January and February B & CQ JP blocks

Woohoo!

Well they happened much quicker than I expected, but my eyes are telling me off! On Saturday I put my fabrics together for January and February blocks, then yesterday and today were spent adding the details.

I'll admit now, I was so keen to get going I've messed up my plan already! These beautiful tear-drop shapes were supposed to be orange/yellow, the red/orange were supposed to be the pointy top shapes... oh well, too late now- I'm not starting over, like last year! They kinda look like birds heads, which follows the flying theme, so I chose to add a couple of round mirrors to the stitching...

 Here's how they turned out... 

For the whole design and  more detailed pics pop over to the B & CQ JP 2013 section
I can't wait now to do the March block... I have one extra block- the body, so I could get on and do that early...

13 days to go...if you do Valentine's Day

  If you celebrate Valentine's Day, that is!  We don't at my house, but I still get caught up in the flow with everybody else's creative exploits in a red and hearty fashion...

  My very obliging friend Mary sent me some die cut hearts to show me what sizes were available for cutting grey board... and of course I had to do something hearty and romantic- not my strong point, so be gentle!

  Mary cut from corrugated board, so I thought I'd tissue and gesso it up to give it a bit of support and to add some texture. Using a technique that I've been playing with alot lately I added flowers, butterflies and sequins with gesso, and heated it to bubble it.

  Once it was suitably dried out I painted it up to give depth and shadow  and highlighted it with those gorgeous Golden irridescent acrylics- you can't see it in the pic, but when you twist the books they shimmer with 2 colours in places. 

  When my Cinch arrived I'd already bought a pair of wires but not used them, so I cut them down to use for these... not sure I've got the hang of the squashing yet... I was expecting grooves or something to show how to place the book/ wires so they folded correctly. I think I need to play more... or carry on with the coils that I have an abundance of.

  I spent this morning cutting pages and lightly inked the edges before punching  with my Big Bite. That's both new xmas toys being put to good use already, I'm sure they're going to get a serious workout over the year!

  So, thankyou Mary for your help, and the next lot winging their way to me... now I know which die to save up for.

Oh, and while I was distracted on another hearty woolly project I had theses sitting in latex so I can make some hanging plaques in plaster. It's all about developing... so you'll see them soon!

Crazy butterfly...

For those of you also doing the Bead Journal Project or the Crazy Quilting Project this year I imagine that the design element is both the hardest bit and the most fun... it certainly is for me!

January is my design/ layout and gathering month, finding the beads, fabrics etc to work with. This January has been no different... I've been collecting beads and lace, and now I finally have the design laid out and the templates cut.

 

I'm going for a much less involved design this year, last year's beading project was a zodiac/ wiccan visual reference aid, and very detailed with tons of information. Because this year's project is based on a crazy quilt I don't think that it will work as a teaching aid, it will be far too busy. 

I've chosen a butterfly, I doodle them alot and it will be nice to do one in a different media. It really lends itself to blocks of crazy quilting. Each section will be a blend of  similar coloured fabrics, lace and beads.

Scale has been fun.. the original design is on A4, so it will give you an idea of how big it will be...

...but then the sections need to be reasonable or the crazy quilting will look silly!  Can't wait to get going now... but I'm still waiting on that fabric to turn up so I can ice dye the background. That promises to be great fun considering the way my snow dyeing adventure went!  Come on postie!!

Moleskine Journal Adventure continued...

After my introduction to Moleskine journals, having purchased a letter-sized Cahier for a commission, I decided to use up the second book which has the same designer cover, but in a different colour- orange. So I took that as a starting point for the design for this one. It hasn't been commissioned, this will be a ready-made, buy as-is.

I love blue and orange together, being opposite colours they really bounce off each other creating real impact. I searched my stash of papers to create the title page first- not normally the way I work, usually it's the collage first. I found some great orange and blue papers and flowers...

Working from the title page I chose an abundance of blue, orange and pink fabrics and began to layer up...

Each layer is built of with different stitches and coloured threads, fabric, plastics, wools, angelina, paper, canvas... whatever feels right and looks right. 

Once all the elements are secure and a few contrasting stitched patterns are in place I can add the central ribbons for the spine.

I always make an extra smaller square at the same time, some of this is used for the closure and the bookmark tabs, the rest is kept as reference. Add the closure and ribbons, then add the pocket for the inside front. Once all that is complete I can measure and sew up the bottom and top for a snug fit.

I always add some extra elements, often beads and charms, but I've had this butterfly crying out to be used since I diecut it, and it's a perfect compliment for the cover and copper lettering inside. Add a little crochet flower, the bookmarkers and velcro, line the inside opening with matching poly-cotton, and ta-da, she's all done! All ready for Etsy and Creative Stores...

Perfect and in time for a christmas pressie....

June Heart Journal

Well, I've been waiting forever for Lillibule and Thealie's June prompt to arrive because I completed May's very early and I wasn't very happy with it, it just didn't go right and one problem led on to another. Still- it's all learning!

Having said that, as soon as I got the prompt for June I collected some of my stash together and started with vigour! Here it is all finished... and I'm really happy with this one. June is my birthday month so I thought I'd reflect that...

 

I used sequins, paper cutouts, lettering,wooden shapes, stickers, gesso and various acrylic paints, wire and beads.

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Release... another prompt

I was really on a roll yesterday, I caught up with 2 prompts.... My word for the year BELIEVE, and the prompt RELEASE- what would I like to discard this year... I could go on about how I fluctuate between manic depression and mild hysteria, but it's not what I like to post about- everyone has their own demons... but I know that I really would like to make this year lighter and brighter, especially after my health scares over the last year.

They always say it takes a life-threatening experience to find God, well I guess it's true- only I'm not a God person in the slightest- I believe in what I can see- trees, birds,earth, moon ... so I promised myself I would actually begin to research deeper this year, and stop prevaricating. I'm on my spiritual journey at last...

And so... instead of a dark, broody, scary spread full of fear, self-loathing and dark, dark dreams I went for the complete opposite! Why should I dwell where I don't want to be? I choose to remind myself of the brighter possibilities and lighter way. Light is in everyone, it's just a case of finding it- we all have the potential to fulfill our dreams, we have to believe it, and release the negativity... off soap-box now!

I'm not sure it's finished yet- I feel some doodling calling, but in the main she's ready. Believe in the impossible to make it possible!

Sorry guys, not sure why, but it's bugging me more and more- perfectly focused pics are showing fuzzy here lately, not crisp at all... not sure if Blog put them though a filter like Flickr were? Not sure what I can do to remedy that... they're crystal clear on my pc....
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Butterflies...

One of my swap buddies creates some beautiful origami cranes to send around the world, so I was inspired to try something to send as  "thankyou's"... 

There are several objects that I love, but I couldn't make a pegasus practical to make/send flat...so I tried bird of paradise, orchids, lilies and a cat....all very nice but not suitable for posting. Hearts are appropriate too, but oh so...common?

Eventually I came across a blog with a nice butterfly.  I don't have origami paper so I played with tissue paper until I remembered some marbled paper I'd made at uni....et voila!

So here are my "Thankyou" butterflies....

Now I need to make a good few more so they can fly off round the world.....


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