art journal every day ~ friday 10, 2014

on tuesday i was thinking about and tapping into the possibilities of:

not clipping my own wings.

then i began my art journaling . . . 

 

• using a masking off paper for my base (this paper can be found in the hardware store and is called red rosin paper ~ it comes on big rolls and is economical for art journaling purposes)
• a white paper doily that i did some stamping off  (cleaning the stamp) onto
• cheap markers found while cleaning the office
• dyelusions spray ink (purple and white)
• punchinella ribbon as a stencil

wednesday i didn't feel like a had a lot of extra time so opted to simply add some running stitches around the outer part of my paper doily in a cotton mid weight orange thread.

 thursday i created another hand carved stamp. ever since i did my first one (pear) i have been wanting to make more and after reading this post on Julie's blog (Balzer Designs) i became even more inspired/motivated.

in fact, i was so inspired that i made another one.
the umbrella is going to be used within an art journal workshop/challenge that i have joined called Journal52. This is a free year long art journal workshop hosted by Chelle.       
the first week's prompt is "up, up, and away". 
i discovered this wonderful opportunity when recently reading fellow free spirited artist Dawn's post at Girl Unwinding.
maybe you will become inspired by this workshop as well.
 
so the following a.m. i happened to do some reading about aspirations/setting goals and realized that i need to give some thought to having aspirations without attachments. i need to remember that i can have hopes/dreams/aspirations without being so attached to them that i ruin my life trying to attain them.
"it's about the journey", my muses whisper to me again and again.

i feel that this subject has some relevance to the up, up, and away prompt and my first mental image was a floating balloon and then an open umbrella . . .  i went with the umbrella.
i imagine i chose it because an umbrella is used when one needs protection from the elements . . .
maybe i lack faith as i float "up, up, and away" . . .

i guess brainstorming isn't about logic.

i stamped the umbrella image onto some unbleached muslin. 

friday i snipped out the negative spaces within the stamped umbrella (on fabric) and then laid it onto a yellow subtly printed fabric and embroidered it.

i'm not sure where i'm going with it from here . . .




i know that i've "jumped tracks" with my art journaling this week. first working on my " . . . not clipping my own wings" page and then leaping into the Journal52 workshop/challenge.
perhaps i'll come back around to the first piece as i work through the year . . .
art journaling is like that. it's exploration and creativity . . . not necessarily working continuously on any one piece of art. it turns out that it too is all about the journey, not the destination.

today i am linking up with both the Art Journal Every Day forum at Balzer Designs and the Journal52 workshop.

recent gifts include:

• a sweetly quiet holiday spent with my wonderful husband and daughter
• time to think about what is important to me in my life
• whispering muses

a rare quiet day.

creating my own magic.

 

wishing all of my blog readers their very own

 magical christmas holiday

bursting forth with laughter, love and beauty.

week 27 ~ week 30 TAST and the 15 minute challenge

a few weeks ago i put together a basket of preserves and home baked scones for a local fundraiser/silent auction.

the preserves were some that my daughter put up and without them the basket wouldn't have been nearly as tempting.

i had a great time making  and adding tags, napkins and fancy jar lids with that bunny fabric that i love so much~!

i was unable to attend but word has it that the basket went for a very nice amount/donation for the cause (my local family resource center) which makes me happy.

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and now for some TAST stitch sharing.


week 27 ~ bonnet stitch: 
i had trouble with this stitch but i'm not sure just why. once i thought that i had a handle on it i decided to place it on a postcard seam using an aqua pearl cotton (size 8). i added a fly stitch to the "top" part of the stitch and a colonial knot settled nicely between these stitches. both the fly stitch and the colonial knot are worked in a raspberry colored floss (one strand for the fly stitch and three strands for the colonial knot.


week 28 ~ up and down buttonhole: i really liked this stitch and have worked it into my stocking in a double row along the top of a piece of lacy vintage cuff. the row on top is worked with a shallower stitch length than the row on the bottom. i've used pearl cotton 12 in red. 

week 29 ~ basque stitch:

i used two strands of metallic thread (one in red and one in a brass color) for this stitch and added a small pearly bead to the catch part of each one. metallic thread can be a bear to work with but i ran both of these threads through some bees wax which helped enormously. the bees wax also gave the threads a bit more body which made the curves within this stitch stand out nicely.

i also worked this one into a section of my own stocking.


week 30 ~ oyster stitch:
this is another stitch that i really liked.
i worked it into a different section of the lacy vintage cuff that is on my own stocking and once again used pearl cotton 12 in red.

the really nice thing about stitching around lace bits is that it's possible to use the various lace elements to naturally dictate and control the spacing of stitches.





there are more stitches that have been worked but i'm going to save those for another post.

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i've been able to meet my goals with Kate for the fifteen minute challenge on all but two days this summer which makes me feel good. some days i would like to be able to do more than that but winter's coming and those days won't be filled with the gardening/outdoors work so i can snuggle in and stitch for hours if i want to (i hope).

 

 

 

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recent gifts include:

• the comfort that my blog readers have made me feel in regards to my irregular posts ~THANK YOU ALL~!
• a visit from my daughter and a friend of hers that helped catch me up on a few things as well as gave us some time to share a few pleasant meals and some good conversation
• the smell of the freshly cut lawn

TAST ~ palestrina stitch

morning gifts from the garden.
:-)


this week (26) the stitch on PinTangle was the palestrina stitch.
this is a new one for me once again and i really needed to study quite a few versions of instruction as well as videos to understand how to do this stitch.
once i did understand it though, i found it to be a really great stitch to work. it became wonderfully rythmic as i settled into it and now i'm looking for more places to put it~! first i worked these samples using a variety of threads. i randomly tried a few different things and then made a decision about which stocking to apply it to.


the wonderful daughter's stocking received a bit more work in this lacey area that i started  a few weeks back . . . the newly added palestrina stitch is along the top  of the lace and i love the way it created a small braided type of edge. feel free to click on any of these images to see a larger version and if you would like to see a 'before' shot of this area go here. it's been fun to see the actual 'evolution' of this particular area. i think that there will be more stitches placed here before the TAST challenge is finished . . .

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i did miss a day of the 15 minute challenge . but for the remaining six, i managed to meet with success. i worked on a few appliqued basket handles, more experimental stitching on some atc's, and the TAST/christmas stocking project.

my time and energy for stitching does seem much more limited during the summer but with this challenge on my daily list of to-do's i am still able to make steady, yet slow, progress.

if you think adding a 15 minute sewing session to each day's priorities is something you would benefit from head over to Kate's at Life in Pieces and join in.

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i thought i would show you a few shots from my garden. it's what has been keeping me only minimally involved in blogland and my stitching.

one of the columbine plants in some soft morning light

this is russian sage which is a new plant to my garden. i like it for it's wispy leafyness and purple blossoms which remind me a lot of lavendar. it smells wonderful when touched or wind blown and is supposed to be very winter hardy. i'm anxious to see how it does. i've planted several plants in various places and if all goes well i'll be adding lots more.

i've been unable to find a lavendar plant that makes it through our high altitude winter so until i do this plant will be my stand in. it's very fragrant (both plant and blossoms) and looks similar. it may be that this russian sage will be a better choice for the extreme winters as well as the other harsher elements here (lots of wind, very short growing season, cool nights and hot daytime temps).

we seem to have a lot of butterflys this year. the small blue ones like the one above flutter up out of the lawn as it's being walked upon. they are so pretty and so fragile looking.

this one had a bit of tatter on one of it's wings . . . i suppose that it's a short life that butterflys live but they seem to know how to make the most of it, don't they~!?

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recent gifts include:

• a couple of days rest from the garden work
• working on the dog's fetching skills in the evenings
• a small fabric shopping trip (+ lunch~!) out of town with a friend
• picking vine ripened tomatos

TAST ~ linked chain stitch

lace
or profound fragmentation
half full
or half empty
choose
and ye shall receive

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last week (25) on PinTangle the stitch was the cable chain stitch.

a new stitch for me, so i attempted it on some aida as a sample first.

then, just for fun, i experimented with working it using a fine piece of copper wire. this was interesting although a bit problematic . . .

in the end i used a metallic (like) thread on a short seam within the wonderful husbands stocking.

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this is the 'surprise applique' that i've been working on. i've given them as a gift and can finally show what i was doing.

55 very simple/primitive basket blocks with sweet curvy appliqued handles.

these were made for a friend's birthday.
she seemed delighted and i have to say that after working on them all this time i'm still quite happy with them myself. in fact, i'm making myself a few with the leftover bits that are hanging around in the studio.

LOVE those colors together~!

and of course there was a little party with flowers, and dark chocolate and a few other fun presents.

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for the 15 minute challenge  during last week all went well on all seven days with work being added to my own baskets as they get handles, some experimental stitching on atc's, and of course, the TAST/christmas stocking project.

if you think adding a 15 minute sewing session to each day is something you would benefit from head over to Kate's at Life in Pieces.

15 minutes doesn't seem like a lot but this challenge has kept me puttering forward on many things this year. thank you Kate~!

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recent gifts include:

• a weekend visit from the wonderful daughter
• the accomplishment of a really tasty pasta salad lunch
• further work and even some planting on the pond rehab project 

TAST & the 15 minute challenge

today i was thinking about things that i liked to do as a child. my favorite summer 'activity' was climbing the nearest large tree and getting comfortable within it's branches. i generally took a book but did a lot of daydreaming too. i loved the feeling of being hidden in all of that leafy cool dappled light.
in general i wasn't terribly interested in dolls. now as a middle aged woman i find myself occasionally captivated by the softer and more primitive dolls. the doll in this shot is one of my favorites. she has simple twig arms and legs, stands about six or seven inches high and has charming facial 'expression'. i purchased her at a craft fair several years ago for very little money and normally she hangs on a wall near one of my primitive doll quilts.
today when i seen her i imagined that look of hers to be an appeal for a change in scenery so i took her down off of the wall and lifted her up into the aspen tree. it turns out that those twiggy arms and legs are not great for climbing trees so she needed my help for this.
so there she is way up in the tree having her very own daydreams.
what did you like to do as a child? what made you feel safe and happy and able to dream a little? were you a fan of dolls? are you now? 

i hope that the summer season brings you some leafy cool dappled light of your own to get comfortable in.

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last week i had four stitches that had previously been presented during the TAST challenge worked into a seam treatment.

the "mini challenge" for week 23 was to use as many as eight to "create an interesting piece." 

i finished this seam by:

• adding a detached chain stitch using two strands of a reddish orange cotton floss and placing one on each side of the tiny autumn colored bullion stitches.
• adding single fly stitch in a single stranded light weight green cotton thread at regular intervals.
• creating playful arcs with a stem stitch that emerged from the open end of the fly stitches using a single strand of green cotton floss 
• and finally i loosely braided three separate threads (a light green, a dark green and a purple) and then wove that braid into the knotted cretan stitch allowing it to act as couching.

hopefully i haven't made it too confusing by changing the direction of the photo from horizontal (in my last post) to diagonal.


this week (24) on PinTangle the stitch is the buttonhole wheel stitch. another new stitch for me and i felt that it was a clumsy looking and inelegant stitch to work with at first.

finally i realized that by bringing my stitch size down and using a fine perle cotton (sz 12) in white i could create a lacier effect with the stitch which i liked much better.

by adding this to the bottom of a piece of lace that was previously placed onto my wonderful daughter's stocking i managed to create another visual layer of 'lace'.
this also served well to anchor down that lower edge.

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my 'report' for the 15 minute challenge (hosted by Kate at Life in Pieces) was all good this week with work being done on every day: the TAST challenge (stockings and postcard) as well as a few random stitches placed into 'this n that' while playing with some ideas that were scampering through my head.

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recent gifts include:

• the sweet taste of a rosy colored apricot
• a few cool evenings spent sitting and watching the hummingbirds
• taking the time to enjoy the feeling of my own breathing. slow inhalations and exhalations. effortless and often unappreciated.
• being told that seeing my 'recent gifts' is having the effect of other's seeing their own gifts 

:-D

the june giveaway and a prayer flag

i promised to share where the more intuitive approach/participation in needlework is now taking me . . .

i've been considering making a prayer flag for some time now and recently there was one of those 'perfect storm' of events and it's just what i needed to catapult me forward. i think i've waited for so long because i knew that it could very well turn into a full out project and not just an experiment. i was right.  

i've done various searches for both prayer and prayer flags over the past couple of years. i've read and re-read information, pondered my time and energy restraints, and done a lot of thinking about it . . . recently it was brought up by a friend during a conversation without provocation from me, which felt like yet another little tug. i've seen the subjects pop up as articles in various magazines and briefly discussed within both books and blogs: more tugs.

once again i was back to the 'lots of thinking' stage . . .
do i have enough time and energy for this? exactly what will it involve? will my own spiritual beliefs (which are not the mainstream) 'fit' into the spirit (no pun originally intended) of the project? what is prayer exactly? am i any good at it?
and most importantly, how can i possibly turn all of this confusion into a gentle physical symbol of love? 

this is some of what i discovered while i researched prayer flags:

• in Buddhism, a flag on which prayers are inscribed.
• tibetan prayer flags in tibet are called lung ta (wind horse)
• Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all.

this is some of what i discovered while i researched prayer:

• prayer is intended to train a person to focus on the recipient through philosophy and intellectual contemplation
• prayer is a catalyst for change in oneself and/or one's circumstances, or likewise those of third party beneficiaries
• There are many different forms of prayer
• Prayer may be directed towards a deity, spirit, deceased person, or lofty idea, for the purpose of worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing sins or to express one's thoughts and emotions.

this is some of what i personally discovered as i created my first prayer flag:

• i must be mindful of every single thought, action and personal perception of devine guidance as i move forward (aka: an intuitive approach/participation)
• i am beginning and continuing a dialogue of (mostly) silent prayers which become unexpected blessings within my own life as i create as well as within the life of others as they receive and use what i have created.
• the prayer flag itself is a process not a product. it is very personal, very beautiful, and is entitled to my respect regardless of where or how it may end up.
• my understanding and empathy are greatly deepened as i work/stitch/pray
• my own personal sense of faith is enhanced tremendously throughout the process.
• the prayer of serenity is a perfect addition to any prayer flag  that i may make.

the list goes on but you get the idea: it was a continual series of "aha moments" for me.
there will be more prayer flags as the guiding powers within my life make me aware of the need(s) and i'm willing to bet that every prayer flag i make will add more discoveries.
this process has already become a welcome part of my life that i want to expand upon and yes, i'm now completely committed to my very own prayer flag project.
a journey that i am anticipating with a happy heart.

i'm interested in your thoughts and experiences in regards to prayer flags if you would like to share them with me.
if you would like to investigate more in regards to this subject you might also be interested in the prayer flag project blog as a starting point.

i once again met my own personal goals within a challenge framework. so i'm doing a quick dance of joy as well as celebrating by offering three of my photo note cards (of my choice) as well as a few extra surprise goodies. if you are interested in winning, please leave a comment on this post telling me what you think my theme/challenge for may was. 
i think this last month was a huge challenge for myself as i didn't take a single floral shot and i think it's going to be a tougher challenge for all of you who are participating. it will be interesting to see your guesses but you don't have to get it right, you just have to take a guess within your comment. if you happen to have an idea for a future theme, feel free to share that as well.
i'll draw a name/winner on june 8th.
btw: i don't know whether you all missed those flowers or not but it was absolutely painful for me not to be shooting and sharing them with you. i'm looking forward to getting back to them~!!~


 
the cards were made by a company called snapfish. i'm not being paid by them but i happen to think they're pretty nice cards.

recent gifts include:

• the discovery of a birds nest within my favorite tree (the one that grows tiny crab apples that the robins like to eat during the fall and winter). this tree grows right by my front door and the nest is inhabited by . . . yep, you guessed it. robins~!
• being able to observe the parent birds as they built the nest and continue to faithfully lay and guard the eggs
• the dappling of light near the pond as it falls through the aspen's whispering leaves
• time spent reworking the area around the pond
• seeing the fish become friendlier as the season progresses

# 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

15 minute challenge report ~ may 22

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."
Maria Robinson

jude hill from Spirit Cloth recently requested (from those interested in participating) small stones appliqued onto squares of cloth for her Magic Feather Project.

i've been very interested in this project and have enjoyed seeing it come along.

unfortunately, i was unable to create any feathers when they were being requested so when i seen that she was needing the stones to balance things out i was happy to contribute a few.

how many is a "few" anyway?

one seemed to lead to another and another and so i just kept on stitching . . .

i may eventually stitch some more.

this busy little ant was quick to inspect my stones as i was photographing them.

jude has fascinated me for quite some time with her unusual and intuitive approach to needlework.
observation of her blog has taught me a lot but what sticks with me when i go to stitch with my own needle is that one cannot properly "listen" to any given material or project let alone one's own thoughts if there is a constant worry about what is "correct" or what may have been planned previously.  this is important if i wish my work to be original. and quite often i do.
it does not mean that the work is done without thought to integrity (the skills it takes to carry out the work itself) but it does mean that any given piece could lead you on into territory that may not have been previously imagined as the work is being carried out . . . thus one finds oneself part of a spontaneous "story" that is being told through one's needle.
i enjoy it when i can tune into the work and relax enough to do it myself and i love seeing what jude has to share in regards to this process as well as being able to see what 'stories' her and her needle are telling.

i will be blogging in the near future about where this intuitive approach/participation in needlework is now taking me.

my weeks worth of 15 minute challenge work included time spent on the stones as well as the hexie quilt top. there was also embroidery done on the TAST project/christmas stockings, the surprise applique project is coming along and i made a prayer flag (my first). it was a busy but enjoyable week for me.

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recent gifts include:

• finding the red and white parrot tulips gracefully accepting their morning watering. bowing their heads in the early morning light.
• rediscovering that very special color: robins egg blue, while on my morning walk around part of the garden.
• perfect temperatures. not too cold, not too hot and breezes just when you need them most. 

TAST week 20 ~ wrapped bullion stitch

In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away.

- shing xiong

at pintangle the stitch for week 20 with TAST is the wrapped bullion stitch.
i've used this stitch before and at one time found it very difficult to do. however, with practice and a bit of relaxation i eventually got it right. now it's one of my favorite stitches. 



it's quite versatile and you may remember that i have used it previously on the stockings as rosebuds when i did the barred chain stitch practice (week 12). 

this week i chose to use it as a simple wrapped bullion on my own stocking using three strands of a variegated silky thread (not positive of content). i did play around with wrapping it in both directions onto my needle in order to determine if it made a difference in the look of the stitch and/or the way that the thread behaved as i made the stitch.
i found there to be a definite difference in both the handling of it and the look of it. if you care to look closely at the photo you may be able to see differences in the stitches as well. i did this exercise randomly as i had no plans on taking any of it out and felt that it would probably not be detected by casual observation anyway, particularly if there was no set 'pattern' or rhythm as to how it was alternated.

i added the wrapped bullion to a previously worked part of the stocking. the red thread is a fly stitch and i placed my bullions right over the tops of the catch part of the stitch. i experimented with creating longer and shorter bullions as well as more tightly and loosely wrapped ones. on some of the stitches i also randomly 'overwrapped' (in relation to the space one chooses the stitch to fit into and how many wraps of thread around the needle are done in which to fill that space.). this 'overwrapping or excess of  loops wound onto the needle causes the stitch to bump up or curve when finished and properly in place.
you can really see the curve effect very well on the rosebuds. this is due to the contrast of one of the bullions (within each individual rosebud) being a bit shorter and straighter. the longer curvier bullion is what gives them a more realistic and graceful appearance.
i have also made rosebuds using three bullions tightly grouped, with the center bullion being the smallest and straightest.
it's very effective in creating lavender flowers as well.

there are LOTS of possibilities with this one~!
for starters, there is a very well done sampler showing what can be done with this stitch here.
HomeMadeByMe has created a beautiful stitchery using the wrapped bullion.
it can also be made in various sizes and here it's been taken to some great lengths.
All Kinds Of Needlework has created Astrakhan fur (aka Karakul fur).

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 recent gifts include:

• 'nesting' out some of the outdoor areas for the summer.
• making and eating the first potato salad of the season. yummmmmm~!
• seeing the hatching of some orb spiders as they almost magically disperse into the garden. they are so beneficial~!