The Life of a Dandelion

I've been working in the garden today, adding mulch to all the beds to clean things up and hopefully deter some of the weeds that seem to flourish in our garden.  Before my husband had a chance to pull them all, I took some photos of the dandelions in their various stages of development so that I could play with the tutorial Kim gave us in Beyond Layers this week.  Now all I need to do is to figure out how to slow it down so it's not quite so dizzying to look at.

Update: still trying to learn how to slow down the gif, but I did figure out a trick that seems to help.

Update #2:  I learned another Photoshop trick from Kim so I've added this multi-image shot of the same photos used in the animation.

Sneak Peek

 Sadly some sort of a computer glitch has caused all of the images in this post to disappear, and I am unable to correct the problem.  Sorry!
It seems like such a long time since I showed you any fibre art.  Well, it's not that I haven't been working on any, but rather what I've been working on is taking a long time.  I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek at what the piece is starting to look like.  Here are a couple of close-ups of two different areas on the piece.



A few years ago I bought this little package of buttons at the dollar store and there were a few 'rejects' that had only 1 hole, or in one case 3 holes.  That might be a problem for a seamstress or a tailor, but for me it was a great windfall.  Isn't this one fun with the stitching and little beads in the centre to fill that lonely hole.

Hopefully I'll be able to post the finished piece in the next week or so.  I hope I've piqued your curiosity. :o)

What I Was Up to Today...

Sadly some sort of a computer glitch has caused all of the images in this post to disappear, and I am unable to correct the problem.  Sorry!

Back in February, I posted a tutorial about making your own washi tape.  Well, I was running low so it was time to make some more, but having had some time to think about it, I have made a few changes to the process.

I started by cutting my tissue paper into smaller, more manageable pieces.  I made them about 6 inches long and the width of 4 strips of my double sided tape, plus a tiny bit more for wiggle room.  I then put the four strips of tape, side by side, on the tissue paper.

Last time, I stamped the tissue before taping it (with not protection on my ironing/work surface) and you can see I have a permanent record of that day's efforts! LOL

Today I put the tape on the tissue paper first, which I found made the process faster and easier (and less messy).

I also lined my work area with newspaper, just in case, but with the tape on the back, the ink doesn't come through.

Here they are before and after I cut them apart.  Aren't all those wonderful colours just the best!

The other 'studio' time today was spent doing some tidying and organizing.  A few years ago I found this wonderful old post office unit at a big outdoor antique market.  I thought it was perfect for housing fat quarters, and smaller pieces of my hand-dyed fabric.  There are 90 little cubbies in the unit, so I've found there's room for some little bins of various art supplies too.  The glass doors keep the dust out but still let me see what I have inside.

 Today I got busy reorganizing and labelling those bins.  Here's a close up of some of those wonderful little bins of 'stuff'.

And my nicely filled bin of washi tape!

Anniversary Greetings

This is just a quick post today to show you another greeting card I made.  This one combines some of the fun new skills I've been learning in Joanne Sharpe's classes on lettering.  I had a lot of fun creating a beautiful background paper, lettering and then adding my own handmade washi tape to add some accents.   

Bravery Personified

In Kim Klassen's Beyond Layers this week, the focus is on bravery.  Although this can mean so many different things to so many people, the first image that comes to mind for me when I think of bravery is a firefighter.  As the quote I used in this piece suggests, just the fact that someone chooses to become a firefighter is a phenomenal act of bravery.

This photo was taken last summer when I was out cycling and I came upon the tragic fire in the town of Magnetawan.  Sadly, the general store and 'June's Restaurant' as it was known to locals, was lost to the fire.
Note:  It was a really hot summer day. Add to that the heat from the fire and it must have been sweltering in that uniform!

This post has been linked to Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesdays, Photo Art Friday, and Photo Friday Link Party.  You might be interested in taking a look at some of the other photography that is being shared on these sites.

Bead Journal Project: April

Well, here it is just past the middle of April, and my Bead Journal Project piece is done!  As you may remember, I am taking my colour inspiration each month from Vicki's Colour Palette Challenge, and this month the colours came from mouldy pie.  Yes, you read that correctly.  As disgusting as it sounds, the colours are actually wonderful.

I started with some fun bugle beads that were the perfect colour combination as well as a piece of whale bone that my friend Heather bought for me a couple of years ago while she was visiting my cottage.  The spokes represent my bike since I try to cycle about 30-50 km (19-31 miles) each day, and the whale bone represents the centre hub of the wheel with the chain circling the gear. 

I then made a bunch of meandering paths to represent the various routes I cycle, to give it sort of a map view. 

Once the paths were complete I just filled in all of the background area with the neutral coloured beads.

And, here's this month's finished piece.

 Four months done and eight to go...

I love how the spiral is coming together.  I'm starting to think about how I will mount this for hanging since the beads are pretty heavy and once the twelve months are complete the total weight will be significant.  Oh well, I've still got eight months to worry about that. LOL

GOE To St. Jacobs

I'm excited to announce that my fibre art group, GOE, will be showing our work at The Mill (3rd floor) in St. Jacobs May 22-26, 2012, during the Quilt & Fibre Art Festival Waterloo Region & Beyond.

Spring Beauty

I love the beautiful magnolia trees that are all in bloom these days, marking the signs of new life as we enjoy warm Spring days.  I took this photo with my iPhone while I was out for a walk with my dog, Casey.

I have used a couple of beautiful textures in my processing of this photo.  One is a wonderful watercolour texture, called "I Am", which was created by Kim Klassen.  The other is a fabulous texture that includes text.  It's called "Antique Farwell" and it's by Bonnie Zieman of Pixel Dust Photo Art.   My goal in my processing this week was to soften the image while adding a bit of colour to the grey of the wooden fence.  I love the added interest that the writing provides the image.

Mouse over photo to see the 'before' image.

A Little Rain Must Fall

Today while waiting for bread to rise I had some fun creating another journal page.  I used a background spread I had done a while ago and added a wonderful quote by Longfellow.  Considering the grey clouds outside, it just seemed like a good choice.  I started by adding an umbrella cut out of a page of text and then I added the quote.  

Because I often end up leaving out words as I write, I thought it would be safer to write the quote in pencil first and then go over it with my Pitt pen.   

And finally, the finished piece, complete with a few clouds and raindrops.  It's hard to see in the photo, but the raindrops are made with metallic pens which give them a bit of shimmer.  If only all rainy days could be this bright and colourful!

GOEs Recent Activities

I'd like to invite you to drop by the Group of Eight Fibre Artists' blog to see what we've been up to.  We recently shared our Steampunk Challenge pieces and I posted photos on our group blog.  You might also be interested in seeing the ATCs we made for our April swap.