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Showing posts from May, 2013

Artsy blogging round-up!

ACreativeDream   Can you ever have enough cute shoes? Check these out!   Alpaca Seduction!   The spindle is out again and whipping up some alpaca roving.   Beading Arts   Cyndi is working on what to do with all the beaded motifs she's making...   Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world   This week at Craftside there is a tutorial on how to ad silver leaf to your mixed media art, 9 cool barcode designs, deer and knit hat patterns from the book Swedish Handknits, and a recipe for a third rail cocktail. Create a Scrapbook Album in a Day with My Memories Album Autofill   Make a scrapbook album tout suite with My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software Suite. Read how Eileen assembled a 14-page, 32-photo digital scrapbook album in just one day!   Wooden Birdhouse Necklaces   Cherie finishes a birdhouse necklace kit.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Yay for June!

Congratulations to June , who writes A Creative Dream .  She just won our copy of  Stamp It!

Recent publications: May 2013

Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Embracing Imperfection and Celebrating Happy Accidents by Serena Barton Fabric Surface Design: Painting, Stamping, Rubbing, Stenciling, Silk Screening, Resists, Image Transfer, Marbling  by Cheryl Rezendes Beer Crafts: Making the Most of Your Cans, Bottle Caps, and Labels by Shawn Gascoyne-Bowman Mixed Media Jewellery: Methods and Techniques (Design and Make) by Joanne Haywood Streaks of Batiks: Fabric-inspired Quilts by Sandra Holzer Inspired to Design: Seven Steps to Successful Art Quilts by Elizabeth Barton Creating Celebration Quilts by Cyndi Souder Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

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Once rare, now they are EVERYWHERE!

Leftover batting pieces - part four

Today we're going to look at two variations on the last type of sample stitching piece I made back at the beginning of the month...foil!  It would be nearly impossible to stitch through regular aluminum foil without tearing it, but when it is fused to quilt batting, all that changes. 1. For either style, you'll need to cut out some batting and fusible webbing as explained in part one.  For the first one, shown at the top in green, you'll need one piece of fusible webbing.  For the second, purple, you'll need two pieces, plus a used drier sheet. 2. Crumble and reopen a piece of foil for each "sandwich". 3. Iron the fusible web to the foil.  For the green piece, I ironed to the shiny side, and for the purple, I ironed to the dull side.  You'll see why in a minute. 4. Trim the foil and iron the pieces to the pre-cut batting.  For the first piece, I painted directly onto the dull side of the foil with thick acrylic paints, wipi

Artsy blogging round-up!

What to Make With Chalkboard Paint   Browse through this collection of 30 fun and fabulous crafts you can make using chalkboard paint... Win $20 Gift Certificate!   Use your crafty guessing skills over at this special Facebook group and get a chance to win a $20 gift certificate.  ACreativeDream   Ahh, the mail art exchange... come see some of the art that was exchanged!   Beading Arts   Wire Month continues on Beading Arts, which features a simple project to wire up some button earrings for yourself!     Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world   This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to make some pretty paper flowers, t-shirt transfers on sandpaper (along with chances to win copies of the books they are from) a cool crochet detail and a recipe for Paleo Banana Coconut Foster.   Postcard Art   Cherie participates in June's postcard art challenge.   Sneak Preview of My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software  My Memories software makes d

Book review and giveaway: Stamp It!

Stamp It! is another volume edited by Jenny Doh for Lark Books .  Nine different designers contributed 45 projects and 200 motifs and templates to the book.  I don't want you to be confused, though; Stamp It! is less about making stamps and more about what to do with them. Some of the projects are traditional, like tags and note cards and gift wrap, but there are also ideas for clothing dishes, and covered buttons.  If you love stamping and want some fresh designs and project ideas, this could be the book for you.     GIVEAWAY ALERT!!! If you'd like to win a copy of  Stamp It! ,  here's what you need to do... please read this carefully.   Leave me a  comment here and include your email address.  If I don't see your email address, I won't be able to contact you.  No contact, no win, and I simply have to go on to the next person.  You are welcome to spell it out if you'd prefer, for example, cyndi at mazeltovjewelry dot com.  If you tweet or post

Book review: Mixed Media Master Class

Sherrill Kahn wants to free you from worrying about your final product when you are in the midst of creating your mixed media materials! "Have fun and don’t worry about making masterpieces. Think about creating fabric and paper that will be cut up or torn to be used in larger works—don’t worry if every part of a piece of paper or fabric isn’t perfect. You can select and use the portions that work for you. The examples in this book, especially in Putting It All Together (pages 131), will give you some great ideas on combining and collaging." (page 7) If you don't already have any good surface design books, get this one from  C&T Publishing .  This isn't a project book...it's about techniques, explained in the simplest possible way.  This is a strength or a weakness of the book, according to different reviewers.  You might expect that a book titled Mixed Media Master Class would have a lot of new and/or advanced techniques, but I think what was meant

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It's coffee , folks, and it's delicious!

Leftover batting pieces - part three

This week, I want to show you the prettiest but easiest piece that I made from my leftover batting pieces.  It was the fastest too!  But only because I never throw ANYthing out! 1. Cut batting and fusible web pieces according to the instructions in part one. 2. I have a treasure trove of paper towels sitting in my studio which are already covered with interesting paint designs.  These are towels that I used to clean up after other projects...extra points for recycling!!  Eventually they all get used, but if they start to build up too much, I switch to using a sponge for cleanup for awhile.  Iron the paper towel flat, and make sure you've only got one layer. 3. Iron the towel to the top of the fusible and trim to size.  It's great to be able to stitch on these otherwise delicate surfaces.  If you've got enough batting scraps, make a batch of these for future projects.   Part one - stitched flimsy fabric Part two - waxed paper Part three - paper

Artsy blogging round-up!

Beading Arts   Cyndi has worked out an easy way to hang odd-shaped pieces from wire!   Breaking Out the Good Stuff   Why have fabulous yarn if you do not use it? Crafty Princess is treating herself for a change.   Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world   This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to fold a Pegasus out of a dollar bill, crochet a magic wand, and recipes for cocoa and green tea rubs.   Father's Day Craft Tutorials  It's not too early to think about what you'll create for Dad or Grandpa. Father's Day is June 16th!   Money Gifts   With Graduation coming up, one or more of these creative money projects would make a perfect gift for a special graduate.   Art and Poetry   Cherie makes new pictures using her poetry.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Mixed media sculpture: Jason Lyons

Perch by Jason Lyons I am a complete sucker for home and garden sculptures made from reclaimed and upcycled junk.  Enter Jason Lyons , and I think I'm in love! Crow Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Book review: Inspired to Design

Are you afraid to get started designing your own art quilt?  Then this is the book you need.  Not everyone is going to love Elizabeth Barton's methods, especially those people who like to work "intuitively", but if you are a planner and don't know how to plan one of these masterpieces, you are going to LOVE this book! Even if you think planning isn't for you, I challenge you to give this a try.  The full title of the book is Inspired to Design: Seven steps to successful art quilts .  Elizabeth Barton takes you through these steps, from gathering up your ideas and inspirations, to making the basic decisions about composition by chosing the structure, focal point(s), colors and values, evaluating those choices, and putting them all together.  Exercises feature prominently throughout the book.  More time spent on thinking through design choices will make the time spent on construction more worthwhile! I have become convinced by Elizabeth about the importance

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Does this mean I'm supposed to slow down or speed up?  :-D

Leftover batting pieces - part two

Today, it's waxed paper!  Yup, waxed paper makes a really interesting top layer on quilt batting, and when it's fused onto batting, you can easily add stitching or other quilting effects.  Without a layer of fused batting...not so much! 1. Follow the directions from last week to cut your batting and fusible web .  Tear off a piece of waxed paper that is bigger than the other layers. 2. Crumble the waxed paper and spread it back out with your hands. 3. Using parchment paper to protect your iron and the board, iron the waxed paper to the fusible web and cut to the same size. 4. Slowly add layers of thinned acrylics (I used Quinacridone red ) and allow it to seep through the waxed paper.  I hit the edges with some extra paint where they could soak it up better.  Iron to heat set the paint.    5. Dry brush or use your fingers to add some metallic color to the high points.  I used iridescent copper .  Iron again to set. Part one - sti

Artsy blogging round-up!

Ice Cream Crafts: 10 Tasty Ideas   Celebrate the summer season with ice cream crafts (both edible and just nice to look at). Here are some favorites! ACreativeDream   June wants to know... do you like your doodles in black and white, or with color? She's got a very unscientific poll running... and a couple of bribes for some of those who vote.   Beading Arts   Cyndi has kicked off "Wire Month" on Beading Arts by sharing a quick and easy earring project!   Amigurumi Gang   The amigurumi gang is all packed up and ready to go to their new homes . Green Turkey Glass Sculpture   Cherie makes a turkey using found glass materials.   How to Make Pretty Ruffled Ribbon to Dress Up Packages and Cards  Make shimmery ruffled bows using plain old rayon bias tape sprayed with glimmer mist. The bias tape crinkles up into pretty ruffles as it dries.  Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Found object wall sculptures

One of Kerry Heath's Twisted Fish Kerry Heath makes laugh-out-loud funny wall sculptures from the stuff that most of us have in our junk drawers!  You know...the mis-matched utensils, nails, bottle caps, etc...plus a whole lot of humor.  Kerry has an etsy site called Fig Jam Studio .  You'd be a fool not to visit her ;-) One of Kerry's Wall Nuts Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Book review: Paper Blooms

Can you cut, fold, and glue?  Then you can make most of the projects in this beautiful book, Paper Blooms by Jeffery Rudell , published by Lark Books !  There are 25 totally gorgeous paper flowers to choose from, using a variety of papers such as cardstock, tissue, vellum, glassine, origami paper, recycled papers, paint chips, coffee filters, and newspaper!  As for tools, you've probably got them all except for a quilling tool, which is inexpensive. The introduction overs the tools and paper choices, and then it's straight on to the projects.  Jeffery has arranged them by technique - paper strips, punches, and hand-cuts - from easiest to more difficult.  There are templates at the end of the book, but you will probably not even really need them.  So many of the designs can be made by estimating. I have some favorites, but please don't tell the other flowers!  In the paper strips section, I love the asters and English roses.  In the punches section, my favori

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Only Portland, the City of Roses, would think to have pretty covers!

Leftover batting pieces - part one

Because of the number of small and unusually sized art quilts I make each year, I found that I had quite a pile of leftover batting pieces sitting on my shelf.  Too small for most of my projects, too big to throw out.  And you know our motto around here...don't throw ANYthing out!  Not only is that just when you'll need it, but it's also wasteful.  So I decided to cut out some postcard-sized pieces of batting and see how many techniques I could get through in half a work day. Yup, that's it...just four hours, only using materials I already had.  Bonus points for recycled stuff.  And the tops had to be materials that you wouldn't otherwise be able to stitch on easily! Up above is what I got, and I'm pretty happy with it, because all the pieces are usable.  I know there are only five, but I did add stitching to one of them, so I should get a few extra points for that, huh...?   Here's how I made this one: 1. Cut a piece of batting and a piece