Can I get a swap amen?

For the first time in over two years, I can say I have no swaps that I have on my to make list. I finished! I wasn't kidding when I said I needed to take a break from swaps. I just checked my records, and with the two swaps I finished making this weekend, I have done 35 swaps in 55 weeks, and I am sorry, but that is crazy. and the year before wasn't any more sane. That is why I am taking a swap break. These are the finished version of my Art Unraveled Swap and the last two swaps of the ongoing 14 month Rolodex project. The last two months of Rolodex are alphabet cards. My letters are Q and I, so I made tiny (art) quilts and inchies on top of I dictionary pages. When these are swapped, I think my Rolodex will be full, full, full. Perhaps I will post a picture of it in March, which is when I will have all the cards. I don't usually put my own handwriting on the front of a page, but it is part of the style I was trying to copy on the AU page. I really had a lot of fun on them all.
Actually, I finished them yesterday and planned to get up early and get them posted early, but stupidity prevailed. I woke up 630ish full of energy and decided to move a lot of what is on one side of my studio to the other side and vice versa. Basically, I wanted my fabric table by my fabric and ribbon wall. So I turned the table on its side and proceeded. Problem was that when I got the table to the other side of the room and tried to stand it back up, I broke off a set of "legs," so it took hours trying to get the problem solved. I should have known better in the first place since the table is so big and heavy, but I got in too big of a hurry. When I got the new "legs" back on, I called for help setting it upright, and proceeded to finish the task or moving and reloading tables, and shelves and on and on, which took nearly the whole day, but I am really really happy with the result. You can blame it all on my parents. My mom was a librarian, and my dad was a musician. That is why I need to keep all my art stuff organized. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Remains of the Day, Journal 2

Ok, so as I mentioned in an earlier post, I signed up for an online class with Mary Ann Moss called Remains of the Day. I now have two journals made and have started a third. I am showing the second one from two different angles since they each shed a little different picture. When I put a period at the end of my sentence, I will be off to work on the next one. What fun!

Half Way There

I started working on my covers for the Art Unraveled chunky book for 2009 today. I used all my fabric I painted in Traci Bautista's class. I love that she makes crazy stitches, which most people know I give bonus point for. The front of the front cover is about half way done, so this is only a partial reveal. I plan to sew on the focal point next and then get the details that go on the back of the front cover and the back covers done. I might have to cheat a bit and use papers I painted some of the other years in her classes, but as long as I use the ones that are like the ones I did last year, I think that is a fair representation. I am excited to finish them, but I am also enjoying making these pages so much, I will be a little sad when they are done. I just might carry this idea over to the next swap which is little rolodex card size quilts.
After these are done, I only have the rolodex swap commitment to finish, and I have 3 weeks to do that one. But I want to reprioritize my time. I want to journal more, get back to making myself some clothes and play around with my supplies more. I want to reorganize part of my studio. (That started last night. I swapped my jewelry station with my journal station. The journal station is in full swing. The jewelry station is in piles that need to be dealt with.) After two years of intense swapping and a year of pushing myself to get published, even though everything except one of my submissions, which I am still waiting to hear about has been published, I have decided to spend more time creating things for my loved ones and me. Things we will use like more doll clothes for the K's when they come to play and doing art just for the fun of it, and without so many deadlines.
I have two classes coming up at Frenzy Stamper and Art Unraveled, my etsy shop, and my table to sell things from at Art Unraveled. I think that ought to keep me busy enough for a while.

Just Get Your Scissors

If you have known me very long, you know how I love what Jeane and I call junque journals. We have made them for about 10 years, and I just can't get enough of them. When we first started, they were papers inside and paper covered covers. Today I made one similar to the bird books I did last year, in that a slipcover is made to fit an existing piece, in this case a 2 ring binder. The cover is a collaged piece of canvas, and the insides are a combination of paper pages which is the old part, but this time I put in pages made of lace and fabrics, too. I am going to be teaching this class at Frenzy Stamper at the end of February. I drove it over there just before the store closed tonight. We decided to call it Just Get Your Scissors because that is all the participants will have to bring. I am taking in everything else everyone will need, including the sewing machines. If participants want to bring in a machine, some special embellishments (like the Girl Scout wings on mine) or whatever, they may, but it is not required. The sewing part doesn't take the whole time, so I figure we can share. The three sewing machines I had sitting around that were previously thought of as in need of a repair shop were all fixed by me finally this week. It is amazing how taking one apart , dusting it out, wiggling things around, getting the correct size bobbin and putting it all back together can fix things. Anyway, above are some pictures of my journal. Everyone's cover and pages will be different even though they will all get a kit of papers and fabrics, because when they dig through the extra fabrics and embellishments and pick out unique items, every one will be different. Debbie will also have pictures on her website, soon.

Page From A Book

This is a page from a book that I later sewed into the actual book. I did this on my own when I was trying to experiment with a technique that hit me while driving one day and made me ask what would happen if... The book pictured above is NOT from the class I am taking now online with Mary Ann Moss called Remains of the Day. I am just posting it for some fellow participants in the class. We got into a discussion about sewing on paper, and this is a sample of what I was talking about. Have fun if you try it, Classmates. I hope to be posting more from the online class soon.

Remnants of a Vacation

Tomorrow it is back to the day job. Kinda heartbreaking actually. : ) You get some time off, find that groove where there is time to stay up late and just keep working, and then it all comes to a screeching halt. I have done so much, most of which I cannot show yet, but there is still so much to do.
For one thing, Keegan and I finished our surprise for Mommie. Each time she has come over recently, we have done a little painting, and I put it all together into a lunch bag. I placed a piece of clear heavy plastic in the bottom to give it some body and to make it easy to wipe off any crumbs or whatever between washings. I think Miss K did a great job on her part.
Another day found me making 6 hours worth of nonbias tape that I thought I needed for a project. The strips turned out great, but the project is in the rethinking bin along with a fabric wallet that ended up there as well. I got the zipper, the change purse part, and the credit card holder all perfect, but it just won't close properly. I think I used fabric that was too thick. Darn it. I hate it when the rethink bin gets too much in it. I do have other ideas for all those strips if the rethinking does not work either. Actually, I have already used some of the scraps of the strips.
And then, because I just couldn't resist, I joined an online class taught by Mary Ann Moss titled Remains of the Day. My cover is above. The next step is to gather up all kinds of papers and ephemera to make the inside pages. I have watched the first 20 videos, only about 8 more to go. Jeane and I have done similar books a million times, but I just couldn't resist.
Now, if I just didn't have all that laundry to go back and forth between...