Art Tarts

My creativity group--The Art Tarts met on Friday night to do some creating. We ordered Bendi dolls--the big, the little, and the bunny--and painted them. The bunny is being done as a round robin between us.

Gayle's on the top. She makes jewelry and has her own kiln. And the absolute coolest house I've ever been in. Kelly is in the middle picture. She taught me in my first quilting class and started me on this fiber journey! The bottom picture is my bunny with the painted ears. I used createx paints and a lot of water to get a mushed (this is an official art term!) effect.

It was so much fun sitting around with other creative types. Painting. Talking.

It really inspired me to make more dolls.

Latest Quilt

Here are pictures of my latest quilt. It was done for an on-line color challenge. My color was...blue! The finished piece is 21" x 25" tall.

I had trouble with the quilting--the tension is off. I used monofilament in places and superior bobbin thread in others. I think my needle was old...my machine dirty. But a fake back hid all the awful mess.

I got to play with my embellisher--when I finally found it!! aarrgggg And it was so fun. Addicting! I was putting on the crystals while looking around the room for other things to crystal-ize!!! If you don't have an embellisher--get one! The one I have was super cheap at Hobby Lobby. And the crystals go on sale with the beads--half price!

This was the first quilt I made in quite awhile. I missed the sewing. I am ready to make more!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is such a pretend holiday. I don't like it at all. All the pink and red. The forced romance. ugh!!

We celebrated by going to dinner with Aaron. The twins were at a Bulls game with a friend and his dad. The only place without a wait was Baker's Square. How awful! Even the pie was mediocre. And Tiffany, our charming blonde teenage waitress, developed quite the attitude by the end of the evening. I should have tipped her a dollar!

I did get a cool soduko electronic game. I am addicted to the puzzle, so it is much appreciated. I've almost worked my way through a book and have a second in the wings. The electronic game is cool--it beeps every time you fill in a digit in all the nine-patches. Too cool!

The picture above is a montage I did for a swap on a yahoo list. The recipient picked the theme and away we went. I struggled with the term "montage." Then I looked it up in an on-line dictionary and found the definition is "collage." OK, then I knew how to start.

I used some of the things I've learned in my on-line Photoshop Elements course to make the base. Added some things. Pasted everything down with Golden gel medium.

I LOVE the gel medium! Sure, I walked around the rest of the day with hands that looked like a had a serious case of dry, peeling skin. But it was worth it to see everything pasted down so nicely. It dried without being tacky, which was my biggest worry.

I also started working on my color challenge quilt. My color is blue. I had an idea originally, then began changing my mind. I ended up back with the original idea. I'm making a butterfly using a technique similar to that of Esterita Austin. I saw her program on Simply Quilts today and had an aha moment.

I have everything cut out and now need to fuse it. Hopefully it will work out like I am planning. Or my aha moment with turn into a god damn moment and pieces will fly.

This was the first time doing something fabric related and it felt good. Which is convenient because I have many projects that need to be finished!

Where did January go?!

The big dog tried to eat the puppy. Puppy survived with stitches and a silly cone collar.

Jim's mom fell and broke her hip and the recovery process is driving everyone bats. The rehab hospital is pretty uncommunicative. They did manage to tell Jim's brother that Mom needs to be moved from the rehab hospital by Friday afternoon. They won't help find a new place...but they did provide a list of possibilities.

The twins have decided homework is optional and their school work is reflecting that new policy. They are not my favorites at the moment!

Art-wise...My drawing class is nearly over and I will miss it! Pen & ink has been fun. Art Tarts, my creativity group, is starting up again and I have high hopes. Our first project is going to be a bendi doll round robin. We're also making monthly ATCs. We'll save these and see if we "evolve" through the year. I've painted some silk scarves. I need to finish them--I'm thinking some stamping and beading. I'm in the final weeks of a photo shop elements class on-line. That has been informative.

Now enjoy all the pictures...