Shisa 2 and the Kid

It's been a challenge photographing the mirrors. If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know...
I've now finished 12 of them for the denim vest, having added beads to these two. I like. The process is fun and easy, so it could make for a nice art workshop at Emmanuel before Lent, and have the participants create a few to be added to a piece that can be displayed at a future exhibit in our Celebration Gallery.


Jason's self-portrait in a 4-part stencil. Very nice and cool.















Did he shoot this himself? I found it on Picasa. I'll ask. I know he was bored yesterday because he cleaned his room. It's been so cold here that school was canceled, so that has put off the rest of his finals until next Tuesday. I think he's okay with that, since he has been rehearsing his monologue for Drama class.
UPDATE: he DID set the camera up himself...



Stay warm if you're cold, you know, cuddle up to someone nice, or the quilt you may be working on.

Shisha Embroidery

Amazed 25 years ago when a co-worker embellished one of her Folkwear garments with shisha embroidery, I can't imagine why I waited so long to give it a try. There's this great tutorial on the process: Tutorial: Indian Shisha (mirror) Embroidery » Joyful Abode

I've done 8 of them so far and like most other hand work it's been very relaxing. Each one gets better looking. When I had the basic technique down, I found that I didn't like when the stitches were too close together and uniform (oh, there's one of those words that bug me). I experimented, still starting out with the basic technique, but letting go of having perfect stitches. If nothing else, I'll say that I love my mistakes, at least with the adventures in shisha embroidery. Fabrics with a looser weave, such as flannel, have worked better for me. My favorite threads, you ask? Laura's Artfabrik: Extraordinary hand dyed fabric and threads,
DMC #5 perle cottons, and I just picked up a couple of the "Watercolours" 3- ply cotton floss by CARON Collection Threads at our local stitchery shop. The mirrors are from Jo-Anns.






















The photo with the striped fabric in the hoop are mirrors that I hope to embellish a denim vest with. Using one strand each of the Watercolous and DMC Perle has worked very well and is giving me the texture that I crave. My plans are to cut around each one, leaving enough fabric to gather to the backs of the mirrors. Plus, it's more fun sometimes, to look at your little creations when they're sitting in a pretty container just waiting to be incorporated into your artwork. Last fall when I altered those denim jackets (and they were popular), I of course, didn't do one for myself. Jason found the vest in his closet of all places, and now that I've lost some weight, it fits me well.

Congratulations, Susan Lenz

CyberFyber is here! What an amazing exhibit that Susan Lenz has put together. You must check out the video...

CYBER FYBER VIDEOS: CYBER FYBER....The Exhibition

Happy Surreal Birthday to Me

I turned 54 today. It has been a most surreal day so far. The doorbell rang this morning and a florist delivered this beautiful floral arrangement that was from my sister Sharon and hubby Bob in Minnesota. What a delight! Then...this afternoon when I went to move it, the container broke in my hand - yes there was a little blood. Jason rushed to mop up the water and pick up the glass and I was scurrying around trying to find a substitute bowl (it was shaped like a small fish bowl). After the mess was cleaned up, then I looked at my finger. Lots of blood, little cut. Whew! I'm sure I'll find some blood on the kitchen floor later. Strange.




Our beloved Heather had died earlier last year and we just hadn't given much thought to getting a new kitty. I was really missing her, so I thought since it was a new year and my birthday was soon approaching, I'd check out the local shelter. I fell in love with this sweetheart after she nuzzled up to my nose and checked my hair out. She's a black and brown tiger tabby with gorgeous markings and the shelter's vet said that she was about 3 years old. A stray who's owner did not come for her after being called. I guess the Avid Microchip is a good thing. When we got her home last night, she hid under the bathroom sink most of the night, coming out a few times to eat, bless the litter box and let us know she was there but still a little skittish. Okay, flash forward to this morning. We couldn't find her. My friend Bobbie said that their Linus hid out for 5 days before she made her presence known all the time. I was trying hard to think of that, but was panicked when I thought she might have sneaked out when Jason ran to get the school bus this morning. We all looked. Before I left the house today, I memorized how the pattern of the food in her bowl looked. Jason looked when he got home. No where to be found. Well, when I got home, I noticed the food in her dish looked different!!! Hurray - she was in the house! And where do you suspect she was hiding? Right where any quilter's cat should be...in the studio! Definately surreal.
11:30 pm. update: We have named her "Elsa" ~

My other sister Barb, who I haven't talked to in a very long time called. It felt good, boy was that needed.

To finish up my birthday story, I found out that 54 years ago, someone famous was born this day...are you ready for this? Mr. Bean. End of story.

Jason and his artwork

I just finished a quilt for my grand-nephew, which was commissioned by his parents, so as soon as I get some photos after it has been hung, I'll share them with you. It's been quite awhile...it's been a challenging few months. Until I get going with my blog again, I'll show you what our son has been up to!

This past October for Rockford's Fall Artscene, he sold his first piece - it was a small collage called "Blue Monday" and had one of his great stencils on it of Kurt Vonnegut. Here's what's new (and a few things I found in one of his photo folders:




Sticker art - Jason's graffiti alphabet.










The "Seamster" - I gave him my old sewing machine and showed him how to make fleece socks.

The Nordic Batman - summer goofing around.














Painted Polaroid print of Jason and a few of his spray colors. Since he's 17 now, he can purchase spray paint without our consent.

















His newest piece with 4 layers of stencils - titled "I Was a Teenage Feminist."

















Collage - a stencil of Max (from the film "Pi") and an image from "Jurassic Park."












Bobby Darin with a side of Woody Allen.

Greenwich 2008

Twice in a month? Here are some shots from the 60th Annual Greenwich Village Art Fair, sponsored by the Rockford Art Museum. It RAINED all weekend, but those die hard art enthusiasts always come out...I made sure to include a photo of the "Copper Passion" altered denim jacket that Carol Dean Sharpe was curious about ~


The last shot is of "Arusha," which I did finish this summer. If you check out a previous post, you can see how this one started out.

What's New

I hope my friends haven't given up on me yet...

I'm in my last week of preparing for the 60th Annual Greenwich Art Fair, which is sponsored by the Rockford Art Museum. Since I stopped making my ruanas last year, I needed new inspiration for a cool garment. Here's what I came up with: Altered Denim Jackets. The one with the lace collar and cuffs was the first one I finished, and the slashed one is my favorite so far, with purple elements including novelty velvets, raw-edge applique and black oilstick on collar and cuffs. They each have lots of found objects, buttons and beads on them, and the backs are finished also.

I have two others finished, and the last one that's almost done is all about copper, of which I love. The interesting embellishment on that one is a deconstructed copper wind chime. I'll post a photo when "Copper Passion" is finished!






















On the home front, we're still following the "almost vegan" lifestyle. I've lost 36 pounds, and now I'm only 12 pounds from NOT lying on my driver's license. For the first time in a long time, I can cross my legs, but now I know that it's not a good thing to do because of leg VEINS. Gee, just when hubby was loving the look of my crossed gams with painted toenails and my sexy wedge sandals.

It's good to be back. Hope YOU are doing well and participating in that artsy life. Leave me a comment, okay?

It's been too long

Geesh! I don't know if I've ever gone this long without posting before - I haven't been in the studio alot this past month...

Self-imposed break from artistic endeavors? Switching gears, maybe. Actually, I've been in a funk. Don't know why.

We have another art exhibit coming up at Emmanuel soon and I wanted to have a new piece for it, so I've been working on this 18x18 inch quilt. I was inspired by work I saw at IQF-Chicago by Deidre Adams who stitches, then paints the surface of her quilts. I used wool batting for the first time (a sample from Hobbs), and while I'm not used to the puffy look, it quilted beautifully. It will be interesting seeing how the paint works out. I've done a few smaller pieces and was pleased with the results - great texture...

Next Friday night, we're hosting a "Ladies' Lock-In to Creativity" at Emmanuel and we're going to be creating small collages done on 5x5" canvasses. Jo-Ann's has these and they're in the 1.00 value bins, you just have to cover up the farm images pre-printed on them.

Lifestyle update: Still going strong, walking almost every day. Jeff's lost 26 pounds. I've lost 20. Favorite foods so far on the program: home made hummus, black bean salad, grilled tofu.

These shoes are made for walkin'

I have to admit that these are my first pair of walkin' shoes...let me start at the beginning, okay?

A couple of months ago, Jeff started a lifestyle program called the Coronary Health Improvement Project
that is geared toward helping you change your eating habits and get you moving, so you can drop some weight and hopefully alter the amount of cholesterol, hypertension and type 2 diabetes meds that you are taking. Some participants have even gone completely off these meds.

Since he started on the program, he's lost 15 pounds and will be presenting his graduation papers with exciting new lipid, glucose and b/p readings to his doctor this week. We're hoping that the doc will be happy AND encouraging for once. If not, we'll be shopping for a new physician.

I, too, went on the program without going to the classes, and have lost 12 pounds. Finding clothes that I haven't worn in awhile (or never) feels good. It's also funny to watch people's facial expressions when they see you, but can't quite figure out what's changed about you. I just let them wonder, unless they ask...

Jason is embracing these changes too - he understands that what he eats at home is what we're eating. He can choose to eat other stuff when he's with his friends, but even this long-legged dancing machine noticed that he feels better and stronger when he's with the program. He started running a couple of weeks ago, and is getting ready for an audition with the Rockford Dance Company.

Those endorphins do come out of hiding, believe it or not, so if I don't go out walking every day now, I feel it. I haven't joined the early morning crowd yet, so I usually go out late in the afternoon, or in the early evening.

What you eat: lots of veggies and fruit, lots of beans, lots of whole grain products. The program recommends no meat, but we're doing the carnivore thing once or twice a week with fish, chicken, or turkey - no red meat at all. It's amazing how we're not missing or craving it. I've also stopped eating most chocolate because I realized that it was making me irritable, and it takes 3 days to get it out of my system. I do still make my home-made iced mochas with Nestle's chocolate syrup (no added corn syrup) and french roast coffee, however I have been cutting back on those, too...

Now, finally, for the shoes: I've have Chuck Taylor tennies and Ked's basic tennies, but never a pair of honest to goodness athletic shoes. My heels were starting to bother me, so my men gave me these shoes for Mother's Day. I'll be trying them out later today, after finishing the Trinity Banner.

Top Chef Producers

Give me a break, you producers of Top Chef! You know, if you really wanted to surprise us, and be nice at the same time, you could get rid of the Dale chefs on the program. We're used to you keeping the 'pain in the *#s' people around, but c'mon...

Let's see - tantrum after the quick-fire because another chef beat him out with that ugly monkfish fileting and it was clear that a team player he was not during the wedding feast prep. Best of luck Dale running a five-star restaurant on your own, buddy.

So...I've put up with seeing alot of other wonderful chefs having to leave, but this one made me mad!!! I'm done watching this season. Don't care who wins. Nikki, I'll be rooting for you...

Trinity Banner update

I've stitched down the crescent moon shapes, hand, and dove of the banner now, using just a straight stitch. This worked out so well, appliqueing the elements separately before stitching onto the background. It's really adding some wonderful dimension to the piece...and the anxiety level was diminished because I didn't have to satin stitch through all the layers.

I will need to stitch 2 more crosses though - when placing the banner up on the design wall, I realized that 9 was not going to be enough.

So often on work this size (30x45) or larger (read: not always in my comfort zone), I tend to freak just a little. I also get visits from the intuitive muse, where the outcome is usually so much better than my original design. Maybe it's because of the time I allow for these pieces. Maybe it's coming from a deeper spiritual place inside of me. I'm not at the point of gathering beads and other possible embellishments yet, but today I felt that bubble of glee rise up too.

I am bringing it in next Tuesday for a preview with Phyllis from church, who is head of the Altar Guild and commissioned it. It will be in memory of three women who were members of that committee. Nice...

Elements of the Banner

The new banner that I am creating is for Trinity Sunday, May 18th.












The background is a brocade home dec fabric and all the appliques are silk dupioni. I am doing something different this time as far as the appliqueing goes. To start with, I did all the quilting on the 30x45 inch banner first. For the elements, I wanted to add more dimension, so I appliqued them onto batting with muslin underneath, basically stitching them separate from the base of the banner. When I finished doing the stitching, I put some fusing on the back, and then carefully cut around the edges leaving some of the batting showing. This made the appliques "pop" out very nicely, and on some of the elements, like a dove and the hand, I'll be embroidering design lines on them. The other elements are 9 purple crosses. I know where everything is going, but I'm still working out how I'll secure them to the banner after I fuse them down...

There will also be words: "In the Name of the Creator - In the Name of the Redeemer - In the Name of the Holy Spirit."

After chatting with art-friend Bobbie today, I have realized now that the copper silk for the hand is a bit dark, so I have since painted it with gold Lumiere paint, but left the copper threads along the edges alone.

I'll keep you posted as the deadline approaches...

Note: I tried the bamboo/cotton batting for the first time on this project, and I like it. When doing any hand stitching, it doesn't beard as much as other all cotton batting.

Sue V...congratulations!

Hey, Sue V. - you were my 10,000th visitor - CONGRATULATIONS!!! Just let me know how to contact you by e-mail -

Thanks to everyone who stopped by - let's do it again when there's another milestone...

Coming Soon - the 10,000th Visitor

That's right, everyone! I just checked my sitemeter, and I'm very close to having my 10,000th visitor. What that means, dear readers, is that one of you will have that very special honor, and that I will be honoring that very special visitor with a gift!!!
Now...I'm asking that you leave a comment, or as the lady in the pic says, "Spill it, Sister." Ooh, I wonder who will be the lucky visitor???

If you'd like to hear some music while reading, put your headphones on...I found Project Playlist - Social Music Experiment
on Sara Lechner's blog.

Leaving a comment is extremely important - it will be easier to locate you if you're that lucky visitor. No comment, almost impossible...

Prom 2008

Jason and the lovely, talented Miss Catherine went to her prom last night. Here are a couple of shots that I took before they headed off with Catherine's mom. Aren't they cute?