Curious Bundles

Online classes are such a temptation, as the ability to learn from wonderful artists and instructors is easy and at our fingertips.  One can learn virtually anything - an endless menu of tutorials with eye candy samples and forums to share.  The problem for me is time.  There are only so many hours that I have at home - it is difficult for me to sit still and watch the computer for a long period of time.  

There are a few online workshops that have enticed me to register.  Most recently was Curious Bundles from Susie LaFond.  Her projects mix stitching, book making and journaling.  My favorites.  She has a whimsical, free style that appeals to me so I gave myself a push and signed up.  I watched her first project in the class step by step and followed along.  Cutting up old jeans and gathering scraps of bright fabrics formed the beginning of very creative project.

I think any level of stitcher can follow along with this class. I am happy with the results (above).   I made it a little shorter than Susie's samples, as I am only 5 feet tall and my cut up blue jean legs weren't very long! 

With pockets inside and out I can keep pages and mini journals as well as pens, stickers and anything else I fancy.  [the photos were taken on it's side so I could show the fringe).  I made a smaller bundle book without fringe for an Artsronauts swap.  Fun project.  Next up is to find the time to make one of the other projects.  

Not enough hours in a day!

Johanna

Ice Dyeing

I eat, sleep and breath fabric and crafting.  And as I always say, it makes me so happy.  Memorial Day rolled around and we quasi-planned the typical family outing of a boat ride and lunch.  Younger son didn't seem eager to go and after checking the marine forecast, neither did I.  I suggest to the husband that he and my older son have some quality time on the water, as they both wanted to go.  I got a little guilt but not much grumbling and off we went in our separate ways - me heading straight to my craft studio. A day off with free time, what to do?!!  Woo hoo! I decided to do some ice dying.

Prepped the muslin and got it all nice and smushy to take the melting  ice and make patterns.

Carefully prepared the dye.  No matter how neat I try to be, something other than the fabric gets dyed.

Covered the fabrics with ice cubes (a bag that I bought at the grocery store and smashed against the brick patio to crush it).

Added the dye to the ice and waited for it to melt.  Being a hot day in Florida that did not take too long.

Each piece of fabric gets rinsed and then washed in the machine. The results were fantastic!  I am hooked!  The question asked now is what will I do with them?  Good question!

Here is the result!  The colors in the photo are not exactly true to what they are in person, however they are bright, saturated, juicy colors and I love how they turned out.  12 fat quarters up on my design wall.  What do you create?!

You've Got Mail

Nothing like getting real mail, especially when it is art.  I used to participate a lot more when I had free time - when I was home with babies and could sit at the kitchen table and stamp and paste.  That was about the same time that our computer treated us to the phrase 'you've got mail' as we became addicted to the ability to communicate quickly and globally.  AOL is where I connected with other creative people around the US who exchanged mail art and had virtual groups and gatherings to facilitate the exchanges.  It was such a special and rewarding concept.

While it is so very tempting to sign up for the many swaps and exchanges that are so popular on blogs, Flickr and Instagram, I restrain myself from committing to projects that may overload me.  One swap that I have continued to participate in is the iHanna Postcard Swap.  I created 10 art postcards (above photo) and sent them to recipients around the world.  In the last week I have begun to receive wonderful pieces of art in my mailbox.  For me it is a manageable commitment that is enjoyment all the way around.

I also signed on to do a one time, one-on-one swap through the Artstronauts Facebook group.  I exchanged an art piece along with some ephemera with a like minded journal artist.  We decided to do a second swap and made journals for each other.  I absolutely adore what Laney made for me! A custom fabric journal holder with a hand painted and bound journal inside.  Love. 

I created a small version of a Curious Bundle journal (an online class that I took from Susie La Fond.  More information about that in another post.)  I truly enjoyed creating and exchanging and hope to do more down the road.  
creating something every day,
Johanna