artsy-crafty babe

on the agenda

Well, friends, I've decided that this is going to be a crafty week.  Last week I proved to myself that I can keep the house in order if I do a little bit each day, so this week I'm adding some craft time to the mix (good idea in theory).  This will involve putting my knitting down (my usual week night craft), but I'm at a boring point on this particular knit, so I could use the break (so what if I just took a break to make a skirt!). 

The Craft Hope deadline is quickly approaching, so I need to get busy on that.  I made the quilt top this weekend, so now it needs to be quilted and bound.  I like how this one is coming together, even though I'm not using my favorite fabrics - that's always a pleasant surprise.  Because I want this finished in time, I'm going with a simple solid back.  This is my #1 priority this week.

Tomorrow night I have another painting event at Corks-n-Canvas.  This time I plan to go out on my own a little.  Maybe.  We'll see how brave I am once I have a glass of wine or two.  I'm not super in love with the scheduled painting, but I'm looking forward to hanging out with the girls for a few hours.  Even if I do stick to the plan, I figure the painting will look cute in the girls room with all that purple.

I still have my bloomers skirt on the brain and would love another one.  I have my fabric and stencil picked out for my second version (bluish purple & aqua), but I'd like to try something different first.  I'm not exactly sure yet what I want to do, but it will involve heather gray jersey.  

 
For some reason, I have way more cotton jersey in my stash than I remembered (not all that pictured above is cotton jersey, but there is a good bit of it).  I may end up with a plain solid skirt, but that's okay.  It will still be fun having an unexpected colorful under layer.  The comfort of my first version makes me want to make more.

If that isn't enough, I have a back cardigan that needs refashioning and I'm also thinking that I need a new bag...

Okay, reading back over this, I realize that this is only a wish list.  I know the painting will get done because that's a scheduled set thing.  If I get that quilt finished and in the mail next Monday, I'll call it a success.  My reality is that I'll be doing good to keep up with the house and get the laundry done!  It's much more fun to dream and plan, isn't it?

a little late to the party

Hello there!  I didn't mean to disappear on you, but this past weekend we decided to take a little jaunt to the gulf coast.  It was nice to get away, but I'm oh, so happy to be sleeping in my sand-free bed again.

I meant to post about this before I left, but I never got around to it.  Preparing for time away from home, even for a weekend, is such a big undertaking for a family of 5, an undertaking I greatly underestimated.  Lesson learned.

I'm sure you all have seen the echos project by now.  If not, go take a look!  I was intrigued when those fabulous girls first mentioned it.  There's a flickr group where you can play along, if you'd like.  I decided to play, but I'm a little late.  I started my journaling on Thursday, but have yet to upload anything.  Truth be told, I wasn't really sure that I was gonna show this or officially join in.  This is hard for me.  But I need it.  I've been in need of an artistic challenge for quite some time.  Because this feels completely foreign and uncomfortable for me, I think that is more reason for me to do it.  Please be kind, I'm terribly insecure about what I've done thus far.

So, there it is.  My journaling  from 7/10 - 7/13.  I'll be posting these from here on out in the flickr pool.

one more thing...

I promise, this will be the last mention of anything fiesta dress related (I hope).  I really wanted to make a clutch for the evening, but I didn't have the time.  What I did manage to do was make a fabric flower out of some of my dress scraps to pin onto a straw handbag.  Perfect solution, don't you think?  I love a colorful flower pin on a plain straw bag.  This particular flower has become my favorite type of fabric flower to make.  It's super easy and doesn't take as much fabric as the fluffy flower.  If I get the time (and if you're interested), I'll do a little tutorial. Oh, I ended up leaving my purse in the car because I thought it was a little too much.

Have you seen the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog today?  They have started a new thing over there, a SMS Board, where selected bloggers contribute to the blog for a few months at a time.  They kindly asked if I'd like to be a part of the board this first go round - of course I said YES.  There's a little intro about me up over there, if you care to read.  Next month's topic at Sew, Mama, Sew! is sewing women's clothing, so if you've thought about sewing something for yourself, stay tuned!  We've got some great things planned over there :)

bouton de fleurs

Happy, cheery button flowers :) Ooo la la, these little guys are so fun to make!

My last crop is just about gone, so it was time to replinish.  I work on these at night while watching trash TV.  This is the perfect project for that.

These make cute little gifts and are the perfect addition to my purse orders.  With Easter and Mother's Day on the horizon I figure I had better get busy on them now.  You know how it goes, you blink and a month has passed...

P.S. I'm pretty sure these little pretties quickly transitioned me from February Funk to Spring Fever! Yep, spring is happening all around me - thank goodness!!!! 

good use of felt

New stockings for everyone! 

**I wish I had splurged and used wool felt.  These were supposed to be a temporary thing, but I love these much more than I thought I would!!

If you want a better look at them, I've created a flickr set with pictures of them all. Unfortunately, all the pictures are horrible - dark & grainy. Damn this dreary weather!!!

good use of buttons

After seeing meg's lovely wreaths, I couldn't resist.  I had to make one.

I don't think I can put this away when Christmas is over.  I'm pretty sure I can find the perfect place for it in my studio, oh yeah.

gumdrop trees

It has been a weekend of nonstop Christmas crafting/decorating.  So many projects in the works, so little time!  (oh yeah, we also worked on the cabinets, but that's no fun to talk about)

As you can see from the background of these photos, I decorated my tree and broke out the pom-poms once again.  I even bought more pom-poms to make more pom-pom garland to go on the mantle and armoire.  I thought I'd be able to get to that this weekend, but I ran out of time.

This was the perfect project to do with little helpers.  Alex helped too, but he got bored with it once he was full of gumdrops.  It was my job to stick in the toothpicks, their job to stick on the gumdrops.

I think these look nice nestled in with Lily's snow globe collection on the mantle.  Um yeah, we kind of ran out of gumdrops on that second one.  Oh well, maybe we'll finish it, maybe we won't.

I can't wait to show you the other things I've been working on, but they're still in the works.  Ugh, if only I had more time (or a few extra hands).  There's how many days left until Christmas????  Wait, I don't want to think about that!!

branching out

I’m ready to try something new.  For quite some time now I’ve had the desire to put paint brush to canvas, but I’ve been afraid.  That seems silly, doesn’t it?  Yes, I have painted before, but nothing more than just playing around with the kids, simple little projects that we finished in an hour or two.  I’ve never painted anything that was reflective of me.  And that’s why I’m afraid.

Back in college, I took a drawing class.  I can’t draw squat, but this class was a requirement for the design curriculum that I wanted to follow.  That class was painful.  I had no idea how hard it would be.  The first few weeks when we learned the technical stuff was okay, but once we got to the point where we were creating “art”, it got hard.  It was hard to come up with a good subject matter, hard to have a good composition, and extremely hard to take the critiques.  Oh, those critiques!  Near the end of the class, after being extremely frustrated by not having my drawing chosen as one of the top ones to be displayed, I got fed up.  I went to the library and checked a few books out on abstract drawing.  At the next class I continued working on my piece from the previous class, but I covered the entire drawing in black charcoal.  I thought “screw that still life, I’m going to abstract it!”.  And that’s what I did.  At the end of class I can clearly remember my instructors words, “Rebeka, you’ve had your breakthrough!”.  YES!  That drawing was chosen as one of the top ones.  That felt good.

What I learned through that experience is that when you’re creating art, you have to listen to yourself.  It wasn’t until I broke away from what I thought the teacher wanted and tried something on my own that I had success.  As I was working on that piece, I could feel it.  It really is an amazing feeling.  I want to feel that again.

I still have that “breakthrough” piece.  For a long time I couldn’t look at it.  When I did, I saw frustration, insecurity, embarrassment, and lots of darkness.  On a recent visit to my husband’s class room I noticed that he has that piece displayed.  It’s funny how that piece looks different to me now.  It’s not so bad.  Yes, it is still a little embarrassing, but I can live with it.

Over these last few years while keeping up this blog I’ve come to know myself a little better.  Sharing my projects and reading about yours has brought my own design aesthetic into focus.  I know that I like color and texture, it’s a recurrent theme in the fabrics, projects, yarns and photos I’m attracted to.  I still don’t know what I want to paint, but I have a direction.  As revealing and painful that it might be, I also know that it will be extremely rewarding.  I’m ready to take that next step.

Hopefully after the first of the year, once I finish up all my loose ends (the bazillion bags I’m in the process of making), I’m going to take a little break from sewing to focus on painting.  Wait, I know myself better than that – I’ll cut back on sewing to focus on painting!  Yes, that I can live with!

back at it

I'm still in love with my buttons, only now I'm combining them with wool felt.  Ahh, can you stand it?  I can't stop myself, really.  I want to cut and cut, and sew and sew.  This stuff is so freakin' addictive!  I'm sure some of these will make it to the shop, but most of them will be toppers on gifts.  Won't they be pretty on a wrapped package?  A gift on a gift. 

With this batch I did a little more digging in my "good" button jar, which consists mostly of vintage buttons.  I love to think about what garment these buttons once adorned, and who they belonged to.  It's easy to get lost in that.

Look at this one, an old Girl Scout button, I believe.  It's been a while since I was a Brownie, but I'm pretty sure I recognize that emblem.  I tried looking it up on the Girl Scout website, but everything has changed.  (Lori, am I right?)  So cool!

lost in buttons

These little buggers are addictive.  When I set out to make a few on Friday night, I never imagined that I'd end up with so many!  I'm not complaining, I love them all.  My explanation is that it took me about a half dozen before I got in the groove, then I couldn't stop.  I also never imagined that it would take until Sunday evening to finish them up.  Maybe I'm just being thorough, but I let the glue dry between each layer, so, well, you get the picture. 

These were totally inspired by those given to me by Lori - I couldn't get them out of my mind!  Thanks, Lori!!

Isn't she lovely?  I couldn't think of a better way to display all these beauties.  I think they give the old gal a nice look, don't you?  To be honest, I thought she looked kind of creepy before, so these happy buttons are a welcomed addition.  Now, I have to decide if I want to give them away or keep them - decisions, decisions...