Photo Collage Design Work 4

Not sure why I haven't posted in a while....we are doing the 'stay at home' thing except for grocery shopping, vet visits, and pharmacy...but I sure am busy!  Still walking 2 miles with my neighbor, weather permitting or our schedules permitting.  We do get in at least 5 days of walking, which is good for both of us. 

This was a picture I took of the Goodrich Mill Pond last week when my neighbor and I took a walk uptown.  Today I finished another photo collage piece #4 using this picture!


 

Woo hoo...this was hard because my crayons, Gelato's and pencils were not covering very well on some of my papers.  I think some of the problem was the paints I used to make the papers as well as the wax medium I used on some of the other papers.  But it was still a good exercise for me.  Is it perfect, heck no, but I had fun with it. 

I was trying to blend in some of the grasses and the lilly pads in the water.

More blending  on the clouds, water and sky

My finished piece which measures 9"x14"  I'm happy with the results although I need to add some more tree limbs to the far left tree!   But I may just leave as is...the effort was a good lesson in itself!

Our next lesson is to take one of our favorite collage designs and replicate it on to batting or felt (using papers) so we can do some stitching on the piece.  I'm going to use my leaf piece I showed last.  I really like the piece and hope I can replicate it!  I may have to reprint/stamp/dye more papers!  Yikes!  Or I may just change up the colors totally!  Who knows!

Photo Collage Design Work 1

Well, this was quite an interesting lesson for our MIP online class with Hilary!  I can't believe how much I learned 'what not' to do!  As well as 'less is more'!  I finished three collage design pieces and I'm satisfied with two of them and quite happy with one!  Now to go back through my pictures and start some new ones.



It's not like me to take pictures of foliage but I did that in the winter of  2017 when two of my buds (Sally & Peggy) and I walked around Sholom Park, Ocala, Florida ...thank goodness I did!

This was my final collage layout...after about 20 tries....less was more...I deleted so many different papers I was trying to use.  Taught me to not use so many!

I stamped the background piece from an arch stamp I made earlier this year.  Paper strip on right and bottom were painted earlier as well.



And the finished collage after adding pencils and crayons to enhance the picture.  This is 9"x12" and all paper.  Hubby really liked this piece.  He said it looked liked something that would be hung in a house.  Hmmmmmm

Now for the not so great but good lesson in collage/design work!

This was a  picture of a screen print I did our first year with Hilary.  I've like it and thought it would make a good whole paper piece.  The original print was 9"x12" but I printed out  3 pictures of it to 4"x6".

  Yes, I struggled...then just decided to go for it as is!  It might have turned out better had I just used one photo and made it 5"x7" or slightly larger to work with.  Another time!

Actually it didn't turn out that bad  once I added crayons/pencils, with exception of the background.    Really I think I used too many stamped/dyed/printed papers.

  Funny, but once again, Bob said he liked it!  Go figure!  Again 12" x 9"

I do remember taking a picture of this plant in the park.  I thought it was beautiful...so many different shades/colors.

So, first off I goofed by using an actual 'photo' print on the left instead of printing onto regular printer paper.  The right side is a photo transfer on to the paper.

Both of these photo bases were hard to add color pencils/crayons/etc. to vs using regular printer paper.

This is my finished piece with addition of color extending out from the photo's.  The background is a whole piece I dyed and stamped; left edge is remnant of a stamped feather and the leaf on top is printed onto a piece of repair tissue.


This was really a good exercise in collage design work.  Quite a struggle at times but a very good lesson!!

Now to create more!!!

Yep! I'm still here!

First off, our grand daughter is back at Siena Heights U - she's a junior this year!  I am worried about her being in class part of the time (they'll be alternating virtual study and in class) but I think the school will be cautious.  Amber is in an apartment with two other girls on campus, which also makes me feel better..not sure why!  Plus, it's cheaper as they don't have to pay for utilities on campus. 

I know my days are busy but they don't always conclude with seeing work or art completed!  Guess that's where the term 'busy work' came from!  Who knows. 
I am making progress on my latest knitted shawl...I know...why are you knitting a shawl when you can't go anywhere to wear it!  I haven't a clue why I am making this shawl other than I'm enjoying learning how to knit lace patterns!  I really enjoy Laura Nelkin's patterns and her classes on Blueprint/Craftsy...whatever they are calling themselves these days...but that's a whole other post isn't it! 

And our favorite farm has been selling their delicious corn the past few weeks.  I think Bob and I have eaten corn at least 2-3 days a week for the past two weeks! 

And I've been freezing corn as well.  Trying several different ways to freeze corn (on and off the cob)!  I'll let you know this winter...I mean fall...the corn won't last that long in the freezer either!

One of my Florida buds, Nancy, gave me the suggestion given her from a farmer for freezing corn.  You add water to the kernels.  I did two with water and two without.  Can't wait to try them to see how they hold up!  Thanks, Nancy!





I am working on our MIP online lesson which is photo collage design work.  I  struggled with creating a good collage design but I sure learned a lot just trying to complete this module.  I'll be showing my finished/in progress pieces this week.  Still working on 3  collage pieces at a time!  It's good to walk away from working on the collage and come back to it with fresh eyes.

So until later this week...hope you are all wearing your mask(s) and staying positive!

Photo Collage - series 1

I am having lots of fun with this lesson from Hilary!  We are using transfer paper or printing out photo's to create collages.  We start with a photo then add to the photo using pencils...and before I show my first pencil collage, look what I bought!  Woo hoo!!!  These are Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils and I love the colors.  I only had a set of 12, which didn't give me many choices.   Now I have lots of choices!!! These are perfect!

This was the photo I decided to work with first!

Addition of colored pencils

My next photo

I'm still adding some green to this one...and need to take a picture in better light.

This is a stand in our dining room.  My daughter gave me the flowers, I believe, for mother's day and the white bird was made by our friend in Florida.

Again, the colors don't look quite right so I may take these pictures over again.

This was my challenge piece for sure!  Yikes!

I still have some work to do on this one!

I put these on pages in my accordan journal.  The original pictures are 4"x6" so they fit on the pages just right and still allow me to expand as much as I dare!   What's up next!  Can't wait!

Stitched Collage 2 con't

A few weeks ago I posted on how I started on my 2nd stitched collage.  This was the stencil I cut out and fused onto my printed paper background. 


From that point, I stamped some leaf prints on top and finished it by free motion quilting only on the stamped leaves.

This was the finished piece...nothing exciting...so I decided to cut it up by playing with editing the picture of the finished piece. 

I sliced the original 9"x12" into two sections and attached to a white canvas.

   I used #5 Perle Cotton yarn and poked through the canvas using my handy, dandy thimble pad (you can see that post & link on how to make one here).   I knew that thimble would come in handy!  

It really worked!  I did punch small holes in the canvas and the paper stencil but it was so easy to push the needle/thread through vs struggling with pulling on the needle.













And this was my end result!  I'm quite happy with how this piece turned out and I like it so much better cut vs being a whole piece.  And now on to the next lesson which is photo collage!

Margarita Korioth - Margas Crafts

Paper and fabric quilt by Margarita

I have followed Margarita's blog for the past several years and have created posts on her work on my blog.   She is a textile artist, author and teacher who works with fabric as well as with paper and fabric!


If you aren't familiar with her blog, I'm sure you have seen many articles she has written for magazines on some of her techniques (e.g. Quilting Arts, Simply Moderne).  I've loved her work but knew I wouldn't be traveling to any quilt shops, even before the Covid pandemic to take one of her classes.  How thrilled was I seeing her blog post the other day on Virtual Workshops via Zoom!!!!  






Of course I emailed Margarita immediately to inquire on two of her workshops and this is her response:

Hi Robbie,

I am offering to groups of minimum 6. Cost: $50.00 each for a 6 hour class or divided in two days, 3 hours each day. The Hand Applique with Paper class has a kit for 30.00 dollars. The Instant Paper Cloth could have a kit -17 dollars- or not.

Also offering to Guilds.

I don’t have a small group formed yet.  Will let you know. 

Stay safe

Margarita

Do check out Margarita's work on her blog if you aren't familiar with  her special techniques.  And if you are familiar, send her an email (margascrafts@gmail.com) and let her know you're interested in one of her workshops!  I can't wait!!!!

HAND APPLIQUE WITH PAPER

INSTANT PAPER CLOTH

COLD FOIL

Knitting update!

 First we had a great 21st BD celebration this past Sunday with Amber and the family!  She really liked her photo journal and the other items I've saved her over the past 21 years.  We even had a tear shed talking about some of the memories we had together.  I'm taking lunch for our social distance get together with Amber, her mom and my daughter on Friday.  We're going to look/read some of the 21 letters I written over the years...for each of her BD's.  I haven't a clue what I wrote back in 2000!

AND, my son has saved over the years two dollar bills his father used to give him for his BD each year.  He's now passed away but Darrin saved them and gave them to Amber for her 21st BD.  Yes, that was another tear jerker!!  We were all in tears!  Such a thoughtful gesture for Darrin to do.

I finished another shawl and starting on a new lace shawl.

This is a larger Beadkerchief from the last one I made and is a 'before' shot!  HA

All blocked and ready to wear!

Not sure why I'm making these scarves/shawls to wear since we don't go to Florida  anymore and can't eat out now due to the virus!  They are great for throwing over your shoulder when in the cool restaurants...oh well..maybe one of these days!

And the start of another lace pattern, Clarus, by Laura Nelkin.  I love her patterns and hope this winter to make some jacket or sweater.

This is fun to work on and I'm knitting this entirely from a chart, which I've never done before!

We had a week off from our MIP class and I've been waiting for my new pencils to arrive, which should happen this week!!!  Then on to doing my lessons in between knitting...cleaning,  laundry, walking, grocery shopping, cooking, more cooking and more cooking...yada, yada!  Normal life for a woman, right!

Happy 21st BD present

 On Sunday (8/2), Bob and I will be joining the family to celebrate our grand daughter's 21st BD!  I am so excited!  It seems like yesterday she was born and now she's 21!!! 

This will be a boring post for anyone who stops by but I wanted to have pictures of each page of the photo journal I made for Amber.  It starts off with her sonogram and pictures from the past 21 years with some notes on each page! 
Kids today have their pictures on their phones, onedrive or elsewhere so I think it will be nice for Amber to have some of her 'younger' year pictures in an album as well as more current ones.  Each birthday, I'll print out pictures from the past year and give to her to put in the album!





 I also have a Time Capsule that contains items from her mom's baby shower from June 1999!  And each birthday since Amber was born I would write a birthday letter.  Each letter is sealed with the date on the front and contains memories of what we/she/her family did that year.  She knew I did this every year but she never knew when she would get the letters.  So this is my documenting this 21st birthday in my post!

The yellow sheets are two emails I saved that my son wrote to me back in 2000!

The newspaper and tickets are from Amber's first circus I took her to.  It was also my 55th BD!

If you can enlarge..read what's on the paper...touching..from 2004 I think.

The paper is from Oxford in 2010 when Amber was in a play at school!

Hard to see the the receipt (paper) but it's $60 in food Amber received free from Kroger's!  She used an app at Kroger.  The kids took the food to the Oxford food bank and they allowed the kids to put the food items on the shelves! 

right page was Sienna Heights coaches signing Amber to play Lacrosse in college 

The top left picture is the day Amber was born and her last day of high school!

This page is from 2020...the bottom right pics is my table and the envelopes I kept pictures in for each year.  I uploaded and printed out 200!

I already had some pictures printed of some quilts and other items I have made Amber through the years so I just put them at the end of the journal for her.