Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2012

Black felt quilt - part two

Last week, I showed you most of the steps for how I constructed the top of this little black felt quilt .  Today, we'll finish it up.  Just so you know...step 15 is tedious and you should probably get a couple of audiobooks to listen to while you stitch! 13. Carefully snip the top and bottom of each multi-colored shape to expose a strip of pink fabric all the way around it.  Stitch each stack down through all layers by adding a small bead to each corner. 14. Here's what the bottom will look like, or some such similar pattern! 15. Using two strands of embroidery floss, blanket stitch each stack to the felt top. 16. Again using two strands of embroidery floss, blanket stitch another equally sized piece of black felt to the back of the piece.     Copyright 2012 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,

More artsy links!

  Eileen - The Artful Crafter How to create cute clay pot garden bells for your yard. Still Life and Strong Women Cherie shares some new paintings.   Beading Arts "Spring Fever" month on Beading Arts is still in full swing as some readers share stories of pieces inspired by their own travels! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Artsy blogging round-up!

  Eileen - The Artful Crafter How to create a cheery no-sew spring scene wall hanging. Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery How to make a pair of lace-up the back socks from a standard pair.   About Family Crafts The current make-it-over craft challenge is all about making footprint crafts! You can submit your ideas to be published or submit a link to a footprint craft!   Carmi's Art/Life World A week in Paris results in some pretty fun photography on Carmi's blog.   Crafty Princess Diaries When your princess's or prince's throat needs just a little something to keep it warm, this fast scarf project might be just what you need.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

More Venice...in town

Venice has a series of squares or piazzes that are connected by long narrow alley-ways. These alleys can either be stone or water, and when you are a stranger to the region, you’re never quite sure which will greet you as you round each corner. Or whether there will even be a corner to go ’round! Several times we made our way down a long alley, only to find that it dead-ended. I’m sure you think we were idiots to have this happen more than once, but you honestly cannot tell if the “street” turns or not until you get to the end. Almost every buildable square inch of the city has been built, and that leaves the “streets” as a complete jumble. The guide book suggested just starting to wander and not worrying about where you were going…you really can’t get too lost. And it’s true! You’ll eventually stumble upon another piazza, and then you can find where you are on a map. Yes, this building really is as crooked as it looks. That’s what happens when everything is build on to

Recent publications: April 2012

Pop Art, Vol 1 by Sean Yore and Linda Hagen The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed by Seth Apter Light and Lens, Second Edition: Photography in the Digital Age by Robert Hirsch Mixed Messages: The Versatility of Collage by Ann Manie Impressionist Applique: Exploring Value & Design to Create Artistic Quilts by Grace Errea and Meridith Osterfeld Representing Landscapes: A Visual Collection of Landscape Architectural Drawings by Nadia Amoroso Quilting in Black and White (Dynamic Resource Group) by Multiple designers Put Some Charm in Your Quilts: Instructions for Both Paper & Traditional Piecing by Connie Kauffman Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World: Profiles of Major Artists, Galleries of Inspiring Works by Martha Sielman Tapestry: A Woven Narrative by Timothy Wilcox Artists' Postcards: A Compendium by Jeremy Cooper Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered

Venice...the Grand Canal

After several days in charming Orvieto, Mike and Dani and I headed off by train for Venice…the land of, well, no land! It was amazing. The moment we exited the train station, we could tell that we weren’t in Kansas anymore, if you know what I mean. No cars. No bikes. No skateboards. Nothing with wheels. There were ferry boats, taxi boats, garbage boats, police boats, and gelato boats. Our first order of business was to take a ferry up the Grand Canal to the region where our hotel was located, which was practically at the other end of the canal. What an experience that was! I couldn't stop snapping pictures, even though I knew most of them would be junk with all the movement. But I just had to remember the sights! Copyright 2012 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. Tec

Black felt quilt - part one

Sometimes I actually get around to using the samples that I create for tutorial purposes in an actual project...and this is one of those times ;-) In March, I shared with you a book review of Shelly Stokes's new book, Rubbing Plate Roundup , and I showed you some fabric that I stamped and foiled using her methods.  Well, I saw the fabric sitting on my work table next to some other fabrics, and the next thing you know, I was cutting out a small geometric quilt. Materials and Tools 2 pieces of black felt 1 piece of brightly colored cotton (pink) 1 piece of hand-painted fabric (yellow, orange, and pink with foil) 1 piece of fusible interfacing, shirt-weight Cutting mat Rotary cutter Scissors Iron Double-stick tape Beads Embroidery floss Needles   1. Cut the felt pieces to the same size.  The black felt pieces will end up a bit bigger than the colored fabrics.  Cut the pink fabric slightly smaller than the black, and the multi-colored slightly smaller than

More artsy links!

  New Product Reviews and Making a mess - Laura Thykeson Playing with my art supplies, or getting new ones to test. Painted Glass Garden Mushrooms Cherie uses paint and old dessert cups to make some glass garden mushrooms.   Beading Arts The fabulous Leslie Rogalski shares her thoughts about her creative process with us! You don't want to miss this!   Eileen - The Artful Crafter How to create a cheery no-sew spring scene wall hanging. Mo(o)re Whimsies Sakura Crystal Lacquer and Terri Sproul Mixers on a gourd.     Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Artsy blogging round-up!

  Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to paint vintage style dahlias, 2 ways to create collages and make a recycled soda bottle bird feeder along with a recipe for atomic tofu pecan loaf. Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy reviews an interesting new e-book on Fair Isle knitting that has some very cool embedded videos.   Eileen - The Artful Crafter How to create cute clay pot garden bells for your yard. Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See how to sew a scissor holster garter.   Aileen's Musings Aileen shows her step by step how she created faux copper patinaed paper flowers.      Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

More Orvieto...the goods

Dani bought some olive wood coasters for Mike, who likes fine wood a lot. She bought me some really good olive oil (to use in cooking for her, of course!), so I had to buy a carafe to put it in. Anna is the name of the potter, and her place, Orviet’Anna is well known to residents, but a bit off the tourist main street. And who doesn’t like chocolate? Dani bought us a selection at the chocolate shop I showed you Tuesday.  Except for the Guinness bar, which she got on a side trip to Dublin Ireland ;-) Copyright 2012 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

Pointillism suggestion from a reader

A couple years ago, I posted a tutorial for using the pointillism filter in photoshop to create a neat portrait effect.  Then just a short while back, L00ty left a comment about another method, which I thought I should share here.     L00ty said :     I had to do a pointillism effect on a background for a comic-book style piece. After trying a few different ways, including this one, I eventually hit on just the right thing:     Open up a new file 4 pixels by 4 pixels, with a white background. Save this as a pattern. then go back to the image you want to pointillise and colour a layer in with the main colour (in my case light blue). then open blending options on that layer and select pattern overlay. Choose your point pattern and voila!     You can experiment with the scale for different size dots but I found the default one just perfect :) Using the same source picture as above, this is what I got: Thank you, L00ty, for sharing your method! Technorati Tags: mixed med

More Orvieto...the food

The Chocolate shop that Dani loves The Orvietani take their food seriously! Breakfast is usually a light affair, followed by the main meal at noonish (dinner). Most have just a light snack at around 8 pm for supper. We decided to follow suit as much as possible while in Italy. It took a few days for us to adjust not only to the time change but also to the altered eating pattern. Tiramisu and gelato…what could be better. Obviously the tiramisu didn’t last long! Gelato is made with milk instead of cream, and it is a cup (or cone) full of soft deliciousness, eaten with a very small spoon. Despite the fact that we had more-or-less the eating tour of Italy, I lost weight. Ingredients are fresh and natural. Sugar is sugar, and there isn’t corn syrup or salt added to everything you eat. Nothing processed. What a treat! I loved the food, the markets, the small cafes and the larger restaurants…all of it. We ate quite a bit of fresh produce in Orvieto, because we knew t

Upcycled paper towels

I always save the paper towels that I use for clean-up when I'm painting.  It makes me feel less wasteful knowing that these papers will be reused in future collages or in recycled paper making such as I'm going to show you today.  Embroidery hoop with organza Materials and Tools Painted paper towels Inclusions (optional) Blender Organza stretched in an embroidery hoop Large shallow dish Flat sponges Waxed or freezer paper and a flat surface Lots of cloth towels Matte medium 1. Tear up the paper towels and place about 1 c of shreds into a blender that's 1/2 to 3/4 full of water.  Blend in short bursts and then blend until paper is pulped. 2. Place the hoop, concave side up, into the shallow dish and pour the pulp and water into it.  Swirl and use your fingers to distribute the pulp over the organza.  3. Place the hoop onto stacked cloth towels and press with a sponge to drain out most of the water.  4. Add inclusions if using.