon but it's once in a lifetime - right?

i'm still plugging away on my April Bead Journal Project page. I've never been this tardy with a page before - I worked on it for a while last night and I'm thinking just a few more hours and it will be complete. Here's the work up until now. The women at Wynwood Beads in Pt. Townsend gave me those little white fish beads so I had to work them into the page somehow.


Mr Zakk the puppy is not getting very big which is a very good thing - in fact, he's much smaller than any of the other dogs. Of course he's only six months old but it doesn't seem like he's really going to grow all that much larger. He's getting better about not destroying too many things while we are at work but he can't resist my shoes and is determined to get to them no matter how securely I think I've stashed them - this boy can open closets and drawers! As I've said a million times, it's a good thing he's cute.

It's been a few weeks

Since my last post. Upon return from ArtFest I suffered a flare of my arthritis and fibromylagia that - to put it bluntly - kicked my butt. Couple that with the wedding dress I'm making for my son's beloved and the regular ups and downs of daily life and I was left with little time to attend to my blog.

I am feeling brighter now (or perhaps it's that it appears that spring may have finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest) and have been working on the April BJP page. I decided to try something new this month and am attempting a landscape of sorts - the landscape being that shore at Fort Worden where ArtFest is held. The working title of this piece is "The Rocky Shore". I'm not overly excited about this piece as, once again, my fingers are not doing what my brain wants them to but I am plugging along because this project was really meant to be a learning experience for me.

The next Bead Journal Project begins this September and I encourage you all to participate. This has been the best learning experience for me, in the virtual company of a few hundred beading folks for support and advice. The information is here. Check out the rest of the website while you are there.

Hopefully I'll have a finished page as well as a finished wedding dress to share next week.

Home from Artfest

I had a great time. I go mostly to see my friends and hang out but this year the classes were excellent as well which was an added bonus.

Thursday I took the Precious Metal Clay class. It was very interesting to me that it was so similiar to the low fire clay that I have worked with for years. I never do my best work in a classroom setting, but I really did enjoy making these charms. We also learned how to set stones and fire the clay both in a little wee kiln and with a torch.




Friday was the Icons class - It was very low key and fun - just mostly slapping paper and paint around. I sat with my friend Leilainia and that was the best part of the day.



Saturday was the Creative Characters day. I don't know if I was overly tired or what but the first part of this class nearly frustrated me to tears - I was ready to turn in my artist card but the teacher helped and suddenly a little light when on in my brain - If you ever get the chance Karen O'Brien is an incredibly wonderful and skilled teacher. I highly recommend taking class from her and would love to take another. After much gnashing of teeth and furrowing of brow I got this little painting done - It was really quite fun.

The dogs were overjoyed to have me home and I was happy to be back to my own comfy bed. Next on the agenda - a wedding dress.

p.s - There are tons more Artfest pictures on my flickr page.

On line classes

I've been having just a wonderful time taking on line classes at joggles.com. I finished up my projects in the Funky Felt Pin class. These were such fun - here are a couple of my favorites - the rest can be see on my flickr site.



I also finished my third project in the Fertile Earth class - It is supposed to be a Canadian Thistle but my friend Suz thinks it's Christmasy. The central floral bit is deep purple rather than the fuschia color that shows up here.
I'm off to Artfest later this week and will have tons of photos and stories upon my return.



In other news, the Bead Journal Project is continuing for another year beginning this September. If you would like to participate, I'll have sign up information here later this summer. It really is a fun project with a supportive group of people - beginners are welcome - in fact, I'd never done any bead embroidery at all when I started last year. This project gives me just a wee bit of structure that I need to complete something every month without the stress of deadlines to mail something off to someone. So if you've enjoyed viewing my beaded hearts this year and would like to try your hand at it, don't be shy - join us!

New Projects!

I've been busy with several fun little projects - the first being these 'funky felt pins', another on-line class with Susan Sorrell. Here are the bases of the pins - I have them along with some embroidery floss in a Whitman Sampler box sitting here on my desk at work just hoping to catch a few spare minutes to begin stitching.


I've also been working on Lesson #3 of the Fertile Earth class but haven't progressed very far - Here's the base of the piece which will eventually be a Canadian Thistle.

Artfest is next week! Here are the beginnings of my house trades - before and after flowers was the theme. So my 'before' flowers are paper because that was what I used to work primarily in and my 'after' flowers are fabric because that's what I do now - not very esoteric but it works.

Updated

I just realized that I posted an 'in progress' photos of the pears - Here's the completed piece.

Stitching Away

I've been busy working on my on-line class projects as well as getting ready for Artfest - why oh why do I always procrastinate, thinking it will only take a few minutes to find and gather up the needed supplies?

Here's the first project from the Fertile Earth class - fruits and vegetables.

And the project from the second lesson - flowers. Next on the agenda - fungus and weeds.

March Bead Journal Project

March is roaring by - I'm late getting things posted because that sweet puppy ate the USB cord for the camera - TWO new ones came in the mail today so I'm back on track. The March Bead Journal page is completed. There are portions of it that I'm not happy with and other portions that I really like. I'm beginning to finish the backs of the pages in preparation for binding them all into an accordian style book when the project is over in May. I should probably be thinking of a cover.

ARRRRRRRRRRRgggggg!

The puppy chewed up the USB cable to the digital camera - No photo updates until the new one arrives :(


It's a good thing he's cute!

March Stitches

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I've been working simultaneously on several project. The March BJP is finally formulated in my head and I cut the fabric and basted the stabilizer for it last night. I've been finishing up the 2nd project in the Sumptuous Stitches class but as is my nature, it is another one of those projects that has grown out of control and is bigger and more detailed than I ever imagined it would be. I do enjoy the embellishing though - the little hidden stitches and the sequins and beads. Here is the progress to date. Not the best photo in the world but you get the idea of where I'm going




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I started the class with Susan Sorrell last week and am having a blast. I love her way of teaching - "here is how to do a technique - here is how I did it, these are the things that happened that I didn't like and how I worked with them - now go do it" I work best with those types of classes rather than the 'cut the brown fabric to 2 cm by 8 cm and glue it 45 cm from the edge of the green fabric'. My first project involved designing with a fruit or vegetable and I picked pears - After a rocky start, I came up with something I'm enjoying working on - of course once again the details are what is taking a long time but I think that I'll really like this once it's finished.

A close up of some of the detail.


I've also begun work on the wedding dress for my son's bride to be - it's going to be such fun as she is far from a traditional girl. Then there's Artfest in such a few weeks - My head is going to be so full of new ideas soon it may just burst!

It's hard work being a puppy

On the horizon

I was so disheartened when the Sumptuous Surfaces class was over, I quick like a bunny signed up for The Art of Embroidery - Fertile Earth with Susan Sorrell. Here is her sample for the class - pretty wonderful no? The class starts tomorrow - I can't wait - well really I can because March is going to be one busy month. I'm also registered to take Susan's Felt Pin class at Joggles.com that begins on the 18th of this month. And I'm off to Artfest the week after that AND I haven't even begun my Bead Journal Project page for this month - well, to be honest, I have started it but the idea in my head wasn't translating to fabric (again) so rather than fuss and fume, I ripped out the beading and am starting again.

My trades for Artfest are almost completed - I waiting for some supplies to come in the mail to finish my house trades - well camp trades. For several years I've stayed with a bunch of gals in one wing of a dorm that we call "camp runamuckus" - we generally do a challenge just amongst ourselves for Artfest - this year it's fabric flowers but since Nikki, the designated camp counselor, can't let us do anything the easy way - she's changed the challenge so that we are making TWO flowers for each camper - a 'before' and 'after' flower - let me tell you - that took some thinking on my part to come up with a 'before' and 'after' but I think I've got a plan - now just to wait for the supplies.

Top it off with being incredibly busy at my day job AND having electrical problems at home and I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants most days. Perhaps this month's bead page should be about biting off more than one can chew. The wonderful thing about on line classes though is that I can work at my own pace. I can read the lesson at the office on my lunch hour. I can work on my project a little in the evening and again early in the morning before work. I really enjoy taking 'hands on' classes but on-line is so much more flexible - at least for me.

A shop moved close to my office that will be offering classes - Krazy Kat Fiberhaus. I ran in yesterday to check it out and OH MY GOODNESS it was quite wonderful. They aren't fully stocked yet, in fact things were being delivered while I was there, but they are going to be offering classes! Just look at this picture of one wall in the shop - pretty wonderful eh? The shop is just a few minute drive from the office - I can foresee myself spending quite a bit of time there.

what my world looks like

after too many hours over the beading table.

the weekend's work

I worked on this stitchery most of the weekend - it still has a very long way to go. And I learned that my mother is being released from the nursing home and returning home this week. All in all a pretty good weekend (If you don't count the vial of beads the puppy spilled all over the studio floor)

still catching my breath

I did manage to sit down long enough to work up a design (in my pointed little head) and a color pallette for my next sumptuous surfaces project. My color palette came from my mother's home. My mother and I are polar opposites - she's a taurus - I'm a libra - how's that for starters? She votes for Team Elephant - I do not. My house is wild and bright and full of colors that don't match and her house is tasteful and color coordinated down to the dish cloths. These are the colors of my mother's house. Of course she lives in the dessert and I live in the forest so that probably is a big influence on our lives as well.




Last night I painted some linen to work on - It didn't come out exactly as I had hoped but then I was half asleep when I was painting the fabric and was using Dr Ph Martins Bombay Ink which I don't think was really developed for painting fabric - but it was what was within arms reach so there you go. I think it will work though.

I'm hoping to have long hours to stitch this weekend but the sun is shining which may necessitate a trip to the beach. I think the new little pup might enjoy that. Speaking of which - he's growing like a HORSE! and eating like one too and well - what goes with eating is horselike as well - I'm glad that my job isn't poop patrol.




Irie is getting better with the pup - She plays with him more now rather than just growling - Zeke on the other hand is being a cranky old man. It is such a joy for me to see Mu and Zakk just run run run together in the back yard. They are the best of friends which exactly why we wanted to get a puppy - so Mu would have someone to play with. Irie had to get a new collar which made her feel a bit better about having the pesky pup around. I call her "Princess Cupcake" now, but Charles continues to refer to her as Princess Heartburn.



Oh! And I did finish my last piece from the Sumptuous Surfaces class - and here it is. If it doesn't quite resemble the first go at it, it's because I started again on a larger piece of fabric that was much better suited to my arthritic hands.

February Bead Journal Page

I finished my February page - it began with a mardi gras theme. I'd purchased some amazing fabric designed by Mark Lipinksi called Katmandu and the fabric just screamed out for beading. I wanted to experiment with building some 3D flowers with beads and sequins and this fabric seemed to be a good foundation for that as well.

And so the month of February is titled "life isn't always a carnivale (or patience is a virtue)"

February

I started my February Bead Journal Page today - It's loosely based on Mardi Gras colorwise anyway. I changed up and did some regular thread embroidery on the fabric before I began the beading. I'm taking an on-line embroidery class and the first assignment is a white on white/neutral piece and I needed some color AND I needed to practice my stitching so this month's page covers both of those things..

Here's the beginnings of the white on white postcard sized piece.

busy as a bee

I've just started the "Sumptuous Surfaces" course taught by Sharon Boggon on Joggles.com. The first lesson involved designing your project - a novel idea for me as I tend to just jump in feet first and paddle like a puppy. This weekend I've spent the majority of my time sketching and doodling, manipulating images on the computer and trying to come up with a 4 x 6 inch design for my first project. Initially I was at a loss - plan something? how novel is that? And once I had what I thought was a plan, the notion of tranforming it into a stitch pattern simply boggled me.

I visited a nearby shop this afternoon to collect some new fibers for the project. The first project is monotones - preferably whites/ecrus and those colors just aren't in my vocabulary and I really didn't have many 'fancy' fibers to use. I went to the Shibori Dragon - oh my! it took my breath away - honestly. There were such beautiful fabrics and threads and I didn't even venture into the knitting room. I purchased some silks, rayons, overdyed cottons, wools and one skein of thread made of bamboo. They also had wonderful little bags of scraps for crazy quilting, so I had to add a couple of those to my pile. These bags were crammed full of wonderful treasures - most too small for me to use in my style of crazy quilting (read here - use BIG pieces of fabric to accodomdate big and clumbsy stitching) but this is just what I have longed to have in my fabric stash for fabric collage pieces -

When I came home I had a much better idea of what I wanted to do and came up with this:

Now to wait until the next class on Thursday to begin. I think though that it wouldn't hurt to work up a little stitch sampler before beginning the class piece.