Collage

I took some pics of a collage I started a couple of days ago. I frequently make bases and then let them age for awhile as the plan for them grows. OK, usually there's no plan whatsoever, I admit it. How about: until the Muse strikes? She takes her time about it, and doesn't usually strike too hard. That must be the reason I'm generally unsatisfied with my results. Maybe I need to get a new Muse. Serendipity, for instance. She seemed fun. (If you didn't see Dogma, that just fell flat).
On to the Collage: I started with a 4 x 6 inch board I'd painted blue. I then decided I didn't like the blue just then, and wanted a greener colour. I didn't paint too heavily, so some of the blue would show through.

I then found out that crackle medium doesn't work too well on primed board and thin coats of paint.

After that, I gave it a spritz of Espresso Adirondak Ink to see what that would do.
I liked it, so I let it dry. Then, I applied Mod Podge very thickly. I've got to work on the order of things. If I'd applied it lightly, I would have smeared the Adirondak Ink. Maybe a spray medium in those cases first to hold the ink. Oh - important tip - don't knock over the Mod Podge container. That's where that thick coat came from. All over the darned thing!

I'd finally bought some Walnut Ink (why? because every time I read an article about ageing, it's there. Do I know how to deal with it yet? Heck, no! That can come later) so I used the dropper it came with to put dots of the ink onto the drying medium. I also found a bit of copper wire I pressed into a particularly thick glob of it, and did the same with some paper scraps sitting on the table.

My camera batteries are recharging, so you'll have to come back to see a picture of the dry collage base- shameless, I know.
Now, back to that CQ I was doing a couple of posts ago. I'm on to beads and buttons.

Happy 2008

A great start to the New Year. The predicted snowstorm wasn't bad here and my studio is getting marginally tidier every day. I bought a shoe organizer on sale this weekend, and have attached shipping labels by clothespins to each pocket. I'm going to put rubber stamps in it, I think, and will stamp each shipping tag with the stamps in their pockets.
I organized my postcards into a sample album for the store I'll be teaching at,
and am working on the Crazy Quilt square for the CQ class. It's coming along well, and I found the silk fibres I got at Greenwood Quiltery during the retreat - the colours are perfect for it. I'm using lots of varietgated threads, and I've figured out how to take a decent closeup with the camera finally. My garden pictures should be better next summer because of it.
Speaking of Greenwood, I promised myself by the end of today the pictures of Eggplant #1 would be in the Greenwood emailbox. That's going to be the next thing I do after this post. In the next couple of days, I'll post pictures I've been taking as I've been working on a collage. Because of the matte medium incident, however, it'll be drying for quite awhile before I can continue with it.
I've added the Fiber Art Traders link to the blog, too. I highly recommend joining if you want to learn great techniques and stretch yourself. If you do, let me know!

My Studio

I've had a productive weekend for a change - I made the mistake of having coffee with a friend after work Friday night, which left me wide awake until about 1:30. I worked on some altered books, fibre postcards and made paper beads while watching an episode of Poirot on YouTube.

Mark Lipinksi inspired me to take pictures of my studio (sounds awfully fancy, doesn't it?). Until I saw it through a lens, I had no idea it was in such awful shape...ok, maybe I did. Since confession is good for the soul (though I'm an Anglican), here goes:

Wow, I really have alot of stuff!

You can see my Dear Jane quilt sitting out just waiting for more hand quilting to be added in. I've got to get cracking on that!
The one thing I need more of is light. A couple of good lights in the ceiling would be terrific.

I bought basic IKEA shelving (the kind for the garage) and painted each piece a different colour - blue, green, pink, yellow. I'd like to get even more of it and cover the wall with the armoire - which I got from a friend years ago. Also good storage, but the deeper shelves would make things look neater. Yup, that's why the room's a mess. Not enough IKEA shelving. That's it!

I love this storage closet.
I made a couple more coffee cozys recently - one for a wonderful co op student at work who is also a part time Barista at a Starbuck's. She kindly brought me in some coffee to try for the second time! A whole pound, I mean! That deserves a wardrobe of coffee cozys, I think.


I made some Inchies recently and had fun with the background. I used a bleach pen and a harlequin stamp to create the pattern on this already cool looking fabric. I did a bunch of stitching in swirls using variegated thread, then cut them apart and kept embellishing. Lots of fun. I should go assemble a CQ background, as there's a two hour Miss Marple coming on - great stitching opportunity.