inspiration links- 1950s fabric!!

I love, love, love 1950's design!! I also love when I find something on the internet that I stumbled across ages ago, and forgot about... this post covers both of those things!!

this blog post is specifically about a new collection of Michael Miller fabric being released that is a tribute to a 1950s fabric designer, Tammis Keefe. (never heard of either of these names before, but I am sure I will be researching up on them when I have the time).

while reading the above-mentioned blog post, I realized the blog, True Up, is an all-fabric-all-the-time blog written by a bloggetr I've read before, Dioramarama... one of those blogs you come across in surfing, then forget where you found it?? (I've done that so many times before: find something, click away from the page, then forgot where I was in the first place.... I know, I could bookmark them, but my bookmark list would get so long that it wouldn't help any, in the end!!)

anyway, I'm not going to pull any pictures off these blogs to put into this post, but trust me, if you like 1950s design, fabric, or just color/pattern in general, then click on those links and start oohing and aahing.

it's almost done!! this journal, and this week...

I have a problem: since I started art journaling, I haven't ever "completed" all the pages in any of my journals. I started working in a cheap composition book (the black and white marbled kind that are 99 cents at back-to-school time), and abandoned it partway thru in favor of a ring-bound sketch book that had heavier pages and could stand up to the layers of paint and paper without buckling. Then I took a class with Kelly Kilmer, we actually made a journal, and I abandoned the sketchbook for the newly made journal. ...and so on... and so on... you get the idea. This is one of those journals-- I don't remember when exactly I made it (Kelly would probably recognize the size and binding stitch!), but it's been at least a couple years. I hadn't journaled since we were on vacation in August, but finally, a few weeks ago, I picked this one up again. When I realized I was actually getting close to finishing it, I got sort of obsessed-- you know, like when you get to the last couple chapters of a really good book, and you just have to finish it as soon as possible?? Like that. I want to actually finish one, finally! I've worked on it really late at night, early in the morning (when I should have been getting ready for work), while we relax on the patio after work, and even taken it to work with me to work on it during my breaks or at lunch.

Some of thepages I completed earlier are painted, but the more recent ones are mostly collaged paper. Since I've been working on it in bed, on the living room floor, etc., I didn't want to "wait" to do the pages until I had time to paint them. The upper right corner of the page above is hand-marbled paper, made a few months ago at one of our mixed-media group meetings. Marbling using shaving cream as the "float" for the ink-- it was pretty fun, and the papers smell good, too! I added one of Tom's cigar bands on there, too-- they have such beautiful artwork on them, I save pretty much all of them for future crafting projects.

Then, I actually broke out my stash of scrapbooking stickers-- I mean, what am I waiting for, really?? Even if I was to actually scrapbook a photo or two, most of these stickers were purchased years ago, and I don't remember why I bought them in the first place. (cause I liked them, is probably it... nothing more specific than that-- I have a tendency to do that with scrapbook supplies.) The green check border, bee skep, and gardening gloves on the page above are all Susan Branch stickers out of my scrapbooking stash. And I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, actually!

This two-page spread had a very elaborate background technique done on it that is supposed to imitate a bandana. The design was stamped in black, and I added all the white accents to give it that "bandana" pop. It turned out nice, except it was so busy of a design that I hated it!! Not sure if the deco tape I added has helped or not, but it's getting there, I think.

This page (the image is from a vintage National Geographic, and the text is from an Oprah mag, I think) is the Eternal Question for me and my art studio. Usually my answer is a resounding "No," until I absolutely can't find anything! Like now-- I've been working the last week or so on items for a craft show I'm doing tomorrow night-- my first "in-person" show; I'm pretty excited about it, and I'll definitely post pics afterward!! (unless no one buys anything. Then, you won't hear a thing about it... lol!) Last night I stayed up till 1 am making greeting cards (made 4 sets of 4, plus 4 individual ones), then blew through again this evening to make 4 or five more at the last minute, leaving stamps uncleaned of the ink, scraps of paper on the floor, snippets of tape stuck on the desk, you know-- the usual! So, right now, it looks like the aftermath of an F5 tornado in there... is that the worst rating?? Does an F5 level everything in its path?? If so,it's not quite quite that bad (although the kitten has been known to disappear from view under the rubble, and I have no idea where she is till she decides to unearth herself). I have another craft show scheduled in a month, though, so I better clean sometime soon. Maybe when December comes. (just kidding!! kinda.)

I keep finding the best stuff for inspiration, lately!

you HAVE TO go to The Pleasure of Tiny Things and check out this woman's work. She carves CRAYONS into tiny little pieces of art!! (go now, I'll wait till you check it out.)

oh, and I think I must buy some plastic canvas to try making some of these pendants, from Diane Gilleland of CraftyPod.

in other news, I am so glad it's Friday-- I have been up late for the last three nights for various reasons, and am really looking forward to being able to sleep in at least one day this weekend. (getting up at 5 am stinks in general, but it really stinks when you're up till midnight or after.)

This book is waiting for me at the library- I can't wait to read it. (and to look at the pictures!!!)

like graphic design?? mid-century illustration??

...then you need to check out the grainedit.com blog and and flickr page. Be sure to read the story about the mid-century advertising posters that were just discovered in the London Underground!!

in kitty news, Tom decided when he got home from work that Ariel sounded so miserable, he ended up taking her to the vet yesterday afternoon instead of waiting till Friday (he's such a softie!! )-- so now, she gets to take lysine "goop" to boost her immune system, will get antibiotic cream in her eyes (once I fill the prescription), and it was suggested that running the vaporizer would help her congestion. It did seem to help (we shut her in the bathroom last night with it running), but Tom said that when he let her out this morning there was so much moisture in the air , he couldn't see!! (we'll probably turn it down just a bit tonight.)

the vet said she is a bit skinny for her age, but hopefully with lots of love, attention, and plenty of food, we'll take care of that, too!!

if you love paper, you have to check out...

...this blog on paper quilling. Some of the completed project photos are amazing!! Yet another thing I could very easily get sucked into!! (at least the paper and supplies are small, though, right??)

cuteness!

paste.com... wonderful collage pieces made from vintage book paper. You have to check these out!! (found via Mary Ann Moss, from Dispatch from LA, one of my bookmarked blogs.) I especially love the terrier, and the french bulldog-- they have such great expressions!

something to aspire to...

This is definitely something to aspire to; doing what you love your whole life long! --check out this youtube video found while blog-surfing, on Gypsyfroggie's blog.

a link for when I make friends with my sewing machine again...

click this link: Moda Bake Shop Christmas Table Topper- a really cute 48-inch square lap quilt or table topper using 9-patch blocks that are cut up and shuffled around to make a more intricate pattern. I have done some sewing, but things with math in usually end up taking a turn for the worse in my experience. Maybe I'd better stick with the cross-stitching, and see how that goes first! (or, Mom, if you want something to do sometime...?? just kidding!)

work in progress- travel journal

After I started thinking about putting together a travel journal, I took a trip to Michael's (for embroidery floss) and ended up bringing back a Making Memories 8 x 8 inch scrapbook kit (I really loved the decorated cover, and the travel-themed tags, stickers, and doodads that were included!). Plus, it was on clearance! I don't know quite how that happens; I go to the craft store for one specific thing, and come back with three others...it's impossible for me to not look at the $1 section and the clearance shelf in those stores... darn their marketing managers!

I thought it was sooo cute, I showed it to Tom right away when I got home. He looked at it, and said "with all the stuff you have, you could make that yourself," which is true- and, after I started thinking about it, I decided 8 x 8 in. was going to be a bit too restrictive anyway, so the kit will be going back to Michael's. (... I did love the travel-themed doodads, though; I may have to make my own stash of doodads!)

So, I got out my stash of papers and gel medium, and went to work. (see messy table below for proof of creative frenzy)

I got my inspiration from a journal made by Ingrid Dijkers for JournalFest- see her cool journal on her blog. Ingrid's journal started with a 3-ring binder- she took off the vinyl covering and recovered the binder with paper and images. I have plenty of boring white three-ring binders, so I found one and got to work. I decided to dispense with the binder altogether, and just use the covers loose with rings; this way, I can easily add as many pages as I want just by adding larger rings. So far, I've covered the heavy chipboard covers with brown paper bags for texture and more stability (a la Ingrid)... the covers will be painted, then decorated in a travel theme.

The pages inside are all different kinds of semi-sturdy paper- different colors of cardstock from my stash, and different sizes of hot and cold press watercolor paper. I will also add envelopes and paper bags as pockets to hold maps, pamphlets, etc. from the places we've visited. I've started painting and collaging some of the pages in preparation for adding the journaling elements. Tthis is the stage I like the most: the painting, cutting, and pasting stage- I get stuck on the "finishing" stage of things, probably from my "perfection" complex- I don't want to actually finish things, just in case they don't turn out as good as they are in my head... I really need to overcome that, though, otherwise this won't be much of a travel journal!

the photo below is a closeup of the left page above... I broke out my watercolor paints, and made the textured page below with green and blue watercolor paint and plastic wrap! Once you get the wet paint on the page, you put wrinkled plastic wrap onto the paper, which allows the paint to pool into the creases. I held the plastic wrap down with a magazine to keep the creases in place till the paint dried, and voila! a textured watercolor background- perfect for a photo of the Seattle Space Needle, I think!!

Now I just have to get my photos printed- keep your eye out for more travel journal work-in-progress!

scrapbooking inspiration links

okay, so I haven't scrapped a picture in years, but I've started to be inspired to actually print some of our digital photos, and do something with them besides leave them in cyberspace... part of it is two new books I got for my birthday (thanks, Mom!) involving altered imagery:

The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery- contains interesting ways to transform photos (bleach, sandpaper, and more); and the other title:

Mixed Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques for Photographic Imagery- more ideas for transforming photos, both traditional (hand tinting) and not-so-traditional (like stamping, gesso, spackle paste, and more)

also good for inspiration are the following:

Jenni Bowlin's photo gallery page- cute, cute stuff, using vintage finds and doo-dads

Ali Edwards' blog- simpler, classic layouts, with an emphasis on the photos

and then there's Carol Wingert's scrapbook style- a bit more "shabby chic" and random

...and of course, there's the art journaling thing, like Crazyquilter on Flickr, Kelly Kilmer, Mary Ann Moss, and Jeanne Frizzell-- paint, stamps, collaging, markers, and whatever else you can find to stick (or stitch, or staple) to a page.

so... I'd like to see if I can meld the more "art-y,""journal-y" style of artwork with the more "traditional" scrapbooking I used to do, and come up with a hybrid that satisfies my new urge for "artsy" but still shows off the photos. For a start, we're going to drive cross-country to Illinois and Wisconsin at the end of the month to visit family; we spent Christmas sight-seeing in Arizona; last spring we went to Seattle: plenty of pictures for all this inspiration, if I just get them printed!!

ideas!! the artful alphabet

I haven't made ATCs in quite a long time, but the link below might just inspire me to start a new series... this squidoo page has lists of themes, colors, and techniques for each letter of the alphabet... ATCs, postcards, journal pages, you could do anything with these lists as a jumping point of inspiration--

Trish Bee's Artful Alphabet- squidoo page

A: alcohol inks or acetate?

B: beeswax or bubble wrap??

C: crayon resist or chipboard?

D: dry embossing, or doodling??

E-Z... just as many great ideas!

...so many ideas... so little space in my art studio!! lol!!

world-wide community

The internet is a wonderful community of people who share ideas, inspiration, sympathy, and real assistance when called for... even if you may not have ever met the person in "real" life!

Right now, there is a great example of that on Michelle Ward's blog, How Cool Is That. Michelle runs Green Pepper Press, a rubber stamp company. Michelle has just designed and issued a new half-sheet of stamps to raise money for a fellow blogger in Illinois (Paula) whose family lost their house in a fire. (go here for more details about that.) That's just one example of the fellowship that connects us all here on the world-wide web... it is worldwide, but it's also a pretty close-knit community.

Another example is blog awards... quite out of the blue (a couple weeks ago, now... I'm slow at blogging lately), I was awarded the "Friendly Blogger" award by a very nice British mixed-media artist, Kathryn, of The Kathryn Wheel. She calls herself "The Queen of Messing About" and posts quite wonderful ATCs, journal pages, and other projects. It is quite amazing to think that I can connect regularly with people who live in Australia, South Africa, England, and all parts of the US... thanks, Kathryn!

These are the guidelines that came with the badge: “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers.” (I totally just lifted that word for word from Shelly, who copied it from Kathryn)

So, in keeping with the guidelines, I nominate the following bloggers:

Laurie at the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee (she is a true friend to orphaned kittens).

Felicia at Fluffy Flowers (she documents life, and sewing, in Georgia)

Sandy at Sandy' s Spot on the Web (she documents her family and life in Louisiana)

Mare at Moon & Stars Studio (she documents life and art in upstate New York)

Saturday links

this morning I turned on our local PBS channel (it's pledge time, here), and watched most of a fabulous show on Art Quilts... wonderful inspiration!! Art quilts made from fabric, beads, buttons, handkerchiefs, hand-dyed fabric, orange construction fence, candy bar wrappers, paper, bread ties, and all manner of things for artistic expression. I managed to catch a few names, and need to find out more about them- here are links to a few of them. Please check them out! (I didn' want to use anyone's photos without permission, so you need to click on the links to check out the artwork.)

Pam RuBert, a quilter who makes large cartoon-like art quilts with the main character PaMdora

http://pamrubert.com/artquilts/mysterious.shtml

http://pamrubert.com/about.shtml

Bob Adams, a former art teacher turned art-quilter

http://www.bobadamsart.com/images/Lunar_8_Detail.JPG

http://www.bobadamsart.com/images/Lunar_Series_Night_Study_2.jpg

http://www.bobadamsart.com/about.html

The Chicago School of Fusing- fabric artists who use fusible webbing, not piecing, to make their art quilts

http://www.artfabrik.com/csof.html

http://www.artfabrik.com/gallery.html

Jan Burch Cochran- an art quilter who makes highly embellished art quilts using beads, buttons, rickrack, embroidery, and lots of detail in her work

http://www.janeburchcochran.com/

http://www.janeburchcochran.com/Pages/Gallery2.html

I hope you find something interesting in these links, and that everyone has a good weekend ahead of them! now, I need to go clean up my studio, so I can capitalize on this wonderful inspiration (with paper and glue... and maybe a little fabric or rickrack, added in!)

Monday links...

...that I don't want to lose. I was blog-hopping, as usual, and if I don't save them, I'll never find them again, cause I have no idea how I found them in the first place!

These two links: Mexico Connect (Day of the Dead Index) which has links to lots of other Day of the Dead info and articles;

and this one: The Dead Come to Life in Mexican Folk Art.

Maybe this will be the year I actually put up a Day of the Dead shrine in our house and visit some of the local celebrations... (Act!! and Explore!! and Home!! it fits all three of my words for the year!)

Monday links

Multiple links to one blog, actually: Posie Gets Cozy...the first craft-related blog I actually ever read, I think, when I was first exploring the world of blogs and the online crafting community. One of my friends (who had never heard of a blog- can you believe it??) recently asked what a blog was, and the best way I could answer was "you know when it's dark out, and you can see into someone's window, to get a glimpse of their life?? That's sort of what a blog is..."

For me, the world of blogging is a great source of inspiration, and it's a wonderful way to get to "know" people from all over the world- I follow blogs from South Africa, England, and all parts of the US. Reading blogs is also sometimes a source of frustration- sometimes I read a blog post and think, "how CAN this person do all these wonderful things, keep their house clean, and do all the other mundane things that go along with keeping a house, and their life, pulled together?? Why can't I do things that effortlessly??" (yes, I know intellectually that blogging is mostly just small snippets of someone's life, and there are probably piles of dirty laundry somewhere outside the margin of the beautiful photos... usually this feeling of frustration is my cue to get off the internet, slow down, and focus on my own thing, not all the external eye-candy.)

Posie Gets Cozy will always be one of my favorite blogs, though... Alicia has a wonderful writing style, and a very honest way of putting things. (Not to mention the photos of cute crafts, cute home decorating, and the extremely cute Corgi and cat that share their life!) Read this post and this article (somewhat hard to read, but well worth the eye strain!) for an intro to her wonderful, REAL, writing style and her cute, crafty life.

(and don't forget to check out the Pets category of posts for the cute corgi and the cat...)

blog-hopping

I'm just amazed at what you can find when you're blog-hopping around the internet... most of the time I forget to mark sites, so I can't find them later when I want to go back to them. I found this fun blog, Button Floozies, by clicking thru the profile of a member on the blog Creative Every Day... vintage buttons are sooo much fun, and I want to find this site later!!

links and ramblings...

For inspiration, when I need some:

Mixed Media Monday weekly theme for interpretation by participants

The Land of Lost Luggage, blogger who posted a journaling tutorial (in five parts, total)

Illustration Friday weekly theme for interpretation by participants

Inspire Me Thursday another site with a weekly theme

Think Monday Think ATC yet another weekly theme site- but for ATCs (obviously)

Wednesday Stamper again, another weekly theme site using rubber stamps

Thrifty Collage Artist, another blog with a journaling tutorial

Suzi Blu, blog with video entries- tutorials and inspiration... her videos are also available on YouTube.

I mailed off my ATCs to their recipients today... now, I just need to finish the last six inchies for that swap; I already have the ideas for them, it's just a matter of following thru. I sometimes have a problem with that "follow-through" thing; I get partway through a project and then sort of "lose interest" and abandon it, never to finish it. I recently started reading the book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, where they discuss this very thing- it talks about this being a tactic of avoidance, used when people are perfectionists and they don't want the finished project to somehow end up to be a disappointment, not being as "perfect" as they want it. So, does that sound like me?? I think it sounds a lot like me... I am trying to work through some of the ideas in The Artist's Way, but it's difficult (it requires some self-reflection, which I am also good at avoiding), and the process is going pretty slow.

Anyway, this post is turning out to be a bit rambling, after all... the list of links is to remind me that whenever I'm lacking for inspiration, I am only a click away from plenty of inspiration and themes to use as starting points for my projects. I did go onto swapbot.com to mark my ATCs as "sent" and I found a couple new swaps to join, so I better get going, right?? Or maybe not, since I have a few weeks till they need to be finished... plenty of time...

a post of links...

Follow your Bliss is a blog I just found while surfing... wonderful photos and journaling. Check out the pics of crafting supplies, here! It totally makes me want to spread my supplies out all over the dining room table...

Dispatch from LA is a blog I found thru a book, oddly enough. This woman is a visual journaler who makes her own stencils and uses spray paint (something I would love to try sometime!), and also takes wonderful photos, of course. See a couple of posts with great pics here and here. The book is a Somerset book, the second issue of Artful Blogging. I bought this book on a whim, not expecting to like it... I mean, c'mon, a book about blogging? But, I was very pleasantly surprised- curling up with a book was a nice change from clicking on the laptop, and the book also gives a good backstory about each of the bloggers' motivations, how they started blogging, and how they found their "blogging" voice. I found quite a lot of blogs I want to check out, and got quite a few ideas for my own blog (but will I ever follow thru with them, is the question).

I found a couple more links I wanted to keep (crafty tutorials), but of course, I did something funky when I was typing the previous post, so I accidentally closed it... so, I think I better hit Publish before something else happens...

links to remember... yay!

Yay, I forgot Blogger now has an Auto-Save feature! I thought I lost this post, but it was still there, in Draft form...

Here is a tutorial (from a blog titled Doll- the Art and Craft of Mimi Kirchner) on some really neat fabric Christmas ornaments... they involve figural fabric, felt, tulle, and the sewing machine (which I'm not so sure about). I know it's a long time till Christmas, but fabric is starting to intrigue me again- especially after signing up for the Art Quilt class at Art Unraveled.

Here is another tutorial from the same blog... this one involves stamping on fabric, which also sounds interesting.