Stage Two Rose Applique

I've been working on a small quilt for Fiber On A Whim donation/It's A Journey, to benefit breast cancer research. I posted a picture of the original sketch on my blog. Here is a picture of the actual piece in fabric.

I used hand dyed batiks on all the fabric. I utilized Wonder Under as my fusible webbing medium. I prefer this type as it is fairly flexible and doesn't show needle holes quite as readily as other brand names. Some of the cheaper ones really harden as they get older. I've had that trouble with Heat & Bond. I stitched the leaves & stem down with the smoke colored invisible thread and the rose petals with the light or clear invisible thread. I used a tiny Microtex Sharp Needle (60/8) to try and diminish the needle punctures as much as possible.
I then started out with Neocolor II crayons as my shading medium but wasn't pleased with how that turned out. I then turned to the Golden Acrylic Paint that I purchased at Random Arts (http://www.randomartsnow.com/). The Alizarin Crimson Hue mixed with Matte Gel worked great on the shading. I love how the Golden paints do not lose their pigment when you mix them with other mediums.I didn't have a green paint (in the Golden colors) so I just went with the Neocolor II crayons on the leaves. I did highlight them with Lumier Metallic Olive + Matte Gel. You can see the shimmer on the picture. It is also on the rose itself. I used the Pearl White mixed with above Golden Paint and gel.
Now all I have to do is decide on which letters to use...I have a bunch of leather coasters (made from actual baseballs) that I covered with gesso then painted with acrylics. I hand lettered each tiny little square with really beautiful font that is a mix of a couple that I have seen here, there and yonder. I also made a set out of tiny quilt sandwiches...fabric ones that I hand drew then filled in on the sewing machine. I don't have an embroidery module, so I had to do free motion embroidery. You can see a little bit of it in the above pictures. The one in the pictures hasn't been finished around the edges though.

Any creative feedback is welcome.

Random Arts Store

My friend, Paula and I went to Saluda NC this past Thursday on a Retail Therapy Expedition. My primary focus was this tiny little art / mixed media shop in town called Random Arts. I had read about it in Cloth Paper & Scissors and visited their web site...but NOTHING prepared me for the veritable feast that had been laid out when I arrived!

Here you have a small, picturesque mountain town with beautiful views, shops that carry local artisans work, scrumptious restaurants (The Purple Onion...a MUST try), and rather quiet old-timey grocery stores...The streets are bumpy, the shade from the trees a welcoming site as you stroll along the main sidewalk, shopkeepers wave as you pass. Things feel slower, um, more laid back, you know ...relaxed.

Then.....

you turn to the doorway of Random Arts. Open the door slowly please because the sound will blow you away...

Sound?

What sound, you may ask?

Why, it's The Sound of Music ...as in Music To My Ears...My Eyes...My Senses...This place is AWESOME! I can honestly say that I have never been in a shop like this before...never had so much fun just visiting in a shop as this.

Jen was there (Jane, the owner, had a yucky dental appointment) and man, was her excitement contagious! She ia so cool, from her sparkly green eyes (right Jen?) to her handmade batik bracelet , right down to her tiny little toe...this girl is The Bomb. Lol! She has more talent in her Little Toe than most people have in their whole head! And judging from what I saw of Jane's artwork, she is afflicted with the same malady.

The walls, the ceiling, most of the floor is covered with a plethora of mixed media goodies that by the time I left, I feared I would swoon. I couldn't focus on one thing before darting to another and another...and so on.

It is, without doubt, The Store Of My Dreams. If you could add Random Arts to Fiber On A Whim you WOULD have The Perfect Store.

I could have stayed there all day, laughing, talking and learning from Jen but we had two other places that we had to go while in NC. I WILL go back! I will make sure that I have lots of time next time though.

They had all kinds of ephemera, found objects, art supplies (Golden products! Yeah!), rubber stamping supplies and notions, papers...oh, the handmade papers are to DIE for! Ribbons, tags, charms, buttons, patches, books, paints, lions, tigers and bears, oh my!

You MUST go!

I had had several Golden Products on my "list" that I carry about with me. You just can't find them anywhere around here so when I can upon them , I started lining them up on the counter. Jen demoed most of them for us, the rest she talked us through. The paint is awesome! I wondered why everyone always said that their paint was the best...now I know. The pigment is so bold, so concentrated that if you mix water with red paint...it doesn't turn pink like most paint does, it just gets a bit thinner...the color stays the same. How cool is that?

Anyway, I had to share this with you all. Oh, I didn't even mention that they have awesome workshops with really well known and talented artists! This is one time that "Too good to be true" is just not true. It's real. It does exist.

Random Arts at http://www.randomartsnow.com/ or visit their blog at http://www.randomartnotes.blogspot.com/.