Happy Halloween and More to Come!!!

So that's it for today!  Here's wishing you all a Happy Halloween and Happy Samhain and Happy Dia de los Muertos!  I hope to be blogging more as I get ready to roll out my greeting cards and books!  Wish me luck!

Now for the fun stuff!

I was able to take a few online art classes, and continue to do so.  If you look under my Labels on the left to "Old Work" and scroll down, you will see the kind of art I did a long time ago.  I knew I wanted to loosen up my art as I am looking to get back to my roots & create some whimsical greeting cards.  And to dig out those old children's books I started way back when, and get them finished up & ready to get published!  Hopefully this will help with recovering some of my medical expenses in a really fun way!

The first class I took (and am still involved in) is called "Doodle Arts and Lettering".  It's offered by Joanne Sharpe and you can find her at Whimspirations here:  joannezsharpe.blogspot.com   She has been a teacher forever (sorry Joanne!), and is wonderful and inspiring!  Just what I need to loosen up!

So here are some of my homework pieces from her class:

First, in a little ring book of 100 pages, she gave us prompts for making our own doodles.  It was hard for me to doodle!  I wanted to make things look real!  So it was good to get out of my comfort zone!  These are just a few pages:

Leaves

 Hearts

 Stars

 Flowers

And here are some of the lessons:

The one below wasn't from the class.  

I just did it when I had a headache & needed some relief!

Doodling is very zen!

 Before

After 

Before

After

 This was a birthday card for my mom.

The inside reads:  You can wear purple!

Earth Goddess Diva

I'm still finishing up on the lessons in the class!  Her next class, "Draw Your Awesome Life" starts at the end of October!  Luckily her classes are "forever classes", so like buying a book, you have access to them forever!  Whoot!

Dream Pillow

May 2013
My dear little sister saw one of these and wanted a Dream Pillow of her own.  She said she'd even pay me to make her one!  Well, I decided to make her one for her birthday.  She liked it, but not sure about her hubby!  LOL!  The herbs are sleepy time herbs & not as "sweet" as some would like!  Here's some pics of the process:

First I readied the materials I'd use.

Then I trimmed the felt to size.

I used a disappearing ink pen to draw in the sun.

You may have to click on the pic to see it.

I stitched the outline of the sun.

Then added yellow rays to the sun.

Added some orange rays to the sun.

Then I sewed up 3 sides of the pillow.

Separated 7 different herbs and spices into wooden bowls.

Used my spoons from Turkmenistan to scoop herbs.

Here's a close up of the 7 herbs and spices I used.

The herbs and spices I used were chamomile flowers, 

lavender, patchouli leaf, cinnamon chunks, 

whole coriander, pink rose buds, and cloves.  

Do you know which is which in the pic?

I added some alpaca batting to the bottom edge & sides.

Then I added the herbs and spices.

Added more alpaca batting after hiding a couple shells

and some beach glass among the herbs & spices.

Sewed the top closed and the pillow was ready to mail

Hope you enjoyed this small tutorial!

Ron's 70th Birthday!

This was during March 2013...

My oh my!  It's hard to believe my DH is 70!  I decided to make him a scrapbook with notes, cards & pics from his family & friends.  So I sent out an email & had everyone send their stories, wishes, memories to my sis in WA state so he wouldn't suspect anything.  Then she sent me all of them in one box!  (Thank heaven for good little sisters!)  :)  I got busy with the book I called "A  Little Rough Around the Edges"!  Here's some pics of the process:

Set up on a table with pages, letters, stickers,

stamps, inks, cut-outs, glue, etc.!

First page...A Little Rough Around the Edges.

And there was a lot of overflow in the studio!

And here's one of Ron reading each page!

And he really did read each page!

He also got a new pal for the year!

And of course he made a wish!

Thanks to everyone who helped make his birthday special!

Flannel Hearts WIP

Been working on some flannel hearts.  Want to sew & clip a bunch up before I throw them in the washer & dryer.  When they're done, the hemmed edges will be all curly.  Here's the process:

Make a template, cut out hearts, pin & sew hem

Sew hem

Stuff

Sew Opening Closed

Clip hemmed edges being careful not to cut stitching

One flannel heart done & ready to get curly

Now I just need to finish sewing up the rest

then wash & dry them to their curliness!  :)

Soap Saver for DH

My DH asked me to make a soap saver for our shower.

I usually use hemp, but decided to try cotton.

We'll see how this one works!

He already put the soap slivers in it!

And he still goes on!

Here are a few pics of Ron's WIPs 

& where he ended up putting his afghan:

He tried it on our Queen bed

But decided to put it on our double guest bed

Ron's Granny Zia WIP

Another WIP he's doing

My DH is on a break now 'cuz he has to do taxes.

But I'm sure he'll be back!

Creation Vacation!!

So, what have I been working on for 3 months?  Besides the other stuff you'll see on my blog, I've been making a book bag for a pal of mine.  (Actually it started as a cover but it morphed into a bag!)  It was her birthday, she retired & is travelling to Artfest in WA state.  So I hope she can use it.  And I hope she likes it!  Here's some pics of the process:

Baste & stuff block

Make a rolled edge around block

Randomly quilt block

Stitch blocks together

Deciding where to put blocks

Stitching on the hemp strap DH made for me

Strap & bag stitched closed

Latch hooking around base of strap

Adding a special shell from Kaua'i

Getting journal & card ready to go in bag

Finished front of bag

Finished back of bag

This bag is special to me & I hope to my pal.  All the blocks are made from fabrics we traded with each other.  So there's a little bit of both of us in this.  Plus the special loomed hemp strap my DH did and one block that another pal wanted to include.  

I had sworn I'd never make another quilted purse or cover, but then I saw this process in various books I have as well as on Teesha Moore's site.  You can see more of her site here.  This is the last year she will be at Artfest.  I also used other ideas from the books I had.  But I think this may be the last one I make!!!!!  They are very time consuming, but this is filled with lots of love!  Even if it's wonky!