Island Inspired Recycle Box

The Mister is the kind of guy that is very handy.  He can make most anything he wants.  So, when I asked him to whip up a crate-like box, that I could use to recycle our paper junk mail, he made me the coolest thing!  It's a wooden box made of individual slats, but the part that makes it so cool is the randomness he incorporated for crazy 'ole me.  The slats have varying heights and angles.  He called it the island fence box and when he gave it to me... he instructed me to paint it up using lots of color to get that island feel.  Isn't he wonderful?

It was so relaxing to snuggle up on the floor in front of the TV and spread out my paints in anticipation of going a little paint color crazy.  As I painted and changed colors, I actually didn't rinse or clean my brush in between.  The result was a really dynamic mixing and swirling of colors.  Gives the box a great texture.

While I was up to my elbows in paint, my assistants weren't too far away.  It's amazing how close Katie (left) and Sammy (right) have gotten.  I mean they are laying less than a hand length away from each other, nose to nose.  Ad-or-able!

And, then I was spotted.  Time to get back to painting. 

Here's a shot of my work space.  I used a plastic palette and you can see how the brushes are covered in many colors.  I think the mixing and blending is what made this project so much fun for me.  I painted all the surfaces with the exception of the bottom and am really head-over-heels for the result. 

...and so was Sammy.  She kept trying to put balls, toys, and bones in the box while I had it on the ground to take a few pictures.  It was heart breaking to explain this wasn't for her.

The inside.  I was really getting the hang of the mixing and distressing once I got to this part. 

One of the corners and sides.  I think the red-purple plank may be one of my favorites.

Sure makes getting junk mail a more enjoyable experience.  I mean, any excuse to stare loving at this box!  And once the box is full, then we wrap all that unwanted paper, fliers, and magazines with twine and stick it in the recycle bin on trash day. 

Feels almost as good as sipping a rum drink on the beach in Caribbean, doesn't it?  Do you recycle your junk mail? 

Just Creating

I have a piece I've started that I'm not sure what it's meant to be.  You see, I had the need to be in my sewing room.  My de-stress room.  And sew. 

I started by taking two remnants from a very soft sheet and sewing them together.  Then I took some brightly colored red and pink scraps and began arranging them in a circle-swoosh.  I used a dab of glue stick to hold these in place.

The next layer added was fabric paint.  Swirls and swishes added with big chunky brushes.  Dots and circles. 

Feels like it shows the harmony of my normal.  I see my normal as my days filled with bright and cheery bits and pieces which are just so to compliment each other.  I crave my normal these days.  These last feel weeks have been filled with worry and have been darker, less harmonious.

I instagramed this a while ago.  The framing of the image just begs for me to continue on.  It begs for me to fill in the focal point in the middle. 

What's to come and where's this going?  I don't know.  And I'm ok with that. 

This is turning a bit in a mental dump or artist diary of the time.  Perhaps to finally become an art quilt?  Right now it feels a bit like security.  Like my safety blanket.  Like things will be ok as long I keep dumping out the stress into this container. 

The lesson I am taking from this?  Fiber, fabric, and paint are my therapy.  They help me make sense of things and ground myself so that I can be strong. 

I have a feeling you are going to see a lot more of this scrap as I grow and change it. 

Creative Tuesday: Spy (#68)

Hello Creative Tuesday!  Have I told you how much I adore you lately?  I wasn't sure if I would be able to fit in a piece today, but an idea clicked for this week's meme of Spy and I ran with it.  I even got to paint with bubble wrap.  Yes, sir, a little creative boost when I feel like I really needed it.

Can you Spy the secret coded message?  Enjoy!

 

No fabric incorporated this time, but the bee is made of paper towel colored with sharpie and the coins are made from foil off the top of a food container.  And of course bubble wrap to create the trippy textured background.

Also, I posted about the Sammy picture I painted on fabric for a previous Creative Tuesday in case you want to see the final thing.

Till next week!!  Muah!

Dogs on Quilts & Dog Art Quilt

I've finally got my act together and am ready to enter the Pet's on Quilts Show hosted by the lovely Lily Pad Quilting! 

Girls are you ready?  Perk up and look lively!! 

Here we go!  If we are meeting for the first time I'd like to say welcome and I'm so glad you've come!  So are the girls!! 

Katie and Sammy are two high energy, quilt loving, golden retrievers.  Katie is on the left, she's a little over 5 years old.  And Sammy is just a pup coming in at a little over 1 year old.  They are posing for you today on my most recent finish, the Rainbow quilt, which I admit is getting a ton of use even in the summer. 

For the Dog Themed 'Art' Quilt category, I am also debuting my whole cloth painted quilt.  I think I am going to call this one "Puppy  Dreams," but don't say I didn't warn you that the name might change a million more times. 

Yes, you guessed it, that's Sammy in fabric and paint!!  I have to say that I am totally in love with this new process and the freedom of multimedia!  

It all started with the introduction to painting on fabric through an event that was hosted by my Art Quilt special interest group.  It was honestly one of those moments in a lifetime that you feel a spark ignite and all you want to live for is for painting on fabrics. 

Ok, so maybe it wasn't that strong, but I did pretty much order my own set of fabric paints within a week and then got to work.  I decided to start with a picture I took of Sammy for a challenge called "Darling" issued through the Creative Tuesday Co-op.  If you want to be inspired or to feed a need to continuously create, then I highly recommend the group!!  

Once I was satisfied with how Sammy looked, I heat set the paint and got to work on adding fur texture through quilting.  I admit the quilting was a bit nerve-wrecking, but I am so pleased with the results!

Even with the quilting progressing nicely, I still had to do something with the plain white background.  You see Sammy embodies puppy hood... never stopping, runs everywhere, she's loud, she adores toys, and I might even venture to say that hiking and swimming are her favorite things to do.  So, I needed a background to match her personality.

Here's a close up of raw edge appliqued green fabric to create a mossy ground.  The texture is finished off with more free motion quilting and a few dabs of paint for drama.

I also added bits of raw wool roving in blues and greens to create the effect of the wind swirling around her.  The last touch was to cut those flowers out of white lace, tack them on, put a pearl bead in the middle, and then a touch of orange to help them pop.

Yes, I really enjoyed bringing this quilt to life!  And I'm happy to be sharing it with you today too!

And because I couldn't resist just one more picture of our little ham.  Here is one more of Sammy from my instagram feed.  I'm @cwiltex if you want to follow along there.

It was a pleasure to have you over!  Wishing you sunshine and endless creativity!

Creative Tuesday: Beatles Song (#67)

It's Creative Tuesday time!  Today's meme was Beatles Songs.  You know that English group that was pretty popular back 60's/70's?  Ya, before I was born, ha!  Well, the challenge is to pick your favorite Beatles song and create a drawing inspired by it.  So, I bet your dying to know what my favorite song is, right? 

Me too. 

I admit I've heard of the Beatles.  I can even openly say I think I like their music.  Then, I pondered about what my favorite song was. 

Drew a total blank. 

Then, I tried to think of any song by the Beatles. 

Again.  Total blanksville.  I admit, connecting music artists and their song names isn't a strong skill for me.  (I can hear the Mister laughing at that.)  Thank goodness for Google!  After about 5 minutes I was off and rolling and couldn't get the song "Love is All You Need" out of my head. 

Perfect!  I had my muse!  I got my acrylic paints out for this one.  I've been wanting to see how they might mix into a multimedia piece.  I started with a base of red tissue paper, pink and green fabric, and that piece of striped cardboard.

Layering is my favorite part, I applied a bunch of acrylic paint with a paint brush and bubble wrap.  The hardest part of using paint for me... is waiting for it to dry.  Who's with me?

Thank goodness for distractions.  While the piece dried I set out to add more texture to the Sammy piece that you might remember from a previous Creative Tuesday.  I will be showing off the finish tomorrow for the Pet's on Quilts parade!!

Once the paint was dry, I glued on a bit of lime green tissue paper, and a few torn pieces of origami paper.  Then doodled around with sharpie markers in lots of colors to outline, trace, or emphasize. 

Totally soothing. 

Totally creative. 
Totally creating without concern or plans.

And I admit, I adore the results of that crazy mind of mine. 

I also adore these two lovable pups who wouldn't let me out of their sight last night.  That's Katie on the left and Sammy super-manning on the right. 

Anyway, here's a better look at the results of my mixed media craziness.  I see many more of these pieces, in this style, in my future.  I have even thought about how I might be able to better bring this style to my quilting. 

And of course I had to instagram it!  I can't remember exactly what filter I used, but I love the way it faded the piece and made it seem like old school rock and roll.  I'm also excited that this is my third piece that I found a way to incorporate fabric in an unexpected way!

And, I'll leave you with a snap of the lake down the road.  It was so peaceful, so calm, so serene this morning!  Sure gets my creative juices bubbling!

Wishing you endless creativity and all the time you need to capture it!

CT: "Christmas in July" (#66) & IF: Carry

How about a mostly wordless Creative Tuesday and Illustration Friday, where I will let the pictures show the process?  The meme for Creative Tuesday's was Christmas in July... hence the 'sandman' and festiveness.  The meme for Illustration Friday was Carry... hence, Katie, the golden on the left, carrying the santa hat over to top the 'sandman.'

Felt so good to get out creative gear and let my stress flow out through my paints and markers.  Proves once again that creativity is very powerful!

Wishing you a lovely and absolutely creative week!

Creative Tuesday: Simply Darling (#64)

This weeks Creative Tuesday challenge was to create something that represents Simply Cute or Simply Darling.  Being a southern bell at heart I couldn't resist going with darling.

And I'm sure you see where this is headed.  I mean are puppies darling, right?

I say yes.

So, I picked a picture of Sammy (the one year old golden) and tried a to me new technique of painting on fabric.  I'm smitten with how the paint spreads and mixes and excited about what I have planned next for this piece.

In case your wondering the paint is called PROfab transparent which I sourced from Pro Chemical & Dye.  And I am painting on white cotton that is prepared for dye (PFD).

In the next phase of this work, I will be making a quilt sandwich (adding batting and backing) and then trying my hand at some thread painting to add texture and dimension.  I'm thinking that this will be the piece I enter in Lily Pad Quilting's Pets On Quilts in August.

Yes, you will have to wait a whole month (give or take) to see this evolve.  Apologies in advance, but I promise it will be worth the wait. 

And I can already tell that I am going to want to make one of these for Katie.  And I'm already toying around with the idea of going bigger.  Like way, bigger.  monster. created.  Awesome!

And.. in case you'd like to join in the fun on this creative meme... you have a whole extra week to get your doodle on for Simply Cute or Simply Darling.  Read more and hope you join us!

Wishing you puppy licks and sunshine!

CT 61: Celebrations & Fabric Painting

It's been a long time since I participated in Creative Tuesday (CT), but I want to get back to sketching and doodling and when I saw this week's theme I couldn't resist.  Who doesn't like Celebrations!

I was a little stumped on what to draw, so I had fun imagining what it would look like if Katie and Sammy threw a little party and got dressed up for the occasion.  Party hats, confetti, and leis really set the mood and I'm sure they would have a rockin' time as long as they didn't eat the hats!

These are two pages from my doodle journal... (that black line in the middle is the crease from the middle of the book).  I do seem to enjoy drawing up quotes... and this one was so fitting.  I think I'd even like to give it another go... I have a few ideas on what I'd change.  You can find out more about this weekly challenge (don't be shy) and see what the other artists put together here.

Over the weekend I also met up with my art quilting group and I got to paint fabric for the first time!  We used Setacolor paints and even with the overcast and rainy weather... we had a blast!

Here you can see some materials to get us started.  The yellow fabric is set up with wooden circles for sun printing, I made up 'feathers' and brown cloth... so much fun!

Here are the results!  The big picture shows a beach/ocean/sunset scene that we painted on one cloth.  Really can't wait to thread paint that one... and am already itching to paint a bigger one.

Then, starting on the bottom left you can see a blue piece that might be used as sky, the results of the pink and purple feathers, a mishmash piece with a really cool blend in the middle, the result of the blue and green fabric that you can see balled up above, and the last one are the brown antique looking fabrics - LOVE!!

Once the paint is dry, you are supposed to wait 48 hours until you heat set the colors -- soooo long to wait!  But, I can finally iron these tonight and start daydreaming about how I might use them.  I also have to say that I'm very happy that the paint didn't change the hand of the fabric nearly at all.  What a fun experiment! 

I'm sharing this for Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story and other weekly parties in the in case someone else might be on the fence about giving this a go.  I say go for it!!  And of course I'm happy to answer questions if you have them.

...deep breath in, and slowly let it out... now we're ready to face the day!