Excitement Returns...

I've got to confess, it's been a long time since I've been excited about a piece of fibre art. I seem to have been in some sort of a slump and I just couldn't seem to find motivation or excitement to produce.

Yesterday I showed you the beginnings of this challenge piece and I was initially pleased with how the brick wall was progressing. However, on further reflection I wasn't happy with how flat it looked. Out came the Inktense pencils and my water brush, as well as some music to listen too...I literally spent hours doodling and shading and I am so excited about how this is working out that I just had to pop in and show you the wall I've 'built'.

I started out with a lot of thread sketching/doodling, using a variegated gray/brown thread.











Using Derwent Inktense pencils* I began to add some shading to give my bricks more dimension.

*If you don't have these in your art supplies, you really must get some!







All that remains is a crazy amount of hand stitching...I can't wait to show you the finished piece after our group reveal on June 10th!

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Street Art Challenge...

The next challenge for our Group of Eight Fibre Arts group is 'Street Art'. It seems this is an especially challenging challenge for the members of our group! After several false starts, I have finally found something that is going to make me happy, and I've come to the conclusion that if every street artist first had to 'build a wall', there might be a lot less graffiti around. LOL

So far I have killed a few spools of thread in the making of this art quilt, from the brick wall to the lettering, there is a lot of thread sketching/doodling going on! 

The reveal for this challenge is at our June 10th meeting, so I've got to get busy finishing this piece before I head off for a week long workshop with Amanda McCavour next week. Fingers crossed (you cross yours for me please...I have a lot of hand stitching to do) I get finished!

I'll tell you about the Amanda McCavour workshop when I get back, but until then, enjoy visiting her website.

All It Needs Is A Name...

It's been almost another month, but this piece is finally finished. I showed you the work in progress here and I've finally finished the last bit of hand stitching. I'd love your suggestions for a name...I'm completely at a loss for what to call it.

It's made entirely from my hand dyed and indigo dyed fabrics and threads (except for the machine thread). I love the contrast of the tight machine quilting and the seed stitches on the background piece.

If you've got an idea for a name, please leave your suggestion in the comments. Thanks!

Here are a few detail shots:

DLP Week 20: Modelling Paste...

...or not! This week's Documented Life Project prompt was to use modelling paste and the theme was 'rising to the occasion'. 

I certainly feel that Yoshi, my Lions Foundation of Canada future dog guide puppy has risen to the occasion. She is an incredibly beautiful, gentle puppy and on Monday I returned her to Dog Guides so that she can begin her formal training as a service dog. She will be training to work with a person who has a physical or medical disability, possibly someone in a wheelchair, although not necessarily.

The "or not" comment is because I was so involved in moment, creating this page that I completely forgot to use modelling paste, and I love how it turned out, so I'm leaving it as is!

My friend Marilyn accompanied me for the drop off and took lots of pictures of this milestone event in the life of this fabulous dog guide in the making. Thanks Marilyn!

DLP Week 19: Stitching...

I'm catching up with my DLP journal and this week was all about using fun bright bits of papers I had lying around. The Documented Life Project prompt for week 19 was 'stitching' so I machine stitched together several strips of various under papers and Gelli printed papers. These became my lines on which I wrote the weekly quote, this time used exactly as it was. I also had a sheet of silly stamped characters that I thought fit the theme of 'a life full of laughter' so I collaged them in, traced over some of the lines in black to make them pop a bit more (I had initially stamped them in blue acrylic paint). Some scribbly doodles here and there and I called it done...sometimes you just have to play and not take things too seriously!

Monday was the day I dropped Yoshi off to begin her formal training as a dog guide. I was missing her, and thinking about all three of my foster puppies, so I created this collage of them to be used as my iPhone lock screen image. I love their faces, which capture the different personalities so well.

Wafer and I have been missing Yoshi, but we've had a wonderful week of cuddling and playing together, sharing our undivided attention with one another. We're proud of our girl Yoshi, and know she's going to be great at 'puppy university'!

DLP Week 18: The Fabric of Our Lives...

I seem to be falling a bit behind with my documented life project...life (and all new windows installed in our house) have side tracked me this week. The Documented Life Project prompt for week 18 was to use fabric and the quote was a phrase...'the fabric of your life'.

This is one of my favourite photos of my four older brothers and I, taken over fifty years ago (gasp!). I had tucked it into the front cover of my DLP journal a few months ago, knowing that I wanted to use it once the right prompt came up. Keeping to the old family photo idea, I printed out some other favourite shots and used the film strip washi tape to present them. I just love that washi tape!

DLP Week 17: Playing With Inks...

The week 17 Documented Life Project challenge was to use inks. I have a good collection of acrylic inks, spray inks, Tsukineko inks, Posh Rainbow Inks by Ranger, Inktense pencils (love these!!!), India inks...you get the idea...so this week's challenge was just about pulling out the media and playing. 

Yoshi and Wafer were most interested as I added the final doodles while enjoying the beautiful evening out on the deck.


Here are a few close ups, followed by the full page spread.  

Happy Mother's Day! 

DLP Week 16: A Lot On My Plate...

The week 16 Documented Life Project challenge had us using Gelli plates for printing, and the theme was "A lot of my plate". Ironically, this page is a couple of weeks overdue because...yes, I've had a lot on my plate. LOL

Ontario Network of Needleworkers (ONN) Conference

Yesterday I participated in the 2015 ONN conference, hosted by the Canadian Embroiderers' Guild, Guelph chapter. It was another well organized and productive meeting. Thank you to all who were involved in organizing the day!

In addition to the meeting itself, each guild attending sets up a display of of members' work to showcase what they have been doing, so I thought I'd share with you our display. There are only nine of us in our Group of Eight Fibre Artists group, but I am always awestruck by the incredible talent and versatility of our members!

For those of you keeping up on my foster puppies, that is 4 month old Wafer, practising her down-stay in the first photo.

The beautiful Miss Yoshi will be going off to puppy university in a couple of weeks to begin her formal training. She has been selected for the SSD program which means she will be working with an individual with a physical disability when she and her client graduate. I couldn't be more proud of her. She is an incredible puppy and will make someone's life so much better!