The Winner and Another Journal Give-Away

I am overwhelmed by all the kind words and the number of people who signed up to win my journal. I wish I could give each of you a journal. Since that is just not possible, I decided to give another one away next Tuesday, December 2. It is the journal pictured here. I will admit that this one has a mistake in it. I didn't allow enough of a seam with one of the fabrics so I had to fuse some on top.

So if you signed up for the Create journal, you don't have to do anything except check back next Tuesday. If I don't hear from the winner in 48 hours then I will have my son draw another name out of the hat. If you haven't signed up, you can do so.

Now for the winner of the Create journal----Elaine! It makes my heart sing to know that a long time follower and wonderfully kind person won. Enjoy!

Journals

 I needed some gifts so I decided to go back to making journals. It's been a couple of years since I have made these. The technique is my quilt-as-you-go. I use Meade journals so it is easy to replace and continue to use the cover. They have a pen holder in the back and a bookmark. I did quilt the butterflies. I love that the fabric had words! Wish I could remember where I bought it. It felt good to be back sewing and being able to send a little love in the mail.

What is your favorite gift to make?

Textual Journal Cover

I am a productive procrastinator. I do things that need to be done, I just don't do things I should be doing. I was tidying up my office and came across an old list (2008) of things that I wanted to make in 2009 which obviously did not happen.  On that list was "textural book wraps" (Angie Hughes, October/November 2007 Quilting Arts Magazine). I was pleasantly surprised that I had not given away my copy (I use to send them to Georgia until I realized I was actually causing more frustration  because the supplies ae simply not available than inspiration.). I knew I didn't want to create a wrap but I loved the idea/construction. Of course, my heat gun died during the process so melting away the organza some more (right now you have to look close to find any) is not going to happen but it still has the organic feel that I wanted to achieve. I definitely want to make a few more.

For those of you who do not have a copy of the magazine, you weave a foundation over a fusible interfacing, rubberstamp, paint, etc., add fibers and other things that won't interfere with the quilting then cover it all with organza and heavily quilt it. I found my piece did not shrink as the article indicated so I ended up cutting it down then sewing the cut off pieces onto the cover because the pieces were just too wonderful to throw away.  Next time I will definitely add more fibers and other things before topping with the organza. I added more fiber after the quilting which Angie didn't do. I went crazy with sewing buttons too but then I love buttons. It's 8.5" x nearly 12".  My next one will be smaller. This was fun and I have another gift done! Now to finish my other projects! I can procrastinate no longer.

Running Full Speed with an Idea

An 8" x 6" journal page for a journal exchange, created a desire to explore using the image of Mother Nino (I've never heard a Georgian refer to her as St. Nino but she is a saint in the Georgian Orthodox Church and I have visited her grave.) in more art. I'd like to thank Helen Lindton for causing this journey. I don't think I would ever have created any of this art if her journal had not been about icons. And while I love icons, I've never created any art using them.

Part of the reason I wanted to continue to explore was I was not entirely satisfied with the journal page. That's what I get for not entirely planning things before I start gluing!

The next step was to create a 6" x 4" postcard.  I have joined Shannon Ganshorn's International Postcard Swap V 3.0 (encouraged by my friend Marie Z. Johansen). We have to make 10 postcards and mail them to 10 different people. I love the idea of being exposed to art created by other people. I'm particularly interested in art being created outside the US. I thought if the postcard worked out that I would have one less postcard to make. By the way, there's still time to join in the fun! They just need to be mixed media creations.

Next I created a 2.5" by 3.5" ATC (artist trading card). Arts in the Cards theme for our January trade is verdigri. The background of the ATC is from a photograph of a patina part of a building that I took in one of my trips to Georgia which seemed perfect on so many levels. I love the way this background works for both the theme and the card. I'm a very literal person so being able to come up with art that is not literal to the theme makes me very happy. Also I'm done early so less January stress! Of course, this is creating more December stress but I truly believe one needs to listen and answer the call to create when it happens (if at all possible).

Last night I became inspired once more. This time I made a small quilt (7" x 9").  The transfers were printed on silk habotai. Georgia was part of the silk route so I thought this was appropriate. It was the first time I worked with using silk habotai for transfers. It has a great hand but the background colors bleed through. For the most part this was okay except for the image of her head covering around her shoulders. This presented me with the challenge of fixing a problem. I'm actually quite happy that this accident occurred! I like the look I was able to achieve.

So which one do you like the best?

Don't forget to enter my blog giveaway! (see below)

I have gotten a glimpse of some of the 12/12/12 Project quilts and all I can say is "Wow!" I am going to have to definitely step up my game! Thanks! You still have time to join in the fun. Details are here. Make it a creative day!

Journal Fun!

I love to play with paper and stickers. And a day with my friend Barbara is heaven! It's been more than six weeks since we got together again. Today we transformed $1.00 journals into gifts for family and friends. I got 10 done!  It was just what I needed. I'm ready to dive into some new projects. For me, this is just the thing (mindless play) to get my creative juices flowing! How do you get your juices flowing?

Journals

I began keeping journals in Composition books more than thirty years ago. They were cheap, yet sturdy. A great size for carrying around and storing. Nearly fifteen years ago I decided I would like to make a cover and I included a bookmark and a place to put a pen. Now I'm thinking about adding a pocket since I always seem to be picking things up and somethings simply sliding them into the pages is not safe enough.

I love black and white fabrics with hints of red so that's what I used for my first journal cover. I amazed at how well it has held up since I carry it everywhere. One of the fabrics (the black and white polka dot on the left) is fading and there is wear on the edge, but overall I am still happy with it. Making and giving these as gifts is something I do often. I will teach how to make them in the first class in Italy. It is also one of my workshops.

I am back to writing my book on my technique. It's time.  Also time to play again! Enjoy!