A Blog Hop Featuring StencilGirl Stencils Designed by Jane LaFazio...

Eucalyptus

Pods

Hi Everyone!  Today I'm participating in another fabulous StencilGirl blog hop, this time featuring designs by Jane LaFazio.  I'm using her Eucalyptus stencil and her Pods stencil to create a journal page.

 

I started by drawing a simple frame around my journal page with a permanent black pen.  Then I started tracing some of the elements of the pods stencil within the border, and sometime allowing parts to extend outside of the border.

I then penciled in a quote by Henry Ward Beecher about Gratitude...did I mention that was the theme of the hop?  I like to pencil in my text before tracing it with permanent pen, just in case I mess up on spacing or such.

Time to pick up the other stencil (Eucalyptus) to trace the 'circle' images, this time using a red permanent pen.   I then added some doodles to turn those into flowers.

 Using my Tombow markers, I added colour.  On the stencilled areas, I brushed in colour (using the brush end) right on the page.  For other areas I put down some colour on the stencil plastic and then add a drop of water with the water brush before laying it down on the page.

 

I used this technique for the blue background areas as well as the little dotted flowers seen in this next image.




I also used the water brush to activate the Tombow colours in the stencil areas to achieve the watercolour effect.

 Back to my permanent black pen, I doodled stripes onto the border I made in the first step.

And here's the finished page (And yes, I'm also grateful for being able to ignore the drab November weather and create colourful gardens any time of year!):

StencilGirl Products is giving away a prize on their blog StencilGirl Talk. ALL comments left on ALL blogs are eligible to win. The more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you will have to be the lucky winner! 

The giveaway will close on Monday, November 11, 2013 @ 11:59 PM Central Time.

Here's the Blog Hop order...happy hopping!

StencilGirl Talk

Jane LaFazio

Mary Beth Shaw

Linda Kittmer-You are here.

Jenny Lee Cochran-Hop on over here next!

Kirsten Reed

Janet Joehlin

Corrine Gilman

Helen Shafer Garcia

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Ruth de Vos

Deborah Boschert

Julie Snidle

Mary C. Nasser

Progress on Shadows...

I've finished the hand stitching of the text on this 'Shadow' piece, and I've outlined the shadows themselves with back stitch.  

I had planned to fill in the shadows using tiny running stitches in the traditional Kantha style, but it just doesn't have the impact I want.  I think because of the texture of the actual fabric on which I transferred this image, those subtle stitches are lost.  I guess my next step will be to pull those stitches out and then figure out what I want to do instead.  

I'm also planning some machine quilting in the background, probably with a variegated thread that will blend in with the variety of golds, tans and browns in the image.  

Some many ideas, and so little time!  Dime is keeping me busy, as would be expected, but he's doing great.  I fit my stitching in during his naps, so I'm not as prolific as I was before he arrived.  Kind of reminds me of being a new mom. LOL  

Photo Inspiration for Fibre Art...

The other day, while out for a walk, I came upon this wonderful wall of vines and stunning red leaves.

 

And that was all the inspiration I needed for a new piece of fibre art!


I hope to start this piece soon.  I'll show you the progress as it comes together.
Have a fabulous week!

Stitching Finally Resumes on My Shadows Piece...

I've got a couple of pieces that I had been working on prior to my cycling accident in May, which had to be set aside because I couldn't do any hand stitching.  Then, even though I could have started to work on them again, I just couldn't seem to get back to them.

However, these days, thanks to our new little foster puppy, (see Monday's post), the only fibre art I seem to be fitting in to my day is a little hand stitching while he's napping.  It's a good thing that young puppies need several naps a day!

This piece began as an iPhone photo of my elongated shadow, taken one summer evening while I was out walking our dog, Casey.  I played around with it in Photoshop, transferred it to fabric, and now I'm adding stitch to complete the piece.

I'm almost finished with the text, and then I'll move on to my shadows.  I have a couple of ideas for what I might do to add some stitch to the shadows.  Hopefully I'll be able to share the results soon.

Still Adding Hand Stitch...

If you read Monday's post, you'll know I've been a little distracted from my art in the last week thanks to our new foster puppy, Dime.
I am managing to do some hand stitching while he naps, but when he's up it's pretty busy around here with play, training, and walks, etc.

I've just about finished the hand stitched texture I wanted to add to this piece, so I may have to set it aside for a little while before I can get to the machine work I have planned for it.  I can't imagine taking Dime into the studio so I can do some machine work at this stage...just too many dangerous things for the little guy to get in to!

In addition to the Sorbello stitch and the 'triple' stitch I showed you in a post last week, I've added some French knots and some very random cross stitches.

As you may have figured out from the photos I've shared, this piece will actually be made up of a number of smaller pieces (five to be exact) that will come together to make the larger piece.

Maybe I'll be able to share more on this piece by this time next week.

Until then, I'm going to pull out a piece I started working on back in the Spring, before my hand stitching was sidelined by the cycling accident and the resulting fractured wrist and injured finger.  It's based on a photo I took, and I'm excited about the direction it is going so far.

I hope you're all having a fabulous week!












Linking to WIP Wednesday.

Oh Look...A Distraction!

We've got a new little fellow in our lives.  I've become a foster 'mom' for a future dog guide puppy.  His name is Dime and he's 8 wks old.  He's very clever and is adjusting well to our home.  I do laugh at him when outside because he's very easily distracted by every leaf he sees, thus the title of the post.  Needless to say, being fall there are a lot of distractions outside. LOL

Casey seems to like him and they've already had a few great play sessions.  It's really hard to believe she's 13 yrs. old when you see her romping and wrestling with Dime!

Although he's crate training, and therefore sleeps in his crate, sometime after playing he does snooze with Casey for a bit before going into his crate for nap time.

Linking up with Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Blog Hop Featuring Cecilia Swatton's StencilGirl Designs...

I'm participating in another fun StencilGirl Blog Hop, this time featuring stencils designed by Cecilia Swatton!  I'm using Cecilia's "Swatton Grid" and "Mimosa 6" stencils today.

6" x 6" Swatton Grid

6" x 6" Mimosa

Sometimes you have to work smarter, not harder, so today I'm doing just that.  I'm thinking ahead to the busy Christmas season, and I want to make my own gift tags this year.  I also want to get my November art journal calendar spread done, so in comes the 'smarter'.  

I cut a bunch of these little tags out of card stock, hole punched them and then pulled out may art journal calendar.  

I spritzed some yellow Dylusions ink spray on the page and used a baby wipe to swirl it around a bit.  

Then I arranged the tags onto the page and the fun began.

Since November can be such a dark, gloomy month, pulled out my bright spray inks and sprayed through Cecilia's stencils to create some beautifully colourful patterns on the page.

Here you can see me spraying some grass green through the "Swatton Grid" stencil.

After creating all of that fabulous background colour and texture, I removed the tags and set them aside.

I pulled out my Liquitex paint markers and added some outlines and numbers, etc. to the calendar spread.

Then I added some extra texture to the journalling blocks by stencilling some white through the stencils, alternating  "Mimosa 6" and "Swatton Grid" 

I added the name of the month and the year and the calendar spread was done.

And now to get back to those Christmas tags I was making... I added some doodles to the beautifully patterned tags using a gold Pearl Pen and all they need now is a pretty bit of gold yarn and they're ready to go!

I hope you've enjoyed your stop here!  Remember there's a giveaway on the 

StencilGirl Talk blog and Cecilia will also have a giveaway of her own on her blog.  

ALL comments in the entire hop are eligible to win. 

The more blog's you comment on (one comment per blog please), 

the more chances you have to WIN! 

The giveaway will close on Sunday, October 27th at 11:59PM Central Time.

StencilGirl Talk

Cecilia Swatton

Linda Kittmer-you are here

Linda Cain-hop over here next...

Carolyn Dube

Corrine Gilman

Judy Shea

Kirsten Reed

Jessica Sporn

Maria McGuire

Adding Texture With Hand Stitch and Revamping the Group Of Eight's Blog...

Last week I posted about some inspiration I got from some wonderful threads my friend Heather gave me. Well, it would seem other art has been set aside and this has been my focus for the last couple of days.  I designed and pieced the components of this new piece, yet to be named, and I've been adding some texture with hand stitch.  I'm really enjoying using the Sorbello stitch (thanks again to Heather for teaching it to me!). I'm also adding other hand stitch to various areas before I move back to the machine to add some dense quilting.  I'm still amazed that this all started because my friend gave me a pretty skein of interesting thread! (Leah, I believe this is what you'd call a squirrel. LOL)

But, prior to working on this piece, the weekend was spent revamping the Group of Eight Fibre Artists blog.  Please pop by to see the new format, learn more about our fibre art group  and 'meet' the other artists in the group.  There are a few artists I'm still working with to get photos taken of their work, but most of the galleries are ready for viewing!

I'm linking to WIP Wednesday at Needle And Thread Network.

Play Unplugged...

Here's my latest mixed-media piece which I've called 'Play Unplugged'.  It was inspired by a paper doll app (for use on smart phones and tablets) that I stumbled upon one day while looking for something online.

I have posted a tutorial about the making of it over on the StencilGirl Talk blog.  I used Sue Pelletier's fabulous Loose Dress series of stencils to create the three adorable 'paper' dresses!  I hope you'll pop over to read more about the process and some of my thoughts behind it.

Today's Post Is Brought To You By The Colour Red...

Red is one of my favourite colours, especially this time of year when it's in the form of vibrant red leaves!  

On Saturday it was raining and as I sat at my desk in my studio, I kept noticing the beautiful maple across the street, blurred by the rain on my window.  It was fun experimenting with the focus as I took these shots.  Notice how green our grass is!  All this rain is certainly making keeping it happy...unlike those who have to keep going out to cut it. ;o)

Is this not the most beautiful stone house?  I love the wonderful neutral tones and then that bright pop of colour on the front door.  I pass this house sometimes when I'm out cycling, so I decided I should bring along my camera along on one of my rides.