art journaling friday ~ september 27, 2013

i'm finding out how art journaling affects me. and it's absolutely amazing how much i look forward to getting into my studio and getting in just those few minutes. i didn't think it would really be enough daily time but it works out perfectly.
i sit down and evaluate what i did previously and then make a quick decision about what i will do next and get that done.
often i find that something needs to dry a bit anyway so i'm ready to put it away until the next time. until then i carry ideas around with me about how i might continue and as i go about my other activities (both art and routine stuff) i find that new ideas (or variations) occur to me.

and best of all, i'm finding that i get such a good energy from doing the work/play within my art journal that i'm getting more done in other areas of my life too. can't beat that~!

my newly finished page is on the left and the page on the right has had a few small additions to it so that the pages 'work' together.

i'll be linking up with Art Journal Every Day at Balzer Designs today.
i enjoy seeing what other art journalers are doing to their pages and sharing mine with them is fun too. today Julie is "sharing some art journal pages from the end of August and the beginning of September."  her artwork is also very inspiring~!

as the weather cools off i'm finding that i want to do a page or two representing the fall season so i'm currently working on that.

recently i received a surprise package in the mail from Barb of Fun with Barb. i was delighted to find a book inside called "Fairyopolis ~ A Flower Fairies Journal" by F Warner & Co. The artwork within was done by Cicely Mary Barker and is absolutely wonderful~!! thank you so much Barb for thinking of me when you found this treasure and for passing it along.
Barb noted that i could do anything i'd like with the book and so far i've spent quite a lot of time with it as i sip on my steaming morning coffee (well, it starts out steaming). it's been inspiring and a beautiful way to start each day.
the artwork is stunning in every detail.


i'm finding that i love the interactive inclusions within the book. i really must try to do this type of thing more often in my own art journal.

isn't this small "guide to fairies and trees" fun?

it accordian folds out and is full of further artwork.

i realize that when things like this are on the page the book becomes a sort of playground for the reader.



this sweet illustration of a blackberry fairy is tempting  me to cut it out and apply it to my newest pages . . . wouldn't it be perfect for a fall themed page in my own art journal?


i'm not sure that i can cut it though~!





recent gifts include:

• the unexpected generousity of a special internet friend found within the blogging world
• time spent with a good book
• the affects of art journaling on my life
• a cup of hot tea with honey in the afternoon as i enjoy the slight chill of a fall day

slow stitching on some christmas stockings

the new autumn season is definitely upon us. we've had some close calls with frost and next week's forecast indicates we'll not be missed again. the tomatoes have their cold frame back up around them and although they weren't very productive we'll protect the last of what has grown.

i've been stitching on many different things over the last couple of weeks but am making progress with several christmas stockings. my wonderful daughter's stocking is getting the last of it's decorative stitching and i won't show it again until it's sewn up into something that looks like it will hold a few christmas surprises.
i am also working on some christmas stockings that will be for local fundraisers.

these two stockings have been cut from some over sized vintage pieced star blocks. the blocks were apparently done by an inexperienced hand and did not lay flat (not even a little). i can cut carefully and make a few tucks here and there to make them work out well for stockings.

 

once they were cut out and fixed up i layered them with some thin batting and did some quick utility stitch hand quilting on them. 

 

this one is being 'interviewed' with a bit of vintage linen as a cuff. the lacy bit was quite shredded in one place but i decided to try my hand at some (slow stitch sunday) lace repair which i've never done before. it's certainly not professional looking but does look nicer than it did and will hold up much better.
i'll also add some embroidery to them.
consider joining the slow stitch sunday link up and/or just checking out what it is that others are putting their hand stitches into over at Kathy's Quilts.


recent gifts include:

• the mountain just beginning to show it's dramatic fall colors
• oven roasted cherry tomato 'jam'
• the satisfying feeling of late summer/early fall garden clean-up
• an old black cat happily purring and joining me for my afternoon naps 

wordless wednesday in a yellow beautiful world ~ september 18, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

art journaling ~ september 13, 2013

i've been able to get my art journaling fix in on most days and now have a second page to show.
i may play with this one some more but it's good for now.

 
this page was also created on a lightweight cardboard base (cereal box).
some of the supplies/techniques that i used:

• water color ~ paints & pencils
• acrylic paint
• paper napkins
• newspaper
• various found images & words
• used stamps
• fabric hexagons "quilted" with metallic thread
• a vellum quote page
• some stitching
• cloth tape
• micron pen
• lots of glue

this is how it interacts with the first page that i made.

 and now i'll begin to work on the back side of the first page so as to make a double page layout.
you can see that it's been 'prepped' and i have a stitched box showing due to the work on the other side . . . perhaps an opportunity to frame something up within this area . . .

this has been an interesting process and although i'm not always happy with the results, i am happy to be playing artistically in this way and am learning to enjoy the process. it is surprising what works out in the long run . . .

it's also interesting to me how one art will inform another. do you find this to be true as well?

i will once again be joining up over at Balzer Designs. Julie Fei Fan Balzer has an "Art Journal Every Day" link-up on fridays and this week she has shared many of her own art journaling pages. feel free to check it out and maybe even join in.
if you check out the linkies you will find mountains of inspiration.

thank you for your opinions, enthusiasm, and answers on my last art journaling post. i'm so pleased to have your support and artful suggestions~!

Wordless Bubbles framing Fleur ATC

getting back to slow sunday stitching

 


i realized when the calendar slipped from the month of august into the month of september that this year has swiftly flown by and is nearing it's finish. and christmas~! and my guild's christmas bazaar~!! with all of those realizations came panic. i have a number of things that i need to get done within the next few months.
after several days of what seemed to be a mental list that just went on and on and on some more i started to write it all down and chart it out on a calendar. by the time i was finished i wasn't in a panic anymore but i don't have any time to spare.
i had to put away the hexie quilt project for now but i'll get it out again as soon as i feel like i have everything else under control.

so my project this week for slow sunday stitching
is to evaluate my daughter's Christmas stocking and begin the finish work on it. i have only shown the details of this stocking in previous posts but today i decided to show you just how far along the whole thing is.

 

i'm a bit surprised in seeing it again as it actually seems very close to being done . . .

this is only the front of the stocking. i will sew it into an actual stocking once all of the embroidery and embellishments are in place. when i started embellishing it last year i was playing along with Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) at Sharon's Pintangle. i had planned on continuing with that when i picked it back up again but what i have decided to do instead is to work out the last of the embroidery/details on my own. i guess i feel like i need a little more freedom of decision at this stage. 

 

so today i will be picking up my needle and working forward on this project. will you be stitching today? will it be "slow" stitching? if so you may want to link up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for some Slow Sunday Stitching.

 

 

after all of that i suppose that it seems a little odd to continue sharing with you my garden's gifts . . . even though some of my leaves are shifting into the colors of fall and beginning to look a bit lacy i do still have some late summer blooms for you to enjoy.

 

 

recent gifts include:

• waking up to the years obligations just in the nick of time
• actually having enough year left to get it all done
• the smell of rain almost every day for the past week or so
• thunder and lightening~!!~ (i LOVE it)
• the brisk early morning air 

 

September at Our Beautiful World on Wordless Wednesday