Mum's Vase

                                     (click on picture to enlarge)

This paper cut took forever to finish, but it was a labor of love. It depicts my mother's milk glass vase, which reminds me so much of my childhood. In it are hydrangeas from my front garden, my sister Carol's favorite flower.

I'm having some work done on the staircase in my house, so it's a pain getting downstairs to the ironing board, and I'm abandoning fused fabric for the moment and did this piece in cut paper. I used scrapbook paper, cutting the vase with an x-acto knife, and the rest with scissors. I'm really happy with the results - well worth the effort! 

Lazy Days of Summer!

Kristy has the right idea - when the weather is sweltering and the humidity unbearable, take it easy! 

I'm finally learning that I can't crunch out artwork on a time schedule and that timed challenges don't work for me! From now on, I will call my challenges "series" and will finish them as my schedule allows! But I do want to finish this last one. I'm working on my 4th tablescape and hope to have it posted by later today!

Tablescape #3

                                         Click on picture to enlarge.

I figured that this picture didn't need a title! Or, at least, I couldn't come up with one!

This is my third fused fabric tablescape this week. One observation I have on this process is that it is much easier to work on small pictures like this (most are under 6"x8") using cut paper rather than fused fabric. Paper cuts so crisply while, with fabric, there are always little frayed edges.

And I think I miss seeing stitches on my fused fabric appliques, although it is perfectly acceptable to do them without stitching. So, for my next picture in this series I'm going to work larger and include some stitching! Sounds like a plan!

Cozy

Here is my second tablescape in this challenge. In my house, wherever I sit, there is usually a warm furry friend sitting nearby and looking on. I assume it's the same with other cat owners! 

Kind of a cozy feeling!

The Manicure

Here's the first picture in my Five Tablescapes in Five Days challenge. It's done with fused fabric and I've outlined some of the elements with a very fine Micron pen. We'll see what is going on at the table tomorrow!!!

Five Tablescapes in Five Days

Another challenge to get me moving - this time, tablescapes! 

I'm a person who spreads out on any clean surface, creating chaos with whatever project I happen to be working on. Although I'm trying to improve my ways, I usually leave a trail behind me -  I like to call it creative clutter. Eventually I do a big clean-up and put everything back in its place, but my dining room table often tells the story of my most recent artistic pursuits! 

Right now I'm thinking about the impact our daily habits make on a tabletop - little vignettes that tell a tale of what we've been up to in the course of our days. 

Tomorrow I will begin a series of tablescapes in fused fabric.

To be continued...! 

The Letter

I get a small thrill these days when I see a hand written envelope in the mail, standing out amidst a pile of bills, advertisements and catalogs. Emails are great, but a note or card, written out by hand, has such warmth and humanity to it! I often keep a letter from a friend for weeks, because it seems too precious to simply toss away. (Hence, my clutter problem!)

This young woman, cut from cardstock and scrapbooking paper, is clutching a letter and looking dreamy eyed. Is she about to mail it? Has she just received a life-changing missive, a love letter, a rebate check? You decide! 

 

Awards!

Yesterday I received a lovely surprise from my friend, Gayle, at Sparkle Jars - not one, but two awards for my blog! I really am touched, as Gayle is such a sweet person and her blog is full of beautiful handwork, images of nature and wonderful quotations and poetry. If you read her blog, you will find sincerity, a beautiful love of family, and a very creative spirit! Thank you so much, Gayle!

The first award, the Arte y Pico, is given for creativity, design, interesting material and contribution to the blogging community. This reward requires the recipient to: 1.)pick 5 other blogs for this award and include links to these blogs, 2.)show the award and a link to the blogger who gave the nomination, 3.)show a link to the Arte y Pico award and 4.)display these rules on your blog.


The second award is the Brillante Weblog Award.
The rules for receiving this award are as follows: 1.)Post the logo on your blog. 2.)add a link to the person who nominated you. 3.)Nominate 7 other people for this award and add links to their blogs. 4.)Leave a message for the people you've nominated.


I love reading blogs, especially the ones that show creativity, humor and originality. The bloggers I've nominated really inform and delight me and I'd like to nominate these ladies for both awards: Terri at Stegart does wonderful work in fiber and paper. She combines whimsy, simplicity and scrumptious color in her designs. Sue at Sue Bleiweiss has a constant flow of new ideas and amazing projects in fiber and mixed media. Ellia at Greenbeanbaby Art is a fantastic artist and illustrator in cut paper and fabric. She keeps me laughing with her cute characters! Amy at Lucykate Crafts creates the most adorable felt animals I've ever seen! Her sense of design is really wonderful. And, finally,
Geninne at Geninne's Art Blog paints beautiful, beautiful illustrations of nature. I'm really moved by her birds, in particular.

These two bloggers have already been given the Arte y Pico award, but I'd like to nominate them as my final two for the Brillante Weblog award. KJ at Eye-Dyllic offers a continuous stream of quotations, poetry, humor and lovely illustrations, and Beverly at Teatime and Roses displays warmth, creativity and her beautiful flower photography.
I'm very pleased to have received these awards and I'm grateful to these bloggers who are such great sources of inspiration

100th Post Giveaway Results

After a week of very hot, humid weather, we are having a cooler day and I'm in our newly renovated sunroom enjoying the breeze and the sound of birds chirping.

 I was so pleased with the comments I received on my giveaway! Thank you, everyone, so much!

I put the entries in a bowl and drew three names.

They are:

 

              KJ from Eye-Dyllic

             Beverly from Teatime and Roses

             Gayle From Sparkle Jars

This result was a very pleasant surprise, since all three are bloggers whom I know and who have supported me as I have presented my artwork to the blogging world. I wish I had a picture to send to everyone who left a comment, but I couldn't ask my hands to cut so many tiny leaves!!! 

Once again, thank you to all who stopped by and entered!  

100th Post Giveaway!!!

Below you will find details of this happy giveaway. I wanted to show you the third picture I'll be giving. (Blogger was giving me trouble with posting a third picture!) So here it is! Please leave a comment on the post below to enter!!

100th Post Giveaway!!!

Hooray!

I recently published my 100th post and I am ready to celebrate!

Blogging has been a wonderful part of my life for the past year and a half. It has helped me through some pretty difficult life events and introduced me to some wonderful people whose work I really 

admire! And, as I had hoped, it has inspired me to do more creative things than I had ever done before! Like many people, I'm not all that confident about my abilities, but I'm encouraged by the supportive comments I've received!

Now I would like to give something back.

A week ago I posted a picture of a woodland nymph's face which people seemed to like. So, for this giveaway, I have made three such faces to give away.(Two are shown.) These are hand cut paper art and each is matted with an oval opening ivory mat, ready to pop into your 5"x7" frame.

If you would like to enter my drawing for one of these ladies, simply leave a comment at the end of this post. If you do not have a blog, you can leave a comment under "anonymous" and sign your name within the body of the comment. If you tell someone about this giveaway and they leave a comment and mention your name, I will put your name into the drawing another time. The deadline for comments is Wednesday night and I'll announce the recipients of the pictures on Thursday, July 10.

If you read my blog regularly, thank you so much. If you are new to this spot, I hope you've enjoyed your visit!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!

       America! America! 

     God shed His grace on thee

      And crown thy good with brotherhood

      From sea to shining sea!

                                             Katherine Lee Bates

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy 4th of July!

 Tomorrow I will announce my 100th blog post giveaway!

Best wishes to all,

Judy

Andrea's Studio

Every week I get together with creative friends at my friend Andrea's studio. She has a lovely open space in her house, with plenty of windows and stimulating color all around. We meet to sew, design, talk, complain, laugh....it's a lot of fun and something I look forward to every week!

Last week, up on the design wall was Andrea's beautiful aqua print pieced design, which she is adding to each week and which will end up being a shower curtain in her home near the shore.

At the same time, Barbara was working on designing a quilt incorporating hand embroidered flowers in circles, arranged in rows. This will be spectacular when done, since Barbara is a professional machine quilter and does beautiful work!

What was I working on? Probably one of the "faces" from my 5 day challenge last week! I hope to have more of Andrea's, Barbara's and perhaps other friends' work to share with you in some weeks to come, and this could include jewelry, painting, or sewing, because there is a lot of creativity going on there!