Something About Nothing

I recently ordered Lesley Riley's book Creative Lettering Workshop , and her Reverse Alphabet Stamps.   I desperately needed a play session and so I broke out the stamps, paints and Gelli® plates. These stamps create reverse letters, therefore if they will create backwards letters if used directly on paper, but when used in a transfer situation they come out perfectly forwards.  I really like how the individual stamps can connect together.  You can put them all together and store them in a big rectangle.  I still need to figure out a storage place for mine. I played around with some cardstock, inks and paints. The words on the pieces in the upper right are stenciled on after printing. I went a little crazy stamping about. Because the Gelli® plate is soft I tried to be careful with how hard I pressed the letters into the paint.  Too soft and the letter was barely there, and too hard and I got an imprint of the box around the letter....

First of all I want to congratulate Upstate Lisa on her win this month for The Printed Fabric Bee Giveaway!  I am very excited to be able to share these fabrics with her!  (Look for the email I sent you Lisa!) It seems there are a number of Hive members who also need a big congratulations today!   I was reading my latest copy of Quilting Arts Magazine and found this great article about Seed Stitching written by Jane Davila, one of our newer hive members.  Lots of great ideas in the article and some quotes and eye candy from fellow hive members Gerrie Congdon and Deborah Boschert too! Hive member, Leslie Jenison and her cohort in quilt crimes, Jamie Fingal, have an article highlighting their wonderful curated exhibits "What's for Dinner?" And last but certainly not least is The Last Word column by former Hive member, Lesley Riley.  Lesley's column was just what I needed to hear right now.  If you haven't seen the latest issue...

I've been a bit scatter brained as of late. "What?  Only lately?" True, I am a scatter brain most of the time but more so lately. Family Stuff mostly. It happens. Throws off my game. But I am trying to reorganize and get busy. I decided it was time to go through some fabrics and destash.  Too much clutter makes me crazier than usual.  I've listed some fabrics in my Etsy store .  I'm going to make some scrap bags too and list them there as well.  I have a lot of fabrics that I just won't use anymore because I am printing and dyeing my own now.  I know there is someone out there who will have a good use for them! And while I am trying hard to organize and get rid of things I have several books that are calling my name!  Life stresses sometimes call for some retail therapy. My friend, Lynn Krawczyk , has written this book that is getting rave reviews! My friend, Lesley Riley , has this book coming out soon!   I lov...

 The Printed Fabric Bee Queen for February was Lesley Riley.   Her theme was Mosaic. It was a challenging theme for everyone in the Bee it seems. I did NOT like my first attempts: First I stenciled  Color Magnet   through a stencil I created with my Silhouette and dyed the fabric. I thought I would stamp over this background with these simple foam stamps. . .  . . . but after one stamp. . .umm, absolutely NOT. Maybe a more transparent paint but. . .well I just wasn't feeling it. I started over with a piece of snow dyed fabric. . . . . .and painted squares through another stencil I made. . . . . .it was pretty but I didn't think it looked very mosaic-y. Not to mention that Mister didn't approve at all. He is very critical! I created a new stencil of a flower and tried again with the Jacquard textile paint. . .  . . . and I liked it!  Here is the full piece I completed. I cut off a 12" square for...

My copy of Quotes Illustrated arrived today! I've been im patiently waiting as many people reported that their copies had arrived from one coast to the other and so I was thrilled when mine arrived today. Even more so when I looked in and saw that Lesley Riley had autographed the book as well. What a treasure and collectors item! Here is the page with my artwork. *happy dance* Thanks Lesley for letting me be a part of this beautiful book! There are so many beautiful pieces of art work by wonderful artists and great quotes that Lesley has collected through the years.  You can buy your copy on Amazon .  The price keeps bobbing around as it becomes more and more popular and is currently about $16.  Last I checked it was #5 on the best seller list under the "Quotes" category!  Woohoo Lesley!