Thursday, November 28, 2013

Yummy


No meat and no sugar. The best new thing was the roasted brussel sprouts with toasted almonds and blue cheese.......so tasty

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Whimsical Faces

 

 
Instead of sewing today I took a class online and learned how to draw/paint these "Whimsical" faces from Jane Davenport. It was actually a lot of fun to learn how to do this. I need more practice and I didn't have all the supplies she uses. See that one with the blue hair, well she is facing towards the side, which is a whole different way to draw faces, who knew? The last one with orange hair is a little cross eyed I think. Interweave had a Black Friday sale on some of their online classes. I refuse to shop this week so this was a good deal.

Happy Birthday mustard man Styles!!! We love you!
Hey I saw Ryland wearing your Moroccan shirt at his "Friendsgiving" dinner! Yeah!
My boys are so stylish. Just sayin'

Monday, November 25, 2013

Mandala or Modified Barn Raising

I almost went totally traditional with the barn raising style log cabin, but changed it to form sort of a mandala. This probably has a proper name in "quiltworld" but I don't know what it is. I really like it even though I can't get a decent picture of it on the design board (that may or may not be my knee in the picture). I'll quilt it up and take it outside for its special portrait.
Have a peaceful Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Barn Raising

 This one?
 Or this one?
Here's almost the whole thing. Its hard to get back far enough in this little room with the design wall in order to get a complete picture. The corners are darker than the rest of it.  I was trying to make a little space in my fabric drawers using up what I thought was a lot of fabric, but it hardly made a dent. This is my new goal, to use what I have before buying more. I know, famous last words. I'm trying.
I have always wanted to make a traditional log cabin but haven't gotten around to it until now. It is such a classic and who knew it could be arranged in a million ways? I kind of like the traditional barn raising plan which I think I'll keep. Remember red orange is my favorite color? Most of the blocks are complementary colors, and I especially love the blue/orange ones. They're all pretty.
On the chair is another quilt top in progress. I have the week off from school for Thanksgiving and I plan on sewing A LOT.
Stayed tuned for the Studio Blog Tour on December 6th. Vicki Welsh from Field Trips in Fiber is hosting it. You can click the button to get more information.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

More doodles



I'm sick. I've been home 2 days from work trying to get better. Something was going around the classroom last week, and sure enough I got it. I really want to sew and do important crafty duties but I am mostly sleeping and can't do anything. Yuck
These are some doodles I worked on last month because I don't have anything new to show.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

 Here is a picture of me carving a leaf stamp from one of the erasers I bought from the dollar store. I ordered some new carving implements from Japan and they should be here soon. I can't wait to try them out.
 Oh yeah, I needed another craft to explore (NOT) so now I am doing art journals and altered books. This is one of the fat-sturdy-paged books that toddlers "read" painted with gesso.
 This is the new cover. I used a cupcake I created with the gelli plate and some of my home made washi tape. I thought a cupcake was appropriate since it was the birth of my altered book.
This is one of the inside pages where evidently from what I've read, you can do just about ANYTHING, from painting, stenciling, stamping, drawing, I could go on and on. I don't like it that much, but it is freeing to just be able to do anything you want. If I add journal writing then it becomes an altered book/journal. We'll see where this leads me. I still love carving stamps, I'm just sayin'.
By the way, it is so heartwarming and encouraging when people leave comments, at least I know somebody is reading this. Thank you to everybody who enjoyed the stamps. I'll post more on that.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Still Carving!









All these were made with the new stamps. The first two pictures are part of my art journal and the rest are cards. I can't wait to start carving this weekend and check the 99 cent store for more erasers. Most of the stamps in the box (in the first picture) are made from white plastic erasers.

I really want to start sewing but I can't stop carving. I am watching Walking Dead on netflix while I am in the studio, its kind of icky and poorly written (sorry if you're a fan) but I like to watch series while I'm in there and it has to be something that doesn't require my entire focus. I've watched a lot so if you have any suggestions let me know.
Happy Day of the Dead!