# 102 . . .

at pintangle week 21 is all about the butterfly chain stitch. this was another new stitch for me. it's worked in two rounds. the first consisting of straight stitches. i made a group of three (varying lengths) using three strands of floss. each strand was a different color. the second round is a sort of chain stitch that loops around each of the groups of straight stitches. i chose a single strand of a variegated cotton thread for that round.   i didn't find an area on any of the stockings that i wanted to work this stitch into so i practiced with it on a fabric postcard instead.

there is always some creative eye candy within the comments on TAST posts and this week is no exception.

Christine, Claudia  and Miriam have all gone whimsical with kites.  i LOVE this example of the stitch serving a purpose within clothing in a decorative way.
it turns out that one does not have to use three straight stitches for the first run of stitches as shown in Lins Arty Blobs. very cool~!!~


i have wanted to create my own carved stamps for a very long time. i've researched and read and daydreamed and i even bought all of the supplies i'd need over a year ago and yet i still hadn't actually done it.
what was my problem~!?
i was concerned about it being difficult and time consuming and yes, that i'd make some mess of a stamp that i could only use by hiding it cleverly in the farthest back part of some background work.

last week i finally did it and none of those things happened. it was extremely easy and the cutting of it didn't hurt my hands at all (i have puny hand strength). it took me about an hour and that was from my first "gee, maybe i could just unpackage the tools and read over things" thought to actually having used my very first homemade stamp.
AND it turned out absolutely fabulously~!!~

the first thing that has to be done (after the unpackaging thing) is a decision must be made in regards to what the stamp is going to be . . .
i had sketched a pear (this months challenge with The Sketchbook Challenge is fruits and vegetables).
i decided to give it a go using my small (app. 2" tall x 1" wide) pear sketch.
and then i transferred the sketch onto the pink carving material and got to work carving it.
as you can see i enjoyed stamping it out on various papers. see the image in the middle of my process collage? i turned it into this:

feel free to click on the images if you want to see them better.

i hope to be making another fruit stamp this weekend as well as all sorts of stamps eventually.

if you have been thinking about making your own stamps my advice is: jump in and TRY IT~!

i'm looking forward to my artwork being that much more original because i no longer have to rely on pre-made stamps. there are lots of beautiful ones to choose from but there is nothing like having a certain 'vision' for a project and being able to make that happen independently of what may or may not be available for purchase. 
i also really like the rough look of the hand carved stamps as opposed to manufactured ones.

now all of that having been said i'll show some of the tags that i've recently made, all of which used at least one purchased stamp.

as you can see, they can be really pretty and even very versatile. i loved the way the butterfly looked after having colored it in using my prisma colored pencils. 

leaf stamps are favorites of mine and i have several but i'm still looking forward to making a few of my own.
now i can pick up any attractive leaf that i find, carry it home, sketch it out and voila; i'll not only have another stamp to use but i'll also have the memory of all that went into it. being a creative person means that those are good memories for me~!


it may be a while before i carve anything as detailed as the butterfly or as cute as this little mouse stamp but i'm going to have  fun practicing.

i'm sure there will still be stamps that i decide to purchase. there are some awesome choices  designed by talented artists but i know that i'm going to enjoy making my own. i love that my artwork will be much more about my own personal visions.

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the 15 minute challenge this week included time spent on the the hexie quilt top and the TAST project (postcard) as well as the surprise applique project.

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recent gifts include:

• rain
• the sunshine afterwords
• a tasty (homemade) pad thai
• a hot cup of ginger tea with honey

today was a great mail day~!!~ full of fun and fabulous surprises.

i recently participated in a give-away from Cathy of Big Lake Quilter and low and behold ~!!!~
i actually won~!
a beautiful collection of moda fabrics as well as an Omnigrid Mini-FoldAway. i work small a lot of the time and expect that the miniature cutting and pressing station will come in quite handy. as for the fabrics . . . they are so yummy that i'm bound to find myself starting a (forbidden) new project . . . i could sure see these fabrics making a sweet little doll quilt or two . . .  hhhmmmmm . . .  maybe a great way to pay the give-away goodness forward . . .  it is about time for me to have another one i think . . .  how's that for a tease?
thank you so very much Cathy.

i also received a totally unexpected card from Jay of  Creative Crone from studio Q. she is a zentangle artist extraordinaire as well as a fellow quilter. she has challenged herself with creating regular zentangles as well as an accompanying haiku with each one.  i LOVE visiting her and seeing her newest creative tangles.
and today, totally out of the blue, i got a card from her that was full of loving kindness as well as one of her beautiful zentangles.
on the back of the zentangle is it's very own haiku written by Jay:

 "Giving is Pleasure.

No matter how large or small,

The thought is the gift."

how true and how blessed i felt to be the one thought of in this special way. thank you Jay.
btw: can you guess what proud state Jay is from? there's a clue within today's photo.

in addition to all of that goodness i received the newest issue of the Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine.
i've been so busy admiring my other goodies that i haven't even cracked the cover yet but am looking forward to taking it to bed with me and possibly staying up late soaking up much of what is within it's pages.
a fabulous way to end this abundant day.

today's gifts include:

• the generosity (of both spirit and gifts) from friends i've made while blogging
• a walk with River and my wonderful husband. the new hip is feeling really GOOD just lately
• the lovely feeling of excited anticipation

For You / Pour Vous

it's so good to be back. i've been experiencing a great deal of problems with my internet connection for the past several weeks and for the past week have had no internet at all so i'm feeling totally disconnected from all my blog friends. the connection is now working although with intermittent lapses . . . not sure what is going on or when it will be totally straightened out but thought i would jump on this evening real quick and show you what i've been up to. i hope to get back on tomorrow and catch up with you too.

For You

this is a textured image that i put together using a photo of mine:

 (that i pulled from my archives) and a texture (Pour Vous) given to me by kim klassen.

i'm very happy with it and if you have a second or two you can hop over to my flickr page and see the image on black by clicking on the little magnifying glass that says "view in lightbox".

it's  quite stunning if i don't say so myself~!~

;-)

i hope to be doing photoshop work on a regular basis so hopefully there will be more to see as time goes on . . .

today's gifts included:

• the pleasure i feel while creating
• walking in the sun with my grandog
• enjoying a pasta dinner (lovingly prepared by my daughter) with my family

i've created a banner/bunting in celebration of my wonderful daughter's homecoming. we knew she was coming soon but not the exact dates . . .

we'll be picking up our grand-pup from the airport tomorrow evening and then WD on friday. the poor girls are both going to have need of some winter wear as we're getting our typical mountain spring snowstorms and they're coming from a two year acclimation  to a tropical climate.

anyway, i've managed to complete this welcome home gift just in the nick of time. i'll share a few details with you.

 i began with a very tattered antique cutter crazy quilt piece that i purchased off of e-bay several years ago. i have managed to create some Christmas stockings with this piece and still had some bits left. enough to cut out some triangles as the base parts for my bunting.

do you recognize the bird? it's one of those fabulous dictionary images that i posted a while back. i did some cropping and printed it out on vellum. then stitched it into place.
both plain and fancy embroidery as well as other mixed media embellishments have been used.
i attempted to stick to a "home" theme while also trying to make it something that she could use decoratively later on if she chose. not too celebration specific but definitely festive and suitable for this occasion.

 i may share more photo's of it at a later time. these were all taken in a hurry and, as you can imagine, i'm in fits of excitment so they aren't the best.
but all in all i'm quite pleased with the outcome and can only hope that she will be as well.

if you notice me absent from the blogging world for a few days it's because i'm happily gathering them up and enjoying my little family's reunion~!!~

: D

Happy St. Patrick's Day~!!~

it's arrived~!!~ this is the artist trading card that Ati made for me in return for my Nonsense and Buttons ATC. i Love it Ati ~ THANK YOU~!!!!!!!!!!!~

Ati lives in Norway and is an artist extraordinaire. treat yourself to a cup of tea while taking a few moments to browse through some of her amazing work on www.malinaplass.blogspot.com.

today is the big day and i have all of my players listed on their own ticket within this teacup. it's at this very moment that i'm wishing that i didn't have to choose just one main winner . . .

. . . but i must . . . and the winner is . . . Diane from http://www.persnicketyquilts.blogspot.com/ ~!~

congratulations Diane. i will be getting your package out to you within a few days.

as for everyone else who stopped by with happy congratulations i have special surprises for you too. e-mail me your mailing address and i will be popping a small morsel of happiness into an envelope for you as well.

~!!!~thank you for making my first year of blogging so much fun~!!!~

~LET'S CELEBRATE~

i would like you to help me celebrate the completion of my first year of blogging as well as over 200 posts.

it's been a learning experience for me as well as a creative experience and most of all it's been FUN ~!~

i've met some fabulously talented and creative artists who inspire me in my own creativity

people who are kind beyond measure

so many offerings of encouragement have been given and i really do THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all of the various joys that you have shared during this past year~!!~

so imagine yourself a winner (because each and every one of you are) and leave a comment on this post telling me which one of these six postcards you like the best and i will enter you in a drawing.

the prize will be all six cards plus some other small goodies. i am also going to do some secondary awarding of yet even more surprises . . . after all, what's a party without LOTS of surprises~!?!~

i plan on drawing a name on the morning of friday, april 23rd and announcing the winner(s) later that day. i wish everyone who participates loads of luck.

blessings

"Art is communication,

and if there is no communication

it is as though the work had been stillborn."

from Walking On Water

by Madeleine L'Engle
 

thank you to all of you who help to give my art life simply by coming here and seeing what i've done. you're wisdom, support and encouragement are a priceless gift that i treasure.

after the short little brag session below you will see that i have something in the works for my next give-away. a tangible expression of the gratitude i feel to all who offer me this sustaining communication which is an integral part of my creative life.

 

i'm finally getting around to posting my newest little finished carrot quilt (#5~!!!!~). this one took a bit longer to make since there is quite a bit of close quilting throughout.

 

all photos can be enlarged for a closer look.

 

i am happy with the results and am now working on carrot quilt #6 . . .

 

edit: i am linking this old post into a little quilt show hosted by Taryn of  Reproduction and Antique Quilt Lover.


it occurred to me just after posting my last post that i should be celebrating my first blogiversary~!!~ i began blogging in March of 2009. it's been a fun and interesting adventure and it certainly would not have been quite as fabulous if i hadn't been acquiring new friends along the way. in addition to being at my first year mark i also discovered that i'm almost to my 200th post. so, in celebration, i think it's time for another give-away.

since i realized this all a bit belatedly i am still creating what i'll be giving. i do know that it will be a package of six postcards. i don't want to actually have the drawing until i've finished them. so, you will have to be patient with me and i'll continue to post teasers on the progress of the cards. this shot is of some fabric card blanks (meaning i haven't added any embellishments yet) that i made using my own hand dyed fabrics and a few batiks. i love the way that hand dyed fabrics look with batiks and my stitches and other embellishments show up nicely on them too. i will however be making more blanks with a different look to them and may even throw in a paper collaged card or two . . . for now i'm just having fun creating a variety of postcards that you will be able to use for sending or keeping or whatever you might like.

. . . so stay tuned . . .

~!!~i did it~!!~

this is my digital postcard creation for sunday postcard art (halloween). my very first digital creation and if you ask me how i did it i would not begin to know what to tell you because it was a whole lot of experimental trial and error. it's not perfect or anything but I DID IT~!!~

www.sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com

btw: this was created using five of my own photographic images

Exciting News~!~

i've just been to Eileen's at: http://ruralwisconsin.blogspot.com/ and learned about a wonderfully generous giveaway.

you really must go see the fat quarter bundle of Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals. that's a whopping 27 fat quarter surprise pack that's being offered at: http://pumpkinpatchprimitivequiltshoppe.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-happy-halloween-giveaway.html
Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe is being extraordinarily generous with this one and isn't a Halloween give-away a great idea~!?!~ it brings trick or treating to a whole new level~!!~ and now i'm going to have to think about what i can offer as my own Halloween night giveaway . . . hmmmmm . . .