A friend recently sent several stamped and canceled penny postcards from the early 1900s to me. I decided to use some of them to create valentine cards for family and friends. I used bits of fabric I machine stitched to the postcards, and created hearts cut from old book pages, and finished each one with a button and Washi tape. The embellished postcards are glued to ready made blank cards.
My sister visited me in Kentucky for a week, and we went to Paducah to attend a mixed-media workshop. We had so much fun rusting fabric & paper, creating cyanotypes on fabrics, Gelli printing papers & fabric, trying out a variety of supplies on different papers & fabrics, and decorating a little journal book. One of my favorite things to try was an antique dip pen, and I bought one to take home.
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| Our class at Ephemera Paducah |
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| Kristin demonstrating a technique |
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| Jodi and me hanging our cyanotypes to dry |
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| My decorated blank journal book |
This is a slow stitched tea dyed fabric piece that I stitched to a coffee dyed Momigami copy paper. I framed the finished piece since the Momigami paper is so fragile.
Caterina Giglio posted a YouTube video tutorial on how to create momigami - working paper until it’s soft like cloth, and then slow stitch pieces together.
I used gelli print scraps, and stitched pieces together using sashiko threads in three colors. It’s amazing how soft, and fabric like the paper gets.
The piece measures 4.25” x 5.5”.
Fabric Swatch Journal
published in Somerset Studio
by Stampington & Company
I submitted an art journal to Art Journaling magazine, and it was picked up by Somerset Studio magazine. Thay asked me to write an article about my journal, and to give step by step instructions to their readers so they will be able to create their own journal like this one.
I received a complimentary copy of the magazine that will be on the newsstands May 1. I took pictures of the magazine pages that I am in - six total.
I also photographed every page before I mailed my journal to the magazine. I haven't received my journal back from them as I write this, so I am not really sure I have the pages in their actual order. I thought I'd show you all the pages so that you can get a better look at everything.
My photos follow the magazine photos.
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| Magazine Cover |
My photos of the journal:
Valentine Post Cards
I made these Valentine Post Cards in January for my family. They are created to look like postcards, but I actually mailed them in handmade envelopes because the embellishments would not stand up to postal handling if they were sent as postcards. I had rubber stamps I used to achieve the postcard look, and I used a digital download from Etsy to make the faux postage stamps. The wallpaper embellishments are Tim Holtz, and I picked up the cute wooden hearts in Hobby Lobby.
Lately I've been trying my hand at creating journals. This summer I submitted this Sappho journal to Art Journaling magazine, and I was pleased that they included three pictures of the journal in the Gallery section of the Winter issue. One page has a picture of the journal front cover, and the other page has images of both the front and back inside covers.
The journal cover is a repurposed gift bag front the Getter Center in Los Angeles. The journal is tied shut with a piece of very soft antique ribbon. Sappho was a Greek poet, and I thought the image on the bag reflected Greek theme.
Later on, I think I will also include pictures I took in addition to the images that appear in the magazine. That will give you a look inside the journal.
India Chindi Rug Deconstruction
It's been a long time since I've written in my blog. I know the main reason is because I have to transfer photos from my iPhone to my computer. I thought it was very handy to be able to use the Blogger app on my phone, but Google did away with it.
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I belong to a group on Facebook where some of the members were talking about taking apart India Chindi rugs. The amount of amazing fabric you get from one $4 rug is phenomenal.
I bought my rug from At Home for only $4, and it was pretty easy to take apart. Mine didn't seem to be as dirty as a few of the women mentioned. Afterwards, I washed the fabric on the hand wash cycle in my washing machine, with mild detergent and fabric softener. I hung them on a drying rack to dry.
Here are a few pictures:
