Something About Nothing

Last week I blogged about this journal.   It was a test in embossing. Once I knew the embossing powder would work on a similar surface to a Moleskine journal, my daughter and I worked together on an image.  She wanted something abstract but tidy.  Finally an image was born, and carved.  The image was trimmed several times until it had just the right balance of negative and positive space.  Each edition was stamped on to deli paper the size of the journal to see if it would work.  I would have been happy with the first edition, but as I carved away more and more I loved the stamp more and more.  My daughter's vision was awesome. Finally the image was embossed on to the journal.   Whew!  I was pretty nervous I would mess it up. Each time I sprinkled the embossing powder, some of it would stick where it didn't belong and no amount of tapping or hitting the journal would shake it off.  Ultimately I used a paint brush ...

It's time to restock the Etsy store. I made a few quilted covers for lined paperback Moleskine Journals :  They each have an elastic that can be used to keep them closed. I've made four so far and will be making at least another eight at some point. The paperback journal will be included with the quilted cover. I really like the way these are turning out! Now that the kids are back in school I might be able to really get some work done. Maybe.

It's been a week of creative meetings! The Utah Surface Design Group held their annual summer party this week. We were greeted by these lovely paper flowers. . . . . .all in a long row. The fences were also decorated with pieces of surface designed fabric,  some commercial, some home made. When the skies threatened to rain upon us the flowers were brought inside. I love them all together!  We had about 35 people come to the pot luck/show & tell.  The food was generous and delicious! I was enjoying show & tell so much that I neglected to pull out my camera right away so I have fewer photos than I should.  I'm not sure if you will think that is a good thing or a bad thing. This appliqué quilt was her FIRST quilt! She said it took 7 years to finish. It is hand quilted.  Hand painted Lavender lady.   Her face is polymer clay and  she is filled with lavender flowers.   She smelled divine. ...

I finally figured out how to use my Silhouette Portrait yesterday.  It's really not that hard to use - WHEN you follow instructions!  I finally took the time to watch a few very short videos and discovered my mistake - TAKE THE PAPER OFF THE BACK OF THE FUSIBLE BEFORE running it through the cutter.  A simple task really and one that make a very big difference. The fabric cut perfectly, even the smallest of pieces. And so after some playing around with the computer program I designed this lovely little journal cover. Two little love birds snuggling on top of a heart and stating the obvious. It's now on sale in my Etsy shop.

I always like to ask my students why they took my class. I want to know what they hope to learn so that I can guide them and hopefully satisfy the reason the took the class.  My Painted Book Cover class was held the last morning of Quiltfest and to my surprise many of the women were very honest in their answers as to why they were there. . .  ". . .my friend was taking a class this morning and I had to find something to do. . ." ". . .It was a half day class. . ." Hahaha!   Not the answers I was expecting but I'm so glad they were honest with me.  Despite these reasons everyone left with a smile on their faces. (Gloria, how did I miss photographing your final painting?  If you are reading this please send me a photo to include on my blog!)  Creativity has a way of doing that to a person. While painting this student asked if I would feel like a failure as a teacher if one of my student's projects were ugly.   I laughed ...

I've been working hard to finish up projects for my classes at the Utah Quiltfest. The front two journals are samples for my painted journal class. I'm still not liking the polka dotted flower. The colors just don't work for me. Maybe if I repainted the flower another color? Or colored over the dots with another color? That would be a LOT of dot coloring. For now I'll just be happy with the dandelion and the blue and yellow pieced journals. The pieced journal is a donation for the mini-quilt fund raiser at Quiltfest. I hope it helps to raise a lot of money.

You know that feeling you get a few weeks before you're scheduled to teach something you haven't taught in a little while and you start to wonder if you remember how to do it, more or less teach it? Yeah, me either. I pulled out my paints and stencils today and started playing around on some fabric. I found some Tulip Soft paint on clearance and thought I would give them a try.  The painting at the top with the spotted background was made with the Tulip paints.  (Sorry about the poor color quality in the photos) The bottom flower is painted with Jacquard Textile Paint. Both paints painted nicely. This flower was created free hand.  I'm not sure how I feel about the polka dot background. It reminds me of a reptile.  The dandelion was traced from a Crafter's Workshop stencil.   I really like the dandelion. I will quilt both pieces and make them into journal covers which will serve as samples in my Painted Book Cover class ...