Trial runs and another fabric

    I tore the flower fabric into smallish squares, made some simple flowers (pieces of fabric fused together, free-motions stitched, and cut out), and now I'm deciding on a background. 

     Yesterday, I thought this background was OK, but this morning it seems a bit dull.  Hmmmm. . . .





     I need to get a larger piece of the light purple fabric before I make a choice--also some smaller black buttons.  Nothing is sewn down yet.

         I'm still not sure--this one may be too bright.  I'm going to sew down the flowers and buttons, then mount each piece to 5 x 5 foam core and lay them out together on each background to evaluate.

     And here's another piece inspired by Sew Wild.  Again, I used an old gelatin print on which to do my scripting.  Because the print was made last October using fallen leaves, I decided to write my thoughts about that wonderful season.  I'm not sure what I'll do with this one--probably stick it back in the "check me out" drawer and wait for inspiration.



     I also plan to try this technique using plain white fabric so I can use other colors of ink.  On this one, if I tried to add other colors, they blended with the background and lost their impact.  Oh well, I still enjoyed playing with different styles of writing and will do some practice on paper before the next attempt.

Inspired!!!

    I can't believe I'm posting twice in one day, but I saw something on Jane LaFazio's blog this morning that had my creative juices bubbling.  First, I dug into my drawer of gelatin-printed fabric and found a bunch of scraps (most of these pieces were actually printed last winter, in Arizona, where I had to use a purchased bouquet from the grocery store).



     I  then cut out three backgrounds,started collaging, and free-hand snipped some leaf stalks (a bit similar to Jane's, I'm afraid . . .).

Collage 1

     Collage 2

Collage 3

     All of the pieces measure @ 5.5 inches and will become another Art X 3.  I actually finished all of the sewing today!!!!!!!!!!



     Now for the backing--I decided I'd try fabric this time by previewing several different shades and patterns of aqua blue.  



     I think I know the one I like best, but I'll mull for a while and then adhere the fabric to a piece of foam core and glue down the collages.  Another post coming soon.

New Horizons

     Another long hiatus:  visiting daughters and grandchildren; restructuring my artistic pursuits, and generally having a relaxing summer.  This is the first time since I retired from teaching 12 years ago that I haven't been actively involved in creating products to be sold.  I no longer feel the burden of paying rent each month, having to work (fun but restrictive), and keeping my "merchandise" current.  Although I still bring items into the shop on a consignment basis, the presssure to produce is gone.

      My life is still very busy, but much more laid back:  I art journal nearly everyday (as shown on my last posts), have a major project involving journals in the works, and am still sewing, printing fabric, hand stitching, and playing with new ideas.  Right now I am restructing some old wall hangings into smaller "works of art."

     Here is a 5 x 5 section of a much larger piece, cut up and "framed" with couched yarn (I neglected to take a picture of the whole wall hanging before slicing into it!). 

    On three of the 5 x 5 pieces, I hand stitched small swirls of yarn on top of the berries (same yarn used around the outside of each square) and then added small copper beads.  I also snipped scraps of sheet copper and stitched them by machine to "empty spots" across the composition.

     After completing all three squares, I covered a piece of foam core with art paper, touched it up with some metallic paint, and then adhered the squares in place.  This whole idea was conceived after some of my larger wall hangings did not sell, and so I removed them from the shop..  Now, I have made quite a few of these ART X 3 hangings (which fit into a narrow space), and they are selling quite well .  I'm really enjoying the process of recycling old pieces and adding new ideas to my repertoire.