More Fabric Arrived!

Hurray! My banjolele fabric arrived today! I just got a fat quarter to see how I liked it. 

I love it! I also want to play around with it in photoshop, or somewhere, and mess with the colors. I'd love to have some with a black background and white pen.

"Play Your Banjolele"

Working on more fabric designs

Two more sketches ready to become fabric!

Did I tell you I got a banjolele in November?  I managed to play some Christmas carols and I am busy practicing chords every day!

My fabric arrived

I received a gift card from Spoonflower for Christmas. I have been so excited to make my own fabric. I used some pages from my sketchbook for the designs. It arrived today!

Horse Looking Back

I am trying to get more sketchbooks made for a possible Indianapolis craft fair and my Etsy shop.

I already have three canvases in the works with the idea of turning them into fabric. 

A new addiction? Uh Oh! 

Autumn Giveaway!

I decided to kick off my favorite crafting season with a giveaway! I thought you may like this little needle case I made.

All you have to do is leave a comment- tell me what you are looking forward to working on this winter- and I'll pick out a winner on Saturday, November 12th.

ps. I forgot to answer my own question. Ha! I have some silk cocoons coming my way and have big plans for them! All kinds of ideas swarming around. I've never worked with them, so we'll see how they turn out. I'm sure you will be seeing the creations soon.

Using up scraps

This was an idea from Glenda Bailey in the latest Sew Somerset. Check out her lovely blog!
 I loved her fabric cards and thought I would give them a try.

This one is various scraps, some felted wool, lace, stamps dipped in encaustic wax, papers and stamp (hey Donna, do you recognize that one from my box of goodies!), transferred photo of a door from a trip to Quebec, and old clothes. I left the heart open like a pocket so I could write a note on fabric, roll it up, and place it in the heart.

Poetry Sentiment

I started working on a new page for my fabric book. I was recently inspired by this Robert Frost quote. I hand wrote it onto fabric and dipped it in encaustic wax.  I liked the way the stitches looked on the encaustic.  I am still playing with the quilting and layout but like where it's headed.

" It is absurd to think that the only way to tell if a poem is lasting is to wait and see if it lasts. The right reader of a good poem can tell the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound- that he will never get over it.  That is to say, permanence in poetry, as in love, is perceived instantly.  It hasn't to await the test of time.  The proof of a poem is not that we have never forgotten it, but we knew at sight we never could forget it."

- Robert Frost

This and That

Hello everyone! I haven't been doing too much new lately with a vacation to Colorado and enjoying Spring... But I am back on track and have some new inspiration!

One, is this lucious bundle of silk fabric I got today with my gift card from Ruby Street Quiltworks for my doll prize;

And, a very cool fabric I found in Fort Collins, CO at a funky shop in Old Town...

I also played around with my Acrylic Artist Inks and made a little lady for an ipod case

I am looking forward to a long weekend of sewing, painting, and who knows...

Fabric covers for little notebooks

Making some little gifts for friends. Quilting some covers for the small 2''x4'' notebooks.

Opening the Erosion Bundle

A nice, sunny day to see what the rolled and tied fabric will reveal....

Here is what a long, rainy winter gave me:

I really love how this postcard aged (even more) and the feather is practically glued on there. I have been wanting to try encaustic- this may be the nudge I needed. I think it would work great for that.

Another peice to dip in wax, I think!

Even more felted

And some more lovely rust stains, worn fabrics and things.

I have some ideas whirling around about what I might do with the Erosion Bundle. I will see you all in Summer with the creations.

Slightly icky Erosion Bundle

I actually had done two erosion bundles...I was so excited about the first that the next day I put one in the dirt again. This second one was filled with the sliced potatoes and tea bags from breakfast along with some papers with alcohol inks and a photocopy of one of my collages. And some herbs...can't rememeber what and they came out as black clumps.

This second bundle was kept away from the other for fear of bugs that would be attracted to the potatoes. Good thing, because there were some yucky worms and a cute little snail.

 Here they are and my peice of fabric.

ewwwww!

3 month old potatoes

I will unearth my bigger erosion bundle in a few weeks too. Then I get to create some things with these treasures.

Little bottles of joy!

Okay, I didn't exactly need another art supply, but I sure wanted these Daler- Rowney FW Acrylic Artist Inks once I read about them in the new Quilting Arts magazine!! They arrived today and I had to at least give them a whirl 5 minutes after getting home from work.

The April/May issue is full of things I want to try. This gem is by Judy Coates Perez- they are as great as she says. They really go on nicely and don't leave the fabric all stiff. These are going to open up some new possibilities in art quilts. ( No, I don't work for this company. Ha!)

Just a few doodles to test them out.

Oh no, Dick Blick is going to get more of my paycheck!

Fabric Book Journey Continues...

I have been working on a new fabric book. A few months ago I made a fabric book for a Longfellow poem (you can see it here) and realized I needed to work out a better way for the binding. Thanks to Anni at Fabric Art I ordered Pam Sussman's book and it has been so helpful! I started out with the most simple (looking) type of book and started construction. For the most part it turned out nicely but I should have made the cover larger to fit in all my intended pages. Serves me right for not actually measuring and following instructions!

I added on some ribbons, lace, bling, and stitches.

Made some pockets for a couple pages.

My friend Deborah had a good idea for using a fabric book to pin in embroidery projects while they await their fate. I threw in a sketchbook too. I thought this book may work nicely for a travel companion of embroidery and art. It'll keep it all together.

I was really happy with this embroidered girl. She might need a jewel for her neck and I haven't decided what type of closure to use. I already have some more covers started and I'm ready to play around with more types of fabric books. I also saw that Lovey at Fabric Photo Memories has a new book on sale. Oooh, add it to the pile!!

Thankfully, I have a 3 day weekend with my sewing machine!

Take Cover

I am working on turning my bits of practice embroidery into fabric books and journals. Here is a cover I finished today.

Vintage photos...I have no shortage of them

This week at Take A Word it's all vintage! At least 90 percent of what I make is using something vintage, usually from my family. This week I had pulled out some old photos when cleaning up my craft room and found a spiral bound book of black and whites.  It would appear that my Great Grandma ( or someone...have to check with my mom) was pretty proud of a new TV set. The back of the picture says March 1956.

I transfered it onto fabric and made this needle case for my new love of embroidery.

Also, I had to include a couple others from the book; the dining room and their car parked out on its Pittsburgh, PA street.