play on a snowy day

It's snowing. Sleeting. Something in between the two. The skies cannot seem to make their mind. A day off and all my errands taken care of before the weather went wonky, so I decided to move on with a free form embroidered piece I has started last week.

Embroidered bits stitched.

First round of watercolor wash with watercolors and water soluble crayons.

This is still wet, so I'm sure some of it will lighten up. I might dig into this with fabric markers, too.

Too grey out to try and photograph anything else today. Maybe later it will lighten up. For now, I'm off to crochet a bit, I think. Some flowers and leaves I need to get started on for an Etsy customer's special order. First I need coffee. I just realized that I've yet to put a pot on and it's time for lunch!

another fabric group & a few found flowers

Over the weekend I finished up another group of fabrics. These, like the others, were done on scraps of muslin using both Jaquard and Tulip fabric paints. The red and green abstract on the left is coming up a little "pinker" in the photo then it really is. The red is closer to the red in the piece on the far right. 

I have been working on flowers again as well.  I haven't been able to find old wool sweaters to felt, so I have been working instead with scrap yarn and crocheting the flowers, then centering them with found bits of jewelry and broken pieces that I have been collecting.

Stitched for awhile tonight too, hoping to have the final portrait done for the new cross stitch release! 

fabrics and fibers

Today's fabric painting adventures

All painted on cotton muslin scraps from The St. Peter Woolen Mill. 

And a few experimental crochet bracelet/cuffs I have been playing with the last couple of days using recycled wools and found buttons...

I have "revamped" my Artfire studio. (See link on side) It had previously been all scrapbooky grapic stuff like my Leaf & Dirt Papers shop on Etsy (which I am going to eventually phase out as well, or maybe just leave it there as it is without adding anything else!) Now, the Artfire Studio will contain finished pieces, mostly accessories such as jewelry and scarves, made from the same recycled and found things that I use in my Fuzzy Stitches shop on Etsy.  (Did you get all that?) 

So...what ultimately will be left standing once the smoke clears...

Fuzzy Stitches on Etsy

Leaf & Dirt on Artfire

and of course CM Designs where you will always find all my cross stitch and needlepoint designs and news!

stitching and painting

It was a day of making sure that this was never empty...

My professor was gone today, so I was left with an unexpected day without classes. With homework looming (and a weekend to push it off on to) I decided to try and dig into some of the projects that I have been puttering with now for weeks.  

I played around with the paints again, working on some fabrics for an upcoming show and Etsy.

I have been trying to work on fabrics that will coordinate so that I can bundle them up instead of offering them individually.  After a show two weeks ago and people suggesting that I make this change, I thought I would give it a try. It does make more sense, seeing as the fabrics are one of a kind, it opens up options for what they can be used for if there are more pieces to work with. 

I am painting these on muslin remnants from the St. Peter Woolen Mill. I like the idea of using scraps. It holds true to my desire to reuse and recycle. 

The fabric below was one that I did before. The two images above are fabrics that once dry, should work with this piece. 

I also finished up the second of three snowman portraits, a new cross stitch design series quite logically called..."Portraits".  These snowman photo ops will come with three in a pack, and most likely have embellishments included. The usual found buttons, beads and ribbons. 

And now, with the coffee cup empty and evening upon me, I think it is time to open something else dark and wonderful. It's Guinness time.

busy!

It has been a crazy busy few weeks! I am currently twisting and plying lots and lots of my recycled fabric and fiber art yarn for shows and for my Etsy shop, and now within the next few weeks, the yarn will also be available at Mary Lue's Yarn & Ewe here in Mankato. I am also working on a looser twisted art yarn for locker hooking that I hope to see made available at The St. Peter Woolen Mill. I am very excited about both ventures with both of these long standing local businesses.

Here are a few of my recent skeins...

The flame orange above was plied with cotton muslin that I hand painted and scraps of a wool blend yarn. The other larger skeins above that were make with recycled sweater wool and various cotton fabrics, some of which I have hand painted as  well.  

I still need to find time to stitch! Maybe this weekend I will let the drop spindle cool off and pick up the neglected wee snowman that has half his eyeballs and stick arms done!

Pinky and Blue ready to make the trip to The Peddler in Rapidan on Saturday for a art and craft show there! I f you are in the area, stop by!

the last few days....

I am still experimenting with hand painting fabric art yarn and am really starting to feel like I am developing a style with it.  There are so many beautiful and unique fibers and yarns being made now by so many talented artisans. I wanted to develop something that is unique to me and my hand. Today I painted two lots. Both done on recycled white bed sheets that I first tea dyed, and then went to work with Jaquard fabric paints.

This was inspired by all the licorice at the Apple Barn this last weekend!

The inspiration for this came from freshly cut grass and dandelions! (WHICH I do not believe are weeds!!)

I keep a journal beside my bed.  In it, I try to write every night the things that I am grateful for. It's something I started to do years ago after an Oprah show!  That journal also serves as a place to scribble down my dreams.  I often struggle with sleep, waking up thinking about what I should do, what I should try. It helps to write it down and let it go until the daylight hours when I really can do something about it! (Although I have been known to get up in the middle of the night to paint!)

Recently I was lucky to come across a lot of vintage handkerchiefs and I had been looking at them trying to decide what to do with them. Well, last week I had a dream, woke up and wrote it down, and this morning I finally got around to trying it out!

I have played with weaving fabrics before, but this time I took two of the handkerchiefs and wove them together. Next step, I need to stitch it all down and embellish it with this, that or the other thing! 

Now I'm off to do just that!

Today's fabric yarn painting adventure

After I finished up some of the "busy work" of printing cross stitch orders and wrappers for the skeins of art yarn for my first craft and artisan show next weekend, I sat down to slap on another coat of color to my latest batch of cotton muslin strips. There are three different Jaquard paints used in this one, including a metallic brown that I was not feeling very good about at first, but now that strips have started to dry and the colors blending a bit more, I feel a little better 

I have yet to decide if I want to just knot this one up as rag ribbon yarn or if I want to ply it with some recycled wool yarn that I just finished cleaning up and drying.   

For now though, it is time for tea!

Hand painting rag yarn

I have been trying to settle back into some sort of routine with my work. Too much bouncing around and not really feeling like I am accomplishing much of anything! I did start an experiment however that I am excited about (so far!)  Hand painting muslin rag yarn. It has been kind of hit and miss, as I am not sure exactly what I am doing...and am really trying to develop my own unique style of doing it.

I ripped cotton muslin into strips.  The fabric was remnants I have been collecting as I wanted to continue with my quest to reuse and recycle! I wet down the strips, and with thinned fabric paints and a really wide brush, I just started to wash the color over the strips, bunching them up, letting the paint bleed through and spot the strips under the others. 

The strips are drying now, and are a soft plummy rose color, with a shimmer in some spots where the opalescent paint was applied.

Once they are completely dry, I am going to go back in and add some less subtle "punch" to the color. I think. I don't know for certain, as I am really sort of liking the shabby chic, worn out feel I'm getting now.

I also finished the first of the Portraits cross stitch series and hope to get a little more done on the second before packing up to go camping for the weekend!  My camera is stowed away with my things. Hope to find some inspiration out there in the woods.

Part Two

Today I finished getting all the leaves and blooms ironed in place, and with fabric pastels I colored in the trunk and branches. Once I have heat set the pastels, I will add some detailing with embroidery. I am fascinated by trees, and I am already envisioning a few more pieces along this same vein.

Now off to finish backstitching "Walking the Cat"!

Bringing applique and fabric paints together...

The last handful of days I have been playing with the idea of combining the three things I love doing the most in one piece. Fabric painting, re-purposing fabrics, and needlework. After exploring some medieval work and the motifs within them, I started playing. 

I started with some sketches, and this is the one I finally settled on working from.  I like it so much that I think it will eventually find its way into the cross stitch design pile as well!  With a box full of fabric pieces reclaimed from a sample book (see thrift store find in previous post!) and a scissors, this is the first stage of the work.

The tree will be painted and texture added, as will the leaves to some degree, with stitching using reclaimed needlepoint wool I have collected.  A few more leaves to add, and tomorrow I paint!

Creative 365: A Bunch O'Days...Putting us at 100!

I really do need to get a new camera. Mine eats batteries! Not very eco-friendly at all, especially now that I am using it a lot more than I use to be using it.  I finally located the battery stash that I had, (I really do need to get organized) and took pictures of the things I have been doing since last Wednesday's post.

Fabric Yarn Spinning, Rag Yarn tying and some Fabric Painting ...

And today was spent stitching the 2011 Installment of the Halloween "Take a Walk" Series

"Walking the Cat"

I managed to get from the tip of ghoulie's head to his chin done yesterday and today. It was a slow day getting out of the gate creatively today. I might need to take the day off tomorrow for the holiday and just do a lot of nothing, which sometimes can be a creative experience in and of itself!

Creative 365: Days 93,94 & 95 Fabric Painting and Spinning

Over the last couple days I have been teaching another summer Space Odyssey Art Camp, the second of two camps I had this summer through the community education program I participate in. It's been great fun! However, it has kept me from the computer and getting posts up of what I have been doing in between.  I spent some time spinning and painting, and today I am settling in to stitch for awhile before heading off for another afternoon of teaching.

7 or 8 recycled fabrics and recycled wool and cotton yarns reclaimed from a scarf

I think this is my mind's way of saying "Get in the woods!"

Peacock Feathers

Creative 365: Days 87 & 88, Spinning, Painting & Burning

The sun is hiding today, so it wasn't a very good day to snap pictures of what I've been working on yesterday and today! So I took what I could, the rest will have to wait until tomorrow and hopefully the appearance of natural light!

I have been, you guessed it, spinning. I finished this 90 yard skein of 3 ply fabric yarn, made with many different fabrics, all recycled/upcycled from remnants and clothing that I cut apart. It's very earthy and autumn-y.

I also finished ( I think) a set of 4  8" x 8" quilt blocks. I painted all four after doing some stitching with rescued wool needlepoint fibers and attaching vintage mother of pearl buttons, some that I harvested off of the clothing I cut up for the fabric yarn, and others that I have found in my second-hand store travels.  And then just to add something different, I ripped holes here and there and burned the fabric. 

Tomorrow? I think it will be a photographing day, and if it is raining still and overcast? Stitching and coffee. 

Creative 365: Day 80 & 81 Fabric Yarn and Fabric Painting with a little cross stitch mixed in

I've been rotating projects. Painting until I need to leave it to dry, ripping fabric into strips until my shoulder screams at me to take a break, and then stitching in between.  I did manage to get a couple things done in the last two days though! Here is the latest fabric yarn creation.

Autumn Harvest

I really need to sit down with the fabric and crochet with it. This particular yardage really left me wanting to.

Oh, and I also finished a couple kiwis too, Sprinkles being my favorite!

And finally, the newest fat quarter...

Hawaiian Lei

I've got a lot of new ideas for upcoming fabrics. I just am stuck now waiting for my new paints to arrive!

Creative 365: Days 78 & 79: More fabric and Recycled Fabric Yarn

Over the weekend I spent some time painting, inspired by the petals of a bouquet of flowers that seen their last day, leaving petals behind on my counter top.  I also had images of painter's drop cloths in my head for some reason. So that was what inspired me to paint the second fabric. It was a humid weekend, so they took a bit of time to dry and so I didn't get pictures taken until this morning.

While at the thrift shop some time ago, I ran across old  cotton fabric that had been torn into strips and wound into balls. It reminded me of the fabric my grandma use to braid rugs with and I use to crochet with. I have so much fabric, (really? Can anyone have too much fabric??) so I decided to create a few recycled balls of this fabric yarn myself.  They are knotted and all texture-y and just completely organic in their feel. 

Herbs

Latte

Copper

Today my kiwi birds are going to get some eyeballs and other fun embellishments, readying them for their photoshoot this afternoon. Pictures to follow!