Debbi Baker

A Little Art Journal

2008-08-21T06:16:00.003+08:00

Last night Zach and I went and saw the one night performance in Kalgoorlie of the touring "Drum Tao" - of my gosh, how incredible are these guys and girls? It was, as Zach would say, awesome! The energy, the strength, the timing - really incredible. Zach reckoned if you had to pay after the performance he would have happily (had me) pay at least twice what we paid in the first place.

And to make this a little art related, this is a little art journal that I have made for Jacky as part of a one-on-one exchange in a small group I'm in. Jacky loves nature and birds and I am loving making little sewn scrap collages at the moment so this is the result. I've made the binding with ribbons so that she can easily add more pages. I did the Traci Bautista thing and tore rather than cut the pages and left them big enough to poke out of the journal - I really am trying to free myself up a bit! I still cut the canvas pages though!

Have a great day everyone!

My August Calendar Girls Fabric Postcard

2008-08-20T06:34:00.008+08:00

This month it is my turn to make a Calendar Girls postcard for the rust & paint loving Lynda. The picture below is this month's source of inspiration. I've moved away completely from the colours in the picture but I have used the basic shape of one of the flowers so I think there is enough of a link!

The fabric was first rusted (last summer) and then coloured with Adirondack Color Wash in Denim - a great colour and I think it sets off the rust rather well. I've stamped it using a french text image and black ink and then appliqued a flower I have cut out of fine copper mesh. I heated the mesh over a flame to get the nice colouring. Hard to control as the colour spreads very quickly. I have also sprayed the fabric with a Moon Shadow Mist in gold so there is a lovely glimmer that doesn't show up on the scan. The machine stitching is done with a lovely plastic sort of sparkly metallic thread.

And speaking of plastic - my plastic inchies arrived and they are fantastic. As soon as I have them mounted altogether on some card-stock I will post a picture of them.

Weekend Collages & Mixed Media Monday Numbers

2008-08-18T21:25:00.006+08:00

This weekend (when I was planning on making stuff for some trades/exchanges) I got myself a little distracted by my half-made collages from the previous weekend. All I need to do now is sew them to cards or journals or whatever. Feels good to have got them to this point and they were a lot of fun - I just sat down with some stamped and printed images, a pile of Ann Lawton's (from Esperance, Western Australia) handmade paper and my collage scrap box and fiddled with them until I liked the result. Added some stitching a little embellishment. Very therapeutic.

The theme at Mixed Media Monday this week is "numbers" which is very convenient seeing as some of my weekend collages include numbers. The one at the top of this post is my contribution on this theme. The numbers come from a bingo card scrap.

Zach (my 17 year old son) and I watched "The Kite Runner" movie on Saturday and it really was good but of course the book was so much better (so much more depth and detail). Very moving though and really makes me appreciate my life. On the weekend I made the mistake of starting a new book - Elizabeth Berg's "Never Change" - and of course couldn't go to sleep last night until I finished it! Well worth reading - she has a wonderful way with her characters - they feel so real. I've been fiddling with some other stuff so hopefully will have something finished to share soon. Have a great week!

Creative Wednesday - a new challenge blog!

2008-08-17T13:43:00.004+08:00

I happened to check out Marg's blog this morning and found that she and Sarah have started a new weekly challenge site for Mixed Media/Stamping/Collage Artists who love to create Art. It is called Creative Wednesday and this week the challenge is to create a row house so of course I had to join in - I love little houses! Check it out and join the fun.

Here is the first house for my row. I am going to create a whole row, making one whenever I only have a few minutes to play. The pretty brad at the top means the scan is a bit blurry. The second picture (when at full size) shows the real size of the house so you can see they are pretty small!

I have covered a Collections chipboard house with a collage paper I made of white and cream bits and pieces and then photocopied. The edges are dabbed with Antique Linen Distress Ink. This house had a window so I have put a little picture (of Sarah Bernherdt?) behind the window and added doodles, a rub-on border and some words from a very old copy of Gone with the Wind.

And while I was typing up this post I received a blog comment from the lovely Sephi telling me she has given me the "I love your blog" award. Thanks Sephi - I love yours too (always fully of beautiful and creative stamping and collage). The rules are - (1) The winner can put the logo on their blog. (2) Link the person you received your award from. (3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs. (4) Put links of those blogs on yours. (5) Leave a message on the blogs you have nominated. So I am passing this on to seven of the many blogs I love - Susie, Susan, Carole, Elizabeth, Anne, Martha and Kelsey.

A Bit of This & That

2008-08-16T10:32:00.004+08:00

So here we are - Saturday again!! Treated myself to a bit of lie-in this morning (that can only happen when Joseph is away as he believes in early mornings - for everybody!!) and now feel ready for the day. Zach and I are going to watch The Kite Runner later this afternoon - I don't think I have ever seen a movie that was as good as the book on which it is based (although now that I think about it, Storm Boy might be an exception) but I can't "let go" of this story yet so decided to watch the movie straight away.

This week I finally received the latest Quilting Arts magazine so really looking forward to a good read of that sometime this weekend. I haven't been as thrilled as much as I normally am with Cloth Paper Scissors over the last couple of issues (probably just because some of the art doesn't appeal to me personally) but QA is consistently totally wonderful. So many things to try!

I also received this gorgeous vintage fabric postcard (or AMC as Simone calls them) from Simone Bamberg-Lemper, love it!And my arty US friend, Susan sent me a lovely surprise - the cutest ever little bird beads (which will have to become ear-rings over the course of this weekend), a great hand charm and some amazing sarcophagus shaped playing cards! I am dying (deliberate pun) to use them in or on something interesting.

I can't recall whether I have ever written about my love of old suitcases (and old rulers too) but when my Mum came up to stay with me in June she delivered a lovely old suitcase that my cousin Kay had decided needed to join my collection, despite its sentimental value to her. It was my paternal grandmothers and had been bought for her by Kay's mother and her brother (both were several years older than my father who was a "change-of-life baby") from their early pay packets (which would have been in the 1930s I think). The case is monogrammed with my Nanna's initials - BN. I just love this case, especially as it is from within our family - it is beautifully lined too. The sad side of the story though is that apparently my Nanna got very upset with her two offspring spending their hard-earned money on her! I have still to find the ideal spot for this case - it can't sit in this stack as they are all brown ones that I have collected or been given. Incidentally the graduated sizes are a fluke!

And now for some details about the collage at the top of this post - it is based around a transfer of a coloured picture which I enhanced with gold ink and then covered with several layers of clear utee to create a tile effect. It has been mounted on a piece of "leatherised" brown paper and is surrounded with Gold Rocs by JudiKins. I think this is the only time I have used them despite buying several colours at a stamping convention several years go! Perhaps I need to start some projects based around specific supplies.

Total Lack of Focus

2008-08-14T21:30:00.005+08:00

Not sure why, but I have a total lack of focus tonight. I haven't done anything creative myself but I have read some new blogs and caught up on some others and that is about it! Perhaps it is the after-effects of finishing such an incredible book late last night.

Anyway I found two great blog give-aways that you might want to enter quick-smart!! This one is for a great free-form crochet scarf from Carla's Feathered Fibers:

And to enter the draw for a fabulous piece of mixed media art from the very creative Anne Le Toux - go to this post!

And here are a couple of pictures of my Oxford Impressions "Studio Steps" cards in the current Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft magazine. These cards use the "Country Girl" stamp plate. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Oxford Impressions stamps????

Sorry there is a break in blogging...

2008-08-13T20:45:00.005+08:00

as I have got home from Wiluna and TOTALLY lost myself in the book I started reading last night - The Kite Runner by the incredible Khaled Hosseini. I expect to surface in time for work tomorrow morning (hopefully!) and will be back to normal blogging tomorrow night. I must add, however, that I don't expect to ever feel normal again...

Mixed Media Monday - Fashion (& Some Fabric Postcards Too!)

2008-08-11T19:46:00.004+08:00

I have the honour this week of being the guest host at Mixed Media Monday. The theme is "fashion" and I chose to use my "Haute Couture" piece which was originally published in Somerset Studio. It is a combination of papers, stamping, shading, stickers, buttons, trim and stitching. And don't you love that dress-form stamp? Another favourite of mine!

I am away for the next couple of days with work (travelling to Wiluna, a mere five or so hours drive up the road) and won't be able to blog, so I am also posting the wonderful results of the latest Quilty Conscience Fabric Postcard exchange (and hoping like hell that everyone else has received their postcards today and that I won't spoil the surprise!!)

The challenge was to incorporate paint in some way on our postcards:

(Top one by Karin Hutchinson and bottom one by Stephanie Grant)

(Top one by Danielle D'Onofrio and bottom one by Coralee Barker)
(PS Have a look at Danielle's blog - she has a picture of her postcard in an alternative colour-scheme)

(Mine)

Experiments & My April and May Journal Quilts are Underway!

2008-08-10T18:04:00.006+08:00

I read on Lynda's blog about her experiments over-dying her rusted fabrics and that made me think about colouring some of the fabrics I rusted earlier this year (or was it last year?). I decided to try my Adirondack Color Wash in Denim and it worked great - I just sprayed the fabric with water first and then left the Color Wash to spread. I didn't want it to be too dark so didn't spray it too heavily. I think it makes the rust really nice. Even the lace and the rusted organza worked. Now to actually do something with them...

Building on my recent success at finishing a journal quilt, I decided to start a couple of others. April's technique is "painting on vliesofix" so I am constructing a quilt based on scraps of painted vliesofix that are left over from my first go at this quilt. I have heaps of fresh pieces I could use but I loved these colours. Anyway I had cut flower shapes out of the vliesofix so I have used the remaining shapes and ironed them random style to a recycled baby wipe (this one fortunately hasn't been anywhere bear a baby and is coloured as a result of being used as a painting tool) which has been adhered to a gorgeous piece of commercial fabric. I have then practiced my non-existent free-motion sewing skills to add petals all over the baby wipe. The next step will be to quilt the rest and maybe add some beading. The stitching is actually bright orange but it hasn't shown up that way in the scan!

May's technique is "recycling" so I am taking it literally and recycling one of the many cloth Basmatic Rice bags that we have. We make a lot of curries and eat a lot of rice so we buy rice in these 5kg bags which I re-use for all sorts of things (such as underwear and shoe travel bags) but of course we have an excess of them. I have torn one of the bags into various size rectangles and have machine stitched them onto batting using a basic grid (in red). All I intend to do now is hand-stitch around each of the frayed edges. Not sure what sort of binding but I feel it should have frayed edges!

I am currently making a whole pile of small collages for cards so that is what I am off to work on now.

March Journal Quilt - At Last!

2008-08-09T21:39:00.005+08:00

At the start of this year I planned to participate in two monthly projects for myself for 2008 - the first was Sharon's "Take It Further" Challenge and the second was the Australian-NZ Quilter's Journal Quilts. I managed to do the first five months of TIF before dropping out but I am still going with the journal quilts even though I am way behind schedule. The beauty is that it doesn't impact on anyone as these are for myself!

Anyway, today I have finally finished my March quilt which I first talked about here. I have been working on it in small bursts but it took ages as it is all hand sewn apart from the binding. The theme for March was "memories" and as I have many strong childhood memories of my mother and grandmother sewing and of my delight in Mum's spare buttons I wanted to make a quilt that was based on those memories.

The white and cream background is made up of small torn and cut pieces of various fabrics laid over a piece of muslin-covered felt and covered with a layer of white polka dot tulle. The "rustic" hand-stitching anchors the layers together, the buttons have been stitched on and lace has been added around the edges. The binding is a fine zig zag stitch (fabric postcard style). The buttons are in a heart shape to represent the love I felt as a child as well as my love of buttons!! My quilt was inspired (and influenced) by this which I happened to see on a web-surfing spree at the time I was contemplating the theme.

I was making progress with my April quilt (the "theme" was the technique of using painted vliesofix) but I wrecked that one last weekend when I tried to finish it, so it is back to the drawing board for April!

TMTA - Turquoise

2008-08-08T20:08:00.003+08:00

I know it is really Friday, but this is my entry for the current Think Monday Think ATC theme - turquoise. The little bird is one of those wonderful stickers from Cavallini & Co - I have softened the edges with Broken China Distress Ink and the background layer is sprayed with Moon Shadow Glitz Spritz (not that it shows up in the scan!) and stamped with a Hero Arts text image. This ATC is "embellished" with my latest favourite white pencil - a soft German PITT Pastel by Faber Castell - just gorgeous to use.

And I am SO GLAD it is the weekend!! SO many plans, SO many things I want to do!

Inspiration

2008-08-07T19:53:00.003+08:00

A while back I posted about the triangles I was making for an "Inspiration" banner exchange I was participating in with the CreativeChix group and now I can post pictures of the result!! It is fantastic. Some of the triangles are cardstock and some are fabric and I have stitched them all to thick green twill with invisible thread so I can hang them in my creative space.

I by Hope Clinchot
N by Sammy Stafney

S by Sue Simpson

P by Jacky Williams
I by Connie Armitage
R by Debbi Baker (me!)
A by Gail Pfrommer
T by Patti Gramza
I by Chris Peden
O by Maria Garcia
N by Elizabeth Woodford

Mixed Media Monday - Thrinchie

2008-08-06T21:20:00.004+08:00

At Mixed Media Monday, the current challenge is to make a Thrinchie - a 3 inch square piece of art. I made quite a lot of these back in May for some exchanges etc but I didn't know their name then. Anyway tonight I made another one for MMM this week - it uses Oxford Impressions Family Man stamps and a piece of map themed scrapbook paper with Distress inks in blue and black to colours the edges. A little bit of "toned-down" gold German scrap for adornment and a whizz around the edges with the sewing machine to keep the three layers all together. A bit of fun!

Today's work trip went fine but waking at 4:30 in the morning means I am well and truly ready for bed now and it is only 9:30. I'm not going to fight it though, so good night!

Reporting in...

2008-08-05T20:05:00.006+08:00

Well here we are again and I have to say I have no idea where last night went. These are pictures of some of the results of my Sunday play day - I didn't even venture out to our monthly Trash N'Treasure! Apart from cooking (and finishing my book late Sunday night), I just played - painting silk ribbons, fabric and then canvases. Such fun. I have a trestle table set up in the family room near the heater and although it wrecks the look of the room it is a blissful spot in which to indulge myself temporarily. It is also totally necessary as my two small art/craft rooms (unused bedrooms) are basically supply rooms at the moment - no available work surface! I won't just be spring cleaning in a month or two but undertaking a major re-organisation I think.

The flowers in the first picture are a rescue effort from an aborted journal quilt - painted vliesofix adhered to text printed fabric and batting, sewn and cut into freehand flower shapes, finished off with hand dyed edges (to get hide the batting edges) - no idea what if anything they will be used on but I had to try and save something from the quilt (which was a disaster).

Now to important stuff - the wonderful Cait Gordon, down in the southwest of our glorious state has finally started a blog and I have found out about it!! Check out her blog and leave a comment - we all know how nice it is to have feedback! By the way Cait is a very accomplished art quilter and she makes fabric ATCs too!

And while I am on the subject of other bogs, another trading partner of mine, Kiwi Carole, is celebrating her 100th post and she has a great give-away on her blog so make sure you pop over and leave a comment. Carole does all sorts of great stuff!

If you visit me here regularly, you may recall I was making triangles for a banner swap a little while back. Well, I have now received my "inspiration" banner back and it is just gorgeous and I can't wait to join up all the triangles and hang it in my sewing room (that is the room with a few millimetres of blank wall space). I'll share photos as soon as it is up - probably this weekend. I will also be able to share some gorgeous fabric postcards that resulted from a "paint" themed exchange - just got to get them all photographed as they are too dimensional to scan!

Off on a road trip to Leonora (a small town a couple of hundred kilometres away) for work tomorrow which means a very early start ,so tonight I am going to bed early. Tomorrow night I want to try and do a couple of the weekly challenges, especially Think Monday Think ATC which has turquoise as the theme. Just love that colour.

So Far...

2008-08-03T09:19:00.006+08:00

So far this weekend I have just played! The lace painting went well and I painted several small lengths of lace but then I decided to do a couple of pieces as well that required detailed painting so they took rather a big chunk of the afternoon! In case anyone is interested I use the Ozecraft lace dyes which I bought from Starr Laces and Ribbons at Craft Fairs in Perth - I love them and have about 20 colours out of the range. They are very easy to use and can be diluted to achieve softer effects. And it ended up too cold and windy to work outside - the sun kept disappearing so I set myself up at a trestle table inside next to the heater.

Later on I painted the first background layers on some canvas (stretched, boards and sheets) - I'm on a hot pink/magenta and orange kick it seems - here is a small slice of three of them - they won't look anything like this after I add a few more layers. I like to use paper towels to lift off paint and get some texture and paint transference. I love playing with paint when it isn't for any particular purpose - I am a big believer in having a lot of backgrounds pre-done for when inspiration hits.

After that I just read a book - Elizabeth Berg's "Say When" - I had been to the library on the way home from work on Friday night so I have a lovely pile of novels to indulge in. I probably should have stopped reading a lot earlier than I did last night - feeling a bit sleep-deprived this morning.

And to finish off - here is the last of the current batch of felted Artist Trading Cards - the flower bunch. I had to take a photo as the scan just killed the very bright colours and made it look puce-like! The photo is, however, a bit shadowy. Now I'm off to make pumpkin soup and a curry (not to eat together!) and then I am free to play again - I'm thinking about digging out my shiva sticks to try them on silk fusion as Carole tells me that is what she used on that awesome piece of fusion in yesterday's post (along with sari yarn). Or maybe I should paint some silk ribbon while I still have the dyes out...

I Love Weekends!!!

2008-08-02T09:30:00.006+08:00

Today is cold but sunny which is good because I really want to do some lace painting and it is so much easier to do it outside. The pictures above are some photos of the results of previous lace dying/painting episodes and if I like what I make this weekend, I'll post some more pictures.

The rest of this post is a bit of a mixture - firstly, look at this gorgeous fibre ATC that Carole Brungar traded with me this week. I love it - it is lovely and padded and lots of dimension with the beading, fibre edging and the gorgeous "clay" tile that Carole has made. The ATC was wrapped in this amazing piece of silk fusion - see below - I can identify threads but I have no idea what the rest of the blue stuff is but it makes for an incredible piece of silk paper. I'll be following that up with Carole, that's for sure! Carole also sent me a "Migratory Book". This is the first I have heard of this project - its all about connections - you don't keep it but send it on to someone once you have enjoyed it for a while and you record your thoughts etc on the blog. Such a great idea!

These next two photos are my felted ATCs - you are probably getting tired of the cupcake one but I added some clear beads to the cupcake icing and this photo is a bit more accurate colour wise than the previous scan (at least the hot pink is more accurate although the background looks blue when it is really purple) . The sun is a simple one that I finished off on Wednesday. I have one other one nearly finished - I think I am addicted to these - ideal for winter but they won't be practical to make here in the extreme heat of our summer.

Last night I had a burst of ATC fever and finished off a whole pile of partially made ATCs. These ones have a card stock base and involve a variety of techniques although most involve some stamping. I have some trade commitments but I'm thinking of accumulating enough to offer as open trades but we'll see how I go - intention is one 25% of the equation!! I must admit though it felt good to work faster and to get things finished - last weekend I fiddled around for ages and ended up being really disappointed with the amount I actually got finished.

And all of these yummy napkins or serviettes arrived in the mail this week from the lovely Kathy Logan over in Georgia. She is moving and destashing in the process! Anyone who knows me, knows how I love using napkins in my art so there is plenty of material here - most are multiples too so I don't have to skimp!

Some more felted ATCs

2008-07-30T18:48:00.003+08:00

Just a quick little post before I go over to Annie's for our weekly get together (to do arty/crafty stuff and of course to chat and share our week's happenings). I finished these three little felt ATCs while sitting in my tiny little "donga" room in Laverton on Monday night after dinner. I made good progress on two others as well but I'll wait until they are finished before I post another scan of them. With these three the colours are a bit off! The cupcake base is actually a very hot pink and that orange flower is not THAT orange!!!

And today's mail bought my July Calendar Girl card from Sandy - such a lovely bright postcard to receive on a grey and rather wet and dreary day!

PS For anyone outside of Australia, a "donga" is a slang term for a very basic prefabricated portable building - used a lot in remote locations. They started off as modified shipping containers but have gone a bit more upmarket (comparatively speaking!!) these days. Google will provide you with some examples!

My Sunday

2008-07-27T21:58:00.004+08:00

Most unusual for Kalgoorlie but we have had a wet weekend - perfect for staying indoors and playing with creative stuff! I finished four of my felted ATCs (my husband Joseph just shakes his head and looks at me as if I might have suddenly lost the plot!) and started heaps of other things.
I did get this little house finished - it is stamped with one of the lovely images from the new Oxford Impressions Family Man plate and the crown is grungeboard - love using that stuff. The crown has been painted with Super Copper Lumiere paint and then brushed with Black Soot Distress Ink to tone it down. I think it is a nice sort of metallic look.

Last night I finally watched "Marie Antionette" on DVD - I really enjoyed it! My purpose was to prepare for a Marie Antionette themed fabric postcard swap. Lots of ideas bubbling now...

Travelling with work tomorrow (just to Laverton a few hundred kilometres up the road) and I'll be back on Tuesday evening. See you then!

Wylde Women Award

2008-07-26T15:18:00.007+08:00

Found out this morning that the lovely Viv has passed on a new blogger award to me - its the Wylde Women Award that was started this month by Tammy Vitale . Thanks so much Viv! I am thrilled that we found each other in the blogosphere and get to brighten each other's days!

This is how it works:

1. You can give it to as many bloggers as you like and of course you need to link to their site.

2. You also link back to Tammy's blogsite
(http://www.TammyVitale.com/)
so she can go visit all these wonderful women.

Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.

Now of course I can think of tons of women who blog who fulfill this criterion but I am going to pass on this award to two new bloggers - Gaye and Kasha - both of these wonderful wild women live on the other side of Australia to me so I am very glad they have started beautiful arty blogs which brighten my day and provide a lovely way to stay connected! If you haven't visited their blogs yet, make sure you do.

Today's art is an old piece that I made for Somerset Studio using a transfer of my favourite photo - I have used this photo so many times! Today it is cold and wet here - good chocolate weather so thank goodness I don't have to squeeze into one of those ridiculous laced corsets.

And I was cleaning out my photos and realized I hadn't shared this beautiful sunrise from a few weeks back. As usual it is just a quick snap from our back yard so street lights and power lines are part of the scene! It was one of those sunrises that stays beautiful for quite a long time.

Beautiful Mail & A Productive Wed Night

2008-07-24T19:59:00.005+08:00

I received some terrific mail in the last couple of days - the beautiful home-themed canvas from my friend Gaye (I love it and I see that the texture in the corner Gaye!!) and these gorgeous cards and ATC from Dianne Mahoney (who doesn't have a blog but who should so we don't just see it in magazines!!) I have positioned the ATC on top of the card in the scan as the delicate embellishment on the card did not survive the journey unfortunately. But I love that beautiful background.

This is a bit of quick post as I am really tired tonight and I'm going to go to bed early and read but I thought I would share a progress shot of the felted ATCs I started at Annie's last night. They are for a swap and are made with my Clover hand felting thingo rather than my embellisher. They will look a lot better when they are finished - there is more felting to be done, plus of course some stitching, beading and edge-finishing but I was pleased with how quickly they came together. I am using merino wool from The Thread Studio - fabulous colours!

TMTA - Nostalgia, Awards & A Bit of Fun

2008-07-23T06:33:00.004+08:00

This is my "Nostalgia" ATC for this week's Think Monday Think ATC challenge. And guess what? The nostalgia doesn't extend to the hairstyle!!

Over the last couple of months or so I have received awards from some lovely fellow bloggers and I haven't acknowledged them here until now. I want to thank Eva, Kelsey and Sephi for the awards but I also need to apologise for being so slack about it. I haven't passed the awards on to specific blogs because there are just so many I love and read whenever I can, so consider yourself awarded - you are all inspiring!

And now for a little fun - have a play with this little widget - change the brush size and colour and make art!!

Wednesday Stamper - Two Tone

2008-07-21T20:19:00.003+08:00

This is the ATC I made tonight for the current Wednesday Stamper theme of "two tone". Just a bit of fun using a painted Golden Green Gold background on textured gold flecked paper, a darker green stamped collage image by Oxford Impressions (from the new Family Man plate) and the word "approved" (by 7gypsies).

PS I love the little puffy gold stars I used but I am nearly out of them and can't remember where online I bought them :(

Calendar Girl Postcard

2008-07-21T07:06:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I finished my Calendar Girl postcard for July. As you can see from the calendar image below, the colour scheme this month is pink and while I don't have any issues working with the pink the image was VERY pink and a much lighter shade than what I would normally choose!

So I have adapted the colour scheme a bit for my tastes. I've used some fabric paper I made "a la Beryl Taylor" as the background and the vase and flower have been cut free-style from pieces of silk fusion that I made. It was the first time I had cut a detailed shape from the silk fusion and I learned that it doesn't necessarily hold together very well!! Fortunately the applique process addressed that minor hiccup.

I debated long and hard about embellishing the flower more (say with beading or some hand-stitching) but decided in the end that it would look too busy on what was meant to be a more graphic look.

More Inchies!

2008-07-20T10:05:00.005+08:00

Where have I been and what have I been doing since last Thursday - well it must be the cold wintry weather but I keep losing myself in books lately and it means I don't have as much art to post as usual! Last week I read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini and oh, my goodness, it made me realize that I should never ever complain about my life. It was an incredible read - very powerful and moving.

On the creative front, I have finished my inchies for the next fabric inchie exchange run by Kathryn Robertson through Aus_NZQuilters. This time the theme was "plastic" so it was open season for lots of experimentation. The ones at the bottom of the picture were way too dimensional for a good scan but I am feeling slack and can't be bothered taking a photo. This is my contribution - 9 different styles, from top to bottom:

1. Synthetic lace fused to felt and painted with Citrine Lumiere Paint, overlaid with green sequin tulle and stitched with synthetic fibre.

2. Borders Bookshop plastic bag pieces fused together and then fused to felt. These have been topped with Angelina fibres (ironed into a sheet and cut into small pieces) which are trapped under white fuzzy dot tulle. Layers have been stitched together grid style.

3. Red plastic sheet fused to felt, topped with textiva strips (which have been ironed together and then “decorated” with a wood burning tool), a plastic domed sticker and stitched around the edges with plastic metallic thread.

4. Plastic wallpaper painted with diluted acrylic paint and fused to felt. Hand stitched edges with an overlay of organza and a plastic flower jewel.

5. White and gold striped plastic bags fused together and then to felt, topped with large black plastic “rubber” stickers and small plastic ear-ring stickers.

6. Black and gold stretch synthetic sequin fabric fused to felt

7. Colourful fabric fused to felt with handstitching in gold thread around the edges, topped with small pieces of Lutradur which has been painted and had holes melted in it with a wood burning tool.

8. Plastic upholstery fabric with distressed pieces of painted Tvyek stitched on top using plastic metallic thread. Inchie edges are coloured with acrylic paint and dimensional copper paint squiggle on top.

9. Toffee paper wrappers fused to black acrylic felt and backed with purple chiffon, stitched, then ironed to distress. Small pieces of plastic drinking straw stitched on top.

These were great fun but I am glad they are finished as I feel like working on something less fiddly. Today I am going to finish my Calendar Girls postcard for July. I started it yesterday afternoon before I went to a lingerie party and I had planned on finishing it last night, but once again I got stuck in a book instead!

Think Monday - Think ATC - Games

2008-07-17T20:03:00.005+08:00

This week at Think Monday Think ATC the theme is "Games" so I am posting an ATC I made a while back that uses a jigsaw piece as an embellishment and a playing card background.

And last night at Annie's she traded me a Foliage ATC - isn't this just stunning? And I don't think I have ever seen more wonderful edging!! And I love the gilded silk fusion background as much as I love the felted leaf.