Break time?

  Well, it is break time from all the reorg I've been doing!!  But it does feel good to look at what I've accomplished.    I finished  the downstairs this a.m.  going through some of the old books I got from the library book sale...I  use these from time to time and I did get rid of some of them but saving most of them (I failed in this area, Lynn!).  I'll take some with me to our fiber mtg to see if anyone can use them.  The dye/wet room looks SO good!!!  And I even did a reorg in my closet today!!!  Bob took two bags to GoodWill this afternoon!

I'm making good progress on my Sand Fiber peyote cuff.  I'm going to try a different method for the closure that I saw on Beadaholic web site.  It's called a beaded toggle...now I just need to figure out when I stop my rows and start to create the toggle!  Might need some really quiet time for this step!!

This is the start of my Tiffany piece...these are the fabrics that will be under the 'leading'/black fabric.


The next picture shows the back of this piece where I've stitched the center line for the leading.

Lots of prep work for this reverse applique method but well worth it in the end.  It took a great mind to come up with this process and I'm so glad she's my buddy!  Thanks, Susan!

You have to look really close to see the red stitching, which is the center of the leading (reverse applique).

This is always the scariest part!!!  Cutting into the piece (black fabric only!) and starting to stitch the leading.

So that's on my to do list for today!  Start to cut and sew!!

On Wednesday, I'm taking Amber and Nick, along with their friends, to the 4-H fair.  This is our tenth year of fair going!!!  I love having this as our annual event...now to hope the rain holds off!!!

From a Tapper to an Organizer!

Whew!  I'm pooped today!!  Did some weeding early this a.m., washed some windows outside, started laundry and then headed downstairs to my dye/wet room to purge/clean/organize!!  And that I did - 3 trash bags...Hefty would be proud of how much I stashed in those bags!!

I figure, if  Lynn K. can post pics of before and after of her studio/warehouse, I should show mine as well!!  So here goes!!!   This is the view as you come down the stairs into our finished basement...

The next picture is the view from my dye/wet room and Bob's work room....a nice view this way.  We look out into the family room...but not so nice if the doors are open to our area and you look into the work room from the family room or playing pool!

The view into our work room - fortunately we put doors into the room on both sides!

We have a walkout directly to the left of my table, hence, the sun shining in!  

And this is my work table!  Yes, I am/was able to work on it!  At least I thought it was ok to work on!!

My work table (before!)

After - Didn't know I had this much space!

Under the table all cleaned up

And labeled

I am big on using my label maker or my permanent pen!  But I didn't have labels on everything so out came the label maker!!   My daughter bought me the label maker for a BD gift several years ago....thanks, baby!!  Everyone should have a label maker!!!

 Bob put 3 cabinets in my area to store my dyes, stamps, paints, etc.( they are directly behind my work table against the wall).  It's nice that they can be closed so you don't see the mess inside...

Before dye/paint cabinet - not bad...not good!

After - Does look better doesn't it

last shelves for my paints

Here this is my stamp cabinet.  

The center cabinet before - ugh...

And after!!!

The bottom shelf looks messy but it's not...

And everything is labeled on top of the cabinet -  fiber dyes in a bin, fabric to dye (in a bin) my screens for printing and some other synthetic fabrics (in a bin!).  

Another before  cabinet - it's not bad - holds my collage materials

After - I tossed a lot in the garbage!

I am quite happy with my effort today...now I want to go down and create something on my table!!!  I still have some books to go through and the very 1st cabinet holds empty containers and planters that I don't use anymore.  I'll get to those next week.   Just need a break!!  I take the kids to the 4-H fair on Wed. and I want to start on my stained glass piece!  I'm ready to do the 'cut'!!!  I just might start on it waiting for Bob to get home this afternoon.  I think it's getting close to margarita time!!!

I'm a TAPPER!

Yep...I'm officially a TAPPER!  I played this morning using TAP after watching my online class from Lesley Riley, Create with TAP from CraftArtEdu!  What fun!!!  I've used TAP before but only on fabric so this was a great opportunity to learn more about this product.  Lesley's online class showed all different surfaces for you to TAP onto!!  I'm big on 'show me' so classes with video's are perfect for this gal.

Here are my results from playing today!  

So what's this you say, in the picture above!  Well, these are two accordion books!  Actually, for the online class, Lesley was making just one book but I didn't have the right size of paper so I made two small accordion books!  My books are samples of the different surfaces I transferred TAP onto.  I transferred onto Lutradur, craft metal, paper, hand made paper/fabric, Sulky Totally Stable interface, upholstery fabric!!!  Just having too much fun!!!

TAP on metal duct tape!

 I happen to have had on hand some heavy paper that I stenciled on last year.  It was perfect to paint and use for my book cover(s).

Obviously, this is before I painted it with green paint!

This is a paper doily & TAP on the right!  Who knew!

TAP on craft aluminum

TAP on lutradur (don't burn lutradur with the iron - gets messy!)

1st is paper/fabric, metal duct tape, upholstery fabric

My second book..the 1st transfer is on Sulky - last one is the paper fabric I made

And the back of the books...I also TAPPED  the name of each  different  surface I used on the back of both books!

If you haven't tried TAP, do order some and try it!  You'll love it for transferring an image onto fabric (& you can iron over it!!!) but you'll have a ball transferring to other surfaces as well!!! 

A huge thanks again to Lesley Riley for giving this online class to   Lynn K for a 'give a-way'!!  I'm so happy to have become a TAPPER!!! 

Yippee!!!!

 Check out Lynn's blog today!!!  I am so excited!!!  I won the online class, Create with TAP Transfer Artist Paper™ with Lesley Riley! How cool is that!!!  The class is offered by CraftArtEdu and you can click here to go to their web site and here is Lesley's class link. 

I have taken other online classes but I have to say I'm floored by the number of classes and selection CraftArtEdu has! 

I am really looking forward to learning some new techniques for using TAP.  I do love the product and I even have Lesley's book 'Create with Transfer Artist Paper' (yes, I forgot I had this!).   In fact, I might have to reorganize my books next!
Back in 2009, I made a quilt for the Breaking Traditions exhibit Lynn was curator of!  You can see my quilt here and I  used TAP to transfer the photo and dog prints!   Tomorrow I'm going to start the class...have to get all my supplies together first!  Can't wait...but it might interfere with my reorganizing!!!  Which I did some more of today.....Lynn is such a great motivator!!! 

Now this might not look that bad from a distance...this shelf sits on the wall above my sewing table.  I have books, magazines and papers that I keep on the shelf...ask me when was the last time I took a peak at what was on the shelf!  A long time ago!  Soooooooo

I weeded through and I'm giving away the first section on the left.  These are old (premier issue! on up to 2012) of the Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine (ok, I kept the premiere issue - no, I don't know why!!!).  Now this was/is a nice magazine but I just haven't looked at them in years (since the last one in 2012) and I know I'm not going to in the future.  I'm taking them to my fiber group - we meet on Monday - and someone else can read or purge!  The cardboard box area (next to the blue binder) was just full of stuff....or I should say junk papers...just a lot of nonsense...even small pieces of paper with ideas or materials that I haven't a clue as to what to do or what I was trying to make!  So pitch I did!!!  And I kept on pitching!!!  Now this next picture of the area after the tossing out might not look much different to you but it is to me!  I even labeled my file containers!!!  I love my label maker!!!!  

The first two plastic file folders are labeled 'surface design' and 'projects'.  OK, so I did keep some of the projects but these are from classes I've taken and I like to have them for a reference (just in case!).  The red and blue binders are ideas and quilting designs and the plastic file box next to the blue binder contains some of my FMQ'ing designs and as well as some from classes I've taken). The remainder are my journals that I document my projects.  

I am so happy to have this section cleaned up!!!  And I now know where my important 'idea, projects, designs' are all at!!!!  

Again, thanks to Lynn K. for taking us on this reorganizing journey with her!!!  Lynn has posted the 2nd in her series of six on "reclaiming your space" on her blog today.   In addition to being the talented artist that Lynn is...she's great at writing!!  I've always enjoyed reading anything she writes (blog, FB, QA articles) so make sure to check out her post today or grab a cup of 'joe' and read some of her back posts!  Either way, you'll enjoy the visit!  And you just might get motivated to do some reorganizing of your own!

A productive day...

Today was a productive day for me...I am usually productive or at least busy....I don't have very many days of just sitting on the couch and eating bon bons and watching TV!  But that does sound like fun!  Well, maybe not...depends I guess what kind of bon bons and what's on TV!   But I digress...back to my day.
Kalee sits in the car with a dog safety harness on but she likes to sit up and look out the window...so I made her a pillow to sit on.  I bought this fabric in Florida this winter.  It's a reproduction of a newspaper but from a dog's point of view!  Cute or what!  The pillow is all finished and in the car!  Now my little one can sit up higher and look out.

I am a fan of Lynn Krawczyk and have followed her blog & FB posts for quite sometime.  This past week Lynn started a reorganizing of her art space (her warehouse and studio - both in her home).  She was brave enough to post pics of the before and after shots of her rooms and is now writing a six part series on how she "reclaimed her space".   She got me thinking today about my little art world....it's not bad...but there's always room for improvement...so, today I did purge 3 drawers!  Thanks, Lynn!!!  You got me motivated!!!  And for others who would like some motivation, do check out Lynn's blog and don't miss her six part series!

 I don't like things laying out on tables...so my projects are put in one of my drawers under my work bench.  Because my bird's cage is in front of the closest where all my fabric is stored, I don't always put the fabrics away...it's such a pain to have to move Grace's cage to get in the closet, so at times, I tend to 'pile' fabric in the drawers.  You can see all the fabric I started taking out of this drawer to put away.

After my purge and put away...this drawer just contains my current projects and fabrics I need for them.  All stored nicely and no excess fabric in the drawer...yes, I had to move Gracie's cage to put all the fabric away!  But it was worth the effort!

This second drawer contains some of my 'self' help folders...I say 'self' help because they are my own tips, tricks, ideas, etc.  I also have some special pieces of fabric that I want to work on in the future.   No, they don't belong in the 1st drawer because I'm not working on them (yet!).  It's  a method that works for me!   Don't ask!



.

And this next drawer I had old receipts for threads, fabrics, etc.   I mean from YEARS ago!  Not sure why I was saving them but the drawer was really messy!  So purge I did!!!  And now it holds my wonderful Label Maker (a gift from my daughter!) and ear buds, etc.  Just some electronics I use in my art room.

So, with just reorganizing those 3 drawers allowed me to get started with a project from that 1st drawer!  Actually, the kids and I went to the copy store yesterday and I had a coloring page enlarged so I can start working on my Tiffany piece. I just didn't know I would start on it today.

 I found this coloring page (copyright free) and had it enlarged 250%.    It's sun/moon and I think it will work for the Inspired By Master - Tiffany exhibit.

I'm hoping it will work for the reverse applique technique Susan developed and taught me!!!  I had another picture that I sent to my mentor (Susan).  Because it had lots of small areas, Susan recommended it would work if I were doing a large quilt...but we're limited to 16" X 20", so I chose this more simple design.

Here all all the pieces cut out and ready for the next step...which I did today...I basted the black fabric I'll use for the leading (stained glass effect) and tomorrow I'll start stitching the leading lines.  It's a pretty labor intensive process but works so well!!!

The colors in this picture aren't as vivid as in person.  There's more yellow/orange and the deep purple is really a pretty purple..the picture looks yucky...but you get the idea.

Here is the back of my piece...the black fabric is basted to the front and where you see the red ink lines, I'll stitch all of those so they show up on the front/black fabric.  CONFUSED YET!!!!

I love, love, love this process my Q Buddy, Susan, developed.  I know I may have some studying to do on this one before I start cutting into the black fabric...there are small areas in this piece as well and I need to take into consideration keeping some of the lines flowing rather than chopping them up....it's hard to explain...I had a good teacher so I know what i need to do...just don't know if I can do it!!!  But I'll try and if not, it's a good practice piece, right!
So that was my day...I grilled chicken & veggie Kabob's for dinner and Bob took Kalee and me for a Blizzard too!!!  Now we're watching the Tigers (9-0! yea!) and relaxing!!  All in all a good day!  Hope ya all had a good 4th as well!

An act of kindness from the kids!

About a month ago, my grand daughter, Amber, told me about a new app for our phone called Snip Snap...it's an app that has discount coupons for a lot of different stores.  One Wednesday, the kids and I went shopping at Kroger's and Amber ended up getting FREE groceries!  That particular day she saved like $25 or $30 on groceries.  OK, that's pretty cool!  This grandma was impressed as was her mom.

So a few Wednesday's ago, Amber mentioned that she'd like to take some food to a Food Bank to help the needy.  I sent her some links on Food Banks close to her house and that was the end of it.  Tuesday night Amber called and asked if I'd take her to Kroger's to get groceries then we'd head to the food bank.
Well, little did I realize that she would get $60.18 of FREE groceries!!!  Yes, $60.18!!!  Check out the total on this receipt...see all those '-' signs!  And she got $4 in cash back!!!!  Is this a resourceful kid or what!!


So here's a pic of the kids shopping at Kroger for all the freebies'!

That's Amber on her phone looking at her 'list'.   She had all the free items listed on her note so she knew exactly what to purchase.








After Kroger's we headed to the Orion/Oxford Fish Food Bank in Oxford.  Here the kids are putting their FREE groceries on the shelves at the food bank.  I give Nick a lot of credit for giving up his Pop Tarts!   I explained how some kids probably haven't had a treat like Pop Tarts or the Kleeber cookies, they donated, in months and how happy some kids will be to get this treat!

I am really proud of both of the kids and I think it's a great lesson for them.  Now to find out how Amber gets all these FREE coupons for Kroger!!!  We'll have to start wearing a disguise when we go in the store!  Pretty soon they won't let us in to shop if we keep getting free stuff!  But it's been fun up to this point!  And a lesson in kindness for the kids!

Dr. Seuss & Zachery

This was my inspiration for creating my art quilt for the Inspired by the Master - Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Seuss.

It's from the book 'The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss'.  It's a very interesting book to look through and is in most libraries.  Just check out some of his artwork that didn't end up in his children's books.

So here's my beaded Zachery (I've spelled this several different ways...but Zachery is what's in the book!).
I printed out Zachery on to a Wash-Away Applique sheet then fused to some batting and beaded away!  There are lots of beads in Zachery and some belong to my blog buddy, Susan I met this year in Florida!  You can read about our visit on my blog here.  I was able to use quite a few of her beads so thank you my friend!!  I just sewed two beads at a time, some cases only one at a time to fill in his body, and added some Maderia metallic thread for his hair and face.

And here's the finished quilt...it measures 16" x 20" and I chose to place Zachery in the 3rd position!  This is in reference to my blog post where I asked which spot Zachery looked best in.  I couldn't decide but I was liking #3 best but most liked #1.  I ended up putting him on the hill....   Zachery will be turned in on Monday to our curator of the exhibit, Carol T.  Now onto creating another quilt for the exhibit.  Our next artist is 'Tiffany' but what's nice is there are no target dates for finishing these pieces.  That's the best part...no target date and you don't have to do all or any of the artists.  I am hoping to create another reverse applique piece using my Q Buddy, Susan from Florida's, technique as I did in my Georgia O'Keeffe piece.
Nice temp today...in the low 70's...sun shining...good day for walking dogs.  And it's Kalee's BD!!!  2 years old today!  The year(s) sure have gone by quick!

Gift Giving Time

I've finished Kris bracelet and hopefully it will fit her now.  I didn't finish off all the rows and closure when I tired it on her last Wed.  So hoping this will fit. 


And I also made a phone plug for another buddy of mine.  It's in the mail so she should have it later this week. 

I think she likes green(s) so I added a green bead I had along with some Swarovski crystals and a little angle to keep watch on her!! 

I'm making good progress on my own cuff bracelet.  I love this pattern by Carol, at Sand Fibers.  I definitely will order some more of her patterns.  The bracelet I made for Kris is also from Carol.  You have to check out her blog and go to her Etsy page and check out some of her patterns!

I'm sure the Tigers are on TV tonight so that's where I'll be as I bead my cuff!  I do have to put the sleeve on Zachary!  I just realized I haven't posted him in his new environment/home!!!  Maybe I'll just do some sewing tonight then beading!  Tigers games seem to go on forever, so I'm sure I'll be able to work on both!