Take A Word: Time

I am so excited about this new challenge blog, Take A Word...so open and free! This week I decided to do a simple card and envelope. I haven't played around with my stamps lately.

See you all next week!

You've been Quilt Bombed!!

This is my first time trying the Something Completely Different Challenge. The theme is Claret and Blue.

I'd yarnbomb you but I can't knit.

I have been wanting to make this "quilt bomb" for months...I love guerilla art and yarnbombing, but just don't have the patience for knitting. I love those yarnbombing folks who knit up covers for bike racks and light posts, jazz up construction sites and other drab places. I am jealous of them.

But I can quilt.

This little quilt is going to sneak into a local indy bookstore, I think. Hope they like it when they notice their new bathroom art.

Winter Streets

I am falling in love with painting these days. This collage is layers of various book pages and my own drawings....and many layers of gesso, crackle, gel medium, and varnish. I am already prepping my next canvas.      How have I never painted before?!

A 3'' Story...

This week's Inchy by inch theme is home. While doodling (and working), I came up with this...

...and the workers are off.........

...stop and check for exciting postcards and letters from friends...

...and arrive...

Hope you all like my little story.

The End.

Painting attempt

This is my first attempt at painting. I've layered in some papers from sewing patterns and a dictionary. One of the torn pages had print, not meant to go together, that said " get somewhere from good luck" and I liked the way it sounded. Looking at this, it doesn't seem quite finished, but I'm not sure where to take it. Maybe it will come to me tomorrow...or next year.

Post Pals and the joy of mail!

Coming home and having mail makes any day better. I think this is universal. I wanted to tell everyone about two great projects involving that beloved real mail.

First, I recently discovered a wonderful non-profit called Post Pals. A young woman in her 20s, who grew up in and out of hospitals, started this program to send postcards and mail to sick children in the UK. You can read more about her, and the recipients, on the website. As a postcard maker and collector, I of course wanted to participate...and I love sending quilted postcards to hopefully brighten up a child's day.

I also do postcrossing where over 200,000 users exchange postcards all over the world. It's great to learn more about people and places, and this is why I usually come home to fun mail! Today- Malaysia and Belarus! This week they posted a story about a young girl in London, Ohio, USA who is going through extensive treatment for a brain tumor. One of her only requests was she wished she could recieve postcards from around the world. I'm sure the postcrossers of the world will deliver. Maybe you can too. Please check out the link to get more info and address.

Many people on all the fantastic, artsy  blogs I look through every day are making amazing postcards. I thought you may like to share them with a grateful child.

Here's a quilted card I just sent off to the UK. I hope some of you can participate. Have a wonderful day!

Inchy by Inch: The Future

This week's Inchie challenge is "The Future". Even though I am a skeptic, I love palm readers and fortune tellers.  Also, I always drop coins in the fortune teller machines to get my little card.  I made this by coloring clip art,  adding text from a Russian dictionary, and handmade paper, decoupage and done! The background is just clip art curtains colored red. Hope you all see good things in the crystal ball this week!

A place to rest your head

Here are my pillows. I have only been quilting for about a year now. I can never commit to a whole quilt with a theme. I love trying different blocks and fabrics. I'm thinking some people will be getting pillows for Christmas this year.

one more

I love this Kaffe Fasset fabric. You may recognize it from one of my pin cushions.

S is for Snail

I love drawing these little faces and sewing them. I found this great frame last weekend in Portland. I'm not sure if this is her permanent home yet but she looks pretty cute in there.

Quilted Halloween

I had some fun using up this wonderful Halloween fabric by making quilted postcards to send off.

Inchy by Inch: The Past

This week's Inchy By Inch challenge is "the past". I have had this fabric for a while and I thought this 1950s couple were great. The fabric has all different 50s scenes...and most of them are women baking and vacuuming and doing domestic chores. We all still have chores to do, but thankfully, no women I know are doing them in a dress and high heels with their hair done!

Inchy by Inch: Devotion

My devotion inchie...This is from a Western Union telegram my Grandpa sent Grandma, " Starting home...Love, Joe."  The postmark is actually from a letter he sent that year too. 1945.

Portland Art and Soul Retreat

I just got back from Portland's Art and Soul Retreat. What a wonderful place! It was my first year attending- definately going back next year- and hopefully taking a lot more classes.  I was able to do 2 this time around; Thawed Charlottes ( small wire doll) and Mechanical Bird ( mixed media). Both were amazing! Here are some photos from the classes and final projects:

Thawed Charlottes with Jessica Acosta

Getting the face on...

Following the diagram to make our little wire friend...

almost there....

and here she is! These were so fun to make. I am already planning out my own little faces for them.

Mechanical Bird with Kerin Gale and Charley Slaughter:

Next up, my all day class making this kooky bird!

It doesn't look like much in th beginning....

Then it starts to come together, after a bit of struggling with wires and copper domes....

add diamond clay and some paint...

added some old keys and found objects I had.... collage papers, old sewing pattern pieces, and some sewing words cut from an old Spanish dictionary....

All finished! Just need to add some eyes and a few other simple embellishments, but I love the way it turned out. This was such a great project!! I'd love to hear what you think of my Art and Soul creations!

You can see these teachers websites on my sidebar. Jessica is at Doll Project and Charley and Kerin are at Mixed Media Art and Remnants of Olde.