Topsy Turvy

A few years ago, I started a project at Art Fiber Fest called Topsy Turvy, under the direction of the fabulous Roxanne Padgett, which was done minus a little detail stitching. Today she finally got the finishing touches which took all of ten minutes, making me wonder why I waited so long. But, here she is, all done, the newest playmate for my little K's. The last time Keegan saw her, she would not let her go, falling asleep with her in her arms. She is two dolls in one and can't wait to meet Kennedy and play with her two sister friends!

If you were one of these...

what store would I find you in? I currently am on the outlook for more of these and don't know where to get them. I have them from three different stores, one of which is no longer in business, one of which has no more and doesn't know where to buy them and one for which I do not have contact info. So if any of you know who makes them or where to get them, please fill me in, in the comments or by emailing me at janeeileen@hotmail.com.   Thanks kindly in advance.

The Stack

So, the other day when I was getting my exercise by surfing the net, I came across an opportunity. Seth, over at the Altered Page, took a photo of a stack of journals he had sitting around begging to be photographed. Yep, it started something. You can find out more about it here:
http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/2011/09/paper-stacks.html
Anyone who wants to, can submit a photo of a stack of their own and have it be part of his online project which is scheduled to go public on Wednesday 9-21-11 with links to other stacks. Above is my stack. I can't wait to see the rest.

Playing with Debbie/Fabric Friends

Earlier in the week, I trekked over to Frenzy Stamper. I needed to take care of some business for my class coming up on September 17th. With that taken care of, Debbie of all things Frenzy, and I played away the rest of the day making flowers, having lunch, and giggling, and stuff.   : )

Here are some of the flowers I made. They are not all done yet. Several of them are actually more than one flower, but they are stacked so the smaller flower looks like the middle layer or the center. I may sew them all together later when I am done playing.  Every time I see a fiber flower somewhere, I disect it with X-ray eyes and try to figure it out. I have about 30 different ideas of how to make a variety of looks and at least 10 places you could use them in art creations that I am experimenting with.

As I am playing around, I am discovering different ways to get the job done. I need to see if there is enough interest to hold a class. I have accumulated lots of sheers and nets and fancy fabrics and ribbons from a variety of sources, so this could be very fun. At least there would be a lot to choose from supply-wise. If  you have a comment about these, I would love to hear it as feedback for future planning.

While I was there, another customer came in who deals with fabric samples. Before she left, she gifted me some samples that were discontinued. Jackpot! I think I have a magic magnet on my forehead that attracts amazing people who just give me things that end up in projects such as this. Several of the materials in these flowers came along a similar path. What's not to love about fabric friends?

Special Orders for Fabulous People

These are photos of the custom order I mentioned in the last post. I finished it up and had it all packed and taped when I realized that I forgot to take the photos. The buyer found out what happened and offered to send me photos. How sweet is that?

Now I am busy working on another special order for a little K who wants to be Alice in Wonderland for Halloween. She is going to a very special party and must have the right dress. This is how far I am with more to follow after a fitting. The dress forms are doing their job, but with a big party like this one, we have to measure twice and cut once, so to speak. With the bottom of the pinafore, the facing on the neck, elastic in the sleeves, side seams, and hemming all around done, we should be good to go. When this is done, then there will be a Cheshire Cat costume for another littler K who is going to the same party. But that is another weekend.

Studio Update

When you are the child of a librarian and a musician, sometimes the organized side and the creative side start to argue. Should I create? Should I organize?  With the fabric side of my life taking up more and more time than the paper side, I woke up on Saturday and decided that all the paper stuff HAD to go to one side of the studio and all the fabric stuff HAD to go to the other and all the common supplies had to be in the middle. This resulted in a two day rearrangement of my "stuff." But it is done now, thank goodness, and I am happy with it. I wanted to do it for a long time, but just never got around to it. I had never unpacked all my totes and suitcases of supplies from Art Unraveled or Create, so I took on this task and then unpacked so I would only have to move the packings one time. Above is one shot of the fabric side. As you can see, I am not the world's greatest photographer. Sorry!

I finished yesterday, then got to work on my samples for upcoming classes at Frenzy Stamper that I am teaching. The Double Double Class requires examples in various stages of completion so I can demo. each step. Here is one sample that only needs the pages sewn in and the ribbon tie sewn down. I have been experimenting with different ways to make flowers and I needed an embellishment for this journal, so I chose a flower idea I had never tried before (although they look a lot like some flowers I made before from circles of fabric), so I could see if it would actually turn out the way I envisioned it. I think it worked well. If you want to join us at the next Double Double class, there are still a few spaces left. Details are in the margin, and you can sign up by contacting me (janeeileen@hotmail.com) or calling the store, although Frenzy is closed for the holiday until the 8th of Sept. There are a few spaces in my other classes as well.

I got the studio done just in time, because today I need to work on a custom order for someone. I found some cool goodies for it while rearranging yesterday, so it is partly done already. I might put a picture of it here later, after the buyer has a chance to hold it and look at it herself. I gave her a choice of seeing a picture before I mail it tomorrow, but she is up for a surprise, so I don't want to give it away 'til after that. Stay tuned.