When Science and Art Collide

This is a Galileo Thermometer. We have one. It's amazingly accurate and so pretty. Or rather it was...

Last night at about 9:30 p.m. I got up to close our living room window and put the security bar in the track. Somehow the bar slipped out of my hand and struck our Galileo, smashing it into a million pieces. It was bad, really bad for a number of reasons.

First, there was glass everywhere, since the structure is made of glass, as are the temperature balls. Then there was all the liquid from inside the structure. If anyone has one of these and thinks it's just water, guess again. It's not. It's a mixture of parrifin and petroleum which makes it both greasy AND smelly-it reeks like kerosene. So not only was I dealing with glass, and wet, but the wet was enough to give anyone an instant migraine. (Which it did.)

Add to all that that my work table, covered in art projects was right below where the Galileo was sitting on the window sill and you can imagine what came out of my mouth at that moment. It took half an hour of washing things down with soapy water, moving furnature, picking up shards, vacuuming and throwing out things that were ruined. Thank god my husband was there to help or it would have taken me ages.

Needless to say, I now have to redo all the art that was ruined. *sigh*

Everything Old is New Again

Hi Folks. I think I am finally back after an entire week struggling with my internet connection. Monkey are running the world-I spoke to THREE techs at my ISP this week and got three different reasons who my connectivity was an issue. Utter frustration ensued, but I have changed out my splitter (What fun that was!!) and hopefully now things are back to normal. There's nothing to do but wait and see!

In the meantime, I took a Punch Needle Embroidery class yesterday with needlework goddess and good friend Annemarie out at Quiltopia. I have seen this type of embroidery before and I own some antique pieces done this way. I decided I had to try it. It's an old art form and it's making a come back. The class was alot of fun and this heart was my first try. When I got home, I started the practice pattern Annemarie had given us in our handouts and I have it 70% finished already. It's the perfect handwork to be doing in front of the tv and I just love how when they are done they look like little tiny hooked rugs! They feel really cool too!!

I have a pattern called The Apple Orchard by Brenda Gervais that I will be doing next. It's got a Shaker house and an apple tree with a bird in it and the border has the alphabet and stars on it. It's kind of like a Sampler. I saw a couple others I want to order too. Addictive, I tell ya!! My head is already swimming with ideas about designs I want to make!!

Good Things Come In Small Packages

Yesterday this manilla envelope arrived. The name on the return address was not familiar to me so I had absolutely no idea what I would find inside once I opened it.

Turned out it was these gorgeous filagree stars I ordered when I got home from Artfest a few weeks ago. I was under the weather when I ordered them, so it's no wonder I didn't know who it was from. Anyway, my friend Stacie had given me a piece of her work with these stars on them and I had to know where they came from. She kindly shared the link which is here if you want to peek.

Now comes the fun of trying to decide what I want to use them on. Something for ME of course, but what? Likely some piece of jewellery or a collage. How I love stars!

I am having internet connection issues all of the sudden so my ISP is sending a tech guy over to check it out. One minute I am connected, the next pfft! Nothing! It's highly annoying-in fact I am trying to post this PDQ before I lose my connection again.

It's a balmy 18C here today and I think it's supposed to get up to 20C before too long. I am anxious for the tech to get here so I can go out and enjoy the sunshine with my dear friend Lisa-lattes at Starbuck's and girl chat. Gotta love that!

Beautiful Bead Swap!!

I have decided to host a Beautiful Bead swap. Here are the details:

We will be swapping glass beads, any size bigger than seed beads. Each participant will send a mix of beads sizes and colours, and include one small charm in each mix. (If you want to add a couple more, that's fine!) Each set of beads will fill a 1 1/2 inch x 2 1/2 inch mini ziploc baggie (as pictured). You will send 6 sets and receive 6 different sets back. (It goes without saying that you will only send what you yourself would be happy to receive back.)

Please include a mailing label with your return address and $4 for postage. (Cash only please!) It would be adviseable send your beads in a padded envelope to avoid breakage. Please mark each bead set with your name and website/email info attached to each bag so the people who get your beautiful beads will know who to thank!

Deadline for mailing them to me is May 19th. Please sign up only if you can meet this deadline, as I want to be fair to everyone and have the returns out on time!

If you are interested in signing up, please email me at: tatterededge@shaw.ca and I will send you my mailing address.

Thanks! :)

By My Hand

If I have seemed a bit quiet lately, it's because I am working hard behind the scenes. My current project is that I am designing a new class which will hopefully be up and running in early June. The sample has been made and now I am working on self-publishing the pattern.

I plan to have the pattern ready in time for the class, but it's alot of work and it has to be exact or things won't turn out as pictured! You never know how precise something is till you go to write it out step by step. I don't give a whole lot of thought to the small steps involved in textile work until I get to that point. Creating something from nothing is the easy part. Explaining to someone else exactly how I did it is the hard part!! *grin*

I have finished the mock up for the pattern cover and I am quite pleased with it. Now I just need to complete the pattern writing phase, format it and then it will be good to go. I think I will likely ask a quilting friend of mine to "test drive" my pattern before I release it, just to be sure.

It's challenging, but exciting and I love designing!

Playing Along

Five minutes to yourself: Run to the library and find a new book to read.

Five bucks to spend right now- how would you spend it? On a Starbuck's Chai Latte

Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn’t thought of already? The hall table, which got damaged in last year's house disaster, all the extra kitchen junk no one ever uses, all the crud stored in my closet, my son's old shoes that he refuses to throw away, old suitcases under my bed that no needs anymore.

Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house? My computer, the dvd player, art my friends have given me, my jewellery, my Gramps' fez.

Five words you love?
serendipidy
integrity
inspire
friend
light


Following Melanie's lead, I tag the first five people who read this- so please be honest and leave a comment! (If you have already been tagged, you are excused.)

Cowboys in April

So today finds me home with my guys underfoot. Everyone goes back to school and work tomorrow, but I wanted to get some work done today. I have been participating in an Altered Calendar Round Robin with 11 other artists from MMCA. So far I have worked in Katie Kendrick's (in February) and Stacie Rife's (in March). This month I have Deb Trotter's. Deb has this theme going of music from the 30's, 40's and 50's and the song she assigned me was "Sisters".

It's been interesting as these calendars arrive to try and find a way to connect to the theme. It's been easy sometimes and challenging other times. I think the key is to bend the rules to fit your own style. Deb loves cowboys and I really wanted to use some of the Western themed stuff I had collected when I first found out about this project. I managed to manipulate the lyrics to fit with what I envisioned. I was then able to use feathers, stars, rusted wire, "rope", a blue jean's pocket and some anaglypta in my spreads. (Sure wish the photos had turned out better, but the weather is gloomy today and I just can't get decent light.)

Anyway, I managed to complete my part in Deb's book and now I am on to May's, which belongs to Claudia Rouler. New book, new set of rules! Off to bend them! *grins*

Hope you are having a productive day!

Busy Bee!

(This is one of my most favourite pictures from my garden. I love honeybees-they are so beautiful.)

This week has been busy as all get out. I began on Monday by working on designing a new class. People have been asking for some textile based classes and I finally found time to work on it. The designing process was incredibly easy (which was a pleasant surprise) and I now have a great new sample! It has been greeted with so much enthusiasm in fact that I am going to be publishing the pattern! This will be a first for me and I am pretty excited. Not exactly sure what the time line is going to be on that since I have several irons in the fire, but I hope it will be before the end of May. I am meeting with a good friend who has published her textile patterns and getting some pointers from her on the weekend.

I seem to also be on the mend. Whatever I had for the last to weeks on the heels of Artfest is finally dissipating. It sure knocked the stuffing out of me-I spent almost 2 weeks in my jammies, surviving on tea and DVDs. (Aside from one day where I went into Vancouver and taught a class-I hate to disappoint people!)

So, it's pedal to the metal this weekend while I whip up some more samples of this pattern on my sewing machine. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and if you are heading home to be with family over the holiday, travel safe!

What a Tangled Web We Weave!

I never used to be into fibres, but after my friend Deb M. generously shared some of hers with me, I have been buying them more and more. Last fall I discovered that Basic Grey has some really great fibre sets that coordinate with their paper lines. I have several of those which I have used on journals I have made. Then there is the beautful ribbons from Papier Valise that I love in a wonderful selection of colours. My favourite way of using them is to hang soldered charm pendants from them. (So much nicer than ball chain and much, much easier on the neck!)

Anyway, I have what amounts to a rat's nest tangle of fibres all stuffed in a drawer and I don't like it. I can't see what I have and if I can't see it, I can't remember to use it. So..if anyone has a good idea about how to organize and store my fibres, please post and let me know. I am thinking that I would organize by colour but beyond that, I haven't a clue.

I need to "spring clean" my art supplies and this is one thing I need to get a handle on! Let me hear ya-don't be shy!

Beautiful Sunday

I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart. -- Vincent Van Gogh

I found this quote in my email this morning from my friend Donna. She runs an inspirational e-list. I especially like this one because when you read it it sounds like a mantra for living a fufilled life.

It's interesting to think of people who are famous, like Van Gogh and realize that they really are just ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. Mainly I think of them as people who are striving to live up to their full potential and use the gifts they have been blessed with. I think perhaps that is why other people admire and envy them-because they see this striving and think to themselves "I can never do that". Well why not? There's nothing holding us back from our dreams but ourselves. I'm not saying that reaching your dreams is easy, but it is possible!

I also love the part about being "In it with all my heart". It's so important to live life with intent,purpose and integrity. You don't want to fall asleep and miss your life!

I am going to print this quote out and stick it to my moniter so I can be reminded to continue to explore my possibilities, to work to realize my potential and to live with every fibre of my being.

Thanks Donna for sharing Vincent's wisdom!

*Photo taken in my organic garden in the Spring of 2004.

My friend Penn is hosting a collaborative book project called 4 & 20 black birds. Still brimming with inspiration from Lynn Perrella's class, I created my first set of pages like this. Each page is entirely unique because I painted a huge background and then cut it down to page size so no two backgrounds are the same colour. Love, love, love working in this way!!

Other than that, things have been quiet, mainly because I am sick as a dog with allergies. My eyes are itchy and watering and I am sneezing so hard it hurts. Add to that that I can't breathe and you get one unhappy camper. Unfortunately, I have lots of drug allergies so I can't take over the counter stuff or the allergies will be the least of my problems. Nothing to do but ride it out. I have been couch surfing and watching DVDs. (Thank god for the Joan of Arcadia series Alyx & Kelly gave me for my birthday.) Bedtimes have been mighty early but last night I managed to stay awake long enough to watch Memoires of a Geisha. Interesting yet disturbing.

Got up early this morning and dealt with some of the post Artfest mess I have going here. I have tamed about 50% of it and later this morning I will deal with the rest and then take it easy for the rest of the day. I am teaching tomorrow so I need to rest up.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Congratulations!!

The April/May 2006 issue of Legacy features two good friends' work.

Celine Navarro is published for the book she made her sister Barbara, "Amour Fraternal: (Sisterly Love) which graces the cover and is featured on page 6.

My friend Gretchen Goodwin's book "All About Me Book: No Rules!" which was inspired by Nina Bagley appears on page 36. I have had the pleasure of paging this book in person and it's gorgeous!

Congratulations to both ladies-it couldn't have happened to two nicer or more deserving people and I am so proud of you both!!

How the Universe Works

By total serendipity, I found myself in Lynn Perella's class on Saturday. I wasn't totally prepared art supply-wise, but my classmates were very kind and generous and shared anything I found myself needing without a second thought. Luckily, I keep my artbox stocked with basic supplies so I had paint brushes, gesso, scissors, etc and managed just fine.

I bought Lynn's book, Alphabetica in February as soon as it hit the shelves here in Canada and though I had looked through it many, many times and even gone so far as to tab the pages that especially spoke to me, I really had no idea how to achieve the beautiful layers Lynn makes. After Saturday's class, that is no longer the great mystery it once was. This is one of the sections of a huge "canvass" I painted and collaged in class. (My favourite section.)

There were a couple of supplies I was pretty sure would be hard to find at home so I made sure I stopped and picked them up on the way home-the paper and water soluable pastels. Today I have spent the enitre day painting and collaging.












These are ATCs I made for a swap with friends created from papers I layered and collaged this morning. I turned the paper over when I cut it so that I wouldn't know what I was getting until I was finished cutting. I like the randomness of the cards. Some of the stamps came from the ephemera packets I received as trades at Artfest.

I really loved Lynn's class-she is very nurturing and makes sure she comes by and encourages you while you are working, which is something I really like from a teacher. It's good to know that you are on the right track.

At the beginning of Lynn's class, she asked us all to come and sit in a circle and share where you were from and what you do. By the time we went around the circle, we were all teary eyed. It was really nice to have a chance to slow down a bit (while our gesso was drying) and really connect with one another. At the end of the class, one of the ladies, Joyce came up to me and gifted me with all her brand new Golden Paints. She said she needed the room in her suitcase for things she bought at vendor's night and wanted to give them to someone she knew would appreciate them. She said she decided she wanted me to have them based on something I did for someone else. It was quite a surprise and reminded me that when you bless other people, you open yourself up to be blessed too. It was really sweet of her and something I will never forget.

So...here is today's bit of artful joy, made with paints from Joyce and inspiration from Lynn.

Artfest Trades

I thought I would dedicate a whole post just about the trades from Artfest. There were so many of them that I came home with THREE bags full.

I bought one of the messenger bags Teesha had made up and I am so glad I did. I have long wanted a good messenger bag to haul my art stuff in and this one is so big and roomy, it's perfect. I put all the pins I received as trades on it so I would know it was mine. (Gotta love the little buttons!)

Lots of people made trades with collage sheets, special papers and ephemera packs. I love getting little bits of stuff that are new to me to use in my artwork. I know I used a few things out of those packets over the retreat. One packet I got had not only papers, but some porcelin dolls-some heads, some armless dolls, some whole dolls. I thought those were really interesting! Mary made me a cloth tote and filled it with yummy bits.

Some of the other things I received as trades were ATC and small collage pieces. I even have a beeswax ATC and an encaustic collage. a couple of ladies made bookmarks, which while simple, were really very nice. Melissa gave me a wonderful little moleskine journal she altered. I can't wait to put little bits of stuff in it! Someone else made a long skinny book with collage all over it. One lady brought flower seeds from Alaska, which I thought was really creative!




This last picture is of all the jewellery piece I was given. Anyone who knows me well knows I LOVE handmade jewellery. There were glass pieces from Tracy and Stacie .

My friend Janice made me a wonderful soldered paperclip bookmark. Donna made a great moon pendant which I enjoyed wearing. Mo gave me the altered tea tin you see full of goodies for my classes. The silver bird came from Deb, my new dear friend (and roomie) from California. (Love ya Deb!!) Nadine, bookmaker extraordinnaire made the beautiful leather book necklace for me.

Lots and lots of wonderful stuff, all made and given in the true spirit of friendship. It was so great to participate in the trades and I would encourage anyone going to Artfiberfest to make trades. It doesn't have to be anything fancy-everyone made something different and everything was received with gratitude. It's not about being competitive or worrying your trades will measure up. It's about meeting and connecting with other artists and sharing a small part of yourself. If you didn't have anything to trade, people still gave you stuff.

I know for me, it was utterly delightful to have someone come up and say hello and extend their warmth and friendship. It wasn't about what you got, but what you gave. Sometimes I would walk back to my table during class and find goodies had been left for me. *Bliss*

Thank you to everyone who traded with me-I love and appreciate everything I recieved. Now to make trades for Fiberfest!!

*Click on pics to see them bigger!*

Collaborative Books

I know everyone has been waiting patienly to see the results of the two collaboratives books created for Stacie Rife and Celine Navarro as a token of love and friendship in their time of loss.
I have just finished uploading all the wonderful pages to my Flickr which you can visit by clicking on it on the right hand sidebar. I suggest you view the pages by choosing to watch them in slideshow mode to get the full appreciation of them. I believe there might be a few pages missing because they are still in the mail, but every page I received has been posted. Anything that arrives now will be passed on to either of the ladies, so don't worry!

I have to tell you that on Wednesday night, I asked Celine and Stacie to come back to my house with me after the Artfest orientation meeting because I had something for them. I sat them down in the livingroom and handed them each a box. Inside the box was their book and a packet of kleenex and it was a good thing too-they were both so overwhelmed by the loving gifts from all of you that they were moved to tears. They spent a good half hour paging their books and oohing and ahhing over the incredible artwork. When they were done, the traded books so they could see what was in the other book.

Thank you to everyone for your enthusiastic response to these projects. It was clear to see how meaningful the books were to Celine and Stacie and I know they are both so grateful for your kindness and comfort.

Back to Reality!

Well I am back! Home safely after 4 amazing days at Artfest 2006! I have so much to tell but I am exhausted and this story is best told in little bits. I had a wonderful time and came home with my creative well fairly brimming with creative inspiration.

I will tell you about it tomorrow!