A trash to Treasure Challenge.

This challenge was from fiber art traders....Someone sends you a baggie of stuff (trash) and you make them a treasure and keep something for yourself.....All I will say is OH MY GOSH! Fun foam and neon orange tulle....and a zillion butterflies and stars...the kind that is like confetti....I did find blue pieces scattered in and started arranging and decided to make something blue.....I was thinking maybe postcard but I had a piece of 5x5 orange fun foam that I used for a middle....(if you are out of timtex or peltex...the darn stuff works....) haha....so I made this piece along with some charms....The recipient can unwire the two that I hooked to the main piece, or make it all into charms....I actually really like how it turned out and I am normally not a "blue person"........Now to use that tulle..........lol...

Boudoir and doll faces...

The last few days have been kind of busy. I have been trying to get the front flower bed all pretty and it is quite the job...I finally went and got some weed and grass killer. Pulling it all by hand has been too slow. The good news is whoever lived here before me filled the garden with perennials and bulbs and it is going to be really pretty!

In between the gardening, I have been playing with the felting, making some atc's for personal trades and trying to get a few deadlines met. I finished the second boudoir card for the challenge on Fabric atc's one to one....it wasn't my favorite challenge as it really was supposed to use paper...I kinda said the heck with it on this second card and just layered a bunch of fabric with a picture and I like it a lot.

The doll faces are from Susan Burgess aka Sanna...We are having that doll swap using the Katie Kendricks pattern and she got inspired and painted faces then traded them with a few people. I was lucky enough to get a surprise in the mail! Here are my faces...I wont use them for the trade so I think it is fine to show them...I am making Sanna a black and white doll as a thank you using her "mostly " black and white face.....this is the front minus the arms....I ran out of fiberfill to stuff it with...when I was a kid I would stuff things with toilet paper but I didn't think that would be cool! haha...Anyway, I am posting a picture of the unfinished doll and her amazing faces. Happy gardening everyone, think spring is finally here!

Holy Cow a Felted Purse!

I am so excited, I actually felted something....I bought a purse kit from a lady here on whidbey island and she has an alpaca farm...She also makes her own colored roving's and teaches needle felting...I had fun doing this and it is really easy...I didn't even poke my fingers which is great for me. I am taking a class from her on Saturday, which I am very excited about. I am going to make a purse from the very beginning and really learn this felting stuff... I just love this purse...Especially the little ball on the zipper part. I picked my own colors for the roving. the purse is brown and the kit came with blue, green, and black. I added the pink and bright red which are more "Me". One more habit.....I mean hobby...just what I needed! Melinda

Oh yeah, that is a quarter on it for scale.......

why sometimes I take on too much!

Because I am crazy that's why! I just love to sign up but sometimes what I sign up for is just darn right overwhelming....I signed up for a yearbook book swap...It is from 1938 and it isn't in book form, it is a collection of 3x 5 pictures in a frame mat board...almost like a cabinet card. There are 38 classmates and I signed up to do two people, a girl and a boy. What I didn't realize, is I would be altering 38 of them and they have to be originals, plus I have to alter a mat board to put behind them! and make a biography for them! HOLY COW! I started on the boy who is labeled "mystery boy and I altered his picture.....I am going to do a whole lot of painting as you can see...then I am going to tie in the biography with papers and a few embellishments on the mat board. I have been trying to use what I have ..( a new years resolution) but this is a tough one. I have been sitting in my art room painting as I watch or listen to tv. Thankfully they are not due until June.

I also have taken part in a boudoir 4x6 swap and spring flowers atc's swaps...plus trying to work on my ginormous quilt....One thing that is good, Is I work fast. I am sitting on a altered book right now too with another coming. I just read in the paper that there is an altered book club here on the island. Imagine my shock!!! haha....I may have to check it out, I am becoming a hermit...Enjoy the pictures! Melinda

Pink things and Poppies...

I haven't been on here for a few days, but I am still creating. Plus weeding the front garden bed, which I finally gave up on and am going to go get some weed killer! There are so many of them, that it is overwhelming...In between the weed are all these gorgeous spring bulbs in full bloom..It will be really pretty when done. Plus I have been walking too and combine that with my naps, errands , housecleaning...you get the idea!

I am posting a couple of pictures...The quilt is a "Belle" quilt...I cant remember who makes the pattern but I have two of them. I want to get a third which is a "Hibiscus Belle"..The one posted is "Poppy Belle" and I have "Rose Belle" all pieced and partly appliqued...They all have the flower that they are named after on their heads. The rose one looked liked she had a big pink cow pile on her head so I bought some really bright fabric with gerber daisies on it and cut them out and I am going to applique those on...It actually looks better. I have a feeling that I just chose the wrong batik pink fabrics and it was too much....live and learn. I probably will finish her tomorrow.

I also did a 4x4 piece on(fabric) canvas. then I painted it and stamped and added fabric beads and quilting. I love pink anyway so this was right up my alley. I am not very good with beads but I am slowly incorporating them since I really enjoy them on other peoples stuff. I made the fabric flower following the directions from "Cloth, Paper, scissors." I didn't use a hoop though, just did each petal at a time with free motion. Then instead of sewing beads on, I used diamond glaze which I love...I also used ribbon to wrap the stem wire since that is all I had. I might group both pieces together like I photographed it and use the background fabric on a canvas.....My granddaughter who is five, loves my art and she loves pink....She has a new bedroom in a new house and I am making her a big pink kitty quilt so it would be cute with that.....

I had so much fun the other day trading Atc's on "Fabric atc's 1 to 1"....I forgot what fun it can be, and I know I will be getting some awesome mail in the next few days...I also have another round robin book on the way...Woo Hoo.....Till next time.....

A night for ATC's

Decide to go back to some atc's tonight and make some little things. I really didn't have much of a plan in mind, just started ripping and tearing thru my bins. This is the reason that unless company is coming, my art room is a disaster but that means I have been busy too! I keep one bin for fabric bits and ribbons and stuff and one for paper and scrapbooking leftovers. I have a closet jammed with stuff and quilting fabric shelves too, but I like using stuff from these two bins because they are right under where I sit! haha.......lazy me. I did make one atc that you will see th picture of that I did kinda the same thing as I did for my last book spread. I used the tissue paper and gesso and then the twinkling h20's (paints) and then made a lady and her house. Ironically, that little atc took me about an hour to make...The weather is still yukky here today. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice so I am going to go to the tulip festival here in Washington. I am going to bring my camera. I guess it is really beautiful! Happy weekend! Melinda

Fun day in the art room!

The weather here is like winter again...Crazy spring Nw weather I guess. I decided to have a pajama art day, and that is what I did. I haven't been outside once and I am still in the pajamas and very comfortable too! I worked on the quilt that I am putting together...I am posting a picture. It is getting bigger slowly but surely. I do have block fabric left over so I think I am going to make some more blocks to mix in with a second border. i want it to be one big quilt! I am going to redo a whole bedroom based around the color of the quilt..I am not going to take anymore pictures until it is done though...I just need to make sure It's not bigger than my machine and frame....

I also made postcards for the "Arts in the mail" group....The theme was cake so I made appliqued cupcakes...I like how they turned out and they went together pretty quickly. I made four and I have already gotten one....three more to go! My post office loves these postcards. I have one lady that always has me make her postcards for birthdays. (she buys them) They really enjoy seeing the ones that come in too...they treat me like this famous postcard artist...ha ha! Ya gotta love that small town thing!

I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to take part in a fabric charm swap...I played around with some ideas and came up with a charm...It is really cute. i have looked at peoples bracelets and sure have admired them on the internet. I would probably wear a necklace though with like a black turtleneck...I have to be careful with accessories because I am petite. Though i am like a magpie and love all the glitzy stuff...just not on me! Enjoy looking! Melinda

My best altered book spread!

I am so excited by this layout! I think because it was in the book "Little Women" which I loved as a kid, the preferred colors were purple/ magenta ( a fave) and it was based around paper dolls which I love.....I was really worried at first, because this is the 5th book in this round robin that I have been working on, but the only real hardbound book which means I couldn't take out pages...I also used NO fabric....a real shocker for me, though I did sneak in some stitches, yarn and ribbon. Jo was always my favorite character so I based it on her....I never would've thought that I could do this and I am starting to really enjoy using paints and a rollerball pen of all things! The first side the little tag reads, "Jo was my favorite character." and on the second page it says, "In a family of girls, Jo wore the pants." I just really enjoyed making it and I hope the book owner really loves getting it!

I have been making Atc's for a year now!

They were the start of all this crazy art stuff! I went back through some pictures and found some of the first ones I made for Easter and Spring. It is amazing how you change styles and develop different tastes. I always have loved collage, so I think the thing that has remained the same, is my art work is never flat. I like little pieces of this and that on it. I also started right out by sewing on them. I like the texture that seams add. It is hard to believe that I have been trading and making cards for a year along with making new friends. I have evolved to 4x4's and altered books, crazy dolls and quilties and fabric charms and who knows what yet is to come but I have loved every second and will continue to create along with my scrapbooking and my quilting because it gives me joy and that is reason enough to do anything!

Easter Blessings to you all.....Melinda

Something beginning with D' postcards...

I had a pretty quiet day. Getting ready for Easter with two of my grand kids. They will be here tomorrow so I have been busy decorating and coloring eggs...Also made up a batch of sugar cookie dough so Olivia and I can make cookie eggs. I actually bought paint to start on my bedroom and then decided to wait until after Easter. Now I am glad I did, it would've been crazy!

I spent a little time in my sewing room today and dug thru a bag of fabric and older lady friend gave me...It has some really cool heavy duty canvas in it and quite a lot.. I played with my neocolor watercolors on the canvas and had fun just making shapes...I think I am going thru a rugged phase... I have used burlap quite a bit lately too. I did make four postcards for my "Arts in the Mail" group...These are for something beginning with D.........dandelions though I did them at the wish stage...Every child loves these and making wishes. I wonder who declared they are a weed anyway? Although tomorrow I plan on weeding and they will be pulled out too...I saw a similar design in one of the art magazines and thought it would make a cool post card and it did...The caption is my own though.....Here is to childhood and wishes!

Pink and Green Postcards

Two of my very favorite colors and I had to think a lot to come up with these postcards! I would've thought ideas would be boundless...I guess because I wanted to do something with more design elements vs. a picture or theme. I like the green circle with the squares. I would do one and then work on my quilt and then do another...It seems I always have more than one thing going and I am happiest that way! These are for a "pink and green " swap on my "arts in the mail" group......Two posts in one day, WoW!

Sunflowers for my daughter...

My oldest daughter Stacie, just emailed me this picture of her with the sunflower wall hanging I made her...She did her whole room in colors from Van Goghs painting, so when I saw the pattern fro this, I knew it was perfect. I had a lot of fun picking out different batiks to use. I really like how it turned out and so does she!

Otherwise today, I am still working on that big quilt and getting some things mailed out. The weather has been so great, that I have been cutting some fabric out on the deck in between throwing the stick for the dog! Have a great day everyone!

Working on a quilt...

I decided I better get going on the quilts again..they call my name every time I go near them. I sat down and started piecing and remembered how much I like this! I get so involved in all the trading and swaps on my groups that it gets nuts and I forget how fun and relaxing just sewing can be. Right now I am working on a queen size top that I am going to make king size by the time it is done....the big center block is applique and I got most of it done tonight. I have all the other 11 blocks done so it is just putting it all together. I think I am going to use it in my main bedroom. I want to add some rich colors to that room...it seems really white right now and I am a color freak. I still haven't painted the other bedroom but I did decide on a pale yellow....I will end up doing the painting like I do everything else.....like my butts on fire and it has to be done now...Luckily my cat and dog know to stay out of the way when I get going! I am posting a picture of the quilt I am working on in progress... you can see a couple of blocks and the center applique....Melinda