Busy Hands, Happy Heart

I am like a lot of you, dear readers, that can't seem to sit quietly without working on something.
My friends and family would say that I can't sit still and be quiet. Period.
Hmm...maybe they are correct.

I've been using up my eco dyed/natural dyed scraps (and I do mean scraps) on a small piece of handwork.
I used pieces that are about 2-3 inches long (and wide) and put them on a canvas base.
Then began stitching.
I also used my natural dyed threads (except one piece of rust DMC thread) and they look wonderful on the fabrics!
The natural dyes seem to glow from within.

I am using a hoop this time since the fabric weights are so different.
Here's a few in-progress peeks.

See the pieces of thread on the left?
All of those were dyed with plants and metals.

Rust stained thread

I couldn't help but slip this bold color of thread in...

Vintage homespun fabric!

Lovely rust

Colors of Iron

Cottons, linens, jersey

Looks like a bee hive

Silk

A monoprint from something in my bin of goodies

Rusted fabric, rusted thread

I took this thread out of my "rust bin" too early
but I couldn't help myself.
I have more cooking.

It's a work in progress for sure.

Found UFO's

No, not the flying kind but the kind that you put down one day never to pick up again.
The kind that gets buried under a pile of awesome stuff that you can't pass up nor part with.

I was going through a bunch of my supplies, trying to get rid of a few things and found a handful of rusted fabrics that had a few beginning stitches on them.

I think that I was going to make a sampler book, of sorts.
I do remember taking it to baseball games, sitting in the stands, stitching away - quite happy to be there with my handwork. But I don't remember exactly what I was working towards.

Do you ever do that? Just work on small pieces, figuring that you will do something with it later on?
I do that when I can't quite figure out what my mind is leading me towards but my hands insist on doing something.
I always save the scraps from fabrics and such that I rust and dye. Some of them are just too beautiful to discard.
The photo above is an example of one of the things that I do with them.
I layer then onto a base fabric (usually black) and then build a story on top of this.

I rust and stitch such things as discarded pantyhose.

Old cotton lace. Canvas. Sheer curtain panels. Your grandmothers silk slip (well, my grandmothers).
Drawer liner.

You just never know what's going to work (with dyeing or staining) until you try it.

I'm gathering all the bits and pieces of beautiful things that I find.
And then see what I can do to make use of them.

Remember that I sale packs of rusted media in my Etsy shop.
Check them out here.

Painting and Rusting

I've been doing a little bit of mixed media painting this week.
Getting ready to go to a local gallery tomorrow (!) to show my work for a possible "visiting artist" spot.
I've been a bit nervous and really excited (since they ask me to come!).
Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to show and sell my work there.
I'll be taking books, fiber collage pieces and mixed media paintings.
Here's a peek at three new pieces from the "It Takes a Village" series.

I'm also thinking about starting a batch of rusting this weekend...
My husband and I rusted a bunch of fibers (and things) last year but haven't done any since then.
I'm getting low on a couple of my favorite pieces...it should be perfect weather this weekend to throw together a batch of rusty goodness outside.

What's on your table today?

Surface Design

Can you believe it?
A new blog post for three days in a row...
That may be a record for me.
And that, in itself, is rather funny. Anyone that knows me, knows that I tend to talk a lot
(I saw all of you rolling your eyes!) but you would think that I'd have more to say.
And I do (have a lot to say) it just takes me SOOOO long to do a blog post.
I like to add links, and have accurate facts and go on and on about things.
Kinda like I'm doing now.
Hmmmm.
So, without muddling up the issue any longer, I'll get on with what I came here to post about.
Friends, fibers and those that are freaks about both.
No really.
I've added some photos of fabric (and fiber) that my friend Nancy Bruce rusted.
Now, you all know that I love rusty stuff (and rusting stuff) but Nancy has been doing this longer than I have.
I think she said for about 10 years.
That's a lot of time. And a lot of rusty stuff.
She found this really cool piece that was awesome to rust with at an antique/consignment shop that we all went to a while back.
Here's a beautiful scarf.


Another scarf - same kind actually but rusted under different weather conditions. Notice how the one below has a much heavier application of rust ( or rust color).



Look at that awesome pattern from the item that was rusting. I can just imagine all sorts of interesting uses for this fiber piece.

New Classes Scheduled

Well, Jane Powell (Random Arts) and I sat down yesterday and finally scheduled a couple more classes. Check the side bar for dates and links to her workshop site.
I did want to post some additional info about the classes.
The "Doodle Drawing" class is going to be so much fun! You can scroll back through my blog for pictures of various doodle journal pages that I'll be sharing. And I'll be teaching some of my "secrets" to drawing...it's fast, it's easy and it's fun.
We will be covering some ideas about finding inspiration - I promise, you will never look at things the same way again after this class!
We will cover the one thing that strikes fear in the heart of every artist - the dreaded "Blank Page Syndrome". I'll show you how to successfully get right over that...
We'll cover some techniques on coloring your drawings as well as putting all of it together in journal form (we won't be making a journal in this class- just ideas & examples of journals).

Now, to the fiber fix class..."Her Awakening" is a rust media wall hanging.
A true mixed media fiber piece, so if you've been wanting to dip your toe in the mixed media fiber art pond - this is your class.
Super easy - do not allow the use of a sewing machine to scare you away from this class!
It's best if you CAN"T sew a straight line in this class.
The price includes a kit.
In the kit you will find almost everything you need to make the wall hanging! All you need to bring is a sewing machine (I'll have mine to share), needles, thread,and a piece of black felt.
How's that for easy? Between myself and Jane, we'll have everything else you need! Even the transfer for the face! Of course, you can always draw your own...
So - there you have it.
Check out my class schedule - I've got a couple of "demo dates" posted as well.
Good price (free) and great value!

I went to the June meeting yesterday of the Fiber Art Alliance that I belong to. I'm going to try to do another blog post later about that. It is an awesome meeting at a very inspirational venue.
I took some pictures (we'll see if they turned out very good...) but will attempt to post them as well.
If you are a fiber artist (knitting, crochet, weaving, quilting, mixed media...) and you're close to Asheville you should really check us out. We meet the first Tuesday of the month at the Girl Scout Building. This month was a field trip for us. There are so many talented women in the group - and would welcome more!

Her Awakening

Well, I can finally post a few pictures of "Her Awakening",

my latest mixed media fiber art.

I used a lot of rust media that my husband and I rust dyed.

All of our pieces have this wonderful depth of color, don't they?

My husband is the one that does the good job there...

I'm much too, ummm, well,

let's just say that he is much more organized and methodical for that job.

Be sure to check out my Etsy shop for some great

fabrics.

I'll be adding Rust Media packs soon...just keep checking.

Or, better still, email me and ask about them!

Lots of yummy rust fibers such as vintage lace, kimwipes,

tyvek, drawer liners, fabric, sheers...

lots of really cool items that we have rusted.

And at a very economical price!

Here she is, with some close ups.

I drew the face on rust dyed Kimwipes,

which are low lint wipes used in industry.

They are so durable and strong...

we dyed them (in a wet environment), machine washed

and dried them in a lingerie bag. You can see that

it has a few areas that washed out

but is still intact and quite vibrant.

I use these wipes for so many different things in my studio...

anything from general clean up to

the main element of a mixed media fiber piece!

This is a close up of the hand dyed cheese cloth on the left hand side.

I don't usually do hand stitching but this piece insisted on it.

I found that I really liked it too...

kinda like a kitty "making bread", the stitching is a calming, stress free activity for me.

I'm sure I'll be adding more to my work.

Here is the small mixed media heart on the lower right hand side.

It is gilded with a gold pen.

Behind it is a piece of the paper fabric that I made

with the word "believe" adhered to it.

The fabric behind that was sent to me

from Pokey Bolten.

I won a blog give away and have

been hoarding the fabric

for just the right project.

This happened to be one of the

"perfect projects".

Thanks Pokey!

This is a vintage doily that we rusted and I

did some hand beading on.

And yes, I sewed a bead at each little

intersection of the doily.

From a distance, it looks like there is

just some type of shimmer...

but when you get closer,

you are rewarded with

a slew of teeny tiny seed beads!

Her Awakening

These are scanned sketches of the central face

in my new mixed media face.

I did tweak it some before the final sketch onto Kim Wipes.

Rusty Kim Wipes.

That I washed and dried in the machine.

Pretty cool look...

all rusty and vintage looking.

I'll try to post pictures

of the actual drawing soon.

She is just beginning to open her eyes

to the world around her.

Won't you welcome her?

I've Been Painting Again...

But it's a secret...
well, not really.
Only because my camera is not behaving...
For some reason, each time I try to take pictures,
you have to set it on a different flash setting to get a decent photo...
and then it's not that decent.
Go figure.
But, the Good News is this -
I've completed one of the fiber pieces
that I've been so busy with!
Great!

It's for a class at Random Arts.
A Rust Media Wall Hanging.
And I would love to share it with you
but
well, you know...
the camera issue...

But I can tell you this much.

It involves a stack of rusty strips of fabric, Kim Wipes, lace,

old tee shirts, pantyhose (new not used), tyvek,

drawer liner, mixed media fabric paper,

crocheted lace (by me!), gilded images,

drawn faces, beads, hand quilting

machine quilting and driftwood...

wow...

Doesn't that sound great?

All the rust dyed pieces have been

done by my husband and me.

Check out my teaching schedule

and

Random Arts for more details on this awesome workshop.

It truly is a

"One of a Kind" wall hanging!