Here's your sign!

I love this!

How to create an animated gif

Even though this video was uploaded in 2007, I found that it still has the clearest presentation and the most detail of any I've seen.  Thank you, SamoaJoe!



I made an animated gif featuing the doors of Orvieto Italy, but when I recently upgraded my computer, guess what was one the few things NOT to survive...?  That's right!  So don't click on the image below, because NOTHING will happen!!

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Artsy blogging round-up!

Dinosaur Cake Pops 
Enjoy this fun birthday party idea--dinosaur cake pops! 

Finding Inspiration in the Psalms 
Cherie uses the Psalms for inspiration in three new prints.

Real Food Fast! 
When you find yourself too distracted to make art, try making chocolate whiskey fudge instead! 

Saturday May 4 is National Scrapbooking Day 
Here are some easy scrapbook ideas. Digital layout templates allow anyone to do beautiful scrapbook layouts; or scraplift the design to do a paper one.

6 Mother’s Day Gifts Ideas for Kids to Make 
Here are 6 fun and easy crafts your kids can make to give as Mother's Day crafts. 

ACreativeDream 
June's made an awful lot of mail art of late... come see! 

Crafting on the Go Solutions 
Are you trying to figure out a way to keep your crafting handy at all times? The Crafty Princess shares her recently discovered solution for this. 

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world 
This week at Craftside there is tutorial on how to draw a motorcycle, tips on working with stencils, info on leather finishes and tanning processes and how to turn a baked potato from a fast carb into a slow carb.



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Yay for Rebecca!

Rebecca in Maine, who writes What's Going On?, is the winner of our Raw Art Journaling giveaway!  Congratulations, Rebecca!

CraftArtEdu class by Frederick Chipkin

There's a very helpful three part online class that you might want to consider taking, especially because it's free!  Frederick Chipkin, teaching for CraftArtEdu, has put together tutorials to help you set up your Photoshop program and tweak it especially for textile design! 

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Recent publications: April 2013

Mixed-Media Master Class with Sherrill Kahn: 50+ Surface-Design Techniques for Fabric & Paper by Sherrill Kahn

Simply Precious Pop-Ups: Easy-to-Make and Beautiful 3D Greeting Cards (Pop-Up Cards) by Kiyoshi Kikuchi

Acrylic Solutions: Exploring Mixed Media Layer by Layer by Chris Cozen and Julie Prichard

Expressive Portraits: Watercolor and Mixed Media Techniques by Jean Pederson

Inspired to Design: Seven Steps to Successful Art Quilts by Elizabeth Barton

Beautiful Building Block Quilts: Create Improvisational Quilts from One Block by Lisa Walton

Art Quilt Portfolio: People & Portraits: Profiles of Major Artists, Galleries of Inspiring Works by Martha Sielman

Cutting-Edge Art Quilts by Mary W. Kerr

Acrylics Unleashed by Glyn Macey

13 Art Techniques Children Should Know by Angela Wenzel










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Here's your sign!

Hazardous?  You mean just because there's an active volcano that's spewing noxious fumes?

Here's what I've been busy doing...

This is why I haven't gotten as much done as quickly as usual...introducing my new grandbaby Julianna.  I had a glorious two weeks at my son and daughter-in-law's place helping out with Julianna, her older sister Katherine, and making sure we were all fed  :-)

My baby with his baby

Ok, Katherine and I managed to do a couple of art projects together!

Photos Copyright 2013 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved.

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So proud to be from Boston

The courage of our first responders, volunteers, and fellow runners puts the spotlight clearly on the cowardice of the thugs.  So proud of all the ordinary folks who ran into the fray along with the trained first responders to provide help.

Artsy blogging round-up!

Sewing the Seasons 
If you are looking to expand your craft book library, check out this wonderful sewing book that is full of projects and even several seasonal recipes. 

The Survey Says 
The Crafty Princess is thinking of reviving her jewelry kits, maybe even starting up a bead club, and she's really appreciate some input.

10 Crafts for Teenagers 
Crafts for teenagers range from wearables and accessories to bedroom decor. Need a little handmade inspiration to get started? 

ACreativeDream 
June's been creating a bunch of paper bracelets! 

Beading Arts 
Cyndi attempts to get her "Mental Gears" in order in this stringing project! 

Blue Birds and the Bible 
Cherie combines blue birdies and Bible quotes in a series of prints. 

May is the Month to Preserve Precious Family Memories 
May is National Scrapbooking month. Why not get ready by firing up your scanner and digging out the old photos you haven't digitized yet before they deterioate any further. 

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Yay for Deb!

Deb, who writes Learning to Just Breathe, has won a copy of Doodle Stitching - Embroidery and Beyond.  Congratulations, Deb!       .

Book artist: Guy Laramee

 A Caverna

Guy Laramee's works are like nothing you've ever seen before.  He carves landscapes out of books, playing on his deeply held suspicions that our "accumulation" of knowledge and our changing ways of accessing it through new technologies may turn out to be more of an "erosion."  I love his pieces...they resonate down deep within me, whether or not I totally understand his beliefs.  Please visit his site and see what other wonders Guy has created! 

 The Great Wall

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Book review and giveaway: Raw Art Journaling

Quinn McDonald defines Raw Art Journaling as  a journal of nothing but your work, full of meaning to you, but not necessarily perfect.  If you've tried to keep an art journal before and failed, this book might be a good stepping stone for you.  It really is aimed mostly at people who don't already journal, or who have not had success with it.

Do you want to give it another try?  Quinn talks to you about clearing out the critic, which holds so many of us back from enjoying our journals.  She also spends some time on how to get past the blank page.  One chapter is all about journaling with words instead of art, allowing that to be your springboard.  Quinn covers found poetry, single word journaling, and one sentence journaling, all of which I think could be especially helpful if you've never journaled successfully before.

Another chapter looks at turning words into artwork.  This is probably my favorite chapter, even though the "artwork" is very basic and doodlish...it's still fun and it can get you going.  I liked the suggestions she calls free-floating bubbles and a word oasis the best.  Then the next chapter gets into journaling through actual imagery, even if you can't draw.  Finally, Quinn shows six different easy styles of journals that you can make to suit your own needs.

A section that I skipped, but is actually pretty important, is Quinn's chapter on how to hide your secret thoughts.  Not everyone is comfortable with putting it down in writing and leaving it there for others to find.  She shows several helpful ways to obscure, either temporarily or permanently, the secrets of your heart.  So if that's what has been holding you back, get over it and let's start a journal!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

If you'd like to win a copy of Raw Art Journaling, 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: April 24, 2013








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Here's your sign!

Doesn't it look like the wave is about to eat him?

Tree texture quilt - part five

Orbital Flow...thank you for the suggestion, Laura!

Finally!  Yay!!  My quilt is finished.  All I need now is a name for it.  I tend to be a bit name-challenged, so if you've got any really good suggestions, please feel free to let me know :-)

In order to solve the problem of flat, motionless (and disappearing) quilting stitches, I added a spiral to each using some variegated yellow to orange floss.  That really makes the moons pop, which is much more evident in real life than in my photos.  Not only the color helped, but having the quilting stitches closer together pushed the moons forward too.

The edges were trimmed even, and I stitched around the entire piece with 2 strands of embroidery floss, using my usual blanket stitch.

And here is the finished piece again.  The dimensions are 20.5 inches by 16 inches.


Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four
Part five 

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.

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Artsy blogging round-up!

Infinity Scarf Pattern 
Add some yummy alpaca yarn around your neck with this free scarf pattern from Crafty Princess Diaries. 

Mother's Day Craft Tutorials 
It's not too early to think about what you'll create for Mom or Grandma. Mother's Day is May 12th! 

Spring Weather Crafts for Kids 
If you are looking for a fun spring craft to do with your family, browse through these projects. 

ACreativeDream 
June's issued a call for mail art! Come participate and join in on the fun! 

Beading Arts 
Cyndi examines different ways to make your stringing projects unique and special! 


Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world 
This week at Craftside there is a tutorial on how to make recycled washer drop earrings, an interview with Icelandic Handknit's author, Helene Magnusson, and a recipe for a hot apple pie cocktail. 

He Leads Me 
Cherie thinks about a favorite Bible passage for a new print. 



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Yarnia, the custom yarn creator

Even though Yarnia, the yarn shop, is located in Portland Oregon, I didn't find it while visiting my daughter who lives there.  But I'm certainly planning a visit to it next time we go!  Instead, my friend Eileen, from The Artful Crafter was the one who first brought this brilliant shop to my attention.  

Yarnia has an adorable video on their homepage which walks you through the process in a most amusing way.  Please visit them online and see what you think!

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Book review and giveaway: Doodle Stitching

Do you like needlework and wish that you knew more forms of it?  Do you like cute motifs and adorable patterns?  If so, you'll fall in love with Aimee Ray's new book,  Doodle Stitching - Embroidery and Beyond.

This is actually Aimee's third book on the topic of doodle stitching, and this time she turns her attention to techniques beyond embroidery, venturing into applique, cross stitch, redwork, crewel, sashiko, stumpwork, cutwork, and shisha.  Sound like the book for you?  Well, read on...

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

If you'd like to win my copy of Doodle Stitching - Embroidery and Beyond, 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: April 17



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Here's your sign!

Doc Martens, maybe?

Quilt labels

Since I've been messing around with having fabrics printed up by Spoonflower to use in my quilts, I took a little time to look around their site and read some tips posted on their blog.  One guest post that really caught my attention was by Caitlin Topham, explaining how to use a Spoonflower fat quarter to create quilt labels for yourself. 

You might be wondering why it's taking me so long this time around to get my latest quilt finished.  Well, I have a surprise for you, and I'll let you in on it in a few weeks!  In the meantime, here are links to the first four parts of the Tree Texture Quilt tutorial, in case you missed anything:

Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four

 

  

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Artsy blogging round-up!

How to Make Baseball Charms 
Follow these directions from Sherri and you can make charms you can use to make a necklace, key chain, or zipper pull. 

How to Make Giant Red Remembrance Poppies for Memorial Day 
What a smashing impression these giant red Memorial Day poppies will make. But don't forget to buy the little ones for purse or lapel to honor those who died in service of their country and to raise money for veterans in need. 

Knitting Book Giveaway and Discount 
Crafty Princess has a knitting book giveaway plus a publiher's discount for the month of April. 

That Fun Coworker Who Makes You Laugh 
Cherie thinks about the fun people she's worked with in this new print. 

ACreativeDream 
An art doll leads June to make a necklace, and the necklace leads to a bracelet... 

Beading Arts 

It's "Innovative Stringing Month" on Beading Arts, and Cyndi is looking for new inspiration from YOU! 

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world 
This week at Craftside there is a pattern for a knit polka dot bow, a tutorial on how to draw a Sakura chibis in action, some handmade book and Steampunk eye-candy and a recipe for Paleo slow cooker chicken pesto. 



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Paper engineer and illustrator, Helen Friel

I became obsessed with Helen Friel's work when it was first introduced to me.  Watch this video of her book, Revolution, which follows the journey of a drop of water.  Then try to tell me that you're not obsessed by her too!




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Calls for entries and submissions

Amazing Alphabet reader challenge

Deadline: 05/10/13

Art Journaling

Deadline: 05/15/13 

 

Haute Handbags

Deadline: 05/15/13  

Art Quilts Lowell

Deadline: 06/01/13  

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Here's your sign!

One of my favorite places in Portland Oregon...Voodoo Doughnuts!

Tree texture quilt - part four

I picked a patterned fabric for the backing of my quilt.  Since I haven't yet done any of the quilting, I cut the backing piece big too.  After all the quilting is finished, I'll be able to even up the sides and cut them straight.

My plan for the quilting is to stitch spirals.  Originally, I thought I might center the spiral on the panel, but I realized that the look was very unsettling, which was not my intent.  It seemed to imply that the moon might be moving towards the black hole in the center!  So I switched to a spiral that centered on the moon instead. 

This pretty variegated pearl cotton was my first choice for the quilting.  Love it, but look what happened:

Yup, you can barely see it.  I puzzled over what to do: stick with monochromatic, remove it and replace it with a contrasting color...

OR, how about adding more spirals in more colors?  That's what I've decided to do, even though that's going to add a bit more time to the project.  It will be worth it, I think.  Hopefully, some contrasting color will help bring a little dynamism back into the quilt.  Even though I don't want it to look like the moons are falling into black holes, I also don't want them to be flat and motionless!


Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four
Part five 

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.

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