An Abundance of Art in the Mail

                                                 

Les Alyscamps, Van Gogh by Debra

I am getting behind posting photos of the postcards I have received.  There is something almost magical about opening your mailbox, expecting nothing but junk mail and bills, and viewing a little work of art.  Totally brightens my day!


I have two more Van Gogh's, two steampunk, one music, and two split complementary landscapes!  Bring on the Ooohs! and the Aaahs!  because they are all amazing.  I feel so lucky to be able to exchange with such talented people.  These first cards are all from Postmark'd Art.

Les Alyscamps, Van Gogh by Debra

Willows at Sunset, Van Gogh by Sarah Ann

Steampunk Dragonfly by Dian

 I had to show you how this card arrived from New Zealand.  Very clever way to protect those little metallic pieces on the card.

Steampunk with protective cover

Steampunk beginning to remove cover

Steampunk by Evie

clear cover says "Protective cover Just unpick!"

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Leah

 The next two cards are from the Val Hearder Landscape group.  Gorgeous works!

Split Complementary by Susan

                               
                                     

Split Complementary by Lisa

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

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

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

Postmark'd Art Postcards

I finished another piece before it is due!! Am I becoming organized!! Can't be!! This last set of postcards is due to be mailed by May 30th and today is the 27th. Wouldn't that be great if I can make this a habit....

These cards were started a while ago. The background is bleached with a bleach pen to look like a Chinese lattice. It began with a plain brown cotton. I love the color it turned from the bleach.

Some shapes, cut with the Cricut, were added. At the time I thought I liked the starkness of the white against the lattice. After looking at them for a month or two a change was made and I painted them.

The Kanji word means health. I know I have a mix of cultures in this card, but working with what I had available, I thought they mixed well together.

I visited my mom yesterday, which is a 4 hour drive each way. Her birthday was last week so I purchased some books on CD for her to listen to. I also bought one for myself to listen to on the drive. Mine is called The Quilter's Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini. I listened to six and a half of the disks while driving. There are nine altogether. I love historical books about the everyday life of women. It is not quite as much about quilting as I expected but it is a good story. I was at the half-price bookstore so it was only $8, which seemed good for a 9 disk story. Most of the books my mom likes are not longer being published so they are easier to find at used book stores. Maybe I can give mine for a raffle prize at Contemporary Quilters once I have heard it all.

Have a Creative Day
Janet

Postcards complete!

I finished the last group of postcards for Postmark'd Art. This group had 21 people and the theme was 'Anything Goes'. Before joining this group I had done 5 postcards at the most for a group. I found that a group this large was draining for me. Many people were energized by the number but for me it seemed to create a block. So, I will have to try to remember that and only sign up for smaller groups in the future. They are each a little different but fairly similar so I will post a few.

I borrowed the recycling theme from another group and cut up bits and pieces of leftover scraps from previous projects. I than added some embellishment and did some free motion quilting. I spiced it up a little by using solar sensitive thread for the quilting. When placed in the sun the thread color will show, otherwise it looks white. I was hoping for a really sunny day for my photos but had to settle for overcast. The color will show up more on a brighter day. I put those in the mail yesterday. I have received more postcards and will be adding those to my slideshow soon. Just wondered do you find the slideshow irritating? Would it be better just to have a clickable link?

I'm not really done with postcards completely as I signed up for a Christmas postcard exchange in the Valerie Hearder landscape group. I will only need to make three cards for this one (four if I make one for myself). I just signed up for that and already have lot's of ideas bouncing around in my mind. That is a better size group for me. All three cards will be traveling to other countries, Australia, South Africa, and Ireland. It will be fun to see what I get in return.

I've just joined SAQA. I want to begin my journey as a more focused artist now. They have something new called the Visioning Project. With the suppport of this group I will be able to prioritize my goals, to lead me where I want to go with my art. I'm feeling very scattered at this point, while I love learning new skills and will continue to do so, I also want to plan for the future. Lot's to think about right now but I think having a cohesive body of work by the end of the year would be a good goal for me. Still refining and thinking so I have some self reflection to do right now. Have a creative day! Janet

What do you do with learning pieces?

"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it."

by Pablo Picasso

Now I'm not comparing myself to Picasso but, I am always trying to learn things I don't know how to do. I like to learn new skills. One reason is, my brain needs all the help it can get to keep alert and learning new skills is one way to do that. The second reason, I'm curious and maybe a little adventurous. I like to learn.

When I took the points and curves class, I made samples that were goofy. If you look at them you can see my points don't always point where they are supposed to. I accepted that and learned how to make them the right way. (Also someone in the class gave me grief about them being wrong, so I had extra motivation to get them right for the final project). In other words I learned from my mistakes. I tend to keep them to remind me where I have been and what I need to do different. I have a friend who always throws her class projects away. What do you do with your learning pieces? I have turned a couple into other projects, but some just keep hanging around.

I finished my thread painted postcards for Postmark'd Art. I had some photos of flowers printed on fabric. I decided to use these to thread paint. I needed to make nine cards. I used four different photos.

Nancy Eha has the voting open for the tiara's now. You should go and check them out whether you vote or not. There are some wonderful works of art.

This and that!

I had a nasty cold for over two weeks. It drained all the creativity out of me. That's my excuse for not blogging, and I'm sticking to it. Fall is creeping in!

I've finished a few things in spite of my lack of good health. I had a lot of fun making my tiara for Nancy Eha's challenge. You'll have to watch for your chance to vote for your favorite entry. It looks like there are going to be quite a few. I tried a few things that I have never done before with beads. Maybe this will inspire me to get brave enough to add more to my quilts. Here are a couple of close-up shots. I am the Countess of Colour as I tried to add lots of colour to my tiara. I also just love bright colors, so it seemed fitting.

I finished a very small art piece for the member's only exhibit at the Textile Center. The exhibit isn't until January but I needed to turn in a photo or two and my admission form about a week ago. This will be the third year I am a member of the Textile Center but the first I have submitted something for this show. They do the member's only show every year but the first year I didn't know about it until it was too late. Last year we had family conflicts with my finishing a piece. So, this year I was determined to enter something. I submitted it on the day of the deadline. So next year my goal is the day before the deadline. LOL They don't like to have the pieces shown other places before the show, but I promise I'll show it in January.

I'm also finishing up my postcards for the postmark'ed art group. Should be done with those soon. Here is my tree bark. I used three layers of sheer fabrics, put on my mask and melted them with my heat gun. It's fun to use tools! I wouldn't do this without a respirator mask and the great outdoors to mitigate the fumes.

Two more group of cards to do. Thread painting and the last group will be anything goes!

.....hmmmm.

Have a creative day

janet

Postcards

I finished up some postcards. I completed my monochromatic postcards for the Valerie Hearder Landscape group. This one happened to be an international exchange as all five of us are from different countries. It is fun to get these little connections all around the world. Check out my postcards received as well since I am always adding to those. I just added 6 or 7 of the latest received cards. They should all be labeled now too. If you click on the slideshow of cards it will take you to my picasa site so you can look at the postcards in more detail. Here is my "Blazing Sunset." Remember you can click on the photos in my blog to get a larger image too.

I've also finished my leaves postcards for the Postmark'd Art group. I pounded leaves in the fabric. Discharged the spots with bleach. Couched a thread for the center vein, and did a tiny zig-zag stitch on the edge as the edge of the real leaf looked a little ruffled. I debated what to do with the white background because it seemed too plain to me. I decided to use another of those stitches on my machine that seldom gets used. Here is a photo of the original leaf and a photo of my postcard.

Now I need to make my tiara. I am doing Nancy Eha's challenge. I need to make a tiara for myself and come up with a name. Any suggestions for a name would be appreciated. For instance: "Duchess of Scattered Thoughts" as that is how I feel lately. It should be fun and she has great prizes offered. I also have three more sets of postcards to make. I need to re-create some bark, make some thread painted postcards, and an anything goes group. I've been looking for ideas for my thread painting. I have done a little thread painting but not a great deal so it won't be too elaborate but I think it will be fun. Have a creative day. janet