Postcards

Through the trees

I received another Steampunk card.  I really like her interpretation of what Steampunk is all about.  "Bodacious Victorian Industrial"  It describes this card perfectly.  Kind of an updated crazy quilt.  Very fun!

Steampunk by Meg

I am making some landscape cards for an exchange in the Valorie Hearder Landscape group.  These cards need to be split complementary.  The three colors I chose are orange, blue/green and blue/violet. 
                                      
If you look at my color wheel the three orange pointers on the center wheel point to split complementary.  I added the green points just to emphasize because things don't always show well in a photo.
                                   
It was good for me to limit my colors, it made me think a little more outside the box.

                                      
 Normally I would have made my trees brown or black.  How boring is that!
                           
I just realized today is May 1rst so I'd better print out my Craftsy block of the month for May.  Look for that before too long.
Have a creative Day
Janet

April BOM and more Van Gogh's

water lily continued

The BOM (block of the month) for the Craftsy class involved hexagons.  I have never made a block with a hexagon before and honestly, I don't know if I ever will again.  A little to much time involved in this block.  It's not even the time really, I like to work on projects that I can take time to do the little fussy things that can add something to the character of the final outcome.  The outcome didn't seem to justify the time for me.  Maybe if I had tried to create my own designs with the little hexxies I would have enjoyed it more, so possibly I will try again sometime and see what I can make.  But for now, here are the two blocks for April.

Hexi stripe block pattern

Sunny with a chance of hex

I have received two new postcards for the Van Gogh group in Postmark'd Art.  A portion of Starry Starry Night that was felted on an embellisher.  
       

Starry starry night by Frankie

                     
A cypress tree with wonderful quilting and sparkly tulle.  Both are true works of art, I think Van Gogh would be proud.

Cypresses by Debbie

                                 
Have a creative day
Janet

New Postcards and a sneak peak

beginning of a water lily

I have received two new pieces of art in the mail.  These tiny 4" x 6" works are gifts from very talented artists.  I love the smile it brings when I open my mailbox to find something other than junk mail or bills.  It makes my whole day brighter to know that someone took the time to send this delightful card my way.

Steampunk by Debra

Debra's take on the Steampunk theme is wonderful.  I keep picking it up and examining it.  I see something different every time.  A lot of work went into this card and it truly is amazing.  Wish you could see it in person because the photo doesn't do it justice.  I am very fortunate to know this artist in person as she is a member of Minnesota Contemporary Quilters. 

Van Gogh by Suzanna

Suzanna's Van Gogh is quite literally a "piece" of art.  She created an entire Van Gogh painting and than (gasp) cut it apart into eight segments to mail to each of us.  I have the upper left corner.  Love this idea!


Here is a sneak peak at my next painting project.  This is the photo I am using.  I'm trying to create a series of quilts from photos I took while on a city garden tour.  I plan to use this series when I have my next show at Central Park in Woodbury.  I loved the water gardens and would like to have my own some day.  In the mean time...

red water Lily by Janet Hartje

Here is the part I am painting without paint.

unpainted fabric

Here is the beginning of the paint process.  This one is a little more complex and will need more time than the others I have done.

beginning of a water lily

Have a creative day
Janet

Steampunk and Tree Bark

tree bark (the beginning) or shirt (the end)

Steampunk sounded like such a fun challenge to me for the Postmark'd Art group.  I felt compelled to sign up.  Thinking and creating are two different things.  It was a harder challenge than I expected.  First of all a definition might be good to know.  The problem is there is no fast and true definition for this sub culture.  The definition I like the best was found on the blog The Clockwork Century.  It's based around the science fiction of a future that never happened.  The machinery is steam powered and the costumes usually have a Victorian influence.  But, there is almost a magical quality to some of the machines.  

I found a background that is full of older looking machines and printed it on fabric.  Next I stenciled some Victorian lace and a Victorian frame with walnut ink.  
                            
I felt this covered up the machinery a little too much so I used my inktense pencils to highlight a few of the items of machinery.  Finally I added a few little metallic touches with embellishments.  I hope they travel safely on the cards.  
                               
The card I have received so far I think had a little rivet on it as well, but it fell off somewhere along the way.  With 9 of us in this group, I'm picturing a drawer of rivets in the post office somewhere between here and there.  Isn't this card amazing.  I love the depth she created.

Steampunk by Lynn of Washington

                      
I've started working on a 12" square piece for SAQA and decided to make tree bark.  I have seven or eight photos of tree bark from different types of trees and have been wanting to make a series out of them.  The 12" square requirement for SAQA sounded like a good size to work with for this challenge.  So far I have destroyed an old top of my mom's that she no longer wanted.  I cut holes in the fabric and used my heat gun to melt the edges a little so they would pull back.
                                          I've also painted some lutradur with Jacquard lumiere metallic rust.  I think this will make a great background for the slits.  Now to put them together and add some moss etc.
                                      
Have a creative day
Janet

Looping and the beginning of a Van Gogh

I have been taking a beta class online from Donna Kallner.  I took a class on photo transfer that she taught at the Textile Center in St Paul a number of years ago.  I really like her as a teacher.  She is more of a learning enabler if that makes sense.  She doesn't say "It has to be done this way."  She presents the material, gives you examples to make for learning the technique and tells you to follow your intuition.  Her videos and pdf lessons are very clear and I would highly recommend her class.  First was a little pouch made of hemp, because I didn't have the recommended material of Irish Wax linen thread.
  
                                           
Next I learned how to increase and decrease stitches by working around this sea shell.
                               
I made a small round of loops.
                                 
Finally I covered one of the jars from my sewing room.  It's fun and I still have two lessons to work through.

     

                         
I've also been working on my Van Gogh themed postcards.  I still have to finish adding the flowers to most of them and when the paint is dry I will do a little stitching.

                                 
Have a Creative Day
Janet

Postmark'd Art Song Titles

I am a member of Postmark'd Art. This last round of trading I joined in the group trading postcards based on a song. Mine was for the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", I made it with my embellisher.
Here are the post cards I received in return. Such a fun exchange! It's like getting small pieces of art in the mail.

"Here Comes the Sun" created by Suzanna in California
"Autumn Leaves" created by Lynn in VA
"If I Could Save Time in a Bottle" created by Maureen in Australia
"Jingle Bells" created by Deb in Minnesota
"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" created by Laurie in Connecticut
"The Little Nash Rambler" created by Sarah in Maine
Have a creative day
Janet

Christmas ATC's

I've been busy lately, several projects in the works. The first is Christmas ATC's. Many people think of ATC's as strictly mixed media, paper, paint etc. Mine are stitched, cloth and beads for embellishment. I really liked this postcard I made last year.

So, I decided to try to shrink it. Postcards are four inches by six inches. Artist Trading Cards are two and a half inches by three and a half inches. I made ten of these and they are now traveling to five countries. I've already received two in the mail, once I get more I will post photos.

Have a creative day
Janet

Embellished Songs

I've started my postcards for a group exchange. In Postmark'd Art I signed up for a group making postcards that fit a song title. I originally thought I would make them for "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." But, my son looked at it and said perfect timing "The Lion King" is coming out in 3D soon. I only did one so far and have six to go, seven if I want one for myself. Maybe by the time I finish all of them I will have made up my mind, or come up with another lion inspired song.

I started with a blank piece of felt. I added cream colored roving for the cheeks and chin.

Next I added black for the mouth, nose and eyes.

I mixed a few colors together for the face to give it a little more dimension and to try to define the nose. Finally I used yarn for the mane. It was fun, I'm going to have to pull my embellisher out more often.

Have a creative day
Janet

Mixed Media and Postcards

My postcards for the Irish Patchwork Society are finished. I will get those off in the mail tomorrow so they are sure to arrive long before the end of May, which is the deadline. You still have time to make one or two and get them sent. They will be in two shows in Ireland and than sold to raise money for breast cancer research.

I made three postcards in loving memory of my mother-in-law who had cancer three times. I also made them for my Aunt Alice Marion(who inspired my crafting), my cousins, Suellen and Beth, my father-in-law, and my friend Joni. For the survivors and for the memories left behind, love you all.


I also made 40-5 x 8 sheets of altered cardstock for the mixed media group I joined. There are approximately 40 people in this exchange. We each chose a technique for altering our own cardstock. We send our sheets to one wonderful person who will put one of each persons in an envelope and send it back to us. Each of the sheets has an explanation on the back explaining the process used. I'm excited because this is very new to me and now I will have a wealth of information at my fingertips. With visuals!

I stamped my paper randomly to add some depth to the background. Next I put a wash of acrylic paint on the paper. While it was still wet I sprinkled rock salt on the paper. The rock salt absorbs some of the pigment creating some interesting little shapes on the paper. Let the paper dry thoroughly and than remove the salt. I've used rock salt on fabric before too but not for a long time, have to try that again.

Have a creative day
Janet