My Dharma Order from the UPS Guy...

came early (9:30am. instead of 5 pm.), so I was able to take advantage of having more hours today to dye some cotton. I made up 16 colors of Procion, dyed 16 fat quarter pieces, and added 2 colors each to 6 other pieces.

I'm sure glad I cleaned out all the containers and spoons yesterday...

I'll post some photos when they're all washed out and ironed up pretty...and tell you what they're for ~

Adventures in Discharging - We have a winner - Gerrie got it!!!

Black cotton sateen ~ potato masher dipped in my special discharge potion and applied to the cloth ~ splatters, too, because of the wayward drips ~ This turned out so well, I'm thinking, "just quilt it."

The first person to guess what my secret is will receive something special in the mail! C'mon, give it a try!

THE SECRET'S OUT - IT'S CLEANSER WITH BLEACH!
KEEP CHECKING BACK FOR A QUICK TUTORIAL AND MORE ADVENTURES - COMING SOON ~
Gerrie Congdon
guessed correctly, and she gets to choose a Wrist Pin Cushion- congratulations, Gerrie...

Painted and Embossed Hardware

I wanted to show a couple of the other pieces that I made for possible inclusion in the article. Even though they weren't chosen, it did give me the opportunity to explore my technique further and to use other metal pieces...

The "Creative Insomnia" journal ~ can you guess what her body is made from? It started out as a silver-plated pie server that was broken. Her head is part of an earring. The moon is a large charm.

I'm sure many of you know all too well why I gave it this title ~







I created this special bead box by taking a metal tin and first had to scratch off most of the picture that was on the lid, using an x-acto knife. I then painted the lid with forest green glass paint (described in my Cloth, Paper, Scissors article) and added the embossing. I adhered some silk around the edges of the tin, and some cotton around the edges of the lid. Embellished with a large washer, beads, copper wire and fibers. Added some "legs" to the bottom with fiber-wrapped ceramic beads ~



detail of the bead box lid ~

Four new pincushions

I've been anxiously waiting to post these - just had to wait for Blogger...

Julaine's Gallery of Artful Adventures

Staff Retreat 2007

If you haven't been to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
in Springfield, Illinois, it is great experience! Abe waited a long time for this -
Here's a photo of Jeff and I with the family...








"Well behaved women rarely make history" - fascinating exhibit - the quote was not Mary's...
















The whole group being a a bit silly with miniature fly swatters (don't ask)...

All...that...Jazz

What a blast!!! The Creative and Performing Arts Academy at Auburn High School where my son was dancing yesterday afternoon - here he is (between the 2 girls), the class is doing their version of "All That Jazz"... side story behind all this: Jason's dance teacher is the same one he had back in kindergarden and first grade - below are some photos of the after party -


















Jason and dad


















Jason and mom













Jason and the girls

Page 22

What an honor! My article "Painted and Embossed Hardware" is in the current issue of this great magazine. Check it out...

Thanks again to Pokey and staff ~

I've been tagged

The rules

Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself ~
People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog ~
Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names ~
Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they
have been tagged and to read your blog ~


Julaine:
1) I hate mornings
2) I'm addicted to iced mocha (my homemade, of course)
3) I was named after my dad's first girlfriend.
4) I'll eat just about anything if it's served with or is made with cream cheese
5) I'm fat (think Willendorf)
6) I play guitar, and hammered dulcimer
7) I can bend my index finger all the way back to the top of my hand


Here's who I'm tagging:

Paper Doll Post
Prater Poste
Fibra Artysta - Mixed Media Fiber Art
::More Whiffs, Glimmers & Left Oeuvres::
princessandthepea
Musings of a textile itinerant
Digital Gran

looking forward to finding out those interesting things about you all!!!

Six More...

Wrist Pin Cushions, that is ~ check my gallery blog to see them in all their glory. 10.00

Julaine's Gallery of Artful Adventures

As promised - my Wrist Pin Cushions

Seen at the Friday Night Sampler, and...the Virtual Studios for Cloth, Paper, Scissors MIU! at the Chicago Festival ~

Click on over to my gallery blog - Julaine's Gallery of Artful Adventures
to purchase any of these pretties ~ 10.00 each

The Virtual Studio Artists

Very creative sisters here! Deb Silva of Creatively Amused
and Artella!, and Judy Coates Perez of Painted Threads
were among the wild women of MIU's Virtual Studios at IQF-Chicago...

It was not easy coming back to real life.












Rah, Rah for MIU! Here we see Kelli Perkins creating her incredible paper beads - when she came to join us, it was very busy, so I didn't get a chance to talk more with her -

Back from Festival

Here we have the lovely Cheryl Prater of Prater Poste and equally stunning Debbi Crane of Paper Doll Post who along with me were sharing an area for the Virtual Studios gig for Cloth Paper Scissors® at MIU! - I simply must do this again, as it was a wonderful experience and feeling like a celebrity does the soul good once in awhile...

I didn't get a photo of Virginia Spiegel. Darn.

Ready for the Friday Night Sampler! I had prepared five step-outs to demonstrate how to make my funky wrist pin cushions to lots of enthusiastic quilters. My helper chick, Becky (aka Vanna White) did a fantastic job of keeping the biz end moving along (see photo below of her).


She had artfully arranged everything on the table - looks good!





And here she is...we got a bit goofy after I paid her for services rendered...it's not what you might be thinking, lol.












What to do in your hotel room when it comes time to make your favorite guacamole, and you can't find the knife you packed?




You reach for a pair of scissors, of course. I wonder what people who don't sew do in this situation?





Side note on the pin cushions for all of you who have been interested in slapping one of these on your own wrist or the wrist of a loved one. I came home with some pretty ones and will be listing them on my gallery blog later today. A huge thanks goes to Pam who writes Pin Cushion Genius! : PaMdora’s Box
If you're listening, Pam - watch your mailbox...

What am I taking to Chicago?

Here's a piece that I felted yesterday using that new Viking machine at the Jo-Ann's that I work at - the gorgeous fibers started out as a novelty eyelash yarn that I knitted with gigantic needles. I laid it out on top of this purple crushed satin and covered it with Sulky Solvy. Julaine, start your engine! It took no time at all, and when I was finished, the Solvy just had tons of pin holes in it...reusable, yes!

I'll be bringing this piece to my gig for Make It University™ with Cloth Paper Scissors®
to see what else I can do with it.

Come see me there: I'll be in the Virtual Studios area on Friday, April 13th from 10-noon, and 1-3 pm.; and on Saturday, April 14th from 10-noon, and 1-3 pm.

Note to Lynn K: we have to get ourselves one of these machines, right??? Maybe we'll check the Viking people at festival ~

Note to Becky B.: you know who you are - we are going to have a great time...

On the MIU faculty (beware)

First, Cheryl Prater makes me add her blog to my links (all right, actually she added mine to hers first, so I was obligated)...

NOW she wants me to mention that she was the cover girl for Cloth, Paper, Scissors in the January/February issue with her "Sixtopoly" article (very cool, btw) ~

I don't know what happened when I added the extra words after Prater Poste
but everything went goofy on me. Does anyone out there have the html letters/code for "centering" stuff?

I'm going to offer her a challenge (evil laugh coming out of my mouth)
...I'll let you know how she responds...

UPDATE: Cheryl sent me an "MIU or Bust" bumper sticker to put on my very own luggage (art shop on wheels)

Rosemont

How many tote bags does one fiber artist need?

I have made many - and still use most of them.

Needed (wanted) a new one to take to Chicago next week for the festival, so I thought I would use this Alexander Henry print (found on the big cotton wall at the store). It's called "omodaka" and it's perfect for embroidering...loosely stitching by the lines of the gold bursts on it, I used 9 colors of DMC floss and am almost ready to sew it together. But wait...what shall I do with the back? I really don't want to leave it plain, even though it is really neat fabric. Quilt it?

Virtual Studios for Make It University™ with Cloth Paper Scissors®
at IQF: I will be showing a technique that's related to my article in CPS coming out next month. The times for my "studio" ??? Friday, April 13 at 10 & 11 am.; 1 & 2 pm., and Saturday, April 14 at 10 & 11 am; 1 pm. Be sure to stop by! Here's a list of the incredible artists that will be there too: Pokey Bolton, Judy Coates Perez, Deb Silva, Virginia Spiegel, Cheryl Prater, Debbi Crane, Kelli Perkins, and Lesley Riley. Think surface design - embellishment - mixed media...it's going to be a blast ~