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Showing posts from August, 2013

Artsy blogging round-up!

Crafty Creatures Here's a little video that shows some adorable creatures you can craft. Coffee Table Redo Cherie tiles and paints a rummage sale table. ACreativeDream June is sharing lots of tips about how she gets text to show through the paint in her art. Product Photography Tips from CreativeLive and Don Gianatti  Have you ever drooled over some of the product photos on websites or in online catalogs? Did you assume they had a huge studio with fancy lights and several assistants? I'm sure many do, but ... Beading Arts To help celebrate "Metal Month", Cyndi has collected links to some amazing tutorials for you to try! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

How to create the perfect craft space

A guest post by Aimee Claire A talent for craft can remain a hobby or be turned into a career, but whatever the level of commitment, craft needs a dedicated working space. For creative types, a workroom becomes a ‘playroom’, a place where imagination can work its magic. What is needed to make a craft space Storage is the first requirement of any craft room, a place to put all the tools of the trade or hobby, whichever it may be. This means plenty of cupboards or shelves. To make things even tidier, use storage boxes clearly labeled with the contents to make it as convenient as possible to access the items needed. Utilize space above and below permanent furniture and to avoid creating an eyesore, curtain off these areas with an attractive fabric drape. A second requirement is somewhere to work. Now, this will vary, depending on the craft that is being worked on, but as large a work surface as possible is always desirable. Consider L-shaped worktops or stations

Recent publications: August 2013

Imagery in the 21st Century by Oliver Grau and Thomas Veigl Foundations of Digital Art and Design with the Adobe Creative Cloud (Voices That Matter) by xtine burrough The Age of Collage: Contemporary Collage in Modern Art by D. Busch, R. Klanten and H. Hellige The Art of iPhone Photography: Creating Great Photos and Art on Your iPhone by Bob Weil and Nicki Fitz-Gerald Collage Crafts Gone Wild: Mixed-Media Projects and Techniques by Kristy Conlin Creative Photography Lab: 52 Fun Exercises for Developing Self-Expression with your Camera. Includes 6 Mixed-Media Projects  by Steve Sonheim and Carla Sonheim Encaustic Painting Techniques: The Whole Ball of Wax by Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch Resin Alchemy: Innovative Techniques for Mixed-Media and Jewelry Artists by Susan Lenart Kazmer Box World Adventures: Building Crafty Cardboard Projects by Suzy Ultman Art Made from Books: Altered, Sculpted, Carved, Transformed by Laura Heyenga, Brian Dettmer and Alyson Kuh

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Book review: Embroidered & Embellished

Embroidered & Embellished by Christen Brown became available from C&T Publishing on July 1 of this year.  It is a stunning book and will be especially helpful to anyone who wants to learn to embroider in different styles and who likes to learn from step-by-step directions.  The subtitle is 85 stitches using thread, floss, ribbon, beads & more , which shows you just how much information is packed into this book. Christen starts out with the stitching techniques and terminology.  All the stitches in her book are considered "freehand" stitches, because they do not use a counted canvas or grid.  That makes them perfect to add to your patchwork, quilts, mixed media collages, and other fiber arts.  She then turns to the process of choosing foundational fabrics and trims, embroidery threads and ribbons; beads and similar embellishments like buttons, sequins, charms, and shisha mirrors. Sampler piece by Christen Brown from the class she teaches at Joggles

Artsy blogging round-up!

Baby Sweater Reveal!   The Crafty Princess shows off the baby sweater she made as part of a Craftsy.com class project.   Beading Arts   Cyndi shares information on finishing metal clay pieces with a great patina.   Unique Flap-Folded Card  Look at the unusual way this card opens. Presto, chango!   ACreativeDream   June has a tutorial for a mail art piece up, come see!   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

South to Vancouver

Our last full day on our Alaska inner passage trip took us down to Vancouver .  It was the only day (and night) that was really misty and cooler, and since we were finally getting a bit further south, we actually got a real sunset and some darkness! That was actually sort of sad, I guess.  But all things must eventually end.  Some of the passengers were calling it gloomy and sort of complaining about it.  I called it mystical and magical!  Isn't it lovely?  After a week of unseasonably warm and nice sunny weather in Alaska, how could we complain even for a moment? Copyright 2013 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Contemporary art with traditional themes

The town of Ketchikan was the last stop on our Alaska inner passage cruise.  After our usual jaunt up and down the nearest mountain, we set off in search of some souvenirs to take home for friends (and for us!).  Yup, we waited until almost the last possible moment to go post card and magnet shopping! On our travels through the town, I came across my new favorite contemporary artist, Evon Zerbetz .  Evon does wonderful hand colored linocuts which draw heavily on native images, icons, stories, and lore.  I bought several post cards and note cards featuring Evon's work (shown here).  I'm drooling over perhaps someday acquiring one of his full-sized prints.  In the meantime, I will continue to drool over my post cards and will probably visit his website so many times that I single-handedly crash it! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Yay for Laura!

Laura, who writes L Thykeson's Mixed Media Art , won our Sweet & Simple Jewelry book giveaway!  Congratulations, Laura!

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Book review: Colorific

C&T Publishing has a wonderful new book out that will help you " Unlock the secrets of fabric selection for dynamic quilts ."    It's Colorific , by Pam Goecke Dinndorf , and the really fun part is that she applies this knowledge to traditional quilts rather than "art quilts".  Now you all know that I don't make traditional quilts, but I do think there's a lot to be learned from them, and Pam makes such a great case for exploring traditional blocks...well, we'll see. Whatever your own leanings, part one covers the secrets of selection, taking into account both color and print: color relationships, guidelines for selection, evaluating after the initial selection, and validating your choices.  Pam writes: I have discovered a shortcut to achieving a solid, awe-inspiring color scheme. It is still necessary to try out many different possibilities and aim for variety in value, hue, and print; however, there are certain fabrics that speed up t

Artsy blogging round-up!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world   This week at Craftside there is a video tutorial on how to make a recycled file folder book with Jeannine Stein, a giveaway of a copy of The Complete Photo Guide to Beading and a Kumihimo kit and how to write phrases in Sanskrit.   Gold Glass and Solar Lights   Cherie shares a glass project from last year.   Loom-Tastic!   This has turned out to be a cat favorite in the Crafty Princess house.   Are You Ready for Some Football - Mums?  It's (get ready for) Homecoming time. Across much of the south, that means it's (get ready for) Homecoming Mums!   Beading Arts   Cyndi has been experimenting with CopprClay again!   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Ketchikan, Alaska

We had a pretty decent amount of time in the town of Ketchikan, Alaska , so we spent some time in the touristy area of town and in a local museum, as well as our customary "find a mountain and climb it" routine.  Ketchikan is beautiful, and apparently it is almost always raining there, but we got lucky with a crystal clear warmish day! The tourist area is built around and over the salmon creek, and is appropriately called Creek Street .  It used to be the red light district. Salmonberry bushes line a lot of the paths.  They taste like very mild raspberries, and we saw a lot of local people out picking them as we headed up to hike.  But that came later! Click the picture for a larger, more readable version Near Creek Street is a small park and the Totem Heritage Center .  There's a larger collection outside of town, but that would have cut into our hiking time.  We enjoyed the smaller center, and I especially enjoyed seeing the beadwo

Fabric and yarn shopping in Alaska!

Some of the port towns in Alaska have these little fabric and fiber-lovers gems tucked away for you to discover.  Here are two that I found on our travels down the inner passage: Rushin' Tailor's Quilt Alaska , Skagway Alaska-themed prints, batiks, flannels, and all needed quilting supplies.  How could I not buy some Alaska stuff?  Could I come up with my own designs, print them and paint them?  Yes.  Could I resist the ones sitting in front of my face?  No! Skeins , Juneau Owner Nancy Fenton No website, but well worth searching out.  This jam-packed store is on the second floor of a little "mall" on the main shopping street.  I bought this gorgeous hand dyed skein of merino and silk yarn. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

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Book review and giveaway: Aimee Ray's Sweet & Simple Jewelry

I've written a review of  Aimee Ray's Sweet & Simple Jewelry  on Beading Arts  (click to read the review), and now I'd like the share the information with you, because I've got an extra copy of the book to giveaway!! GIVEAWAY ALERT!!! Would you like to win a free copy of this book?  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 on Facebook or other social spots about the contest, you can leave a second comment and be entered twice!  Deadline: August 19, 2013. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Artsy blogging round-up!

Creative Planner Update   Cherie finally finishes her Creative Planner project.   Laminated Household Solutions Cards  These are helpful and colorful kitchen tip charts clipped from magazines over the years. Eileen decided to make them decorative, durable, and always handy. ACreativeDream   June has issued a mail art call! Come join in the fun!   Beading Arts   Cyndi has collected a wonderful group of resources and tutorials for those who want to try working in metal clay or who wish to expand their skills!   Call for Entries - Jewelry Designers   The Crafty Princess is still looking for entries to add to her jewelry book update.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Juneau, Alaska

Our next port stop in Alaska was Juneau.  I don't know how it has escaped me all these years that Juneau is completely isolated by car.  It's the capital of the state, and yet there are no roads running in or out of it.  Everything, including cars, arrives by water or air! On the way into town, we passed the salmon processing plant which is a major employer.  This shows the freshly caught salmon ascending up the conveyor into the plant. And this shows who is waiting patiently for something to fall!  I have never seen bald eagles that weren't in a zoo, so the constant eagle sitings never got old to me.  Did you know that they really do scream just like that clip that you hear in every tv show set in the west? Our entertainment in town was the usual...we climbed the closest mountain, which in this case turned out to be Mount Roberts.  There was a tram, but we decided to climb up and perhaps take the tram back down if we were running out of time.  The stop

Calls for entries and submissions

Transformations: Beaded Art Doll Competition Transformations: Beaded Art Doll Competition Deadline: 08/31/13 Printmaking Deadline: 09/26/13 GreenCraft Deadline: 09/15/13  2014 Niche Awards Deadline: 09/16/13  Friendship and Devotion reader challenge Deadline: 09/20/13 Somerset Digital Studio Deadline: 10/15/13  Haute Handbags Deadline: 11/15/13  Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

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Vulture quilt - part six, Finished!

Downdraft So, it turns out that my fears about the stitching being visible when I tacked down the vultures was unfounded.  In fact, I had to desaturate the image and put a circle around the little stitch just to show it to you in the picture below!  First order of business was to finish the edges though. Using some beautiful hand-dyed yarn that I bought in Alaska, I cut three pieces for each side and blanket stitched them along the edges.  I had a brief flirtation with the idea of making the final quilt shape oval, but I settled on the rectangle to avoid it being too gimmicky. Once all the sides were stitched together (through front fabric, batting, and backing), I gathered them up at the corners and knotted them loosely in place. Here is a shot of one of the tiny little stitches that hold the vultures in place.  I used black Nymo beading thread, doubled, and stitched each vulture in three places.  Knot the thread, tiny stitch, knot the thread, pull the knots t