Mixed media&art quilts

Pink page3 and a polymer piece.....

2011-09-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps, sorry about the delay of this post. Blogger has not been very cooperative lately, wonder what is up with that. Anyways i hope this post finds you all well. Again thank you for your comments and visits so appreciated!
Today i am posting page 3 of my pink fabric book. I think this one is going to be my favorite for now but not sure hahahaaa. Never know right? Maybe page 4 will give it a run for its money.
For those of you wondering how i am going to bind these, when i am done with all my pages and get to that point i will share it with you promise.

The heart on the pic below was kinda an accident but i think i made it work on here.

Those flowery rouches on the edge on the pic below come from an old children' s dress. Boy were they hard to get off that dress but i had made up my mind they were going to be on this page lol.

Sometimes i really like to goof around with some polymer clay. I woke up one morning with this one on my mind so had to make it.

Hmm bit fuzzy on the closeup here but i think you get an good idea of what it looks like right??!

Ok folks that's it for today. I hope you all have a wonderful creative day. Stay safe take care and create.
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Quicky..but pink..

2011-09-10T08:46:00.001-07:00

Hi the folks hope this post finds you all well.
Thank you to everyone for their comments as always very appreciated.

Today is going to be a short post. In the pictures you see the second page of my pink fabric book.
I have to admit it is lotsa fun making these plus i like the part where not everything has to be exactly fitting. ( if you know what i mean) This page is not finished totally but very close to it.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post, i hope you all have a wonderful creative weekend.
Stay safe and take care.
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Planning on pink...

2011-09-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hello there peeps, hope this post finds you all well.
Let me start by thanking all the people that left their comment on the previous post, really very much appreciate them.
Today's post is pink. I know to late for pink Saturday lol. To many scraps in my stash, was time to find ways to make something with it. I actually do not mind using scraps.
Smaller projects are fun and very satisfying since they take shorter time to finish.

Anyway, what your looking at is a page for a fabric book that will have dreaming and wishing as theme. I think you kinda can guess that reading the little banner lol.

The banner was made from 2 dryer sheet modpodged together with some dry brushed pink paint on them. Then i distressed them some with ink.

The card in the picture above is fabric on top of some thinner cardboard. I coffe dyed it then sprinkled water on it to make it look stained. The girl was printed on fabric and glued on top.
She will go in the pocket that i made for her on this page. The page by the way is not finished yet as you see. I need to hand stitch the edge on the right hand side. Its an old seam from an pink satin dress, it came out irregular when i cut some fabric from it. Though i would leave it like this to add some extra interest.
Well that's the pink post for now folks. Hope you all take care and stay safe.
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Cream with my coffee..

2011-08-29T08:36:00.001-07:00

Hi there peeps hope this post finds you all well.
A big thank you to all that responded to my last post, i so appreciate your input and lovely comments.
Today i am posting a collage in coffee dyed colors and cream, hence the "cream with my coffee" lol.

The button as showed in the picture below, was a regular plastic button. Since i dont have any real vintage buttons and cannot effort any. I had to get creative and modpodge paper to these. I think they came out pretty good?!

The picture is stitched to a creamy Jute( has some coffee on it don't ask why, was accidental is all i can say ;) ) Then the whole thing was put on corrugated cardboard which was edged with some lace. The big thingy under her pic is an old belt buckle. Have not figured out yet how to attach it on there, same with the cardboard. But they are going to be attached on there without no doubt, soon as i know how lol.

The whole base of the hanging is canvas, that i found in a yard sale. Its kinda thick but this way is a good base for the heavier stuff to be attached.

The colored stripes on the background are from an old silk blouse, i thought it would break it all up a bit. The flowers are made as in my lace paper flower tutorial. This time all is stained with coffee. When you look really close you can see some coffee grinds on them lol. I restained them when they were drying with the modpodge not thinking that the grinds would be unremoveable afterwards hahaha. But it seemed it added some texture to them so i don't mind it.
Well that my post for now folks. Hope you all stay well and safe and have a wonderful creative day!
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Coffee and blue..

2011-08-24T09:31:00.001-07:00

Hi there peeps hope this post finds you all well.
I know some of you had a pretty good scare this week with the earthquake. My heart goes out to you .
I want to thank all that responded to my previous post(s), your kind comments make my day.
Thank you!!

For today's post its coffee dyed lace and fabrics and an old blue mans flannel shirt. I also incorporated one of my flowers in the right hand top. If your new visitor here go a couple posts back you will find a small tutorial on how to make these.

Now my dilemma with this project is, should i add more or leave it almost as is at the moment.

I kinda like the simple look but would like to hear from you guys. What would you do?

Maybe little bit more around the left hand side of the picture? I will just hang it up in the studio and look at it time to time and see what happens.
Tho no harm done in a couple of extra eyes and opinions right?( hint hint..lol)
I also want to add some words to it. Just haven't found them yet but i am sure i will at some point. This is the first time i tried a collage like this, think i like doing them. Might make more at some point. Plus i really like the smell of the coffee dyed fabric lol.
Well peeps have a wonderful creative day, stay safe, take care...
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Simple and short..

2011-08-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps, hope this post finds you all well.
Today a very short post and a simple made tag. Tried the less is good to thingy lol.
The weekend has been slow but i finally have my sewing machine back. Yayyyy!!
Also trying to catch up with some housework and yard work this week. might be i am not posting to much this week to get things done. For me personally when all is done i am more at ease in my studio.
Friday is going to be fun day at a dental specialist for an abscess in my jaw...soooooo looking forward to that..NOT!
Thursday is counseling to help me battle a depression i don't seem to be able to get rid off. Not complaining folks, just letting you know that this week is going to be messed up lol. I really want to try to spent as much time as i can in my studio tho. Its one of the things that makes me feel better, so off i go..;)
Anyways hope everyone has a wonderful creative day!
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Something i am working on..

2011-08-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Hello there peeps, hope this post finds you all well.
This day i am posting something i am working on. This dragon was drawn, then his outline stitched and the segments filled in.

Some of the segments i filled in with paint. The rest is all done with thread, and a free motion zig zag stitch. All thread used is metallic thread in different colors.

I am waiting for my sewing machine and hope to finish him then. Plus one more patch needs paint, do you see it where? I think he will be stretched over a frame and then put behind glass. People told me that metallic thread dont hold up that well against the elements.
Well that's it for today folks, short post.
I hope everyone has a wonderful creative and save day,
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Egg.......shell....

2011-08-15T08:11:00.001-07:00

Hi there peeps i hope this post finds you all well.
Did everyone have a decent weekend?! I sure hope so..
OK...so today i want to show you how simple things can be used to create a not so bad effect lol. ( notice the humbleness? lol) As tastes and budgets have to come together in creating new ideas, i am trying to do my part.

The eggshell in a nutshell....ehm thought that sounded good, makes no sense tho but ok on with the post.
One takes a rinsed eggshell, or part of it. Color it with some very thin acrylic paint if you want some color or distress. i used a black paint very thinned and wiped of with paper towels on the second tag.
The tag below , the eggshell has been put on as is. I tried to keep it simple, this is really just for show and tell. I used modpodge to glue the eggshell onto the tag. it will need sealing in some way later on, try about 2 thin layers.

Then i got an idea, how about something in the Halloween spirit?
The end result was the tag below.

The pic below was taken with lights on in the house since it was getting very cloudy and dark here. But i really wanted to show the black little roses.
They eyes in the skull were dark red beads which i kinda colored black on the top.

So my dear friends, imagine what you could do with eggshell. I am sure it can find its way on a canvas to or thicker paper.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. hope you enjoyed it.
Let me know if you made something great with eggshell??
Have a wonderful creative day my friends,
Andrea.

The fabric flowers....

2011-08-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps hope this post finds you all well. Thanks to all that visited and joined, hope you like the ride. Thank you for your lovely comments they make my day!

For the fabric flowers that i posted, here is the how to. Easy as pie...really.

Get your hot glue gun if you have one, so much faster with these.
As templates i used 2 little jar lids, the smallest one is cut from felt( if you want thick cardboard will work too). Take a stack of fabric that you want to use for these flower, a layer of about 5 will cut easily with some good scissors. Just don't forget to pin them in the middle. Its not a biggy if they are not that perfectly round really, neither does that count for the felt/cardboard you gonna glue them on.
Ones the circles are cut fold them in half ones and then ones again. As you can see in the picture below.

When i fold them the second time i put a little dab of glue about right there on the inside where the little clamp is on the pic. I find the flowers/petals will hold their shape better this way ones they get glued on the base.

Then stack them like this on the felt/cardboard till you filled up the circle. For an nice even flower make sure you watch that the outside edges of the "petals" are lined up. Ones you completed the first round, the second round will need maybe 4 more "petals" and 2 more for the middle. it depends a little on the size of base used and the size of the petals. When you completed all rounds stick something pretty on the middle and voila your done.

The one on the foreground here was fluffed up bit more and i added some extra " petals" so it did not need something in the middle.
That's it really, like i said easy as pie. The combinations are infinite as you can use your own made fabric too with stamps and or paints.
Well folks that's it for today, cya all back on Monday i hope. Have something special coming up then. A little hint? Ok fine then lol.......eggs......that is the hint hahahaa ok have a great weekend!
Stay safe, take care,
Hug,
Andrea.

Some flower help.....?!

2011-08-12T09:23:00.001-07:00

Hello there peeps hope this post finds you all well.
There were a lot of reactions on my flower post which made me decide to explain a bit how they were made. I know a lot of you already know how, but some might not . Anyways i figgered i might not hurt lol.

Lets start with these little puppies.

Some old book pages were used and stained with ranger inks. The airondack inks are not water proof, so if you make you paper wet they can be nicely spread and even blended. Since you will be modpodging the page in later stage its no worry that they are not "waterproof". Tho i recommend not to take the flowers for a swim when you made them lol.

For the lace part( ones pages are dry, you can iron them to speed up that process) i used an old lace curtain that i found in my stash. really no clue how i got it by the way.
The template is and 6 petal flower. Now that kinda important so keep that in mind, 6 petals.
Ok, when the pages are dry you modpodge the lace/curtain or whatever your using to the page.
Now the fun par is you can stain the pages or not , whatever you fancy or aiming for in result. The lace/curtain can be dyed or colored after wards. I did mine after wards as i will explain in a bit.
When everything is modpodged and dry( hairdryer does wonders ), you used your template to draw the flower on the back. You will need 3 flowers for one finished flower. When done cut them out.
As you might see #3 is little bit smaller, i cut that one a bit more inside the lines.This will be the last flower added of all 3.

Here all 3 are from the front, now i am going to add some color with a permanent marker. Why not an inkpad you ask? well let me show you.
When you rub a marker on its side over the lace you will get more to see of the texture of the lace. That was the result i was aiming for.Do the edges to it will define your flower more.

Then you fold your flowers in half 2 times across to find the middle, mark it with with a pencil. I did with my marker so it was easier to see on the pic. Then you cut flower1 to the middle, as the line shows. Flower 2 will need to loose a petal. Flower3 looses 2 petals, do NOT throw those away. In the next pic i have glued them together, to make them stick i use these clamp thingies( whatever those are called, but are very handy).

When they are dry you use the chopstick to roll the petals of the flowers to the outside a bit. The little " leftover 2 and 1 petals you cut out will be rolled inside themselves. As you see in this pic.
Now i do not pretend that making a flower like this is my idea, by all means its NOT.
I just added a little twist to the materials used that's all.
To finish the flower cut the bottom of the #2 and 3 far enough so they all fit nicely into each other. The leftover petals will need some cutting too.
Use generous glue that will dry clear when you stick them together and your done.
Wow that was a long post for my doing lol. For the other flowers i will make a new post. Hope you enjoyed this flower trip and that it helped some of you. Pretty flowers simple and without to many expensive materials, but endless possibilities. try different colors or and stamping on the paper before adding the lace.
Have a creative wonderful day everyone,
Andrea.
P.s if i have time i will post for the other flowers today, otherwise it will be tomorrow.

Grrr...blogger wont let me download pictures.

2011-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps blogger will not let me download pics have to try later I suppose.
Andrea.

Out of my comfort zone....

2011-08-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps, hope this post finds you all well. Want to thank everyone that commented on my last post. A warm welcome to the new followers, glad to have you aboard!
Today's first post( yes there is going to be a second later on today) is about going out of my comfort zone. Using colors i normally dont use on a canvas and not allowing myself to add anything but paint and pens and charcoal to a brackground that has a little paper on it from an old dictionary.

Oh and stamps, i used 2 foam stamps. It was fun actually, forcing myself not to just stare at the canvas but actually attack it without any plan of what i was going to make. Then see it develop into something that's actually recognizable lol.
Ok this is going to be a short post, i am off now to visit with you peeps posts and work on my second post for today. No i did not forget i would share the making of the little flowers in the previous post. So stay tuned i will be back later today.
Take care BIG HUG to all,
Andrea.

Flower parade.....

2011-08-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps hope this post finds you all well.
Here is some flowers for all of you who need a little pick me upper for this weekend.
Ehm yes i did go overboard bit with this many pictures, but they all came out pretty well . Which you all know my photographic skill are not really that well.
Soooo... when they do come out bit better then usual i should show them off right? hahahaa..
If you have any questions about any of these flowers let me know in the comments.
I can tell you tho they were awesome fun to make.

So i hope you enjoy this post, it will have to last till Monday ...lol.
Ok your at the end hahahaa..thanks for hanging in there.
Love you all and thanks for all the comments on my posts, really appreciate them!
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Some work in progress.

2011-08-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps, hope this post finds you all well.
Today some pictures of some work in progress. As always the pictures not showing the colors as they are in real grrr, except for the black that is. It seems it can do black lol. Which someone told me is not a color. Does this mean my camera can do "none" color pics best?! Never mind not going into that hahahaa. To me black and white are colors, cause i can see them. Makes sense right?
If not i have never made sense in my whole life soo dont be surprised. (snicker).
Ok back to the post. What your looking at is a bracelet in the making of recycled materials. Well most of the materials.

The black pieces (with no color at all) are pieces of old vinyl records. Think these are parts of a Perry Como record . As you see the pieces are bend and not flat, it would be possible to flatten them. ( ones reheated) But where is the fun in that right?.

The black/colored pieces are paper mounted on chipboard and sealed with my favorite acrylic sealer. The beads are "strung" on bailing wire that has been hardened and aged. Naturally aged i have to say. Which is not hard to do with this wire. Then some good wiping and slight sanding and its ready to go.

As you can see some of the record pieces have holes in the bottom, they need some finishing there. Then this piece is done.
That's it for today folks. I want to thank all that commented on my previous post, you guys rock and keep me rocking. ( did that sound right?)
Hope you all have a wonderful creative day.
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Trial canvas.

2011-08-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there peeps. Hope this post finds you all well.
It seems lately that my mind wonders of into trying new things. This canvas is one of the first just like the tags i posted before. Papers, paint , inks and a piece of dyed scrim.

Some stamping to create interest. Let me know if it did create interest in your eyes? As always i so much appreciate your input peeps.
I want to thank you for the comments on my previous post. If i could only express how much they mean to me. Thanks for being there folks, love you all.
Big Hug,
Andrea.

Tags? First try ever....

2011-08-01T11:10:00.001-07:00

Hi there peeps hope this post finds you all well.
I want to thank everyone that commented on my posts the last couple of days. While browsing the internet for inspiration i found some wonderful artists with very beautiful and inspirational blogs. (might wanna check out my "blogs i joined list".)
On another matter my sewing machine is having a spa treatment at the dealer , which means i am on my own for a little bit hahaha.
But...nothing better then paper, inks and such to keep the mojo going right?
So i tried making artsy tags, the first i ever made and i am posting them. Hoping to get input from you guys where i went wrong or what i could do differently?!
I have to admit that i had to make them in a make do manner, at the moment not really fortunate enough to buy new supplies. Sooooooo...here goes...the very first 1...

Then i got little bit more courageous and made this one.....

Which totally made me go for it my way on this third one....

Yes i know, the background kinda sucks, they are try outs only anyways so was not worried about it.
Did my best to get the pictures kinda close to what they look originally. So guys throw it at me let me know what you think i can take it..really i can :).
Anyways hope you all have a wonderful creative day,
Hugs,
Andrea.

Vinyl house siding for art?

2011-07-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, i hope this post finds you all well. Wanted to share this with you peeps in the hope it will inspire you.

Yep your reading this right.
These are the samplers you get when shopping for house siding. We did about 2 years ago, and i have been waiting to use them for a while now. Ones i started on these i could not stop.

I put them on a cutting mat for you so you have an idea of the size of these.

Both are backed when done with felt. The top one of these 2 is ready to become incorporated in a necklace.
The process is simple, have the textured side up. Put a nice layer of gesso on it. Then paint,stain,glue little pieces of paper on it, stamp and whatever else you fancy to torture these pieces. (i do not recommend using a heat gun tho they warp, well mine did lol)
I sealed mine with an acrylic sealer (water based).

Would love your input on these. Have a wonderful day peeps and happy creating.
Andrea.

Little something.

2011-05-02T10:14:00.001-07:00

Hi folks! Hope you are all doing fine.
Today a little something, wall hanging. Finally finished the hand stitching on it. All it needs now is the loops to get it to hang on the wire hanger. Let me know what you think, i value the input.

Its a short post today, chiropractor and the dentist in a bit yuck. Take care peeps stay safe and have lots a fun creating.
Wishing you all a wonderful day!
Andrea.

Is it a bead or not?

2011-04-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hello peeps, how are we doing today?
Hope your weather is better then mine here. Rain, hail ,wind and more of such fun stuff, yuck.
Today i am posting a huge wooden bead that i altered with decoupage, stamps and paint.
Ehmm actually i am not sure if it is a bead. But in my mind it is one....hahahaha.

Sometimes special finds in thrift stores or yard sales call to me. Then i see something totally different then it actually is. Does that make sense?

I love the Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. Sometimes see such awesome ideas in there. This one i could not resist. its painted newspaper, stamped and modge podged. You can find the idea in the March/April issue of this year.( Page 73)
Since the weather here is so yucky i wanted a warm bright color to cheer me up.

This is it for today but working on little shoes that are made from aster egg molds from the same issue as well. Soon to be posted. Hope all of you have a wonderful creative day!
Hugs,
Andrea.

Working my way back to it!!

2011-04-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hello peeps, its been a while i know. I was having a hard time to get back into the works here.
Will spare you all the details why. Here are some pictures of a paper bag album i made for my mother. I found that paper is a good medium to start with in a comeback.....

Hubby got me for X-mas a die cutting machine and ooh do I love that machine. The versatility of it is amazing by the way.

All i can tell you is that its hard to live in an area where things like these in the pictures is looked at as something from outer space. (not kidding) So i hope you don't mind i am sharing them with you guys.

I am going to do my hardest effort to be blogging at a regular base again. Plus make sure i check out all your wonderful awesome creations. I missed you peeps is all i can say and this gal here is going to work her butt off again in her studio. (promise)
I so hope i did not loose all my friends here during my long absents. I hope you all will forgive me.
Love,
Andrea.

Not forgotten....

2010-02-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

My dear friends..no I have not forgotten about you..!
Its been hard to come here for a while and i think I owe you and explanation.
my comfort doll project in the area where I live was shot down. had radio and newspaper here. Offered people to come to my studio and help making them.Asked for donations in material ...had 3 reactions in total.SOOO sad..i think. On top of that I tried to involve our local high school. Had someone here for that who toke some dolls and hearts, to show the group that does the charity projects...that was 3 months ago. Never seen dolls back and heard from the school ever again. Now I am not the person who will go and keep asking them for the dolls back and or if they still want to be involved. But it was all kinda depressing.
Then if that was not enough, I woke up one morning with only half the use of my left hand left.
(and i am left handed). That was really scary!. It is getting better now and I might be able to work in my studio again in a week or soo.
I hope you all understand that I have not been able with body and mind for a while to produce. It was all to much...sorry.
Making my way back to be inspired and produce seems to be a longer road then I expected...but I am fighting cause I want too.
hope to see you all soon again!!
Andrea.

This is my priority at the moment..sorry...

2009-11-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

Dear friends..hope this post finds you all well!
Have the need to share this with you....I have started a program to support cancer patients.
The local radio and newspaper have been involved and so is the local high school.
I want to make as many of the dolls, like the ones that I am posting as possible and keep sending them to our Rexburg oncology clinic. Who will distribute them to thier patients. For the man..we will make hearts that will be embellished appropriately. Dont really think they would want dolls..lol.
The media is putting out a call for help on materials for making them and embellishing them. I have also offered for people to come to my studio to help making them if they do not want to make them at home. Its all just from a brainstorm that now is building into a hurricane..lol.
I will be posting more about the project in the time to come but right now really feel I have to do this . I am trying to keep the dolls simple but still pretty to look at.

Any input from you guys about what else or how or anything you can come up with would be really very appreciated.
Plz let me know what you think..I so aprreciated you guys with all your input!!
That's it for now....back to the studio......the next batch has to be ready on Monday...thats when I will drop them of.
Big HUG..to all of you..
Andrea.

Something I am working on...

2009-11-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hello there people..hope this post finds you all well!!
Not a lot to report from this side..finished of some UFO's..forgot to take pic before they went on a trip..figgers...getting old and forgetful....well is not a lot your missing out on..lol.
Things are starting to get back in place here..and I am finally getting back in place too...hahahaaa..
This is a short post but wanted to share a wall hanging that I am working on right now...actually..I have been working on it for a while now...lol.
Next thing is checking on all your wonderful blogs and see what you are all up too....then back to work..in house cleaning (bleeh) and studio.....
Have a wonderful great day everybody!!!
Big hug!!
Andrea.

Back from the trip!

2009-10-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hello every one hope this post finds you all well!
We came back from our trip to California and boy..is it cold in Idaho..lol.
The part of cali that we visited was very dry and I did not take a lot of pictures there. On the trip itself on the other hand I got to take a lot of pictures and would like to share some of them with you. Some were taken from the car while driving, so you will see the rail..lol.
Please fell free to download them if there is anything you like and could use. Would love to see the end product!
Hug,
Andrea.

Yippeeee!!!!!

2009-10-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends hope this post finds you all well!
The "yipppeee" refers to my new camera!!!Yahoo! I have one all to my self now..hehehee...
And its Purple..no..not purple...but PURPLE..lol...has the coolest features ever( ones I have found out how to work them..lol). This mean I can post again...lol. I know some of you post without pictures and you do such an awesome job in making it interesting without pics...me..well not that talented. Well I guess this is a post without pics..lmao...
Hubby and I are leaving Friday for California...San Diego...to visit our son who is stationed in the Navy there. We will be gone for 10 days...both of us need a break from this years challenges.
I wanted to write to you my friends that I have not forgotten about you. Will use my trip to learn how the camera works and be running fully loaded when we are back. I see this trip as an end too all the trouble we went thru here this year and a new start to my art. We will come back refreshed..loaded with pics..and inspiration.
Till then my dear friends...talk to you soon!!!
Big Hug...
Andrea.

I am Back!!! For real!!!LOL

2009-09-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hello there people hope this post finds you all well.
Want to thank everybody that has been supporting me throe a difficult time....and thank you all for the welcome back..s...
I know I said I would be back sooner but things just were not going that way.
This time its for real...yahoo!!
Ok want to share some necklaces that I have made in the moments of sanity ( hmm wonder...what that is) and time possibility...wow heavy sentence here..
Below you will find pictures of necklaces made out of old broken jewelry and polymer clay as well as fabric. I did ad here and there some new things too.
I am looking forward to your responses my friends..plz as always be honest in your opinion. Its helps me so much in my work, I learn from your comments, really!!
Ohh and yes I did get to lend a camera for now...

Did make something special for a very generous person and it should be going in the mail tomorrow. I did not make a picture of it since I did not want to give away what it is..lol. I hope he likes it..oops..did I say to much..lol.
Any way, this is not going to be a long post because I am of to the studio creating some more.
Hope you all have a wonderful and great day!!
BIG HUG!!
Andrea.

From one thing into the other.....

2009-09-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

My dear friends, I really hope this post finds you all sound and well!!
It is true its been going from one thing into the other, like a never ending story!
Every time we think we have solved one problem the next shows up. Have not forgotten about the blog or you my friends. Just have not been able to get to it.
Now its clearing up here ( for now ..lol), my camera is refusing to totally do anything..
With totally..I mean its dead...deceased, kaputt...!!
The saddest part if all is , that I have been creating some things and wanted to post them. Yeah right...soooo not happening today or tomorrow since I do not have money to buy a new one.
There is the option of lending a camera and I think that's the route I will proceed in for now.
Wanted to let all you wonderful people know that I have not forgotten or were giving up...just..well I just hope you all understand.
Will be back with pics soon!
Love you all and thanks for all you support!!!
Andrea.

Quick note!!

2009-07-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hi there everybody! Hope you are doing well!!
Things are looking up around here. I do apologize for not visiting blogs and looking at all your wonderful creations. We are back online now and fixing the house as we speak. Siding and roof in two weeks..lol..(not done yet). Then I will be able to get to work in the studio again and visit all of you wonderful people again. Two more weeks and I'll BE BACK!!! Yahoo!!!
Love you all...big hug,
Andrea.

please hang in there....

2009-06-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

My dear people...due to a lot ( did I say a lot?) of emergencies and personal things going on here, I have not been blogging or even had the possibility to blog . Weather ( hail as big as dollars) has shredded almost everything in the garden and caused the roof to leak at 4 places. In between some kind of flu and pc problems and awful rainy weather, I have not been able to create a lot....well almost nothing...pfff. So please give me another week to get my "stuff" together and I will be back for sure...don't give up on me...ok ? I posted some more Yellowstone pics for you, hope you enjoy them!
I wishing you all a great and wonderful day and hope to talk to you all soon!!
Hug,
Andrea.

Got it together....

2009-06-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Good morning folks...how are today??
Hope you are all doing great!
First of all, thank you for your comments and support guys! They just make my day!!
So here it is...finished up to the hanging part..lol. Decided not to embellish the inchies, thought it would be overkill on this one. Friday I am going out to a friends house where they have lots of wood and find a nice branch. ( no not to hang myself..duh) To hang this project on of course..lol. Think I will give it two loops and attach it that way to the wood.

The next pic is something I started on last night. Have no idea what's up with blue and purple and the camera not really knowing what to do with it! So the colors are way off its is a bit darker and much more vibrant...
The picture I got from Dover...they send you email every now and then with free downloads. I blew it up and traced it on tracing paper. Then put it on some of my hand dyed fabric with dritz tracing underneath it. Traced the whole thing to my liking and started free motion it. I did not want it to look like one of those machine embroidered designs, so I did it with a small free motion zigzag. This gives it a more lace effect. When finished it will get some strait free motion edges around the design to define it a bit more.

Will try to get it pictured better next time....
Well of to the studio to do some more work! Hope you are all having a wonderful day!
Wishing everyone lots and lots of creativity!!!!
XO Andrea.

What to do with scraps??

2009-06-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone, how are you doing today?
Hope this post finds you all well!
Today's post is about scraps and boy do I have a lot of them! These are all scraps from my hand dyed fabric, they were some where in a pile and I decided to challenge myself and use them.
Now I have to find a way to put them together as a wall hanging and have the inchies dangle on the bottom.

The inchies do need embellishment first, so that's the part I still have to finish..before getting it together..lol. ( you can take that either way..lol)
The strips were torn and then stitched onto the background, then free motion stitched with swirls. To get some more dimension, I stitched some pieces on top of that. The butterflies were left over embroidery from my embroidery machine ( as you know which does not live here anymore).
Hand stitching and embroidery, some beads were added on top of some lace.
All the blanket stitching was done by hand. The yarn used for the bigger parts was dyed to fit in. The inchies were done with embroidery floss. I wanted them to have some more color so they would not disappear into the whole..
Well this is what I have been up to this weekend...rain the whole way..bleeh and cold too!
Sunshine right now..so up and away into the yard to see if I can repair some damage that the hail storm made on Friday! Hail as big as dice and bigger..so much for my flowering plants!
Everyone have a great and wonderful day!!
Hug,
Andrea.

Some more beading and an UFO..lol.

2009-06-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hello there people, how are we doing today?
Hope this post finds you all well!
A warm welcome to Crafty Moose crafts at: http//craftymoosecrafts.blogspot.com
Thanks for stopping in and staying around....love that!

Posting two more bracelet cuffs or is it cuff bracelets..lol..
These are good projects to practice your beading on I think..lol ..
Both are just started with some idea but no real thought out pattern. I hope you like them.

The one with the pearls and seahorses has a bump in the middle as you see. I cut a felted wool bead in half and used that to get some raised surface.

This is one of my UFO's that I am hoping to get finished this summer...or better said this year..( whom am I kidding) The background fabric is one piece, the masks and the flowers are appliqued. I have not decided how to proceed with this piece...so any suggestions would be welcome!
Gonna keep it short today want to go and sit in the shade and do some hand stitching.. On what? Not telling you yet, not until I know it is presentable..lol!
Everybody have a great and wonderful day!!
XO Andrea.

Garden chores about done....

2009-06-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend!
In this part of the world the weekend was spent in the backyard, trying to mend the damage that was done last summer when building on the studio. We are almost done!
It was not easy, as when they dug up the soil they also dug up rocks. Tons of them!
Well we got most of the 'repair' done and at least the backyard is looking presentable.
With so much work to be done, I did not spent a lot of time creating. Not a lot to post either..lol.
Now the pressure is of a bit I can spent more time in the studio..yahooo!!!
I do not know about you guys, but I miss working and creating and then again if I know something needs to be done, I feel sort of guilty to be in the studio until the chore is finished.
In between the work and time outs we toke I did some beading and made this cuff bracelet that I would like to share with you. There was no plan, just the color scheme and I toke it from there.

Instead of a button closure I used a toggle clasp. There are three little mirrors encased with beads. Those were kinda fun, even working in the shadow the sunlight would hit them and then I was blinded for a while..lol. Worked on the cuff with sunglasses on!
Well folks I hope you all have a wonderful great day! I am of the play!
Hug,
Andrea.

Passing on awards!!

2009-05-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Good morning my dear friends, hope this post finds you all well and wishing all of you a great weekend!
Sharon has given me these awards and I understand it is tradition to pass them along to others...right?
Never thought this would be soooo difficult..pff..how to choose out of all these wonderful people and all these wonderful blogs!!
If you read this and are not mentioned, consider yourself been given these anyway..ok??
Alright then, here we go:
Maggi from http://todreamtostitch.blogspot.com
Melinda at http://melindasfabricfancies.blogspot.com
Clevelandgirlie at http://clevelandgirlie.blogspot.com
Jean from http://bluebirdslivinginthemeadow.blogspot.com
Elizabeth at http://elizabethcreates.blogspot.com
I have been following these friends and their awesome blogs for a while now and could tell you so much about them. Then again do yourself a favor and hop over and meet them if you haven't yet!

Hope you like them my friends!!!

On anther note some other sharing. Bought this stamp...is it not a cutie???

It is from Stamps Happen, just could not pass it up!
And here is some furry purry fun......

Hope you like them..ohh and in case your computer is not working, the last picture might give you a hint..lol.
have a wonderful weekend my friends!
XO Andrea.

Woweee!!!

2009-05-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

Good morning everybody, I hope this post finds you all well!
For starters....my friend Sharon has given my awards..wowee!!
I feel so honored that she calls me her friend and thinks that I deserve these! XOXOXO my friend!!!

Isn't that something??
This just makes my day..no it makes my week or even more. I will pass these to some other blogging friends tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Next I would like to share with you a collage on canvas that I made yesterday and would really like your opinion on it my friends. Paper is not my strongest point I think, so any suggestions will be very welcome!

I know you all must be getting tired of me complaining about me camera, so I will not do that..lol.
The colors are little less blueish, should be more to the brown side. Tried different backgrounds, I guess this is it.....

Used a piece of Tim Holz grunge board, like that stuff. It smells a bit I think but you get used to that..lol
It does a really good job when you emboss it.

The glass bubbles are embossed on the backside. Then glued on. Did some embossing on a couple of shells too. Just brush on your ink ( I used India ink) and sprinkle it on there. Have a little container were you put your shells in when you put the powder on, so you catch all the powder that does not stick. This way you do not lose any. The dolphins are embossed too for part of them. The mermaids are printed on transparent 'paper' and then cut out. The glass pieces were embossed and then glued on top of each other.
The whole background was painted in layers of gesso, acrylic and ink.
That is it for now my friends, I am back of to do some more work...( fun).
Hope you like this post and have a wonderful and great day!
Go and create!
XO Andrea.

Some fun??

2009-05-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

Ok decided to have some fun in here..this is me a looooong time ago with my cousin.
This picture was made in the early sixties..lol.
If you have any purpose for it you are welcome to download it..lol.
XO Andrea.

I am sooo proud of him!!!

2009-05-20T05:58:00.001-07:00

Good morning people, hope this post finds you all well.
It is not really my intention to make this blog about my personal life, it is to be about arts and crafts. Still I had to share this with you...my only child, my son Jeff is in the Navy. This is what he send me....

Not a bad looking guy is he??? I am so proud of him!
Ok..well just had to share with you all. Will post some more things later......
Andrea.

Summer is here??

2009-05-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hello wonderful people out there, how are you all doing today?
Did you have a good weekend?
According to the weather forecast it is going to be 86 degrees today... does this mean that summer is here? What happened to spring ? Going from the 40 to 50 to high 80...nice jump..lol.
Today I am first of all posting some wonderful things that were send to me by people that I did a swap with.
The first picture is a wonderful piece that I traded with Sharon from http://wildflowerhouse.blogspot.com for fairy slippers.

The second piece is a wonderful piece that I traded with Cathie from http://clevelandgirlie.blogspot.com

This is the other side...

Go and check out these blogs and these wonderful people!
The next pictures are some things that I have been working on when I got to it..lol.
Here is a pincushion that I made for a friend. The bird sits on a nest that is in a green glass dessert bowl. All I used was recycled wool to make the bird and some lace that I dyed to go with the project.

Next is some left overs from the time that I owned an embroidery machine, put the left overs to work on an African themed wall hanging. It is not finished yet...but hopefully soon will be..lol.
My camera was acting up again this morning. Funny how it got the swap pieces kinda good and then when it came to my pieces the pictures ( believe me I tried like a hundred times!) it suddenly decided to act up. I am sorry , this is as good as it gets for now. One day I will have the money for a better camera, right now this is what I will have to do with..lol.

The woman's face was cut out of another piece of fabric and used as an applique. Is this how you spell that? This is how blogger wants me to spell it..hmmm..)

The masks were made with the embroidery machine ( who has a wonderful new home..sniff..), the material on the sides of this block was fuzzy cut and put on top.

Did the same with this fellow...

The lion is embroidery applique and this woman was done the same as the first one.

I hope you like this post....sorry again about the not so good pics!
Wishing you all a wonderful creative day!
Big hug for everyone,
Andrea.

Thank you Elizabeth!!

2009-05-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello there people, sorry to have been absent for so long.
Did not have a lot to post lately but getting there.
Elizabeth of http://thelastdoordownthehall.blogspot.com has given me an award...Yahoo!!
You will have to check out her blog, she is awesome and soooo inspiring!

I feel honored! Thanks again Elizabeth!
Ok..people...will have things to post this weekend, please stay tuned!
Right now finished a pair of fairy slippers for Sharon's fairy , at http://wildflowerhouse.blogspot.com. If you need to be inspired check out her awesome blog too!
She has been sooo patient with me and her piece already arrived. I will post that this weekend too, it is so pretty, actually I should say beautiful! It is on its way Sharon!
Anyway... want to thank you all for not forgetting about me, makes me all warm inside!
Thanks...XOXO
Andrea.

Little things and spring not here yet blues....

2009-04-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hello there people..
I am sorry about the long time in between posts. I hope that this one finds you all well!
It has been really weird with the weather here..a few days of really good nice warm weather ( well warm for Idaho..lol) and a fell for it. Planted some flowers and the next day I woke up with snow on them. Needless to tell you what happened with the flowers.
Its seems that around this time of the year I get the "spring is here..now you see it and now you don't ' blues..lol. Lots of inspiration but no work done...am I the only one with this????
Today I am posting my beaded mermaid that has no face...yet. Just do not seem to get it on her..pfff. But she will get one, promise! Hubby thinks she should get arms too, not willing to go that far..lol. It seems that embellishing with beads has my attention lately, maybe it is because I have never done a lot of that.

This next pictures is my try of making a wool (old sweater), beaded flower, what do you think?
Sewing on beads the right way is not as easy as I thought....let me know if you see anything that I can improve..please!?

Seems that I am into making little things right now does it not?LOL
Wanted to use some fabric scraps, so made these little fabric charms. They are about 1inch small. Think they would look cute on a bracelet or neckless ....
This is really all I have to show for now, sorry! I promise I will get more work done to share with you!
Let me know what you think all you wonderful inspiring people out there that back me up with your awesome comments, really.....did I say really....appreciate you guys!!!
Well lets go and create and have spite of the nasty weather a wonderful day??!!
BIG HUG,
Andrea.

Pictures for you...

2009-04-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hello there people!
I hope this post finds you all well.
Today I would like to share some pictures that were taken in Yellowstone two years ago. Just now found them again..lol.
They speak for themselves...I think...well any way, you can download them if you want. These are my pics, so you do not have to worry about copy rights. I hope that they will inspire you!
XOXO
Andrea.

Spring...maybe???

2009-04-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hello there folks, how are you all doing today?
Hope this post finds you all well.
We finally got rid of the white stuff here, it has turned into the wet stuff. RAIN!!
The temperatures have gone up a bit, but is is still kind of chilly in the mornings. The daytime temp is going over forty now...Yippee! I know for some of you it does not seem that "warm" but for around here its a sign of spring, at least that's what we tell our selves here..lol.
I should be honest we had a couple of days in the fifties, then they went..pff..
For today's posting, a butterfly applique that's hand and machine needle felted. Then stitched on to the background fabric. The rest is apart from no binding finished like a regular quilt. My thought on the binding was...why?? Ehum..apart from that I do not like to do bindings..lol.
In my opinion, its not always necessary to have a binding on a wall hanging, I know that some of you quilters out there 'shiver' at these words...sorry...lol.
I am stubborn....I do it my way..lol...did I mention that I was stubborn????
Ok...I would, if somebody wanted to buy it and requested it, put a binding on it, see I am flexible....right???
I was wondering if I should leave it like this or put leaves with the flowers? Any suggestions my friends?
Well will have to leave you for now, have to prepare for a class I am teaching tomorrow...
Wishing everyone a wonderful great day! And go and create!
XO Andrea.

Good morning..... for you..

2009-04-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone. I hope you are all doing great!
Just now found this great blog:http://quiltingranny.blogspot.com
She is having a yummy give away, because of her 500th post coming up.
Go check her blog and get inspired and enter of course!
May the "lucky" one win..lol.
Lilla is also having a give away on her blog:http://justlilla.blogspot.com
She makes the most wonderful things, go and check her blog out too!!
Talk to you guys later.....have a great one and go and create!!!!
Andrea.

I won something...for real!!!!

2009-04-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Hello there friends...how are you doing today?
Hope this post finds you all well!
Have to share this with you. I actually won something ....Marlyn from http://honeysucklebreeze.blogspot.com , had a give away on her blog. I stumbled in there cruising the web. You really should check out her blog, there is some really amazing inspiration there!
This is what a won...and I know that I am really going to enjoy this!!!
Love,
Andrea.

The record bowls!!

2009-04-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

You guys are keeping me busy..lol.
Ok...the record bowls....preheat oven to the 200F . If you do have convect bake, really use it. It is a lot more effective.
Put your record on top of an upside down glass or metal bowl. Put it in the oven and wait for about three minutes. You will see the record starting to droop. Put on oven gloves..not kidding here...put them on!
Take out the record when soft. And shape. If you want holes in your bowl...soften the record flat first and punch holes. Then you can proceed to the bowl part. You can also put the record when soft into another bowl that's sitting upright. Push the record into that bowl and use your bowl shape to shape your bowl......confused???...I have been like that for years..lol.
That's actually all there is to it folks. Remember when embellishing, if you plan to reshape in any form you will have the reheat the bowl. Which means use only things that can withstand the temperature used. Like with glue ..USE NON-FLAMMABLE GLUE!!!

Record recycling tutorial!!!

2009-04-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ok folks here it is.....
Preheat your oven too about 200F degrees, if you have convect bake on it, I suggest you use that.
Take an old record that nobody will miss. Not your hubby's collection..lol. Make sure you are ventilating the room you are working in very well, there will be some fumes!
Put it on a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Both need to be big enough for the record to lay flat. That's right we are starting with the bracelets first.
DO NOT THROW AWAY THE ALBUM COVER!!!! I am working on recycling those too....I will share some ideas about recycling album covers with you. ( next week)
Ok back to the record..have some oven gloves ready, it will be HOT,...did I mention the record will be hot?
Check on it after about three minutes, if it is soft, cut it into strips like this...some need more time. Its more fun if you cut different sizes!

You might have to put it back in the oven several trips to soften it up again, so keep the oven on till we are done cutting.
Then cut round edges on the strips like this......

After all the cutting, put the strips in one more time. All together if possible, when they are soft, roll over them with something like an old can . This is to flatten them well enough to work with.
Note here, that if you want to punch holes or such in them you will have to reheat them. You cannot punch holes when they are hardened, they will for sure crack..trust me on this.
Once they are flat enough and hardened up again, you will need to sand the edges really well.( the edges can be very sharp) If you sand on the side that will be the top that's going to show when you wear it, it will give you a sort of leather look. I soak the strips with label on them in warm water and scratch the labels of and then I sand the labels of with my sander, if you try this make sure you are holding on to the strip really well and USE PROTECTIVE EYE WEAR!!! You can start embellishing them. BUT WAIT..IMPORTANT...anything you will use on them needs to be able to resist the heat you are using to soften them. Why? Well you will have to soften them to shape them...aha?
For that you can use the can...ehh vegetable can or such of course..lol. There are different sizes of cans, so make sure you choose one that will give you the fit you need. If you happen on the wrong size..well no panic...grab a different one and reheat the bracelet. When I made my bracelets, I let the ends overlap. This way they will have the expanding space to put them on...which is a good thing right?
I have lined mine with wool from a recycled wool skirt. its nice and soft plus it can stand the heat that's used. The wool was glued with E6000, please make sure you ventilate the room you are working in very well. Read the instructions on the glue...USE NON-FLAMMABLE GLUE!!!
Go crazy my friends and show me what you have made...pretty please???

Yes...the water is purple!

2009-04-03T06:13:00.001-07:00

Good morning everybody...how are we doing today? Hope all of you are having or are going to have the most wonderful day ever! With lots of creating of course!
Today I am showing a project that I have been working on in between projects. For those who want to read between the lines...yes that means it is taking me a while to finish it..lol.
All commercial fabrics with lots of free motion stitching. The fish were cut out from the commercial fabric to suit at my will ..lol. I then free motion stitched tiny little scales on them with metallic thread, boy was that #%&*... had to go thru all kinds of experiments to keep this thread from breaking. The thread itself was a very expensive brand ( not sure if I am allowed to use brand names in here..lol), so I thought that the problem was coming from somewhere else and it did. USE METALLIC NEEDLES FOR METALLIC THREAD is all I can tell you and slow down on your sewing speed.
This project was one of those design as you go things and I am not sure if I want to embellish it or put more fabric embellishments on it or what..(suggestions welcome here).
That's why..as you can see, its not finished yet.
Any way dear friends, I wanted to share this with you. Now I will get ready to start making the promised tutorials for the recycling projects.
Take care all of you and have that wonderful day that I wished you before and go and create!!!
Andrea.

In the cycle of recycle...

2009-03-31T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hello there people..
Hope this post finds you all sound and well!
It seems that I am in a cycle of wanting to see what I can recycle..hmm yeah I meant to say it that way...I think..
For today it has to be a quicky..lol. But wanted to post these, soo here they are.
Bowls made out of records and two bracelets made out of the same. This was just some awesome fun..really!

Then two little pouches made out of plastic shopping bags.
Right now I do not have the time to explain how any of these are done. I promise that I will get back to you about this before the end of the week. If however you have questions, post them now and I can work the answer into the tutorial.
Ok...gotta run folks...have a wonderful great day and go and create!
Andrea.

Made my own....

2009-03-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hello folks...how are we all doing today?
Snow again last night..pfff!!
No flowers showing up in the garden yet..soo...I made my own..lol
Including some pictures here...

Some paper, felt and a branch can liven up a day. The cherry origami blossom is not glued onto the branch. These little pretties have a piece of wire on them, this way I can take them of and reuse the branch for something else or put other flowers on it when I get bored with these. They are made out of tissue paper that came out of a shoe box. I used the papers to swap up some spilled ink and voila..instant dye.
The purple flowers are made from recycled cotton yarn ( old sweater pulled apart), which was a dirty creamy white. I made sort of pompoms and then dipped the whole in the dye without soaking it totally. Then squeezed them out in paper towels and dried it with a hairdryer. This is the only time I use this thing...in crafts and arts. It has never seen my hair..lol. I used a comb to get the pompoms fluffy again. The paper towels are waiting to become beads..Yeah...
Next is a little clutch made from brown paper bags, acrylic paint and stamps. The whole is sealed with an acrylic sealer. Have not decided yet what to put on for closure. On the inside is brown paper too, its sealed the same way. This was actually fun to do, the what if factor as well as the challenge...lol.

Soo, there it is for today..some flowers and a clutchie thingy mebobber..lol.
For any questions on these projects..mail me!! Thanks again for all your wonderful comments...you wonderful people!
Everybody have a wonderful great day and go and create!
Andrea.

Good morning???

2009-03-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Good morning people, how are we doing today?
I hope this post finds you all well!
So much for spring here...18 degrees this morning. Ahh..and yes snow again, not a lot but enough..lol. According to the weather forecast more to come, some body out there must just loooove Idaho...lol...right!

Above and below this part of the post, I am showing you what I am working on right now. Lilacs, needle felted with wool, hand dyed soy silk and hand dyed silk. The background is a black commercial glitter felt. I have to say that felting on this works great, just never try to pull any of the felted stuff off...you get holes...big ones..lol. That's how I ended up with this shape ( being very..very honest here). Going to solve that problem with the background fabric that I found in my stash, lucky me!!! As shown here in the photo below.

My meditation quilt that I started is not ready for pictures yet, better said..it feels like I should keep this one to myself till it feels right to share it. Does that make sense to anyone?
The next picture is of a bracelet made out of recycled old jewelry and some charms that I made with diamond glaze. Man that's some awesome stuff!!

This one I am going to wear, the next one might end up getting sold..lol.
Ok my friends, thanks again for all your support and inspiring comments!
This girl is going to her ' dungeon' (my hubby named my studio..lol) and play and torture some more projects. Please stay tuned..planning on some more tutorials very soon!!
Have a wonderful great day and go and create!!!
Love you all,
Andrea.

Snow....again....

2009-03-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

Good morning people, hope you are all doing great!
Here we all woke up to about 2 inches of snow.....after two days of rain. Yep...we do not seem to get rid of the white stuff yet.
For today's posting two little cards. Paper work is I think not my strongest point, so I will have to keep working with it till I find my way. I used some card board scraps, tissue paper, polymer clay cherub,a paper cast cherub( the bigger one), old jewelry and some goodies from my 'spoils'.
This weekend has not been very productive, a leaking toilet was the mane thing on the program...lol
Started on some needle felting projects last week and a quilt that I call 'its not pretty, my meditation', might give you a sneak peak tomorrow.
Thank for your comments folks...I really do so appreciate them!
Ok, that's it for now...go and create and have a wonderful day!
Andrea.

Look!!!!

2009-03-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

http://bluebirdslivinginthemeadow.blogspot.com. Is having her anniversary....congratulations.
There is a blog give a way on her blog. Check out her blog it's awesome...very inspiring.
I have been following her blog for a while now, check it out, you will not be disappointed for sure!!!
Thanks Bluebirds!!! Your awesome!!!
Andrea.

Swap and candy!!

2009-03-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hello folks, how are we doing today? Are we creating? Hope everyone is doing great and is having a wonderful day.
Today I am posting what I should have posted a couple days ago, but due to my temperamental cam it toke a bit longer. Really.. don't ask what I did to it to make it work..lol.
Not to long ago I entered a blog give away by Lilla from :http://justlilla.blogspot.com/, you really should check out her blog. She makes awesome things. I won!!! She send me a box she made and some goodies with it. Its so pretty, I tried to take pictures from different angles so I could share it with you guys.

Really pretty is it not? Thanks so much Lilla....
Then I did a swap with a lady that probably most of you know very well. Linda from:http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com, agreed to do a swap with me. I feel very honored that she did. A fairy slipper went to the UK and this is what came back.....feast your eyes people!

What do you think...awesome right?
Linda send me some goodies to go with the bookmark and I really love those too.
I am getting really excited about swapping art with other artists, having hubby make me extra shelves just to display my spoils..lol.
Right now do not have anything ready enough to post from my works, but soon. Which means that I should be getting to work and get things finished...right?
Want to thank all you friends and visitors that leave all these awesome and up lifting comments on my blog. It sooo inspires me!!!THANK YOU!!!
Well talk to you guys soon..take care and go and create!
Andrea.

Canvas and unfinished business...

2009-03-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Good morning folks!
How are we doing today?
I hope this days finds you all well. Want to thank all the kind and wonderful people that have left comments on my blog....you guys inspire me soooooo much..love you!!!
For today the posting is about my first try on small canvasses and an unfinished wall hanging.
The two canvasses are embellished with polymer clay. The background is my first try on crackle medium. This is fun stuff!!! They are painted with acrylic paint and the whole is finished with a gloss sealer.

The wall hanging is as you can see unfinished...duhh.. I was not sure where I was going with this piece, but last night I got the idea of how I want to finish it. Will keep you posted on when its done..lol.
The picture below is an altered house box...tissue paper, paint, polymer clay, glass bubbles, text and an altered refrigerator magnet on top.

That's it for today people...I am of to play some more!
Hope all of you have a wonderful great day!
Go and create!
Andrea.

Snowy Sunday,,again!!

2009-03-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello there people, how are we doing today?
Anybody else had enough of the white stuff...time for spring!
Thanks for all the inspiring and wonderful comments people, you have no idea how much this means to me! Two people have agreed to a swap with the Fairy shoes. As I promised, there were some more but I had to contact the owners first. Here are three more for now.

The top one is an old 'magic' shoe I have been told, since" humans cannot do magic",quote, it is safe to publish this shoe. The previous owner did not want me to share his name...soo.
The bootie belonged to Ascarn, When it came to me for repair it was actually beyond repair, she wanted me to keep the little teddy on the boot, so improvisation was called for. Now its sort of fixed and she tells me she cannot and does not want to pick it up, even though she paid for it.
The lower slipper is another one from Sarrafin, did not want this one back either. Well at least they gave me all permission to put them on the blog.
(Al slippers are made out of recycled wool .)
Ok folks this is it for now, have to go and battle my camera for pictures of a new wall hanging.
As soon as cam and I agree I will post them....that might not be today..lol.
Have a wonderful day everyone and go and create!
Andrea.

altered geisha's crafty musings: My First Blog Give Away

2009-03-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

altered geisha's crafty musings: My First Blog Give Away

Good news!!

2009-03-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Two slippers have found a home!
Arabella's and Grafinni's slipper will be moving to the UK. There they will be cherished by their new owner Jasmoon Butterfly ( blog). She has agreed to adopt them for a trade. I am really thrilled about that, they will get such a wonderful home!
I am keeping what she is trading a surprise for now, but will post it when it arrives.
At the moment I am going thru another stash of these slippers and am trying to contact the owners. As soon as I have their permission, they will be posted. They will also be up for adoption in the form of a trade. Make me an offer and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Make sure you let me know whose slipper you prefer and what you offer for trade.
Have a wonderful great day people...and go and create!
Love you all!
Andrea.

Ok...here is a secret that I need to tell!!

2009-03-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

My dear friends, it is time that I share a secret with you. Well actually I finally can, because I have been giving permission to do so.
For a while now I have been contacted by some that live amongst us, to repair their shoes. No...I am not kidding. We are talking sizes here that cannot be bought easily in the stores. I do my best to repair these shoes, even though they are sometimes really worn out. Then after lots of loving labor some of them do not get picked up by the owners, for several different reasons. Now there is a whole collection of these shoes and they are up for adoption. I have done my best to contact the owners and most of them let me know they did not want them back and I could keep them. There is one big problem. well actually there are two problems. The first one is...I do not fit these shoes even if I were to cut of my toes. Second, they are singles...and who wants to wear a different shoe on each foot? These are the reasons that I have decided to share them with you.
I did put a quarter next to them so you have a idea of the actual size......

Are we having fun yet???!!!
The colors are more bright then on the picture, the light today is not helping.
As they are: The gray and red striped one is a bowling shoe, the previous owner was Beltin, an elf with attitude I can tell you. Its made out of recycled wool.
The dark red, is a house slipper as they call them, used for lounging, Sarrafin did not think it was worth her while to pick this one up. This one is made out of felt.
The bright red slipper belonged to Kashimni, she just loves strawberries, somehow I think this slipper portrays that. This is a felt slipper too.
The pink one belonged to Arrabella, she loves roses and winter, does not make sence does it. Well she sometimes does not make sense either...at least that's my opinion. Who would not come and pick up a shoe like that. This one is made out of angora wool!
The gray with pink slipper belonged to Grafinni, she is a tomboy fairy with a big heart. Always polite and not demanding at all. When I contacted her about this shoe, she said that at the moment she could not come by, as she was out of the country. It would take a long time for her to come back, she said. Hence her decision to give the shoe to me.
Well my friends that's it for now. I hope you all enjoy my sharing my secret!
Wishing you all a wonderful day!
Go and create!
Andrea.

Oops, been away that long????

2009-02-26T05:49:00.000-08:00

Good morning people!
I hope this post finds you all well!
Want to thank everbody for their wonderfull and supportive comments, they mean soooo much to me!
I am sorry, just now found out that I did not post for a while...so much for wanting to post every day in this year..lol.
Today I am posting something that I wanted to make for a while now and finally did it. Its a clutch purse that is crazy quilted and hand beaded. Added some hand embroidery too.
Its is made out of recycled silk blouses and the inside is silk too. The black fabric is recycled velvet. Don't you just love the feel of silk and velvet????
I think it would make a great evening purse...what do you think?? I had to delete the background of the first two pictures so it would not be to distracting. The third pic I just left as is, so you will see what I mean. Looking at the picture I see that some little adjustments need to be made, will fix that and re post the picture. ( you see what I see here?LOL)

The velvet I embossed myself because I thought it looked to "flat". This is the first time I made something like this and I had so much fun making it that I am thinking of making another one in different colors. I will put it up for "adoption" in my Etsy store, I think. Then again...I would really like it for myself...lol.
This is it for today, have a busy agenda today, so I will talk to you guys soon.....sooner then last time..promise.....
Everybody have a great wonderfull day...and go and create!
Love you guys!!!!
Andrea.

What do you think..??

2009-02-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Good morning folks!
I hope this post finds you all well!
Here is my try on altered art dolls..lol. I tried to use as many as different foreign objects as I could come up with. What do you think? Any comments are welcome. I am hoping to learn from you guys's comments what I need to change or not. Really appreciate all the input that I can get.
The first one is made out of a wood block and an alt wind chime. The wood block is covered with tissue paper and mod podge. The bird is an old Christmas ornament. that had a hole in it, which I covered with a little mirror. The face is polymer clay made from my own mold.
The second one is a wood block stamped, painted and bees waxed. Some springs as arms, do not even remember where I got those. The cap is an old canning lid with wool left over. She is standing on an old desk leg. ( cannot remember where I got that either..lol) Her hair is a left over strip from recycled wool. Her face is paper mache, painted distressed and waxed.
Well people, that's it for today, waiting for your feedback.........
Have a great wonderful day and go and create!
Andrea.

Needle felted landscape...

2009-02-17T08:14:00.001-08:00

Hello there people!
I hope this post finds you all well!
Decided to finish of a needle felting project, its machine felted with my own dyed wool on burlap.
Yours truly found out that you need more wool when felting on burlap, since it punches thru it easily. The plus side is that when you want to push the fibers back to the front, on burlap it really works great. By pushing back to the front, I mean needle felt it from the back. The wool mixes great when pushed back, this means a better mix of your colors. The piece ended up being bigger then originally planned so I had to ad some more wool. When I did that I did not ad more burlap. Just attached more wool to the existing piece. If you look at the close up in the top left corner you can see where the wool was added. The back is lighter. This will not be a problem ( I hope) once the piece is mounted on wood or some other backing fabric. Well that is to say, if I a use darker background then the piece. If that does not work, I will just needle felt a piece of burlap to fit. Hmm...maybe that is what I will do to start with....what do you think..lol.
For now I am thinking of free motion stitching it with the sewing machine. Still have to decide what colors for that.
This is it for now...want to thank you for all your wonderful and inspiring comments...love 'em thanks soooooooo much..with a big hug!
Take care and go and create!
Andrea.

Quicky!

2009-02-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

Here is a quicky....posting. Mod podge, mica powders and tissue paper on my own dyed fabric.
Its totally not finished yet...but wanted to post something for today. It will be free motion stitched with variegated threads. I like the way it looks almost like metal. Even though the picture(cam), does not show it at its full potential.
Ok...really gotta run now..later people!

Winners OWOH!!!

2009-02-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here it is folks..the winners of the give away of the OWOH .
I do not have a lot of time today but wanted to keep up with my promise to post the winners:
Sam, from http://samburgess.blogspot.com and S.Hyler from adornedintreasure.blogspot.com
Congratulations to these two people!
I really wish I could afford to let everyone that posted a comment win..that be sooo awesome. But sorry I cannot....I am going to try to do some blog candy give away in the next couple of months. So keep in touch folks! Have a great wonderful day and go and create!
Andrea.

Playing ....

2009-02-11T06:21:00.000-08:00

Hi there...back again..me..lol.
Just a little thing I've been playing on.
The sea horse is a stamp rubbing with oil crayons on commercial fabric. Have no idea what material it is, but its stretchy and thickly woven and pretty heavy. I wanted to use it...and so I did. Covered the rubbing with some sparkly cheapo fabric paint.
Then stitched some scraps on the sides and couched some novelty yarns. Finished it of by zig zag stitching it onto a piece of commercial felt.
For today that will have to be it, getting company today so not much time to play till tonight..lol.
Again folks have a great one, ( do not forget to read the previous post...please..??) take care!
Go and create,
Andrea.

Last day OWOH!!!!

2009-02-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day folks!! I will take entries till 8pm mountain time and then its over. Tomorrow morning I will announce the winners and send them their mail, so I can get the addresses to send the prizes. Good luck to all that have entered and all that will enter till 'closing time'.
This whole event has been such fun and we all got to meet many different people. The wonderful blogs one gets to cruise, that probably I would never have found without this event..awesome!!!
I feel honored that some of you think my work is good enough to be a follower of my blog. I hope that I can keep up with your expectations !!!
I have to ask you people when you read this, to take a moment and think about the people in Australia who have lost everything in the wildfires. Please say a prayer for them!!!!!
If you know anybody from around there, if you can...let them know that our hearts and prayers are with them!!
Thanks to everyone that entered my give away and for sharing your wonderful blogs!!
Just....well love you all....take care and have a great wonderful day!!
Ooh yeah....go and create!
Andrea.

Some more on fun technique...

2009-02-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hello folks, here are some more ideas using stamps and tissue paper. I started this project last year and finished it yesterday. Actually finished two UFO's yesterday..lol.
The one with the tree, you have seen before. Only now its finished. I went and attacked the background with oil crayons and heat set them. Just felt that this way it would pull it more together.

Sorry about the blurry pic. The tree was needle felted (machine) and then stitched onto my hand dyed fabric. What do you think about the fringes?
Once I started with the one, it seemed not a bad idea with the other one.
Thanks for all you great comments, my friends, They are sooooooooo appreciated!!!
Well its time to go and do some more work. Do more UFO's...might post some tomorrow. ( aiming too) These you guys have not seen yet....
Take care , have a wonderful day and go and create!!!!
Andrea.

Fun technique

2009-02-06T13:41:00.001-08:00

Hello people for today I am posting some really fun stuff( Well...I had fun with it..lol)
What you are looking at is my hand dyed fabric and stamped tissue paper.
I own a lot of commercial ( when I say lot talking really a lot) stamps. Most of them are very detailed and it is hard to get that detail on fabric. So this is what one can do: you stamp on the thin tissue paper and heat set it with your iron. I do recommend you use something between your iron and the tissue so you do not get ink on your iron. ( whom am I kidding...you should see mine..lol).
After that you carefully mod podge the tissue from the back first, let dry, then do the front. Now on the front try not going over the image more then twice and do not worry about not seeing to much of your image, mod podge dries up clear. You do not need to make the layers thick and its even recommendable that you thin the mod podge with just a little water. LET DRY...Be patient...lol. When dry cut out your images the way you choose, tearing might be a little difficult, but you could get almost the same effect with craft or scrapbook scissors.
Choose where you want to place your image and...yes...mod podge it on the fabric. Now ones its one there, you can not remove it...so keep that in mind. Do not worry about some mod podge spilling on your fabric you will hardly see it when its dry. When every thing is dry ( really dry!!)
You can iron the piece from the back of your fabric, not to hot, wool setting will do it. Again, its wise to protect your iron. Now you can stitch and embellish and/or put batting behind it and/or quilt it. You can even go in with markers and color some more, just give it time to dry in between coloring ( if you are impatient or should I say in a hurry..lol , try the hairdryer)
I do not think that this technique is to be recommended for heavily used textiles, but for wall hangings or fabric journal pages it works great. It also gives you a chance to use your stamps for more creativity.
I hope that some of you will try this...let me know what you came up with?? Pleazzze??
Have fun people...go and create....
Andrea.

Torturing needle felting machine!

2009-02-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

Yes I did...I did torture my needle felting machine! Well I wanted to see how far she would go, what she would not do...lol. Well I found out! She does more then one could ever expect..really.
I did break one needle and that was even my fault. Clipped that needle short with pliers and went on with my torture....my baby hung in there like a real trooper!
In the pictures you see commercial felt( the cheapo stuff), roving, fabric and leftover twincies ( I have big hands inchies do not really work for me and I am not sure if twinchies is a word either..lol.) The basic I started with was some left over cotton batting pieces. Then from the back I needle felted the commercial felt to see what would happen. I used pieces of different colors. Then on the front went on with fabric, that's three layers the machine had to chew, but she did it. Have to remind you folks that you go slower then usual with the moving of your fabric when you have thick layers like that!

The twinchies were first just scrunched with the machine on the base cotton and then I put some roving over the edges to felt them down. Here I would like to remind you of the fact that fabric can be needle felted with the machine but you will have the stitch it with the sewing machine or felt it with roving to make it more permanent. The turtle was stamped and colored fabric leftover, so he had to go on somewhere too.

The face was drawn with pencils..I did not really like it so she was sacrificed as well.( she did not like to be scrunched into the scanner either with her face as you see..sorry about the wrinkles) Her hair is strips of commercial felt and the lighter color is roving. For thin strips like her hair I recommend you put your one needle attachment in your machine, if you use you five (or as in my case four) needles you will get more holes then needed,plus you will shred the strips. The leaf was a left over to be stuffed, needless to say it never got that far.

This was so much fun, I really recommend you guys go and try this. If you have never used a needle felting machine, go and check one out at a local dealer (for locals...bought mine at Brady's in Idaho Falls, really love the service and people there). The price of these things is very reasonable...I think cheaper then most sewing machines....but that's me. I guess I am a little prejudice about the machine because I have so much fun with her. Well my friends that's what I wanted to share with you guys for today.....please have a wonderful day and go and create?!
Andrea.

Found more blog candy....

2009-02-04T07:09:00.000-08:00

Dear folks, hope this day finds you all well!
For today I would like for you to look up the blog candy...give away that I found on the web.
They are in the link post, on the left of the page. At least that's were I put them...you never know right? Go and check them out, these are very talented and generous people. Go and do some 'cruising', you will be amazed with what you find.
Gotta go for now, might be back later....
Wishing you all a happy funny creative wonderful day!!!!
Andrea.

Not forgotten......

2009-02-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

Hi there folks!
No I did not forget about the blog..really!
First of all...thank you for the HUGE amount of reactions to my OWOH give away, keep'm coming and I might ad some more goodies to be won! Keep checking this blog, because I will not post the extra's till last two days.( when we go past 150...) I know I'm mean...lol.

As I mentioned a couple a days ago, there were some classes to teach and that takes up time in preparation as well as in the classes itself. Been putting around just a little in the studio and made small things. Posting them right now as we speak. the cat purse might go to a good home. If anyone is interested, give me a buzz..ok?

The fairy is from 'The graphics Fairy', she is in the blogs I follow. You really need to check this blog out. This lady is sooooo generous with what she shares! here is her blog address:http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com
Her back ground is paper with silk fibers(commercial), then wall paper pieces and paint, stamps and ink. Printed paper, fussy cut stuff etc. I am not sure if she wants to leave...but you could always ask and I will take it up with her..who knows??? ( don't worry about the pin, it did not hurt her a bit)
The cat purse is made from felted recycled sweaters. Like I mentioned, if you want to give hime a home email me and I will send more pictures .
There is only one of him!
Dear people that is it for now, please keep the comments coming!
Love you guys, have a great day...go and create!
Andrea.

Could not wait till tomorrow!!!

2009-01-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

Could not wait...after cruising all these wonderful blogs and give away.....seeing how many people are participating in the One World-One Heart give away. I had to start posting mine!
These are the first two prices that I will be posting, depending on how many comments that are coming in, I will be putting up some more. That's to say if that is not against the rules. If it is somebody please tell me!!!!
The stamps are all foam backed and have the sticky backs to adhere to acrylic blocks. The pink ones are Hampton art stamps, have no idea what brand the beetle is. But he looks cute, he to is foam backed. The paper is handmade and pretty sturdy, would make maybe a smaller card or be pretty if die-cut.
Hoping that my give away will make some people happy.......
Andrea.

One World-One Heart!!!

2009-01-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

Dear friends....good morning.
I know I should have done this earlier but better late then never right?
Tomorrow I will be posting my give away for one World- One Heart 2009.

I have never done anything like this but am going to do my best to do it right.
Hope to see you all tomorrow
Andrea.

.

Goodies!!! I am spoiled and I like it!!!!

2009-01-24T10:18:00.001-08:00

Hi there folks.
How are we all doing today?
Hope you are all well and happy and last but not least creating?
Have to share this with you guys, I got spoiled yesterday afternoon.
See end of this week I will be teaching two needle felting classes in Idaho Falls (Bradys for the locals), I needed more wool and so off to the Lazy J. Now I need to turn this.....

into this.....

On the following picture you see dyed goat hair, I bought it like that and it needle felts like a dream.

Then the other two small donuts in front of the wool are bamboo silk and soy silk.....and omg...these are even better then real silk. The softness and the sheen.. I am in needle felting heaven.

When we got home it was frozen pizza ( yes we did heat it before we ate it!), for dinner. No way that I was going to cook....Hubby saw that one coming, the pizza was actually his idea..lol.
Then into the studio till about one o'clock and created this. Used commercial felt to felt on and then the bamboo silk and the goat hair. The green is some kind of yarn that I bought at a yard sale, it felted pretty good.

Its is going to be a shoulder bag...what you think?
Well guys gotta go back to shovel snow..again and dye some more wool . Then when I am waiting for the dyeing process I guess...I will just have to play some more...sigh...lol.
Love you all my friends, you rock!
Take care and go and create!
Andrea.

Little things and snow....

2009-01-23T06:43:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone...yes its snowing here still as we speak. Woke up this morning to about three inches and more to come. Geez..just when we got rid of the white stuff we get more.
Spending time in the studio is just a bliss, the radio on and the snow falling and the heater on cozy!
The last couple of weeks I have been wanting to make small things, why...? Heck if I know...just because.... Or something like that.
A friend of mine showed me how to make little real books and I just had to make some.
The one in the pictures is the first one I made, the penny gives you an estimate of the size. She made her covers with paper, I used fabric and sealed it with mod podge. This gives it some more sturdiness and seals the fabric.
I stamped the paper, and glued images etc. Think I will make some more and make them into little altered books...what do you think?
I wishing everybody a very good day, stay warm, ....go and create,
Andrea.

Before blogging???

2009-01-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

Good morning folks!
I am asking myself the question...what was life like before I started blogging?
I honestly do not remember (senior moment?).
Yours truly feels so blessed with all the friends I've made since I started blogging. The generosity of all of you in your sharing...just awesome!
Not to forget, all the nice and uplifting comments on my creations.
Really people I am very great full!
Today some little things on the posting board. The flower wall hanging..? Well I guess I am hoping for spring SOON!!!( It was 12F this morning) I just started it and you can see it needs more work...and finishing of course..lol.
The other picture is a journal page about how we sometimes should not just go with what we see but use all our senses, we miss out so much in life otherwise.
I am hoping you all have a wonderful day and go and create!
Big hugs....
Andrea.

Moved in!!!

2009-01-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

Good morning people,
I hope this day finds you all well. I did move into my studio on a make do base. The money tree in the backyard does not want to grow any of it right now. I am happy to be in there and it works just great for me right now. The finishing off can be done step by step, the bills come first...lol.
Ready for some pictures? Sorry not of the studio..yet...later promise!
Well ....what can I say, seen a lot about stick dolls lately. Made my own version with used paint stirring stick and old cd's.
Let me know what you guys think of them, really appreciate all the input.
The valentine one was the first, then I got into the flower girl and last was the autumn one with the leaves. After taking the pic, I see that the valentine needs some clean up on the glue, sorry.
The fritter(felt-critter) below was just a playing around thing. If anyone is interested, I can post or mail the scanned pattern.

Well for now friends keeping it short, but will be back with more tomorrow!
Take care everybody!
Go and create!
Andrea.

To much stuff!!

2009-01-14T06:12:00.001-08:00

Good morning people!
Getting ready to move into the studio. Started to sort things out a bit,guess what I found out....I HAVE TO MUCH STUFF..lol. Need more shelves , lots of them and cabinets...lots of them.
Oh my , it's going to take me forever to get everything in it's place. Probably will not be posting for a couple of days....sorry.
I did for now include a pic of a piece that I am still working on, it's hand painted muslin, stamped tissue paper that's mod podged to the fabric and markers. When I started this, I was thinking of trips that still needed to be made, treasures that still needed to be discovered. And maybe a little bit of influence of Johny Depp as a pirate? Anyway that is it for now folks, really going to spent a couple (or more) days on my other dream...the studio.
I am not abandoning my blog, just giving it a break...so will talk to you guys soon,
Take care everybody...go and create,
Andrea.

Its getting there...yahoo!!!1

2009-01-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of my studio to be. I am soooo excited...it needs shelves and so on. But the end is near. The brown door is a slide door into the house, the glass slide door opens into the backyard and the other regular door is the entrance for visitors. Hope you guys do not mind my bragging about this...its my long lived dream to have studio like this. My husband build this all by himself just for me..He needs some big applause!
Andrea.

PLaying with water color paper....

2009-01-10T09:19:00.001-08:00

Hi there folks!
Have been playing with water color paper a bit. These are backgrounds that probably need some more work but I thought to share with you guys.
Its water color paper, inks and paint. The blue one has some left over paper fabric hearts on it.
The hand is printed tissue paper that was fused on freezer paper first, then peeled of and glued down. Some stamps were used too. A piece of my hand made paper is glued on after I stamped it.
If there is anything you like here, please feel free and help yourself to it.
Like I said, they are unfinished, I am leaving it up to you to finish it your way if you would like. If you do use some of this...can I please see what you did with it? It always thrills me to see what others come up with .
Be back later, have fun...go and create!
Andrea.

Brain stretching???

2009-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

There are moments when one wants to create so much in one moment, that you actually cannot get yourself to do anything. Do you know that feeling?
Well had it yesterday and it continues today, must be the weather or something.
So I decided yesterday that I needed to challenge myself. The challenge would be using fabric scrap strips in a collage with my own made paper and not cut anything up. LEAVE IT AS IS AND WORK WITH IT! To get balance in color and composition that way can be very challenging as yours truly found out after a couple of hours INTO IT.
Thank god for oil crayons and magic markers! Used those to pull it together, oh yeah and some puff paint to make the white dots come out more. Pff...well here it is, think it is not totally finished yet and have not decided if I will make a couple more and put them together.
Below is a challenge I gave myself last year. The background is commercial fabrics, that was not a challenge.....the flowers however are another story. Once upon a time there was my favorite capris, they were a size eight. Then menopause happened, at least I think it did because everybody was telling me so.....
Then wearing my favorite capris came with two choices: 1. wearing them and stop breathing or 2. do not wear them. Since I am not suicidal the latter of the choices was the one I choose.
This "forced" me into recycling them...the fabric is a nice cotton sateen and the colors I just loved. Just forgot that it was stretch, which means not the best choice for applique. Halfway the project I was really questioning my sanity...but got the job done and here it is!

Ok.. people that was it for today, have a great day, go and create!!!
Take care,
Andrea.

Something you need to know!

2009-01-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hi there folks!
Need to share this with you...Lani Kent, whose blog I just now found is giving away some awesome stuff. You really need to check this out. I promised I would link or at least try to mention it with the "address' on my blog.
So here it is...http://artistlanikent.blogspot.com...do not miss out on this!
While you are on her blog, check out her creations, they are very inspiring.
Have a good one today...go and create!
Andrea.

P.S included a little free-bie to download.

Just cruising along.

2009-01-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

Hello there people,
Just cruising along into the new year here. Hope you are all doing well.
Putting up a picture of my needle felted tree and my wall quilt that I call ocean treasures.
The tree is machine needle felted in my own hand dyed fabric( muslin). Ocean treasures is made out of commercial fabric, like that on the borders and hand painted fabric. The background is one piece, I know it looks like two different pieces but its not..lol.
Bubble wrap is used in this to to get the bubblie print...makes sense does it not duh?
The seahorses were first rubbed with oil crayons then the outline stitched with the machine while they were covered with tulle. I tought that the beading gave it that extra sparkle.
Well that's it for now might be back later today and show some more. talk to you later guys, have fun, go and create!
Andrea.

Happy New (tag?) Year!!

2009-01-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everybody!!!!!!

I my goodness, I have been tagged!! Thanks Sharon..lol.
Never done this before...soooo... here it goes. It means that I have to tell eight things about myself in my blog. It also means that I have to tag eight other people.
Well here it comes:

1. I am a very stubborn person, always want to do things my way. ( my husband agrees with that!)

2. My bluntness and my occasional lack of tact get me into trouble sometimes. I would never hurt somebody intentionally. Hubby is the one that reins me in when needed.

3. Animals are very important to me, we have four cats and three dogs. I would like more, but hubby says that would be a divorce. He thinks that the five rescue animals out of the seven is enough..what do you think?

4.Talking Horses was the name I used when I was still training horses. I talked to them and they talked back...really!!
I just liked the ring to the name, soo.... I kept it.

5.Love snow but not the cold. Since these go together, I will just have to deal with it...I guess?

6.Was born in Germany and raised in Holland. But the States are my home now...and I love it!
God Bless America!!!

7. My son ( the only child we have) is in the Navy and I am very proud of him.

8. Love to travel...need to rob a bank first.

Now the people that I tagged....

Patty at bitze.wordpress.com
Andrea at velvetstrawberries.typepad.com
Martha at m-is-for-martha.blogspot.com
Karen at graphicsfairy.blogspot.com
Melinda at melindasfabricfancies.blogspot.com
Alis at alis-clair.blogspot.com
Marve at purplepaintmuse.blogspot.com
Linda at bigartadventure.blogspot.com

If any of you have been tagged already..sorry...please then disregard my tagging you!
This is the first time I get to do this, soo..let me know if I did anything wrong.
Wishing you all a very creative New Year....( the not tagged people too of course!)
Lets go and create .....
Love all of you....
Andrea.

Happy New Year!!!!!!

2008-12-30T05:55:00.000-08:00

Hello folks, this will be the last post for this year soooooo........
Happy New Year to all of you, thank you for all your kind and warm comments. Best wishes to all of you and be blessed for all the time to come.
Remember to look at what you have and not at what you do not have! There is always something to feel blessed about!
Love you guys......
Andrea.

On the picture in this post are some hearts that I made yesterday with a paper making kit I bought at Walmart..lol. Just wanted to try it. They smell fruity because there is some fruit tea
( unused) that was soaked with the paper first. The paper making kit is actually for kids, I used the blender to speed things up a little. The paper molds that come with it are the actual fun. The kit is fairly inexpensive , it was worth the try.
Take care everybody, stay healthy and save,
God bless you all and God bless America!

I am addicted to playing......

2008-12-23T10:53:00.001-08:00

It's almost Christmas...yahoo!!!!
Hi there people, I hope that today finds you all well!
I am addicted to playing with my stuff. Really can not pass a day without at least doing something.
So, yesterday I challenged myself into using up things that were left overs from other projects. Now..the camera died..for sure this time..I am hoping...maybe this Christmas a new one??????
So, I had to put this sort of three dimensional piece into the scanner...what fun.
What you see here is: a cut up piece of a curtain, recycled lace, the angels are what I call a reversed paper cast, the background is an recycled silk blouse, cut up cotton blouse ( the flowers), a left over paper fabric heart, left over polymer clay cameo, the metal in the flowers are from a second hand store bought belt and a left over purple three dimensional flower that's mod podged....pfff..what a list. I might have to ad some hand embroidery but have not really decided what, so will wait till it comes to me.
I have to say that I was surprised that all of this could fit into this quiltie ( is that a word?).
The red thingy in the first picture, seems to be a piece of my sweater that I used to cover up the scanner with, since it would not close the whole way.
Then I found out that the recycled lace does not only have a mind of its own when you sew it on, it does not really like its picture taken either. Anyway, folks did my best to make it work, hope it works for you too..lol.
Since this will be my last post before Christmas.....
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Thanks for your support!
Wishing you the best Christmas ever.....
Andrea.

Award!!!!

2008-12-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

..."This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY -nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or 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 writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I have been given an award...yahoo!!
Sooo, honored! Thanks so much Melinda! (http://melindasfabricfancies.blogspot.com )
Now I have to get busy and award eight more people. Is blogging not fun?
You even get awards...never thought of that.
I am going to celebrate...more coffee and maybe some chocolate?
Thanks so much and...I am lost for words here...guess I will just shut up and saver the moment.
Have to admit that I do not really know how it works to award somebody else but are going to try and do my best. If any of you people read this and think I did it wrong, please leave a comment or mail to tell me what I have to do different..ok?
I am not sure how to get links in here, but here is the list of the people that I think should be awarded with this award too.
Elizabeth :http://elizabethcreates.blogspot.com, this lady has become a friend of mine and shares a lot with us on her blog. She is very talented and such a kind person. There is now way I could not award her.
Martha has been very supportive and you should check out her talent on her blog. I call her my friend too and hope she does not mind! http://m-is-for-martha.blogspot.com
Anna is such a talented person, can only be jealous of her..lol. She is very generous in sharing her ideas. She deserves to be awarded too. ( gosh... people I really hope I am doing this awarding thing right!) :http://annanowicki.blogspot.com
Patricia is a very sharing person with a big warm heart. I really like her work and the warm way she writes, here you go Patricia...here is one for you! : http://theunfinishedflower.typepad.com
Linda and Rosie are very supportive warm and sharing two ladies. They really try to help people to expand the borders that they are working in. Love their blog..check them out at this address: http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com.
Annette is very talented and shares a lot of her stuff with you. I think I never really contacted her, but I have been visiting her blog many a times. Think she deserves this award. You can find her here :http://goannafive.blogspot.com.
For now those are the ones that I have chosen. There is three more to go I know and I will pick those in the next two days...Its hard who to choose..really!
I will have to leave you with this in great gratitude for all the blessings that I have been given.
Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, be save and healthy, to you and yours!
With love,
Andrea.

Polymer clay and tortured felt.

2008-12-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hello people,
Spent my time baking yesterday. No, not baking cookies but polymer clay with some of my own made molds. Used a piece of wood from our construction site (studio in progress), tortured felt , acrylic paint. The faces are from a bought mold. That's it for today..sorry not that much time. Talk to you later...remember, think of what you have and not of what you do not have and brighten your day...go and create...
Andrea.

Work in progress...

2008-12-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

Hello people...
Just scanned some work in progress, remember the fabric book/journal?
Well worked in it some yesterday and wanted to share that with you. The top picture is what I did with the cover on the front...needs some more embellishment I think.
I found that watercolor paper stitches like a dream and goes nicely on fabric. I also found that melting commercial felt..really smells bad..but is such fun. Just so you know..I am not into wicka.
Sometimes I do day dream about being able to do magic and..well that's another story..lol.
What do you think...these pages are not finished yet.....so I will keep you posted.
For anybody who is interested..its freaking cold here and more snow on its way. Good weather to stay inside and work..create. so I am of and do some more work.
Have a wonderful day...remember think of what you have and not of what you do not have....and brighten your day, go and create!
Andrea.

Inchie box...

2008-12-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

Good morning people.
I hope this day finds you well.
Again, I want to thank everybody for their supportive and kind comments, you guys make my day!
Today I included something that I had to try. it was a tutorial that I found on;http://bitze.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/inchie-ornament-tutorial, by Patty Szymkowicz. You really have to check out her blog, its awesome. The link to her blog is in my blogs I follow.
Its about inches( little boxes actually). I have to admit that I cheated, my box was already made but i did not know what to do with. It was painted but not embellished. When I saw this tutorial, I could not help myself. So here it is.. my box. oooh and it is not a inchie..its a little bigger..lol.
Well wanted to share this with you for now. Might be back later today, have to shovel snow first. that stuff just kept falling out of the sky yesterday like it was for free..lol.
If I do not make it back today...have a wonderful day and remember..look at what you have and not at what you do not have! This way we will remember how blessed we are!
Andrea.

Blogging time!

2008-12-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hello people, time for some blogging!
Wish to thank all these wonderful people that mailed me and or left comments on my blog, thank you...I am honored!
Hoop your are all doing well and are getting into the Christmas spirit. If you are having trouble with that,check out the following address that I copied, maybe that will help! http://www.metacafe.com/w/yt-7hN-4gqlLrc/
( highlight it and then copy it into the search bar)
Ok, the following pictures are of a Christmas 'quicky', commercial felt, Christmas fabric left overs and some funky stitching. Was thinking of putting little bells in the trees as ornaments,what you think? Hoop to spark some ideas here! Let me know...if it does..lol.

The wall hanging on the top here was made for the lady that bought my horses. We have become very close friends and I wanted to make her something like a medicine horse. This is the design I came up with. Do you like it, I hope she will! The background fabric is more red then the picture shows. The Christmas 'quicky does not have white in it, somehow my camera decided it does. Whatever I tried, it stuck with that decision. Hoping for a new cam for Christmas..lol...keep hinting hubby! So the pictures are not the greatest, still wanted to share with you people.
Everybody have a great wonderful day...remember to think of what you have, not of what you do not have..and your day seems to be so much brighter !
With love and gratitude,
Andrea.

2008-12-11T10:04:00.001-08:00

Hello people, little thingy today. Sorry not that much time today. The above picture is made of photo gloss paper, gesso, inks,paint, paper and stamps....What do you think of it?
It still needs to be framed, will have to find the perfect frame for it or make one.
Hoop you are all having a great day...talk to you soon, take care..
Andrea.

2008-12-10T09:32:00.001-08:00

Hello folks.
First of all...thank you for all the wonderful and great comments...I feel honored.

Today I am going to bombard you with some pictures of some of my previous work.
The pictures bellow are from a quilt that I designed myself and then thru trial and error composed into this work. The leaves around the edge are silk leaves bought in a store. Everything is free motion stitched after it was fused. And as you probably already know my pictures are really not the greatest..sorry!

The idea was to make the viewer ask himself what she was doing there....do you know?

The next one has some borrowed and own designed drawings, stamps and painting.
The quilt is whole cloth, tea dyed stamped, painted,drawn,painted again and permanent markers are used as well.

And yes, the back is a yellow satin. Not the best choice for backing....still do not know why I did that and how I pulled this of. Now the quilting is done from a free Celtic pattern download. I blew the pattern up in the printing program,then printed it as a poster( 4pages) and cut and pasted those(paste=tape). I copied the pattern on tracing paper and stitched thru it.
Well people, keeping it short for today...have great one..and go and create...

Andrea.

2008-12-09T09:06:00.001-08:00

Good morning people. I hope you all had a good day yesterday and a even better one today. If not, I am sorry, maybe I can cheer you up with some pictures of a new started project. I hope this way I can get the creative juices flowing...I know that that's something that always gives me a boost. For the ones that did have a great day and started this day great as well...ok...you can tag along for the ride..lol.
Last weekend hubby and I went to Pocatello( that's about 25 minutes south from here). I had just received my 50% of coupon from Jo-anns. Needless to say, it needed to be "used". Decided on a book called 'Fabric Art Journals' by Pam Sussman.
Its something new for me, since the word journals associate for me with a lot of personal writing. Something some of you might have noticed, not always my strongest point. But ok, back to the book....ITS COOL!! I like it the more I read it and I did read it already three times.
I must share with you the fact that I have never been to any class whatsoever and have thought myself by reading and research on the net. I started three years ago That's why I am soooooo great full to all of you out there that share their tutorials and blogs. This blog is meant to give something back and help people that are like me and want to fly on their own for whatever reason they have.
Ooh yeah back to the book...lol.
Started on the cover of my 'dreaming' book. I am into mythical creatures like fairies and wizards and unicorns. Uhem..yes..its the inner child in me I guess.
Wanted to share with what I was up to yesterday.....

The pictures did not end up on following order...guess who gave me trouble..yep, the cam...gonna drown it one day in the bathtub. Then hubby will have to buy a new one that actually WORKS for me also..lol. Above you see commercial fabric, its on the back side of one of the inner pages that I started. There is some spirals that need to be 'plucked' out and redone, that's what you get when you move the fabric faster then the machine. Sometimes you need to check the tension too. Me, I was just speeding along and now I will have to pay the price..lol Did I mention I am not the most patient person in the world?
Top here is some hand dyed silk with wax resist, its on the inside of the cover.
Here is the outside of the cover. Want to remind you..nothing is even close to finished yet. The fabric is commercial.
Hand dyed and wax resist silk with paper cast.

The paper cast wizard comes from a stamp from 'Stamps Happen'.I think he looks cool. He was colored with water colored pencils,paint and markers. Remember if you put mod podge on your stamps(thin it up with a little water),your cast will stay in one piece if it gets a little wet.
Now I have a wizard on a page floating in the middle of nowhere. Well I will keep you posted what planet he will land on...That's it for today folks. As always, if you have any questions mail me or make a comment and I will answer..promise!
What ever your doing today, have a great one and remember create!
Andrea.

Hearts....

2008-12-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

As always, any questions about how to make these, email me.

the one above was where the cam started rebelling again..sorry..

Christmas day is spent at my sister in law's house. We do some presents exchange there.
Wanted to come up this time with something different for name labels. When visiting a blog called http://theunfinishedflower.typepad.com/, by Patricia. A idea hit me. Check out her blog and the beautiful things she makes!
I made heart tags. Here are some pictures of them. As always...battled the camera for some viewable pictures. Hope these are good enough for you to enjoy and maybe inspire.
Take care...go and create...
Andrea.

In my thoughts and....

2008-12-08T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hello people!
With everything going going on in the economy, it was hard not to think of all these people that have lost jobs and or their homes. It did hit us here in Idaho too, it took some time but it did. One of our close by biggest employers is laying of about 80% of their employees. Just could not bring myself to put up Christmas ornaments in the house. We do have the yard lit up,but it just does not feel like Christmas.
Now the snow has come and that always lights up my spirit some.
To anyone out there that reads this and that is going thru a difficult time right now..MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU AND YOU ARE IN MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!!!!

2008-11-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Good morning people,I guess its time for an update. Took lots of pictures of some of the latest projects. (Noo...the studio is not finished yet,but very close to it.)
Ok, I will show you some pictures of projects made with paper fabric and some projects done with paper casting.
Paper fabric ( fabric paper?) is where you glue thin fabric and paper and pieces if scrap fabric,yarn etc, anything that's flat between another thin piece of fabric. I like to use sheers on the top and sometimes tulle.
As a glue for this I use Elmers all purpose, that gets thinned up with water so it will spread easier and soak in well. They are stitched on wool felt that I found in a second hand store.
Painting the edges of the pieces on top ads more dimension to it I think.
The "batting " is Timtex, you will need a stiff interfacing or something like Timtex. Layering the fabric paper(or paper fabric..lol) and the embellishment will make it need the support.

Paper casting...
I just love the way color came out on this one.
This should make something interesting in a journal or altered book.
The top one of these two has Mod Podge on it, that's why its glossy.

Paper casting can be done in many different ways, I like to use the less messy and cheapest one(only logical right!). Toilet paper spread in separate pieces over your cast, stating with 2 layers.
Once you put those on your lets say rubber stamp(that's what I used for the ones in the pictures),
you take a paint brush that's not to sturdy and tap water on the toilet paper,making sure you tap in into every detail. Note!! Tap do not rub or wipe, toilet paper does not like to be abused and will tear. Ad another layer still using a little bit of water to direct the paper where you want it to go, tapping it. Then ad at least two more layers(or more if you want). Let dry and peel of carefully and voila, you made a paper cast. While drying you could ad some paint or ink on the back, or ink up you stamp before putting the paper on. The ink will run but that will just ad more dimension to it. Go ahead and try it, find something in your house that could be used as a cast and have a go at it! Let me know how it turned out.
The two stockings on the quilts were made with fabric paper, and painted and embellished with sequin, beads and paint. Well go and have fun and take care!

2008-11-14T07:24:00.001-08:00

Good morning everyone! Hope you are having or going to have a great day.
Meet Joyce..she is a very happy spirit and even when it is a chilly day, she just puts on her head band and her wool vest and smiles!
Yes..I know the pictures seem to be different in color. If you have read my previous blogs, you know that the camera and me are not the best of friends on certain moments. Can you believe that these pictures were taken on the some time at the same place, all I changed was turning Joyce around so she could show of her pretty fabric and vest.
Between you and me...I think that one time that my hubby and I were in Yellowstone and he dropped the camera, did not do the thing any good. It got literally dropped on its head..and this is what became of it...I am sure of that..lol.
Thinking about doing a class on these dolls...these are such fun to make. It is a thrill to give them there own personalities. Well people give me some input here and again have a wonderful day!
Take care,
Andrea.

2008-11-13T05:41:00.001-08:00

Hi there,
Its been a couple of days, I know.
Thought that maybe you would like this paper to download. You could use it printed on fabric as a background too. Just let you imagination run wild.
Later on I will have to attack that camera again. The doll in the previous blog is sold. I named her Melissa and had a hard time letting her go. It amazes me that every time I sell a piece of work, does not matter what kind of work, I do not like to see it go..hmm. A good friend of mine told me that as soon as something leaves your hands to cut the naval cord, well working on that one......
So, I will take a picture of Joyce later and post it. Talk to you guys later....

2008-11-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

Hi there people.
I finally did it, went and got contact lenses. BUT....There is a big but to it ,now I cannot see without reading glasses..pfff. I mean without the contact its fine, with the contacts..nothing zip..nada! Soooo, yes, I got reading glasses too. This led to the fact that I needed reading glasses case. You see my problem here right?
Took out the needle felting machine, felted some roving on a piece of batting,stitched it with the sewing machine for some accents and cut it to size. Hand stitched it with a blanket stitch together and voila! Then I decided it needed some pizazz...or however on wright that word. Beads, glass beads were the answer. so some beads stitch on and I was content with the case. I have been in denial for reading glasses for a while now but with my pretty case to show off, its not as bad.
Please note that there are no beads on the back, I decided that putting on to many beads would be unhandy if case to be used in a purse. Anyway have a great day and let me know what you think!
Andrea.
(For the people in my area...I will be teaching a class on this on the 31th of January. It will be at Brady's in Idaho falls)

2008-11-03T13:31:00.001-08:00

Hi,there! Hmm..nice cup of Jasmin tea and a big piece of 'leftover' chocolate!Soo well, for now the drywall is coming along in the studio just fine. Except, that the washing machine is not playing nice, she decided to leak water and now hubby has to spent time to fix her...ooh well. Hang on, need more chocolate...found some more YES!!! Anyway,every time hubby makes some head time, something else happens. I wonder.....whats next...no staying positive, thing are going just fine..lol.
I have decided to spent some more time in making some art dolls, this way I do not need a lot of space, because right now that's what I am lacking of. As you see, put some pictures up of my last" experiments", actually they came out right the way I wanted. They are up for sale on Etsy....at..Talking Horses Arts. More to come.
I finally found out how to work that camera by myself...well almost. The thing has some features on there that make me go: What the heck..!!!! Is it doing now!!!
I guess with more practice I will grow out of that too. If you see my stuff in here..please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!( gotta go..finished the chocolate!)
Take care,
Andrea.