Wedding Decor: Pillows

The further adventures of 

wedding preparation.

Burlap and lace pillows...

roses and various flowers made from

muslin, burlap, and assorted pearls

and scrap fabric.

Names painted on with acrylic paint.

A 'chippy' white chair with

some soft pillows to brighten

a corner...

Cross Stitch Bookmarks

Cross stitch bookmarks make

a nice little gift slipped into a

card sent in the mail.  The

bird and urn, above, was a (free)

pattern from Prairie Schooler.

(Click on the image for a closer look.)

I often adapt the colors to what I

have on hand, rather than strictly 

adhering to the 'pattern requirements.'

The unusual color combination of the 

bird's plumage intrigued me however, so

I tried to make it similar to the pattern

 guidelines. I also whip stitch several

squares beyond the embroidery, then

ravel several rows for the fringed border.

This flower pattern was done

on a scrap of Aida that really

was not wide enough. You can see

that there were only a couple of 

squares outside the pattern after it was

worked. This is considered bad form when

stitching, but I simply couldn't throw out this

perfectly good scrap! So I blanket stitched

around the finished embroidery to keep it

from raveling, and put a felt backing on

which is also blanket stitched. Turned 

out rather well, I think, for a 'scrap.'

This bookmark is actually embroidered

on paper. The lettering may seem a bit

'uneven,' but that is common in the lettering

of traditional cross-stitch samplers. The

cord at the bottom was created by twisting

six strands of floss until it is so tightly twisted

that it doubles back on itself and creates a 'cord.'

Finally, a bookmark cross-stitched

from a sampler border pattern.

The flowers are in 3 shades of pink:

dark, medium and light pink. Sampler

borders are ideal for the long slender

shape of a bookmark, and usually

work up quickly because of the 

repeating pattern.

Quick little sewing projects make a
nice change when mixed media art
is not 'calling' to me... what other
crafts do you do?

Smash Book

I have succumbed to the Smash Book

sold by K&Company.

I often make my own journals or 

sketchbooks, but I was intrigued

by working on backgrounds created

by someone else.

Since I didn't create the book and the 

background myself, I am a little more free

about how I 'smash stuff in there.'

It doesn't have to be a finished 

piece of art, but the collages and

designs still have to be pleasing

to the eye.

Gluing in lots of scraps of painted papers,

etc. Mona came from Halle--I love that

postcard!

Can you tell which faces I drew?

(definitely not the one from the 

Sistine Chapel!)

"A goal is a dream with a deadline."

~Napoleon Hill, author

On the final countdown to the October wedding. 

It is less than a month away.

Table centerpieces made and boxed.

Putting stickers on candy bags.

Phone calls and emails flying.

My posts may be sporadic...

but I will be back.

Sketching at the Fair

I spent some time sketching at
a county fair this week.

The Fulton County Fair is

 one of the largest county fairs in Ohio.

With all the traditional arts and crafts exhibits,

animal barns, several ride and food midways,

and big name entertainment, it usually has 

excellent attendance.  'Styx' was playing

at the grandstand the night we were there.

I spent an hour of my visit sketching

a few of the animal exhibits, as inspired

by Roz Stendahl of Roz Wound Up.  I

can't make it to the Minnesota State Fair,

but got a good taste of 'sketching 

in public,' with minimal preparation and

not too much anxiety!

I think the 'dairy cow,' above, is

the best one of the four that I did.

Not sure if the head is large enough in

proportion to the body, but felt that I

did ok with it over all.

Roz sent me a lovely little sketchbook (pages

about 5"x6")  that she made and

 it was a good size to sketch in while

standing up. I used a Sharpie pen and 

watercolor pencils for these drawings. The

plumage on this little rooster was so beautiful,

but he simply moved around so much that I

had difficulty capturing him. He had those 

great tufts of feathers on his feet (there's 

probably a proper term for that but I don't know it)

and marvelous black and white feathers.

In retrospect, I wish that I had drawn just

a single feather detail to show how
one feather looked. Next year...

I first focused on the pen sketch, then added

bits of colored pencil in areas where I

wanted to add color or shading. I don't 

own a 'water brush' so I thought this

would be an acceptable alternative.

I was able to place the little sketchbook

on top of the metal watercolor pencil box

as a drawing surface. I used water on the 

pencil sketches when I got back to

a table and a glass of water.

Some challenges and things I learned:

* Animals MOVE. A challenge in itself.  Even if you choose

a sleeping animal to sketch, fair goers may come along

and pet the animal and cause them to move.

I do not ever try to touch animals I don't know, 

unless the owner is nearby and says it's ok.

Even 'little bunnies' can give you a serious 

bite or painful scratch! Fair goers don't always

keep this in mind.

Sketching a moving subject can be a bit difficult for me.
Although, when the animal moves, you can sometimes
change your vantage point to compensate.

The cow was the least inclined to move, the rooster

the most active. (and he had a loud crow for a little guy!)

It was amusing though, that the animals were quite

aware that I was standing there longer than most.

The goats came looking for a 'snack' or a scratch

on the head. The cow turned its head and gave me

a questioning look like "what are you up to?"

*People may want to look at what you've drawn.  One 

older couple told me the dairy cow was "pretty close."

I'll take that as a compliment. It's not always easy

to ignore interested passersby, or reply to their

comments. As an artist, it's easier for me to show

finished work rather than 'work in progress,' so that

was a thing out of my comfort zone. Though 

attendance was good the day I was at

 the fair, it wasn't so crowded as to 

have people bump into me. That would have been

another challenge, but as long as I kept the drawing

'loose' it wouldn't be a huge problem for me.

*Drawing while standing is not a problem. Not having

a table or area to lay my tools was a learning experience.

Roz's suggestion is a Fanny Pack or lots of pockets.

I can see how cargo pants would be terrific to sketch in.

But I don't own cargo pants or a Fanny Pack. I do

own a back pack, but having to get it down off my

shoulder to get stuff out was awkward.  I found myself

sticking the watercolor pencils in my mouth while

sketching in pen. Probably not the best idea. I know.

But it served. Next time, I'll choose

 clothes with more pockets.

The hand made book from Roz, above, a gift for 
participating in her 'Fake Journal' challenge.
 The Strathmore 500 mixed media paper was 
a wonderful paper to work on. The black cover has a 
bit of sparkle with copper metallic paint brush strokes.

*The smaller sized sketchbook was easier to handle

than my larger spiral bound journals would have been.

A larger book would have been too heavy, and

difficult to hold in one hand while sketching

with the other hand.

*I'm allergic to most animals. And hay. And dust.

So I did wear jeans, steel toed boots and socks.

From experience, I know my ankles will break out

from the dust and animal dander, and this year was 

no exception. Benadryl cream is helpful. I'll live.

I don't go visit the horse barn, though. Horses are quite

beautiful, but asthma is very unpleasant. I did take a 

quick peak at the miniature horses getting lined up

in preparation for their show in the arena, but I didn't

stay long, or try to draw them.

I enjoyed my sketching experience. I only

sketched for about an hour.  With more time I could

have drawn pigs or flowers or people. There is a 

wealth of subject matter at the fair!

August Impressions~

Polymer clay embellishments in an altered book.  (This is a re-post of an altered book project from several years ago.) Since Elizabeth did a terrific tutorial on her blog Altered Book Lover, I was inspired to show this spread, which is one of the few times I've used polymer clay.

 The button-shaped pieces of polymer clay were made from impressions of old buttons from my grandmother's button jar. The background is acrylic paint over gesso. Circles were stenciled on, flowers from tissue wrapping paper were applied in opposite corners, and hand-carved stamping in green acrylic was added. The clay buttons were also painted in acrylic, layering yellow, tan, and black to highlight the textures. Words were added in brown Sharpie marker...things that remind me of the month of August and the sweet days of the end of summer.