For Now

I'm taking a blogging break for a month....If you're interested in my reasons, keep reading. I'll see you at the end of November.

I've been feeling frustrated lately. I've been doing creative things, but not enough...and not much that I feel is worth blogging about.

I may just be feeling overwhelmed by all my ideas and unfinished projects. It's not the first time I've been in this place, but I don't like it.
I'm stuck on what to do next with this page

I want to finish this quilt

Half the quilt blocks on the design wall

and start journalling in this

and make some more pieces to add to this

and make more progress on this (which was going to be my "Creating a book a month" for October)

I know I need to spend less time on the computer looking at what others are doing instead of creating things myself, and being tempted by more new things like Alisa Burke's new online holiday class when I've already got so many unfinished workshops!
So I've decided to take a break from blogging for a month, and spend more time in my studio and less on the computer.
It'll give me a chance to focus on finishing a couple of things without feeling like I have to have something regular to blog about. And then I'll think about the way forward. I just can't think of any projects I want to give up

Journal page created Nov 2009

Anyway - I didn't want to just disappear and leave you wondering about where I've gone. So I'll see you back here in a month, and let you know my progress. 

Feb 2011

Have fun - I'll still call by your blogs occasionally to see what you're up to :-)

Stitching, reading, watching...

This week I've been stitching again.
Making progress on some quilts

and preparing an altered book with stitched edges.

And I have to show you the result of my request for a "simple" frame for my fabric house which my father-in-law constructed.

He even matched the position of the windows & door!
I'm getting very inspired by Frances Pickering's new book which arrived this week

Highly recommended...just as beautiful as her first publication so don't hesitate if you've been considering purchasing.
And finished reading this novel :

Find out more at amazon

- great strong female characters and absorbing, fact-based, story.
Enjoying watching this series on DVD with Craig

and so glad the new series of this has started up again on TV

If you are in New Zealand - happy long weekend. Hope you get some creative time wherever you may be.

White pens

Happy to be Letter Loving while on holiday. Having lots of fun using white pens - I love that what I am learning in this class has built on and reinforced techniques from other workshops.
Cool fun to use my new metallics with a stencil too.

Boys back to school on Monday...wonder what Term 4 has in store for us

Lettered Layers

We've been at the beach for the last 5 days.

Journal page inspired by Letter Love lesson 19.
More art journalling soon

Metal Play day

I have been wanting to do something more with this

to develop it into a wall-hanging in Beryl Taylor's style and to make an indian-themed piece. These ideas are finally coming together....you might remember I started playing with some indian themed pieces here.
Last week some friends & I had a play day with metal so I will be able to add some more elements to the above.

We tried embossing copper shim, Silver Scotch Tape, coke cans and copper slug tape all through a cuttlebug. Pretty designs.

Then we coloured them

The above examples are mainly using alcohol inks
In this close-up shot the 2 narrow strips are the slug tape, the wider is the silver scotch tape, and the heart was cut from the metal shim.

Pleasing colouring on all of them. And the coke can worked just fine too

We also tried copic markers

and nail polish - need to get myself some more colours

Looking forward to seeing what happens to these lovely indian themed cut-outs when I colour them

But this, I think, needs nothing else - alcohol inks on embossed copper shim

I will just be adding some stitching around the edge of this to attach it to an appropriate background. I tried punching and stitching a piece of the coloured metal to sari thread and felt as an example of what I mean :

One other technique that was fun and a variation was to add a layer of gesso for a distressed look. This is a piece of alcohol-inked silver scotch tape

and here it is after I covered it with a layer of gesso and rubbed it off again with a paper towel.

Really keen to get stuck into developing the piece now - this was my first play with laying things on the background a couple of months ago.

So many more cool ideas to add now :-)

If you want some more inspiration, Judy Coates Perez has some cool posts about embossing and playing with metal. Also if you're on Facebook, check out photos from a Beryl Taylor Magic Metal workshop held at Valley Ridge Art Studio.