Art Journal Every Day ~ May 23, 2014

i have some art journaling pages today.
and words~! ;-)
during the last few months i have managed to art journal on most days.
i definitely prefer working on the fabric art pages lately.  they take much more time but i'm enjoying the work as well as the finished pages.
 
with this in mind i made the decision to leave the Journal52 "highway" and enjoy my "scenic side road" of fabric art pages instead.   i like being able to take my time and allow the 'work' to progress intuitively and organically as i experiment with ideas and techniques on the fabric pages. this makes them generally too slow to make keeping up with the Journal52 project enjoyable.

 

remember this one 'in progress'?
btw: that's a bit of a tea bag there behind that moon.
many possibilities for sure~!


i continue to surprise myself as i enjoy the art quilting more than i ever thought i would.

traditional bed quilts are wonderful and i still enjoy making them and sleeping under them and even decorating with them but these small art quilt pages have captured my imagination in a whole new and unexpected way.

this fabric page was the result of a Journal52 prompt (found poetry). i extracted words from an old book on how to pay less taxes . . . i enjoyed the finished poem and the irony of it.
i also used this page for experimenting with using cheesecloth as a base for some improvisational weaving. i LOVE the results and am now thinking of creating some soft yet bright curtains for the long side windows by my front door as well as one for the window in the front door itself using this technique. i have another example of this experimentation on one of the postcards in a previous post.

this simple page is a further experiment in weaving. this time using leftover skinny strips of fabrics combined with stitching.
lots of possibilities here as well.

this page is the result of a few very small scraps of my own hand dyed fabrics with an inclusion of a batik that i liked (the spiral printed pieces).
i enjoyed using different weights of thread as well as varying the stitch lengths. i see that quilting can be so much more than just a small running stitch in fine thread . . . not quite embroidery but definitely some complexity to add interest within certain spaces . . .

on this page i have stitched a combination of fabric and paper and will likely do more of that over time. i also used that hand made turtle stamp that i made a while back. it's a fun stamp and i enjoy using it.

 

 



i have enough fabric pages now that i am beginning to  look at ways to combine them and bind them into a book . . . i will have more to show on that stage of my fabric art journal soon.

 

 

i also have this more traditional art journaling page from march (right before i made the decision to leave the Journal52 project). i was feeling overwhelmed by many things when i created it.

funny how our feelings can come out in the creative process. i was really struggling but thankfully there's humor here too.

i reused the front side of a windowed envelope as my 'page' placing the gecko behind the window.

 

i will continue to work with paper, glue and scissors but for the now i'm enjoying the slow (thoughtfully) stitched fabric page.

 

 

 

i hope to join up with Art Journal Every Day today.
  
     


recent gifts include:

• several truly memorable days spent with my gracious daughter in her home
• time at the edge of the pond consulting the goldfish and freshening it up for the summer season (current spring counts: big fish =14/small fish=3/no sign of tiniest ones from the fall . . . yet . . .)
• many blossoms despite some frosts
• the gift of an incomplete needlework/needlepoint project and a lesson on how to complete it

slow stitching = slow progress

 i appliqued two more tulips onto the second row of my jubilee quilt project this a.m.
i really enjoy working with hand dyed fabrics. the vine and the center part of the tulip are both using  fabrics that i dyed myself.
the second row is looking a lot like the first one so i'll just leave you with this macro of that project.

during the past week i've also worked on several other slow stitching projects:

 my fabric art journal page is finished. i dated it with the date on the day when i was stitching the date and since that happened to be valentine's day i also decided to applique a primitively stitched heart in the remaining space. this page was inspired by the Journal52 project (week four). the prompt was 'building character' and i blogged more about that here.
i'm keeping the fabric art pages to approximately 4 x 6 inches and i LOVE doing them. i'm definitely seeing at least one journal in my future using only these pages . . .
i'm breaking some of the rules so if you are interested in playing along you might want to check the Journal52 site out for yourself.

 this is a project that i started last year in response to a guild challenge. it's currently (approximately) the size of a fat quarter of fabric and once i have joined it with more pieces i'll go back and add some leaves that will bring the areas together.
the challenge was to draw randomly from written suggestions and then use the suggestion drawn in a project. i drew the word 'tree' and decided to work it into a small piece that i want to make that will cover my fireplace during those months when it's not in use. i was supposed to have this finished in december but didn't make the deadline.
since then, my guild has issued another challenge (a paint chip challenge) and i will work on incorporating that next.
ultimately this piece will (hopefully) have a primitive random sampler look to it. i don't think it will be completed with the paint chip challenge . . . who knows, maybe i'll be able to milk it for a few more years' worth of guild challenges . . .
i do expect that at least some of it will be machine pieced so maybe it will go a little faster but i only work on this piece once a week so it's probably not going to be finished any time soon.

i try to work on my long term family christmas stocking project on tuesdays and so far that's working out. slow progress but i may very well get at least this one (wonderful husband's) finished by next christmas and maybe even the last one (mine).
i'm adding lights to that tangled up string of lights and it's coming along nicely.




i'll be joining up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts today for more slow stitching show-and-tell. Kathy writes that she needs her slow stitching time more than ever today. i can relate to that~! prepare to be inspired by lots of other slow stitching projects if you decide to join in.





recent gifts include:

• a cleaner landscape in the house 'office'
• a day that invited a walk outdoors (i've been missing that)
• a completely defrosted pond and some gold fish slowly swimming in the deepest part (no count yet)
• daffodils and iris pushing up out of the ground

art journal every day ~ january 17, 2014

the prompt this week for Journal52 is "Somewhere, A Simple Place".
on tuesday i located a sheet of paper that i had already begun to background onto and did some more coloring, scribbling, stenciling, etc.
i was thinking of going "somewhere" into an imaginary garden . . .

then on wednesday i searched around for a quote that might work for the page. i found a couple i liked and looked through some old ephemera for ideas. so just an art journal brainstorm going on that day.

thursday morning i found a calendar page from a 2013 World Wildlife calendar that got me thinking in a whole new direction. i cut the page down to 8 and a half inches by 11 inches and decided to make it my base . . . clipped some more aquatic type images and called it good for the day.
a big clip art storm that day~!

friday morning i got out the glue stick and started creating a "border" on my page as suggested by Chelle at Journal52. she offered two suggestions this week as well as the prompt and i hope to use the other one as this page progresses.
this Journal52 thing is shaping up to be a really worthwhile use of my art journaling time~! if you have wanted to art journal but didn't know how or when to start you should consider jumping in. she's not requiring that you spend a lot of money on supplies and the workshop itself is free.

this is where the "Up, Up, & Away" (last weeks Journal52 prompt) theme was carrying me on monday . . .

i am now realizing that my umbrella has gotten caught up in the wind. the weather was crazy windy for a few days last week and not just in my imagination/art.

i also now realize that the 'protection' my umbrella was giving me is 'gone with the wind'.

maybe i don't need it after all . . . weehheeee . . .

 

on tuesday, it became windier still . . .

on friday a.m. i had a few minutes to add a water color pencil vine to the "up, up, and away" page on a small piece of hand made paper that i stitched onto the bottom

this page is also not quite finished.

 

i had fun art journaling this week although i realize that my pages are taking a bit too long to finish. oh well, it will all "art"out in the long run i suppose.

 

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





 

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

• making my own beef broth 
• feeling the warmth of a morning cup of coffee in my hands
• sunshine. blue skies. sunshine. and oh~! some sunshine
•  anticipating a quick weekend visit from the wonderful daughter
• smelling the garlicky pasta sauce simmering on the stove

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

  Twas the night before Christmas . . .

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.

Big Skies in October and Slow Stitching Sunday

it's october and the mountain begins to change from it's peaceful summer greens to it's bright fall colors. the aspens are now leafy torches.


on this slow stitch sunday i'm working a little bit on my second stocking. 

maybe i'll use one of my fabric covered embroidered buttons on this one . . .

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.



i have finished and delivered the first stocking. it will be auctioned in a fund raiser for our local family resource center.

detail of the cuff

 



i enjoyed working on it and  am happy with the results.

all finished

detail of stitching

as usual you can click on my images and see everything  better.

 

i will be linking up with:

 

 

 

 

 

Pixel Dust is pitching a "sky" prompt and at Our Beautiful World it's all about "October". take a minute to visit one and/or both for some talented photo sharing.

 

recent gifts include:

• seeing the tiny specks of baby fish growing into "fry"
• watching the mountain change into a bright blaze of color
• getting LOTS done with good energy
• seeing Suki (the grand-dog) improve at her frisbee skills



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 

 

slow sunday stitching ~ august 4, 2013

 today i've been finishing up my current set of prayer flags. i'll send one of them to my mom and hang the other on my front porch. i always make two very similar flags at a time; it seems like a good way for me to remember the other person in my thoughts and prayers.

i'm joining up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching where she has a gorgeous hand pieced and appliqued block posted. there are other slow stitchers with beautiful work to show if you are interested in checking it all out.

this is my wonderful daughter's july postcard.  i included bits of garbage that were collected while she was home for the fourth of july holiday as well as some alphabet brads, a stitched felt watermelon, and a smashed ginger ale bottle cap  (from our own holiday table) with stitched sunny "rays". all placed onto a background woven out of skinny red, white and blue fabric strips. i randomly embroidered the strips to hold them in place and there is a blanket stitched edging around the whole thing. i used the "spine" of the blanket stitch to add more embroidery stitches around the outside of the card.

i mentioned to her that i thought this card was a bit chaotic/busy looking and she responded by saying that  that was also a good demonstration of the fourth of july holiday.

:-D

 

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

• this weekend quietly spent with my daughter; pleasant chatter and some time for identifying the resident humming birds
• playing peek-a-boo with a cicada. it seemed very interested in hiding from me until it heard the clicking of my camera lens
• numerous white lilies blooming on the surface of the pond
• the gold fish willingly eating from my hands
• the taste and look of heirloom tomatoes
• homemade vanilla bean frozen yogurt