Category Archives: Challenges

Beaded Journal Pages

I am beginning to finish up some of the backs of my pages, while still working on new ones. I have ironed on some backing fabric with a stiff no-sew double-sided  interfacing and a back ribbon in the same way. This helps the pages to stand up. In my prototypes I sewed in some card stock, but I really didn’t like how that worked out. (too stiff)

Beaded Journal Project first 3 months ~closed~

I wrote up a little paragraph describing the feelings, reasons and thoughts behind each page. I printed the paragraphs onto some t-shirt transfers and then ironed on to white fabric. I can’t iron on these to my backing fabric because of the transfer surface and I can’t sew them on with the machine because of all the beads of course. So for now I am gluing them on with some tacky glue. (Wishing I had some of that great fabric glue)

Beaded Journal Project first 3 months ~backs~

So now I am trying to decide if I add the paint brushes to the fold points as stands (like in my prototype) or if the interfacing will be enough to help them stand, or if I even want them to stand. I like them each separately more than together.

BJP Finished September 2008

Written on back

~September 2008~
Back to School
This month is about fresh starts. New school supplies, Back to school clothes, new ideas for lesson plans and a fresh group of kids. A sense of excitement and refreshment after a long break. But ready to get back in the swing of things. Ready to learn, ready to share, ready to teach, I am an art teacher and
Ready to Reach

BJP Finished October 2008

Written on back

~October 2008~
El Día de los Muertos
Halloween has always been a favorite holiday of mine. Throughout the years I have made many costumes, some simple some more elaborate. All with the desire to be someone else for a brief time. Now that I garden, and live in a more Hispanic area, Day of the Dead has a little more influence. I celebrate the end of the growing season. The little deaths in my life that will make way for new things to grow in the coming year. I love the imagery of this holiday and its spirit for honoring and remembering those that have passed on.
Remember the Dead

BJP Finished November 2008

Written on back

~November 2008~
CHARGER!
We adopted our dog in November, so this will always mark his “birthday” and entry into our family. He is one of the very best things in my life. I never knew you could love a dog so much. I love him more and more every year. He is often my muse, a friend to play with, someone who always listens to my stories, frequently my pillow and always
My Furry Child

BJP WIP December 2008

I need to finish the backing for this one, but the beading, I have decided, is done! I was going to add more, but I realized that I wanted the page to be simple and quiet with an essence of snow and cold.
Written on back

~December 2008~
Quiet
December can be a hellishly hectic time of year. I used to work retail management and this was the most stressful time of year without a doubt. Now I get a break. This year it was a break filled with record breaking snow, impassible roads, and hours to snuggle in the quiet warmth of the house. All parties and gatherings were cancelled for safety. Most people probably don’t realize the introvert that lives inside of me. Parties are stressful and lots of work for me on a mental and emotional level. This low key, stay at home, forced seclusion was a
Winter Wonderland

BJP WIP January 2009

This one is January’s page… still a work in progress. I just want to finish the other brown butterfly and the left blue spiral. This page is about new beginnings. January is a big month for goal setting and resolutions. Butterflies are a great symbol of rebirth. Spirals are a symbol of life. So this page is about making a commitment to myself to continue in my self-improvement and fitness. I haven’t written my paragraph for this one quite yet. But it will be something similar to the above. This one also still needs to have a backing finishing, after the beading is done.

BJP WIP February 2009
This one is February’s page… still a work in progress.  This page was inspired by the landscape assignment in my Joggles mini art quilt class. Purple is my favorite color and I wanted to make a landscape that was based on a winter sunset. The heart fabric was completely accidental.  I am not a huge Valentine’s Day person so I was not trying to be sappy. Then I saw a great bead that my friend Pam created and I knew it was perfect for the focal piece. This one is more like January’s page, more abstract. While the other months so far have had a printed image that I have beaded on or around. It has been fun to bead in a less directed way, but it is harder to know when I am done.  This one also still needs to have a backing finishing, after the beading is done.

I guess it is about time to move on to March!

Purple Sunset Finished

At first, I thought I had NO purple beads. I was very upset and immediately went online to order some. Then I found enough to add to my landscape quilt for the Art Quilt Explorations with Jane LaFazio. Her landscapes are very cool. I do like the ones with trees and might do a second one that way to see how it comes out. Now she does not bead her work, but I have been so into the beading lately that I just couldn’t see this landscape without some.

purple sunset finished 0215

It is finished. The completed quilt is 9X12″ and has a hanging sleeve on the top binding to hang with a wooden dowel. Lots of beads, trim and a variety of fabrics. The purples are terribly hard to photograph. I finally got this one with some natural daylight, but it still does not show the richness of the colors and the variety of textures. I am totally in love with how this came out. Purple really is a royal color. I probably need to come up with a more regal name for it.

Next I am doing my February Beaded Journal Page in this same fashion. But I am going to wait for my new beads to arrive and I still need to finish up my January page!

(Can you tell I am on vacation?)

Joggles Class Quilt #2

quilt2 spirals

Our second assignment in the Joggles Class, Art Quilt Explorations with Jane LaFazio, is to make a Molas inspired felt quiltie. I haven’t really done much with felt in my own art. Seems like a grade school type medium. Although I have to admit that I LOVE Gwen LeBlanc’s felt creations. So I was pleasantly surprised at how fun and easy a mini felt quilt was to create.

After cutting out and placing the felt pieces in my studio, I went down to the living room to stitch. I finally had a great medium to try out some of the stitches in Sharon B’s Stitch Dictionary. So I went through alphabetically until I found a stitch that both looked easy enough and looked like it would fit my spirals. I used the Threaded Back Stitchin between my blue felt spiral, with blue and white floss. Then I used the Chain butterfly stitchon one of my spirals with blue and yellow floss. Sewing with embroidery floss on felt is so easy these stitches were a cinch. Of course it helps that Sharon has step-by-step with pictures!

I also discovered that my local library now has free downloadable audio books. So I have been listening to Inkheart while stitching! Much better than having on the endless news or other TV garbage as background.

Purple Sunset


purple sunset WIP 0214, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

Happy Valentine’s Day…

Not a big holiday for me, but I am on Mid-winter break as well so celebrating with some art time, finally!

This is the first lesson from a joggles class I am taking.
Art Quilt Explorations with Jane LaFazio

My friend Diane was posting her work from the class and I was so impressed I decided to take the class too. This will be my first time taking an online class from Joggles, so I plan to post a lot of comments and progress throughout. I am currently waiting for my forum account to be approved so I can post there.

I decided instead of a traditional grass and dirt colored landscape, that I wanted to do a sunset style color theme. Mostly because I wanted to use purple!  So after grabbing a bunch of fabrics from my stash, I went on flickr to look for some purple sunset pictures for inspiration.

Here are a few that I found:

Then I went back to my ironed pile to place them in a fashion that looked good to me. Next I did some satin stitching and fancy styles to hold the layers together. Now I am going to go add trim and beads and embroidery floss.

I have several other projects on board for this 5 day ‘weekend’ mostly for EBSQ shows. So expect to see a lot from me in the coming days.

I still need to get a February page started for the beaded journal project. I am thinking of making a duplicate of this but in my alter shape… we shall see!

EBSQ and my Artsy Year in Review

In December 2007, I made the goal to: create at least one NEW artwork (in any medium of my choice as is fitting for the theme) per month to enter into EBSQ Shows.

The shows that I planned to enter vs the art that I actually completed: 

sheba three

  • March: I did not end up creating for the Childhood Show instead put in a couple of OLD pieces in Vice. Drama Queen and Foot Fetish. In fact, it appears that I did a whole bunch of nothing during March. But in reality, I had some major family issues happening, I attended and presented at a professional conference and I was participating actively in Flickr Photo Scavenger Hunts.

Floor Cloth

  • May: The Unmentionables Show was in the plan, but still recuperating from the intensity of Artfest, I wasn’t making very much art. However, I did find the energy to participate in another of Jen’s Challenges. I also started getting heavily into my triathlon training, so days of swimming, running and cycling took a bit out of art time.

 Experiment #2 fabric weaving

  • June: I did not enter the Creation Myths, but instead entered a photograph in Art of the Fan. It was a great month for experimenting in fabric  for a return to Jen’s Challenges.
  • August:  My Triathlon was this month, so all my focus was on fitness, but I did start thinking about the Beaded Journal Project. All plans of participating in shows were put on hold.

BJP_prototype with pages side by side and open

  • October: Why did I plan to enter the Bat Show? I guess because I do like Halloween. Although I did not manage that, I did make a lot of new art for ArtSoMoFo. I also worked on the next month of BJP.
  • November: Another show planned and another show missed… although the election was a top priority on my mind, it did not inspire any art for On the Trail. I celebrated my doggie’s birthday and created my BJP in his honor. The school year is in full swing and the rainy season has begun, so art and fitness seems to have fallen a bit by the wayside. I will need to think of how I can improve being creative during these busy months.

blue fairy

  • December: I made tons of ornaments in past years so it made sense to enter Ornamental. But nothing new was made to enter the show, so I entered a couple of my old cute doggie ornaments. The year ended with a lot of SNOW and fun. I spent most of my creative energy making fun doll clothes for my nieces.

 I love looking back to see what I planned and what I accomplished. It does help me see the cycles and patterns to my creative life. Now on to better planning my 2009 show entries.

2009 EBSQ Show List

I really like the One-word concept monthly idea…

January:
Alice in Wonderland ~ will probably enter this
Self-Portrait Show ~ will totally enter this
One-Word Concept: Economy
Flower of the Month: State Flowers

February:
The Figure in 3-D ~ will totally enter this
Encircled: Necklaces, Bracelets, and Rings
One-Word Concept: Hidden ~ will probably enter this
Flower of the Month: Snow Drops

March:
Steampunk
Squid (& Other Deep Sea Monsters) PERFECT! since this is also the same theme as ARTFEST and the SAME time frame… so obviously ~ will totally enter this
One-Word Concept: Motion ~ will probably enter this
Flower of the Month: Cyclamen

April:
Robots
The EBSQ Junk Mail Show
One-Word Concept: Balance ~ will totally enter this
Flower of the Month: Muscari

May:
Reinterpreting Children’s Art I would love to get a drawing from one or both of my nieces and turn it into an art quilt ~ will totally enter this
Bridges
One-Word Concept: Scintilating
Flower of the Month: Fennel

June:
Macro Bug Photography
Tattoos: Designs for and Depictions of
One-Word Concept: Malice
Flower of the Month: Foxglove

July:
9th Annual Ripped Off
Parades
One-Word Concept: Liberty
Flower of the Month: Nasturtium

August:
8th Annual Pet Portrait Swap ~ will probably enter this
In the Bag: Artist-Made Purses & Bags ~ will totally enter this
One-Word Concept: Wanderlust ~ will probably enter this
Flower of the Month: Weeds

September:
Rodents
Design the next EBSQ T-shirt!
One-Word Concept: Deconstructed ~ will totally enter this
Flower of the Month: Butterfly Bush

October:
Think Pink: A Fundraiser to Benefit Susan G Komen
Zombie Chickens ~ will probably enter this
One-Word Concept: Decay ~ will totally enter this
Flower of the Month: Squash & Gourds (both flowers & fruit eligible)

November:
9th Annual Portrait Swap
Two-Tones Only ~ will totally enter this
One-Word Concept: Bored ~ will probably enter this
Flower of the Month: Bark

December:
Annual Better Late Than Never Show
The Art of the Art Journal ~ will totally enter this
One-Word Concept: Ancient
Flower of the Month: Eucalyptus

November Beaded Journal Project Begins

november BJP 2008 b4

November 2003 is when I became a dog lover, when I was completely won over by my first BIG dog. So this month’s page will honor Charger and his big stupid grin. This is the fabric quilt prior to beading. I have some scrabble letters to spell out the word “love” and then plan to bead some borders, bones and his hat and scarf. Not sure what other beading I will do, this one will probably be pretty simple.

See my other month’s pages here (plus theflickr album) and more about Charger here (plus HIS flickr album) .

I had contemplated doing something election oriented but decided that at this point, Charger is more of an influence… perhaps January will be about our new President.

BJP October in Progress…


My October page in progress, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

I still have more work to do but got a lot done yesterday and will do a little more tonight. The dress and jacket are done, but I want to do the hat and more on the white swirls area.

Already thinking about November’s page. Which will be something about Charger, since we got him in November.

bones~n~butterflies

Another digital mandala for ArtSoMoFo.

Do you ever make something that you don’t like, but still post or share it? I have many pieces that I don’t care for, but I always hope that someone else will see something that I don’t. What do you think of this one? What do you notice? Does it grab you or speak to you? I played with it changing it over and over again, but it is still not meeting my vision.

I haven’t been feeling good, a sinus infection has been dragging on for over a month. It is hard to feel the spark and energy to create when health issues add their toll to regular daily life. I had high expectations of making a new mandala every day for the month. I do love to work in a series with a theme, color or other commonalities.