STIMULATION ON OVERDRIVE

It has been awhile since I have had time to sit down and visit my own blog. I had eight days of constant art stimulation. I am so tired but so happy. First. I did take my class with Leanna Light and had a great time. It introduced me to using metal in my art (aside from a little silver smithing I have not really used any).

Leanna on the right - getting us started.

My pieces at a very early stage. I will post them again as they are completed.

Girlfriend Ella, came over and we worked on the Fiber Art Workshop exercises together. It is always a day of giggling and great fun.

FAW(2) Hot glue on foil - then applied to quilt block. This is so shiny!

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Then my friend, Judy, made it down from Colorado. It was so good to see her and her husband. This was the first time in over twenty five years we have had an extended visit without having some outside influence on our time. I was able to introduce her to some of my mixed media passions and she helped me to get over some of my inhibitions regarding watercolor. We both did Zen Tangles for the first time. Her's were great, mine were OK.

I need a finer pen if I am going to work on ATC sizes.

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She fell in love with my felting machine. I think she will be a proud owner of one soon. I got some of my pieces trimed to ATC size. Now I need to embelish them.

The ATC's are a great way for me to use up the trimings of my larger pieces.

Another friend, Lynne, and I started on papercloth awhile ago. I pulled mine out and got the pieces done. I don't know what I am going to make out of it but I think it is kind of fun and funky stuff.

(muslin - matt gel medium - images on paper - matt gel medium - tissue paper - matt gel medium - paint - stamping)

We worked with watercolors a bit. It is just background stuff but I was able to keep my colors clear.

Pieces for my ATC workshop

water color on paper

Acrylic paint on paper towel

Pearlized paint on paper towel

Watercolor on baby wipes

We also started dolls. I have lots of parts that we made. I will show them as they get farther along.

Buried Treasures- - -What I have been doing in 2008

Seth Apter of http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/ has started a challenge to find buried treasures in our blogs. I think this is a great idea as it is so hard to look back through just found blogs. This one of my favorite posts that I have done.

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This year has been a breakthrough for me. I am trying new things and trying to release my inner muse (it thinks I have lost it).

I bought a new tiny camera that I can easily take with me wherever I go. The week I bought it I headed to Kauai and took over 1200 shots. I was in heaven!

I make a lot of what I call "stones". They are small things that I can build on. I normally have no idea of what I am going to do with them but I can't seem to stop once I begin.

Fabric beads (mostly polyester) rolled and heated with a heat gun.

Made with fabric and glue.

Pipe cleaners wrapped with fabric.

My second group exchange was a post card challenge. No theme to this one, but since I had just come back from Hawaii fish seemed logical.

All the cards are made from cotton scraps with just a few emblishments.

I participated in my first art exchange with my mixed media group. It was a "skinny book" and our theme was "woman".

I used paper towels and dyed them with old markers. Then I drew on them with india ink and added crystals.

I have a wonderful source for upholstery fabrics. I made a number of purses, designed one myself, sold a few, and taught a couple of classes.

I discovered felting machines. A friend came over for a play day and brought this wonderful machine that she had found at a quilt show in Chicago. She let me try it and I was hooked. I bought my own the same week. This is one of my favorite things to do. I haven't done much quilting since I bought it.

These are all 4" by 6".
I used silk on some and polyesters on others.

In our mixed media group we do some mini workshops. One day a member, Debbie, show us how to do a type of free form quilting. We worked up rectangles and then slice them up and put them back together.

I found some wonderful silk leaves and made some small art pieces.

Most of the leaves are silk but the backgrounds are a blend.