Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

 

 

 

Greetings of the season to all of you!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas spent with family and friends!  Our family was together and we shared the day with friends who are like an extended family.  It was our tradition and we love it!  Above is a photo of our tree.  It's full of ornaments hand made or gifted from friends, some have been purchased, but always because we love them.  Certainly not a designer tree, but full of love and memories spanning 40+ years!  It's the star of the holiday decorations for us!

 

 

My absence from the blog this year is because there was so much going on in our home.  But, I'm hoping the New Year will have me back in the studio creating.  I did have one new decoration to add to the mix this year.  It was a Zentagle Inspired Art piece that I had started in a class last year and finished after the holidays.  I just love the simplicity of it.  

 

 

 

 

 

I framed it in a simple black frame and displayed it on a black easel.  It was the biggest Zentangle piece I've done and it was a challenge to work that big.  Here are some other photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I love sparkle and shine, and lots of glitter for the holidays, the simplicity of Zentangle is so appealing. 

 

 

Well, my friends, as we are at the end of another year, I wish all the best that life has to offer for you.  I thank you all for following along on my rather erratic journey in creativity and I'm so appreciative of all the comments you leave.  Many blessings in the New Year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







ATTS:8 What's Your Bag!

Hello, everyone!  It's hard to believe that it's almost Thanksgiving here in the US.  I often find that Fall seems to more quickly than any other season.  When my kids were young and still in grade school and high school I thought that was the reason.  But, now they're adults and out of the house and I still find that this beautiful season just whizzes by.  I try to enjoy it as much as I can.  This year it's been difficult to really find time for much of anything.  A variety of family things have kept us hopping.  But, now it's time for Therese and Christine's blog challenge A Time To Stitch.  This is the 8th challenge, which is also hard to believe!  The theme this time was What's Your Bag.  We were supposed to bead embroider on a purse, amulet, evening bag, or some other bag of our choice.  I cheated a little.  I had made an evening bag with a bead embroidered flap at the request of my friend, Christen Brown.  She was writing a book on different types of embroidery and asked if I would do a bead embroidered bag of some sort.  So, I made a little clutch bag out of pintucked silk fabric and I embroidered the flap.  Here is what it looks like.

I made the pattern for the shape of the flap and then traced it on Lacy's Stiff Stuff.  I traced a rough outline of spaces I wanted to fill and started stitching.  I never have a firm idea of what a design is going to look like.  I wanted this to hint at an abstract garden surrounded by rocks and stones.  The colors were chosen to coordinate with the fabric.  Here are some details.







So, there it is.  I had fun making it.  I love doing bead embroidery.  I love making it textured and using different shaped beads. 

I want to thank Therese and Christine for hosting this challenge.  It's really fun to participate and I can't wait to find out what they decide to do next time. 

Thank you all for visiting with me.  I really appreciate you stopping by.   

Something Wicked

Hi, everyone!  Thanks for dropping by today, the day before Halloween!  I can't believe we're this far into the Fall season already.  Of course, things have been hopping around here so the time has gone by quicker than usual. 

I was really sad that I had not found the time to make any thing for Halloween or Fall/Thanksgiving.  Then The Frilly and Funkie blog had the theme of Something Wicked!  I really wanted to participate in this challenge!  It would force me to make at least one Halloween project.  I even had the base for what I wanted to do.  Well, I finally made the time and made this:

 

 

 

I had gotten the paper mache witch's hat at Michael's last year on sale.  I had plans to do something with it this summer.  Well, that didn't happen!  I always plan to do Fall and Halloween things in the summer but it rarely happens.  Anyway, I thought this was my chance to use the hat.  I painted it with black gesso and used Peeled Paint Distress Glitter on the edge of the brim.  I glued black feathers and glittered leaves as a hat band and then used a black and an orange die cut cat that I had from another sale package from Michael's.  The little purple glittered spider is also from the same package of die cuts.  I found some little skulls in my stash and glued that in front of the cat.  Using an awl, I poked a hole in the point of the hat and inserted a black wire with a glittered star on it.  Here you can see some details.

 

 

 

 

 

This is about as spooky as I get!  I love Halloween but not the way Halloween is now.  I don't like the gore and horror that has become so prevalent now.  I like the vintage Halloween of cute Jack-o-lanterns, cute little witches, black cats to go with them, and cute little ghosts out on the prowl .  So I do a lot of my own things for Halloween since I love to include it in my Fall decorating. 

 

 

I'm so happy that I decided to use this hat for the challenge.  I'm heading over to the Frilly and Funkie blog now to post it.  Check the other entries.  They are always great!

 

 

Thanks again for stopping by today.   I hope you enjoy your Halloween!



An Exploding Box!

Hello everyone!  It's a gorgeous warm Fall day here and I wanted to share a new project with you.  Known as an exploding box, it's a project I've wanted to try for a long time.  I love boxes and these are so easy to make and so much fun to open!  My friend, Patti, is a certified Zentangle teacher and she gives classes at her shop, The Queen's Ink.  She does intro classes and follow-up classes in basic Zentangle but she also offers seasonal classes.  I'll share last year's Christmas project as we get closer to the holidays.  This year for the Fall season she taught an exploding box with Zentangle components.  Technically it's called Zentangle Inspired Art, or ZIA for short.  Whatever you want to call it, I called it fun!  Here's a picture of the box.

 

 

We started with two pieces of 12x12" cardstock for the top and bottom.  The top is made with origami folds and the bottom was folded and cut so that it would form a box.  We cut out stamped images of the leaves and acorn and then did the tangles.  I used Distress inks and a water pen to watercolor the leaves.  The acorn was stamped on kraft cardstock so I just lightly colored some shading on it.  Patti had used white gel pen highlights on her leaves and I was really impressed with the way it made the designs pop.   I did the same and it's amazing the difference.  I chose an orange CS square to create a background for the grouping of leaves and acorn and did some pen work around the edges.  I glued the leaves down and use dimensional glue dots for the acorn. 

 

But the magic happens when you open the lid!   Here is what it looks like.

 

 

 

 

 

You may be able to see that there are two levels of panels inside the box. You can add more levels if you want.   Once the lid is taken off the box falls open, or explodes, and you can attach anything you want inside.  I love when there are dimensional things in the middle.  I used acorns and some descriptive word stickers for Fall around them.  Then I used the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die and his small pumpkin and acorn die to cut watercolor paper for the leaves and pumpkin and acorns I used on the panels.  I did Zentangles on each one and used Distress inks to watercolor them.  I also added some shimmer to these with Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals.  They are dry shimmery pigments that I use with a water brush and then highlighted with the white gel pen.   Here are some of the panels close up.  Unfortunately, the shimmer doesn't show up in the pictures. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each panel has a leaf or the acorns or pumpkin.  I just love handing it to people and seeing their reaction when they take the lid off! 

 

 

I was so pleased to finally have a reason to make an exploding box.  It seems that right now if I don't have a reason to sit down and work on a project I don't find (or make) the time.  That has to change, for sure!

 

 

Thank you for visiting with me.  I hope you're enjoying this glorious time of year!  The leaves are starting to change into their lovely colors right now and it's delightful to see.  Have a wonderful day!







I'm back, maybe!

Hello on this dreary Sunday morning on the East Coast of the US!  I may finally be back to creating and blogging!  I say "maybe" because there is a lot going  on in my world.  We are doing some upgrades in our kitchen and family room.  You know how they always say that once you start something like this you find that the job grows bigger!  Well, this has lived up to that saying and it's gotten a little more involved than we thought it would.  And, being the kitchen and family room it's been rather disruptive.  But, I'm excited about the changes we're making and it all should be done by the beginning of December, just in time for me to turn into the Christmas elf and decorate to my heart's content!  Since I can't really do much in the rest of the house I'm hoping that now that the major decisions have been made I can get down to my studio and finish projects that have been around in various states of completion all summer.   We expanded our garden this year and the weather wasn't too hot so I was able to spend more time out there which is why not many projects were finished, or even started.  Hopefully that will start to change now.  I really miss the creative process even though I consider gardening creative. 

Having said all that, I did manage to finish one beading project.  It wasn't terribly involved and didn't take long to do!  But, I love it and I wanted to share it with you.  It's another geometric beadwork project inspired by Kate McKinnon.  I kind of teased it in my last post on who inspires me.  You can read that here.   Here is the completed pendant. 

 

 

It starts with a warped square which I love stitching.  I made an  entire bracelet in warped squares last Fall.  You can see that one here.   The directions for stitching a warped square are in Kate's first book on geometric beadwork, Contemporary Geometric Beadwork.  Early in August Kate sent out an email with the idea for a new project, create a warped square and then work and exploding round and keep going until you had the number of rounds you desired.  The exploding round is one of the innovative concepts that Kate came up with while working on the book.  It's difficult for me to explain it so that it makes sense but Kate has a wonderful YouTube video that makes it all clear and you can also find the instructions in her book.  I admit that I wasn't sure how it worked when I read the printed instructions but once I watched the video it was easy to do. 

 

I started with the warped square that I turned into the bail for this pendant and from there stitched the largest square. On the final round I added drops for the corner beads.   I did 2 more squares, the medium and small, and then stitched the smaller squares.  Then I played with how I wanted them to be arranged and the pendant you see is what I came up with.  I love it and it's light weight and fun to wear. 

 

Here are a few details.  

 

 

 







 

 

 

 

 

 

As I said, it was fun to do and didn't take very long at all.  Which is probably why I finished it!!!   I chose the colors for a vineyard feel.  I'm in love with geometric beadwork and I'm working on a cuff bracelet that is coming along slowly. 

 

 

I want to thank all of you for visiting me especially after such a long break from blogging.  I really appreciate your visits and all your wonderfully kind comments.  Have a wonderful day!





Inspiration: who, what, where

Hello, everyone!  I have been gone from the blog for most of the summer.  And, the summer has gone sooo quickly!  It's not been a very productive summer for me as far as art is concerned.  I do have a lovely garden and lots of flowers and veggies to show for my effort, but not much in the way of beads, metal, or paper.  I think gardening is creative and so that has filled the void of not much work in the studio!  But, I haven't stopped working on projects that I'll eventually finish and share with you, it's just that I don't seem to finish any of them!  I'm working on a new geometric beadwork project right now and it's got my muse going big time!  So, I'll be sharing that first I'm sure. 

The last few days I've been thinking about inspiration and who or what inspires me.  With all the different mediums I've worked in there have been many artists who have inspired me with their work.  While I have changed mediums over the years (even though my heart still loves the fibers and fabrics I used to devote my time to) I still follow those artists that I loved then.  Now that I work primarily with beads and metal and paper art I have inspiration from other wonderful artists.  But, I also find that I'm not only inspired by artists, I'm inspired by colors!  In fact, I think that is a bigger inspiration than any one person.  The colors in nature and flowers, the colors of fabric and fiber. All of that is a great influence on what I work with and what project gets me excited.  The new project I mentioned is taking it's inspiration from the change of the seasons and vineyard hues that I love this time of year. Autumn is a great time of inspiration for me.   This new project is also inspired by the wonderful work of geometric beadwork artist, Kate McKinnon.  She is one of the artists that is exciting  me right now.  Her work in geometric beadwork is amazing and she has gathered a group of wonderful artists to further the art of geometric beading.  Here is a sneak peak:

 

 

 

And, another Geometric cuff inspired by the colors of Autumn leaves.

 

 

 



 

To stay on the subject of beading and bead artists, two bead artists I've followed since before I started doing bead embroidery or bead weaving are Sherry Serafini and Laura McCabe.  These two women create the most beautiful beaded jewelry and accessories and I have loved their work since I discovered them before I started beadweaving.   I don't remember how I found them and their work but I've ripped pictures from magazines and I have their books.  I just love looking through them for the eye candy and inspiration they provide.  I've been fortunate to have been able to take a workshop with each of them this year.  I'm working on the project from Laura's workshop which I took last week.  It's in pieces so I'll share it when I've finished it.  It's a beautiful necklace.  Sherry's bead embroidered workshop was in the spring and I finished a gorgeous Shibori cuff bracelet.  You can read about it here and this is a photo of it. 

 

 

 

 

 

But, then there is the paper art which I have become so enamored of in the last few years.  My daughter was always the paper artist in the family.  I loved what she did and finally started doing some projects myself.  We are fortunate to have a wonderful local paper arts store and to call the owner our friend.  As a birthday gift to my daughter about two years ago I signed us up for a class with Seth Apter.  That weekend of classes opened up new doors to me and Seth has become a great inspiration.  Not only is he a wonderful, fun person but his art and teaching style is fantastic.  Since that first class we have taken several classes from him and I was lucky enough to take a week long book making class with him this spring (thanks to my wonderful husband).  I've blogged about some of the projects we've done in class but here are some photos. 

 

 

From a stenciling class last winter.

 

 

 

A section of a collage class project.

 

 

 



There are so many artists I find inspirational but these three are people I go back to again and again  even if I just want some eye candy when the muse is on vacation!  In thinking about all this I still feel that color and nature are some of the biggest influences on my work.  Color inspires most of what I do.  I turn to my favorite artists for ideas on technique or style always turning things around to make them my own! 

 

Thank you all for visiting with me and thank you if you stuck with this long rambling post.  I'm hoping to get back to more regular blogging now that summer is winding down.  I hope you have a wonderful week and take some time to think about who and/or what inspires you!  





 

Mail Art

Hi, everyone!  It's been a long time since I've been on the blog.  Summertime is always a busy time and I love every minute of it!  I do a lot of dabbling in the summer and a lot of gardening but not a lot of computer time.  I love being outside enjoying the long days.  So, studio time suffers and that's okay because ideas keep percolating and eventually I'll get to them.  For now I want to share something I did finish yesterday.  Our young goddaughter is going to Girl Scout camp alone for the first time next week.  Her mom asked if we would send her a snail mail letter to make her feel more comfortable.  Apparently, the leaders suggest this for first time campers.  So, of course, I said we would send her a note and I would do some mail art on the envelope.  So, that's what I did this week and I had a blast doing it!  I decorated the front and back of the envelope and the front of the note card.  I hope she'll like it.  I think she will!  She loves art and crafting so I think she'll enjoy getting this in the mail.

Here is the front of the envelope.

 

I traced a stencil for the flowers and another for the leaves.  Then I filled in with Zentangle patterns and colored it with colored pencils.  I didn't want to use water soluble markers in case it got wet and I don't have enough colors of permanent markers to make it as colorful as I wanted.  The back of the envelope looks like this.

 

 

 

I think this phrase, which I first saw on a Mary Engelbreit card, is so cute.  I thought it would make her giggle so I put it on the back of the envelope.  

 

 



 

 

This is the front of the notecard.  Once again I traced a stencil and used Zentangle patterns to fill in each petal and colored it with pencils.  I love doing those little Zinger flowers and the related patterns so I used them for a border along the bottom of the card. 

 

 

I'm really pleased with the way the whole thing turned out.  It's bright and cheery and I hope she enjoys getting some mail.  I think she'll do fine with her first trip to camp on her own.  She decided she wanted to go with her friends so I think she'll have a great time. 

 

 

Thanks for joining me today.  It's been a long while since I've shared anything with you and I appreciate you stopping by to visit.  Have a great day!