blackberry jam and dye

My better half helped pick blackberries with me and then I made a
batch of blackberry jam pictured here.  After crushing some of the berries
to remove the seeds I just had to use the pulp to dye some fabric..... ooooh
what a beautiful colour! 

And here is the dyed muslin..... all ready for printing and stitching!

mini encaustic works

Working on mini encaustics for artist trading cards. I've included
small dried flowers as the basis then worked with wax and crayons.
I heat the wax shavings with an iron.... these steps help delete
the need for more expensive tools and media.

more non dominant hand portraits

These are from a magazine.... such a great way to practice drawing when

you've got a few moments free.

summer course

Just finished a summer course with a wonderful group of
teachers.... everything I shared they experimented with
and made their own through fabulous invention and
ingenuity.  What fun! 

Journal dolls ... from bare muslin to fabulous!

Wooden houses were transformed into me maps....
where I was, where I am, where I am going!

Textured mini fimo tiles
of favourite places,

 mini
zentangle tiles,

drawing, painting, encaustic and much more.............

watercolour and ink

Just playing with watercolour pencils, paints and later some india ink.

apron fun

A new apron for our course this week.  I started printing
with lots of found round shapes and acrylic paint. Then
painted light green around the stamped images then
added some permanent marker flower shapes.  Should
be fun to see everyone elses apron!

mosaic table

I found a great little table at the local
thrift shop and immediately saw
mosaic potential.  Out came my
saved little stained glass pieces. 
The holes were filled with small
pebbles and glass globs. Almost
finished and then I'll grout it for
use outside on the deck.

garden window painting

I was too impatient to wait for the spring blooms so
painted some flowers on windows and hung them
in the walkway..... they bloom continually!

woodsy watercolour

I've been working on a new watercolour this week. My palette has
been limited to blue greens.... even the rocks have blue in them and
that suits me fine!

 The painting in progress...

and the photo.....

fabric 3d flower tutorial

I had fun creating a small flower from painted
fabric today.  This is just the prototype.... the next
ones will have lots more printing and stamped images.

To make the flower I took painted/printed fabric and drew flower
petals.  I backed the shape with another piece of fabric and stitched
around the drawn petals.  I then cut around the petals just outside the
stitched lines (leaving rough edges and the centre uncut).

Make a centre for the flower using heavy gauge wire (slightly more
pliable than coat hanger wire).  I made a wrapped circle for the
centre of the flower and a corkscrew stem to hold the flower up in
the glass vase)

Cut a small hole in the middle of the bottom layer of fabric.  At this point
some of the petals can be stiffened with inserted loops of fine wire or
you can use fabric stiffener. Then the corkscrew centre is threaded through
both layers of fabric until just the flower centre shows in the middle of
the bloom.  If necessary, a small length of fine wire can be wrapped
around the base of the bloom to hold the petals in the desired position.

More ideas for using similar types of flowers in 3d journaling can be
found in Cloth Paper Scissors May 2011 issue.