Newly Published in Crazy Quilt Gatherings

Pat Winter's wonderful Crazy Quilt magazine has just come out with the Fall issue. I am so excited to have an article published in this creative stitching journal. Pat does a fabulous job gathering articles about techniques, various artist's work and wonderful places to shop and build every Crazy Quilters Stash. The magazine, Crazy Quilt Gatherings, is available for order here. Several years ago I participated in a Crazy Quilters (CQ) Puzzle Piece Swap. I created my puzzle pieces using my version of fabric/paper. Pat was very complimentary of my technique and the results and inquired about specifics. When she began publishing her magazine and was looking for articles on interesting techniques, my tutorial came to mind.
I certainly don't expect anyone to read the article here!! If you are interested you cna order your own copy form Mag Cloud. Once ordered, the magazine will be printed and sent right to your door., It is a wonderful system and Pat is getting lots of orders and tons of wonderful feedback!! this is a lot of work!!!
My article was a two page spread. The end result was showing how one could use their own crafted fabric/paper in their Crazy quilting designs. Here you can see a piece that I have incorporated as the central piece of this bag flap. If you click on the picture and enlarge you can see the layers of text and illustration beneath the flowers and butterfly colored images. I stitched this piece into the bag front piece using my sewing machine and I have begun to embellish with trims ,beads and silk ribbon embroidery.

I hope to have the purse finished soon so I can carry some of my own work on my shoulder. If you have any interest in Crazy Quilting I urge you to run on over to Pat Winter's wonderful blog! You are in for a real treat!!!

You have NOT been Forgotten!!

It has been a whirlwind of a week full of classes, grocery shopping ,cleaning, GRADUATIONS and wonderful surprises!!!
The biggest and most important event has to be Matthew's Graduation from Mountain View High School here in Stafford Va.

This also accounts for the blur of cleaning and grocery shopping!!!

The graduation was held outside on the football field and mercifully took place a t 8:30 am on the 19th of June. We were very lucky with the weather as although it was very hot it could have been alot hotter and MUCH more humid. We, including Matthew's Grandma Joy, were sitting in the stands facing East and we did manage to catch whatever breezes came along.

Now, if you will permit me just a tiny bit of Proud Mama Crowing, Matthew graduated with an Advanced Studies Diploma and a GPA of 4.34. HE will be attending the Honors College At George Mason university in the fall and studying Global Issues and Conflict Resolution and Arabic. Along with all of that he is one terrific young man and a very nice person!!!

The poor Graduates were all parked on chairs in the middle of the field in their maroon caps and gowns. The event was over by 10:15 and we collected our melting son to take lots of family pictures!!! HE was so excited about the prospects- Not so much!!! However a mother wins in such circumstances , so we got everyone in the shade and amanaged to get some great shots!!

MAtthew is wearing the white HONORS Stole to signify his achievements and his High GPA.

A happy Grandma and Graduate and a very silly and PROUD Dad doing his Best Stephen Colbert imitation!!

We are all very proud of our wonderful Son and Brother.!!!!

But by the time the obligatory shots were done and sister was trying to hug him, Matthew had enough and went into extreme melt mode!!! It was 95 degrees afterall and he was fully roasted!!

All in all it was a very proud and happy time for all of us!

Earlier in the week I was lucky enought to attned an Image Transfer workshop with Fiber Artist Liz Kettle. The workshops have been ongoing at Artistic Artifacts Annex all week, but I was only able to squeeze in the transfers experience. She also ahd a day of bead embroidery basics and a three day session of thread painting and manipulations that I would some day love to attend. Liz is from Colorado Springs and has become a Facebook friend of mine. She is a very good friend of Judy Gula, the owner of Artistic Artifacts and therefore we were lucky enough to have Judy bring Liz to her shop to hold classes.

THe day before class I was able to give these three lovely ladies (Judy, Liz, and Judy's mom Pat) a tour of Liberty Town in Fredericksburg and to celebrate both Pat's and Liz' Birthdays at a lucheon at True Love's Restaurant. We are all Gemini's- I knew that there was a great reason that I get on so well with all of these wonderful people!!!

Liz has a wonderful new book out that she has written with three other fiber artists and you can find it here. I have added it to my fiber arts library and I consider it a MUST HAVE!!!!!! If ever you have the opportunity to take a class with Liz, GRAB IT!!! She is also holding a Fiber arts Retreat this fall out in Colorado called Textile Evolution, and you can see what that is all about by clicking here!

I am still working on finishing up the sampler book of Transfer Techniques that Liz shared with us and as soon as it is done I will be sure to share it with you!! She showed us a brand new technique that she has just developed using water soluble paper as the image carrier- very cool!!!

When I arrived home from my day with Liz and Image Transfers, (after playing in south bound traffic for two hours EEEECK!!!!!) I found a small pillow package waiting for me from my dear friend and AWESOME needlework talent, Pat Winter!

Pat does amazing Crazy Quilting and silk ribbon Embroidery and her art blog is a Must Follow!!! If you would like to see more of her wondrous creations go here!

Pat has just recently reached the mileston of having 300 followers- you see her blog really is THAT wonderful, and she wanted to host a giveaway in honor of the occasion. Well she put all of her followers thru a random number generator and my number was picked from here collection of Long Followers (I refuse to call us Older followers!!!)
Pat created this wonderful little Ocean Themed neck pouch for me !!! FOR ME!!!!! Oh I was Exclaiming with joy and anticipation even before I ahd the envelope unsealed. Anything from Pat is always an occasion for great celebration. Isn't this little pouch simple wonderful??? She tailored the subject to my loves as we both share a love for the sea and it's treasures. I am so touched and delighted Pat!!! I will wear it often and with great prideand I know that I will get lots of comments and compliments!!!

Her is a tigher shot so you can see the adorable little girl in the vintage swimwear and take in some of Pats wonderful details!!!!

I must thank you all for hanging in there to get all the way thru this long post
!! It means alot to me to share my gardens my family and most importantly my art with all of you. Hopefully I will ahve a relatively quiet week as I have several art deadlines looming and lots of new projects to plan!!!

A Special Studio Peek!

Now don't go and get all excited on me, I do not have a glorious clean and organized Entire space to share with you! God knows, I wish that I did!! So many of my art friends are so wonderfully gifted at being able to organize and envison neat and accessible work spaces!! I can see what I want in my mind's eye but getting there is a totally different challenge! SIGH!!! I think that I am genetically hardwired to be a messy, BUT PRODUCTIVE artist. At least I am a productive mess!!!!

I am in the process of going thru many of my spaces- cabinets and drawers and taking a hard look at the contents. If I have not used the items nor thought of them since moving 4 years ago, out they have gone- feels great

I have collected a wonderful group of things that I cherish from other artists, particularly Art Dolls. These have come to me as swaps from Yahoo group exchnages as well as private trades and gifts from dear friends.Several I have fallen so in love with that I have purchased them
and I feel really good about showing their creatiors how much I appreciate their work!! As a result of my space clearing efforts I have set up a small Art Doll shrine . It is directly in front of my partially cleared work table so as I work I can sit and look at all of the glorious talent and creations of these dear people.

Starting at the top you see my fabulous girl created by Katlyn Avila! Kat has just retired from teaching art after 26 years and she is getting ready to teach- doll creation and other subjects- she ahs promised us!!!! She does such an amazing job of putting together found objects with incredible bead work and fabrics and sculpted faces. Each of her dolls has such wonderful energy and spirit!!!

Next you see a little flat doll with hair made form electrical fuses and long pink legs- I made her.

Then on the right you see a wonderful blue Angel Mothie Doll crafted by the Beautiful Barbara Burkhard!

Right below Blue Angel is Anzu the Sprout, created by Squirrel Momma- this gal is such a delight- you must visit her!!~!

Then sitting in a tarnished silver goblet is a Painted Mermaid Doll that I bought in Duck, NC. I love her- her hair is made of lichen with tiny shells glued into it and sea glass wired into a swag that she holds in her hands!!

In the rose covered mug sits one of my dolls from Dear Dot!! Dot lives in Australia and I met her thru a yahoo group that we used to both belong to. This wonderful Matrushka doll with babies is such a delight!! All of the stitching is done by hand and Dot does such a fabulous job with her beadwork. Each of her creations is infused with Dot's loving spirit!! You can see all of Dot's wonderful creations here, on her Etsy site, and she also has a wonderful blog!

Over to the far right, also sitting in a silver goblet, is another one of Dot's signature Dolls. This is an Amelia Doll. I purchased her just a s Dot was begininng to sell her creations and I just adore the turquoise and red color combo that she used!

Moving over to the right, you can see a small yellow trinket shelf that my Mom painted when she was a teenager. She was very intrigued by the art work of folk artist Peter Hunt and did an entire set of mismatched bedroom furniture in this style. I just adore this little shelf and it is perfect for holding some little vintage tresures that she and others have given me.

Even further to the right you can see my very first art doll that I got in a swap. She is seated on the gray shelf and has a bright green face. The idea behind this swap was to create a face in any media, send it off to your partner and then they would create a doll inspired by the face that you sent. So I made this funky GREEN face ( I guess that I was trying to present a challenge) and my friend Lee sent me back this amazing doll!

In this shot you can see another one of Dot's amazing creations that she gifted to me! Did I say how wonderfully talented and generous my friend Dot is????? This wonderfully bead encrusted bird shelters a little Egg Doll behind her wing. You can just see the little one peeking out if you look closely. It is so obvious from Dot's work taht she loves to stitch!!

Below and to the left of Scarlet Bird is a wonderful creation by my wonderful friend Jacky. Jacky also lives in Australia and I have gotten to know her through the same Yahoo group and thru Dot. Dot and Jacky are fast friends and share lots of their wonderful artwork with other artists all over the world. Jacky paints the most wonderfully expressive faces for her dolls and calls them her Klimt Dolls, as they were inspired by the work of Gustave Klimnt. I am so blessed to have one of these treasures as Jacky does not sell them.

Then to the right you see an absolute little fragrant treasure by the ultra talented and generous Pat Winter!! the little doll is stuffed with Lavendar blossoms !I have gotten to know Pat thru the Comfort Doll Project that she started to bring comfort in the form of Hand crafted art dolls, all gathered thru donations, to the lives of battered and abused women. Monthly, Pat sends off dozenbs of Art Dolls to shelters all over the world to let women know that they are loved and thought of by generous and talented artists. Pat has also become very well known for her AMAZING Crazy Quilting and she has recently been published in Art Doll Quarterly, Somerset Home and Belle Armoire Jewelry!! She has an amazing blog where she shares alot of her work and her generous and kind spirit.

On the left hand side of the above picture you see a white scallop shell that is held in front of the body of one of my very first attempts at an art doll. This is my Mermaid Book Doll. Tucked inside the shell is an accordian folded book that contains a poem that I wrote babout the ocean. She is made of polymer clay and has wild red wire hair with all sorts of sea stuff tangled in it.

Then in the center of the picture you see my latest addition who is named Sweet Baby June. I purchased her at the first Trash to Treasure Art show to be held over the summer at Liberty Town in Fredericksburg. I walked into the gallery as the show was being set up and I purchased her immediately. She is crafted by artist Dana West who lives here in this area. The base of Baby June is a vintage children's story book titled Baby June and Friends. The body is an old lamp base and the Doll head was purchased in a flea market in France. I just adore this piece and all of her various jewels and trinkets!! As you can see, I have left more room for special additions and I do intend to create more dolls myself.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing my collection and I invite you to click on all of the links that have been provided to visit all of my wonderful friends, to see more of their wonderful work and to shop from their Etsy Sites for treasures of your own! It is not to early to think about Christmas and to make it extra special and very affordable by shopping from all of the wonderful artists at ETSY. com!!

Hugs!

Charms for a Friend

A very talented artist friend is collecting Ocean themed charms for a special necklace. Awhile back she proposed a trade with anyone who might create some charms to add to her collection. So, of course, I had to dive in!! I have such a huge stash of gatherings from my beach time, that I could not resist!

In my previous post I told you about Wampum and how much I love it. Pat is from the midwest and till recently had not known what Wampum was. This piece is a wonderful example as it has lots of royal purple stripping and a critter-created hole from which to hang a pretty dangle!! I used sterling wire to wrap the shell and hung a crystal bead and a Swaroski purple crystal from the bottom .

In my stash I had a porcelain collector's plate from Bermuda. I had gotten it at a Thrift shop for .50 and was drawn to it as it had 5 little sea horses dancing around the rim. I dug out my stained glass tools (some are STILL packed from our move 4 years ago from OK) and set to work to make this charm. I nipped the little creature out of the plate and wrapped it and soldered him up! Done in 20 minutes!! I hope that Pat will be pleased!! I am pretty sure that she will be!! :)