Learn, January 1

No more failed new year's resolutions for me. I decided that this year I would focus on learning: about myself, art, life, whatever comes along. The idea of choosing one word, rather than a list of resolutions came from Linda Matthews, a designer whose blog I follow. She is a talented designer and a great teacher. I have taken online classes from her and I own her Titivations dvd. Her website includes links to over 270 free handbag patterns and tutorials! (See linked image below.)

Since I want to learn more about PhotoShop I have started making a digital journal page a day, which I will post here. My first effort is this page with my word at the top.

I will probably print out some of the pages on paper or fabric and embellish them with foil, stitching, beads, embroidery, and so on. Each page is 5x7" and could be a journal cover, a featured element in a pillow, or part of a quilt. Right now I am having fun working with textures, brushes, fonts, and colors in PhotoShop so embellishing will come later.

Want to try this yourself with PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements? Linda's website has lots of tutorials. Just scroll down until you see "PhotoShop Elements". You might also try Kim Classen's free Skinny-Mini eCourse. Registration closes January 17, 2011.

I'll post the pages I've made to date, and one a day after that, as long as I can keep it up -- life sometimes happens so fast that there's not time to write about it!

She says she's "benignly crazy" and her passion is crazy quilting. Longtime friend and fellow cq'er Cathy Kizerian (formerly Flox) has a popular blog, Cathy's Crazy by Design, that reflects her engaging personality and showcases her beautiful needlework. Cathy has announced the July 1, 2010, opening of her etsy shop where she is selling her hand-dyed "golden" lace, a highly sought after embellishment for crazy quilts. She promises handmade aprons, vintage laces, trims, and linens to come.

Help Cathy celebrate the opening of her new shop by visiting Crazy by Design where you can enter to win one of two wonderful giveaway items, the laces shown above and a collection of Parisian-themed treasures.

Friend's Birthday Needlefelted Pincushion

Here are the instructions for this pincushion, made for a friend's birthday, unillustrated because I forgot to photograph the process.

I marked a piece of canvas with the stitching line ~6"x6" and left a 2" margin around it to allow for shrinkage. I used wool, soy, and silk roving for the background, and some ready-made craft flowers into which I sewed pearl bead centers. Before I started felting, drew some composition lines on the canvas, just to give me a general idea of where I wanted to change colors. I backed it with a floral fabric and stuffed it with polyester batting and ground walnut hulls. My plan was to stuff it firmly with the batting and then pour the walnut hulls into a center pouch in the batting. It didn't work very well so the walnut hulls are scattered around in pockets in the batting.

This project didn't take a long time, but I really like the result. My friend said that she liked it, too, which was what I wanted. :)

Shoes to Die For

Marina Dempster's amazing shoes.

Sewing Machines Suck

I am working on my painted lace cuff bracelets. I need to finish the edges with a satin stitch. My sewing machine is not cooperating and I am ready to resort to violence. Which leads me to this: Why are sewing machines still made like they were 100 years ago? Yeah, I know, you can spend $9,000 on a Bernina embroidery machine and it will do all sorts of fancy stuff. But the basic machinery is the same on all sewing machines. Clunky threading process, dangerous banging up and down needle, hard-to-get-to-and-impossible-to-adjust bobbin, all arranged to make us go blind and/or suffer permanent nerve damage in hands and neck.

For now, the bracelets are on hold until I can get someone to help me figure out how to adjust the bobbin tension, which the manufacturer has deliberately made almost impossible to adjust. It's completely trial and error. Like we have nothing to do but sit around and fiddle with this stuff for hours.

I bet if men sewed these machines would be made much differently.

The Blessings of Spring

Today I am grateful for the flowers blooming in my yard.

(Enter the contest at communal global! Entries end midnight April 4.)

Lace Collage

This is lace that I have fused to crinoline with MistyFuse, then painted with Jacquard Lumiere and DynaFlow paints. I followed (loosely) instructions from Three Creative Studios free projects, which are available on their website. If you are as clueless as I was, you'll need the one for Painted Lace Surfaces and the one for Painted Lace Cuff. These are pdf files that you can download to your computer. Thanks, Three Creative Studios!

First I fused down a layer of very flat lace, the wide kind that is probably made of nylon. Or you could use torn silk strips as the instructions show. Then I put down another layer of Misty Fuse and fused Venice Lace over it. MistyFuse is great because it can be layered several times and it does now show or add bulk to the piece. I added paint after all the lace was down. I used water to thin down the paints but fabric medium would have worked as well and left the piece with a softer hand.

My plan was to back it with ultrasuede, cut it into strips, and make cuff bracelets from it. I had a senior moment and cut it into strips before I backed it. Oh, well, it's just a little more work to back the pieces individually.


I used free motion with clear thread to stitch over the bracelets and secure the lace. Now it's on to decorative stitching, beads, backing, and edge finishing, in that order, if I can remember it long enough to do it.