Spot of Tea?

I've been sewing like a maniac to relax and work through everything going on, but also to meet deadlines for the upcoming guild quilt show (so exciting!!).  For our Art Quilt group challenge we made a Quilted Deck of Cards -- yup one mini art quilt for each card.  It's going to be a real treat to see all 52 together. 
I picked the nine of diamonds to make and began by raw stitch appliqueing this arm from a tiny lone star that didn't work out in a previous project.  Once I had it on the white background, I decided the white was too harsh.  Too bright.  So, what's a girl to do?  How about have a cup of tea?

I rummaged through my tea stash and found some very very old tea that I know was at least 5 years old.  It was pomegranate flavored.  I dunked the tea bags in nice hot water and then a test dip on the edges of the piece.  I say test dip, but goodness me, if it didn't work out I would have been left with a piece that had tea on it.  Next time, I will use a scrap to test with.

Luckily, I was excited by the already changing color and decided to dive right in.  So, I did what any girl would do and dunked the whole piece in the bowl with the hot water and tea bags.  Brave or crazy?  I still didn't know.

I got all the fabric in the tea water and put the tea bags on the top and then walked away for a bit to let it marinade.

I checked it here and there and finally pulled it out after about an hour; once it had achieved a nice brown-like antiqued look.  I'm really quite happy with how the whites took the tea dye in a similar way and how the tea accentuated the embroidery on the background fabric!

I rinsed the remaining tea from the fabric until it rinsed clean and then hung it to drip dry.  A quick press and I was ready to sandwich and quilt it.  I had a little fun quilting it with some of the embroidery stitches from my machine in red and pink thread.

And the last step was to add the nine black diamonds.  I used a piece of Styrofoam to make the diamond stamp and dipped it in black fabric paint to add them.

In the end I feel like the tea really worked to get the look I was going for and I can certainly see using tea dye again!!  Have you ever tea dyed fabric?

Rambling into 2011

It's really funny how things unfold sometimes, isn't it?  Here is an example which I feel the need to ramble about. 

It happened while I was pondering this happy little spot yesterday.  Thinking about the types of things I post about, wondering if I go on about certain things too much or if I am neglecting other things.  Thinking deeply about what I am hoping to accomplish with this space and how I will know if I am successful. 

You know... all those thought provoking items.

I cozied in with a cup of green energy tea and look what I found on the tea bag tag...

How's that for right on!?!!

I look forward to taking on my mission to seek and be happy very seriously in 2011 and of course share large doses of that here.

And how about a sew-a-thon?  I have seen lots of comments about how my adventures might be inspiring you to pick up a needle and thread or dust off your sewing machine -- and I'm all about that! 

So, let me know... maybe we could start with some hand sewing to make say... a pin cushion, small dolly, or one of those fabulous fabric birds?  We could progress to an apron, tiny tiny quilt or anything really.  Sky's the limit!  So, it's not really a sew-a-thon more like... 'I Know I Can Sew' or a 'I Told Me Sew', or 'You Can Sew Do It!'  Can't wait to hear what you think, pick a start date and give it a go... if we start in January we could make something for say Valentines Day, St. Paddy's Day, Mother's Day -- so cute -- I'm getting out of hand, ha!

Alright lovelies, I hope your path is revealing itself for you as well.  It's the smallest things sometimes that give you the biggest nudges.  Let them move you!

Creative Tuesday: Curtains

Tuesday = time to put on your creative hat for Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment!

This week's theme we all explored "Curtains."  tada!  ya, I felt a little bit flat after reading the new theme, but it hasn't deterred me from jumping in and seeing what I could do with this.

[Aside: True story about curtains... I am not a fan of them.  I have the bare minimum amount of curtains in the house and would much rather plant a large tree outside my window than have window treatments.]

That said, I still gave this my all and tried to put together something I would still enjoy creating.  And I am so happy I did!!

I started with hippie bead curtains and then decided there would be a private and peaceful room within.

I think I surprised myself with the amount of detail that I included  -- that's the result of freshly sharpened pencil! 

Also, a scene like this... bare of animals, characters, and humor is a stretch for me.  But that's the point right?  Stretch that creative muscle and produce something that you didn't see coming.

As I began to fill in the colors I felt more connected to the place and could even see myself going to this restaurant or home of sorts to enjoy a quiet conversation and cup of green tea!

I also choose to work with and blend all the purples in my color pencil box -- I was stunned how many shades of purple I had.

And here is the final result: a combination of Hippie and Japanese with royal purple tones.  Would this design style be Hipanese?

A closer look at the table setting.  I tried to create a soft feel with the color pencils.  A stray from my normal bold color choices.

The bonsai tree and strange big daisy type flower.

The cushions, tea pot, and chop sticks!

Yup, I can see myself sinking right into this room and letting the day melt away.

I sure had fun with this assignment again.  Hope you will go check out my fellow artists here and see their interpretation of Curtains -- bet you didn't think they could be so fun!

Good Earth

I'm sipping a cup of Good Earth Super Green Tea: Matcha, Sencha, & Orange

(I sound crazy right with this heat... but my office isn't called the ice box for no reason)

I bought this tea because I read everywhere about how good green tea is for you.

And I want to do good things for my body.

I will keep buying it because: one it's delicious. 

Happiness in a cup. 

Seriously, smiling ear-to-ear happiness!

And two.

The tea bag tag has some of the most creative happy quotes I come across in my day.

Today's quote:

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." Pablo Picasso

I can just feel the universe screaming at me to break out my paints and go to town. 

It's either that or Mr. Happy has somehow slipped that in there as a way to get me to paint our pantry with a fresh coat or five of white paint.

I guess I won't know which it is.

Clearing the Mind

Good morning!  Hope you had a nice weekend (I did too; thanks for asking!). 

I have artwork to share with you today!

There is something wonderful about how art clears my mind.  For that short period I am creating I am taken away to another place and allowed to focus solely on letting emotions out on to paper in whatever form they take.

I never really know what I am going to get.  Sometimes it's just a random page filled with nonsense doodles.  Sometimes it's a clever idea that I just can't wrap any details around.  Sometimes (like the one I am sharing today) everything just works out and I'm proud and clear minded at the end.

My inspiration was the Pure Imagination theme from Mr. Toasts Creative Tuesday's.

Starting with such an open topic was exciting and mind numbing at the sametime.  What to do?  The only thing I knew was that I wanted something with a giraffe. 

You see this time last year Mr. Happy and I went to the zoo.  Spring, in my opinion, is the best time to go since you get the first look at all the little babies!!  Last year we got to see a baby giraffe and it was most certainly the highlight of the trip!  You can see a snap I took of the baby here.

After sketching I inked and erased the pencil.  You can really start to see this taking on some life!

And here you are. This is "Animal Tea Party"

Looking at it now, it's a little bit Dr. Seuss meets kiddo book art meets funky colors meets Charlottes Web.  So fun! 

I don't have a lot of experience with color pencils, but I adore how they gave the animals and tea cups saturated colors that really pop!  I can't wait to experiment with inking and color pencils in a future doodle!

A closer look at the cutie patutie giraffe I've named George (said with French accent). And I included a little surprise... do you see it?  Do you?

Want to see other artists interpretation of Pure Imagination?  Just head over to Hot Toast and Jam for a looksie!  And for pete's sake... if you are on the fence about joining in?  Do it!  Seriously, your brain will thank you!

Hint:  The surprise included may be in the form of an oddly shaped giraffe spot!!  Don't you love surprises?