Busy Busy Busy!

Between working in the garden and writing classes lately I've been pushing myself nonstop!  The garden is shaping up beautifully, but is not quite ready for a spring photo shoot.  Soon, I promise... it's such a lovely place to just be.  I like to take a cup of tea out there early in the morning and just sit under an arbor or in the gazebo to listen to the birds and just breathe.  Sigh...
  
I can tell you about workshops! A brand new workshop called Bits and Bobs begins April 26th.  It's how to make all those little embellishment Bits and Bobs that you want to use but really don't want to go and spend and arm and a leg for to buy a package of six when you'll only use one.  Paper, fabric, fiber, and mixed medium goodies.  We create faux metal, do ribbon work, play with beads and sparkles and a little bit of clay.  We'll even add a little heat to some of our goodies for distressed finishes.

Bits and Bobs can teach techniques that can be suitable for most any style, from country to Victorian, modern to Steampunk, or even Gothic.  Whatever the project there is always a way to create an embellishment to dress it up just a little bit more!  Check out the online workshop at Joggles.

April 6th I'm repeating Lady Zen at Doll Street.  She's a canvas based textural mixed media piece embellished with pressed flowers, and wears a headdress filled with stylized doodling that suddenly seems to be a popular style these days, though I've been doing it ever since I was a kid.  Her face technique is step by step, layered and a pattern can be printed to be used right on the canvas for those that don't want to draw.  My coloring technique is really much easier than you'd think!  Come and play and check it out!

April 20th, by request, I'll be repeating my Queen of Hearts workshop at Doll Street.  She's of course from Lewis Carroll's Wonderland and a now available as a mixed media sculpture workshop incorporating paper, wire, air dry clay and fabric and does not require a sewing machine!   Learn techniques to work with fabric using fusible products and only a small amount of hand sewing.   The Queen's face includes glass eyes, dimensional eyelids and lashes, and some basic needle sculpting with knit fabric.   Her Majesty's hands are covered in fabric without a single stitch sewn!   No finger turning at all!  This workshop is great for those that would like to make a doll but don't want to use a sewing machine.

So check out my online workshops if you will, and hopefully I'll see you in a class or two.  Meanwhile, I'm back to bouncing between the garden and writing more new classes.  If you happen to be passing nearby, let me know.  I'd love to have you visit and share a glass of tea in the garden together.

Phish Stix!

I haven't been advertising my workshops well lately. Shame on me. But I've been working so hard creating them and having a blast doing it that I forget about everything else!

Mosaic: Angel Phish Jewel

I've been working on my newest class called Phish Stix, a mixed media class where instead of doing boring samples on squares that you can't really do anything with, we create little phigures on sticks that can stand on the mantle, or you can remove the stick and make a mobile or...

Victorian: Lady Phlora Phish

Lesson one works with paper variations, lesson two covers assorted styles of collage, lesson three free motion embroidery including handwork, and lesson four adds heat techniques to the artistry we've mastered in prior lessons and mixes things up a bit for extra phun.

Cat Phish Charlie

Phis Stix is currently running at Joggles.com - pop on over and Go Phish! http://www.joggles.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=75_110&products_id=23447.

More Valentines

Creating fabric postcards for Valentines has been a blast! The one above has hand dyed fabric, treated with salt for texture and the lacey hearts are created from Tyvek, painted, brushed with Perfect Pearls and topped with a light touch of gold Rub n' Buff to accent the raised surfaces. A little embroidery with cotton and silk ribbon top it off to create a vine of bleeding hearts framed with lace appliques colored gold. I'm having trouble sticking to which Valentine is my favorite!

This black and white print in French and English was too wonderful to hide so I topped it with layers of Organza hearts hand stitched in place. Lots of hand stitching time but hey - what are good movies for?

This last Valentine (not FINAL, just last this week) was created using a stencil, oil PaintStiks, sequin waste and a collection of bits and bobs for embellishments. Since the finished postcard must be no more than 1/4 inch thick I had to use only flat embellishemnts and even stacking and layering some this will be able to be mailed. All bits are glued and sewn in place to make sure it arrives safely via the post, even without an envelope. The class is still running at Joggles and a total of 12 Valentines are in the lessons, but I don't think I'll be able to stop making these. I may have to create a little fabric book for myself... they are just wonderful eye candy! To think I can add a message of love and snail mail them to a loved one makes them even better! What in the world took me so long to catch this fever?!!!

Another New Workshop!

Fiber Face Collage has just officially been finished... just in time, too as the last lesson was posted on Joggles today! But the class will run again September 15th at Doll Street. Here are some finished photos of faces created for the class and put on fabric journal pages. Above are Cate and Jasmine, each created from photos.

Rose and Celeste are above. Rose is created using all printed fabrics and Celeste actually wears fake eyelashes!

Jane and Bonnabell are next. Jane is a flapper and Bonnabell is just a beautiful chick.

Viola shows techniqes for making wild faces with unusual skin tones, where Ako shows Geisha style makeup.

This last one was the original piece and not completed the same way. The fabric colors show through the face a little but I loved the pattern and include it in the class as well. There are 10 face patterns, as well as instructions on how to create a unique face from scratch or from an existing photo for your fiber arts. I had a blast creating this class! Join in on the fun at Doll Street. Look for Creative College.