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

Craft Sanity

Life happens - it can get crazy.  Sometimes I can't even believe some things are happening in our family.  But it does and we deal with it.  While I choose not to get into personal drama on my blog I can say that everyone is now okay.  I prefer to live my life with little or no drama if possible.  I make sure that I balance myself with creativity and you will hear me say that over and over again.  Getting lost in art is so healing and relaxing to me - it is what keeps me sane. 

After the most recent round of family issues I had the privilege of going out to join Teesha and Tracy Moore on one of their Art Romps.  I wasn't sure that I was going to go, and plans were not rock solid until I got on that plane.  With everything under control on the home front I was able relax in the best way for me. Turns out that all of us gathering together during those 3 days needed and deserved this getaway.

I slept on the plane and woke in time to see the mountains surrounding Seattle.  The land is so very different from Florida and is so breathtaking.  Majestic peaks rising above the clouds.  We landed a few minutes early and my bag came out first.  The hotel was clean and welcoming and I was able to get in touch with a fellow art romper for dinner.  All good things meant the start of a wonderful trip.  Kathy and I had a terrific Chinese dinner (Asian food is tops out here) and visited Starbucks after.  Starbucks here are huge - some serve beer and wine, have live music and fire places and most have a machine called a Clover that makes the coffee BETTER.  More on this later.

We arrived at the studio and were shown to our own work spots, complete with all the tools and pens one needs to get started on a creative journey.  We were shown lots of projects and possibilities and then left to choose (NOT an easy feat).  We also made it a priority to get some collage in our journals so we could take them with us in our evening out.  

 I took some photos of projects and the amazing environment where we worked.  Art heaven!  I loved seeing all of the art that Teesha and Tracy surround themselves with - both their own and other artist friends.  

I ended up on the tool bench having Tracy teach me to use drills and torches to construct a metal and leather journal!

I loved how it came out and cherish my new journal!  I enjoyed making it so much I decided I just had to make another.  So I did.

This time I made it mini and added a bail and chain for a journal to wear as a pendant.  And I got to play with the wood burning tool to texture the leather.  

There was an amazing selection of fabrics under the watchful eye of this owl, including custom printed fabrics made from Teesha's journal pages.  I found it dutiful to do a bit of sewing and fiber arts, so I created a felt and fabric 'thingy' with some of the custom journal fabric.  Perhaps I will sew it on to a bag.

I could fill this blog with lots of goodness from my trip but I won't overstay my welcome in your attention span.  Suffice it to say that it was the picture of a perfect weekend!

What I am Working On

I have taken a liking to hand work.  Hand piecing to be exact.  While I have no desire to create a large quilt by hand, I enjoy creating the small projects that are manageable for me to finish.

I took a class with Cindy Blackberg last year.  She has rubber stamps for her hand piecing patterns.  The have the cut line and the sew line on them and make the process easier (in my opinion).  Loved her technique.  This quilt uses her spool stamps combined with hand embroidery.  Almost finished (Steve is enjoying the project as well.)  

Seeing

I believe one quality that many artists posess is the ability to SEE - see objects and surroundings in a way that translates into art in their mind.  It becomes an automatic sense and fills and fuels their creativity and ability to move their visions into their chosen medium.

I have had the privilege of spending time with some artists that I admire and had the opportunity to follow them and see how they see.  I was fascinated to listen to their reactions to their surrounding and even mundane things.   They find inspiration in so many things and are able to save what they saw and recall it - bring it back and use it.

Last summer I spend a week with Kaari Meng, artist, designer, author and entrepreneur,at her annual retreat.  We were joined in the glorious South of France by a few other artists - her sister and friends. As expected we learned a lot in classes, creating bracelets. weavings and books.  I learned equally as much watching Kaari peruse the old linens in the market place - saw how and where she found her inspiration for her fabric collections.  The tattered bits of antiquity found their way into contemporary fabric because of her vision.

October brought Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably to our shop for a lecture and workshop.  He is a multi disciplinary artist with an earned reputation for the ability to create and combine bold pattern and color.  I immensely enjoyed following him around for an extra day and marveled at his reaction to the photographs in the hotel lobby and the sky before a storm over the Atlantic.  We visited museums and it was a treat to listen to their reactions and interpretations.  

While I enjoy taking classes and learning tips and techniques from creative people whom I admire, I believe the time spent with them simply listening and trying to see what they see is amazing.  I look forward to seeing what other artists see in the near future.

My creativity is mine.
All mine.

No one can take it away from me.  I don't depend on anyone for it.  It brings me security and peace.  It doesn't cost money.  I can share it but I can't give it away.  Sometimes it gets lost but it always comes back.

I think everyone has it.  Maybe at different levels.  Perhaps they don't recognize it or they suppress it.  That would be sad.  I can nurture and feed it.  Expand upon it.  

I watched a show this morning and it profiled a young artist.  He lost his eyesight  but never lost his creativity.  He nurtured his talents to raise over $1 million for charity with his art.  

Life is uncertain, unbalanced, unexplainable.  I can always find some stability and comfort with pens and paper and needles and thread.  The older I get the wiser I am to know that my creativity will be with me through my last breath.  It will be a constant part of travels and adventures during my forever.  Even as I write about it, I finish with a smile and a heart full of satisfaction.