Joyful

It snowed all day today.  It's beautiful....but I will admit there is a little less joy in the snow this time of year.

Lily sent me this image from her local art center a few days ago.

I love that it's repurposed hardware.  Brilliant....and joyful.

And Patty send me a photo of a bin at the Container Store....and it's actually called "Large Joyful Round Bin!" 

You know how I love a good connection story....and I just learned how much fun it is to be the facilitator of a connection.  

Sarah contacted me after yesterday's post wanting to know how she could get in touch with Ramona. Sarah was curious how Ramona did her scrap quilting technique on the little pouch she sent me.

A few emails later....I got two women creatively connecting with each other.....and none of us have ever met! How fun is that!  

Ramona sent me another photo of a few more bags.  They're fantastic!

I have been working on the next step in Izzy's Confidence Kickstart class....and still don't know where we're going to end up. The last lesson is tomorrow.

I enjoyed this step.......and can see lots of applications for it.

I stitched some black lines inspired by my own handwriting. And I stitched from the back so had no idea where the lines would land....and it really improved my scrappy piece.  

"Joyful" was my starting point......I cut it in half the long way and joined it back together. I added more random lines mimicking some of the shapes in the writing and attached it to the back of my piece.

Then I followed my lines and stitched from the back with black thread.

Once the stitching lines were established...I did a second row from the front to emphasize them. I used transparent white paint to highlight the loops. There is a second heavier weight rectangular piece....and I have no idea how they are going to come together.  Stay tuned.

I love that "joyful" is hidden in the piece.

Moments

It was a great day today from start to finish....but there were a few special moments I want to celebrate. Sometimes joy just falls in your lap!  

I've been on a mission to get a great photograph of a snowflake or ice crystal....inspired by Alyson.  I do OK....but my iPhone is limited so it's hard for me to really capture things up close.  And snow is tough subject.

But I'm pretty proud of this photo from this morning.  Do you see the little flake balanced there on the lower left?  AND...do you see the little heart indentation on the right?

Alyson pointed out that snowflakes are easier to photograph on hard non-natural surfaces...so that's what I've been focusing on.  This was taken on a dark blue shovel with the backdrop of a bright blue sky.  Just the right combo!

And this moment tickled me.....you know I always celebrate it.

This wooden puzzle is tiny....and I didn't expect I would get this moment....when I would make a path from on end to the other.  Once I got the path going this morning....I had to make it to the other side.  

This has been just a delight so far...won't be long now.

It's always a good moment when an unexpected package arrives in the mail!  I got a fabulous gift from Ramona......she is a quilter, blog reader...and one of the recipients of An Ounce of Joy!  

Ramona gifted me this little pouch made from scraps left over from a quilt.  It's colorful and fun...and it was all tied up with a fabulous green ribbon. Which, by the way, was made from scraps from the fabric she put on the inside.

And here's her quilt where the scraps came from!

Isn't it amazing! 

Just Play!

I tried to capture some snowflakes on a piece of glass...with my camera underneath.  It was a total bust because the flakes immediately melted when they hit the glass.  

But when I brought the glass inside I thought the water drops were pretty....so I held it up looking for a place to photograph it. When I held it in front of one of my paintings....I thought the effect was quite lovely.  

You just never know where you're going to end up when you just play!

Roseanne and I have been sharing supplies....and she recently gifted me some artist tape.  I've had trouble with paper ripping when I use tape....so I played around with the new tape out on hot press watercolor paper with has a smoother texture than cold press.

The tape is 1 inch wide...and that's perfect for taping off the edges to frame a painting...but it's too wide for taping lines for writing or other more intricate details.  But I knew I could cut it.

I taped a couple pieces of tape onto the paper a piece of release paper...which is left over from fusible webbing.  Wax or parchment paper would work too.

I sliced it using my ruler and rotary cutter....some 1/4 inch wide...some 1/8 inch.  I didn't cut all the way to the end end of the release paper so the strips would stay contained on the sheet...making it easier to handle...and peel off.

I attached some strips to a piece of hot press watercolor paper....and painted. 

The tape peeled off pretty easily without tearing the paper. Phew! I did pull slowly....at a bit of an angle based on some tips online.  

And I loved the tape so much I retaped it onto another piece of paper.

This is the actual tape....and this piece will come in handy for some of my hand lettering lessons. 

I especially like the strips that have some variation in color....I'm going to have to play around with this a lot more. And next time I would just eyeball the cutting....I would rather have it a bit imperfect.

Here is the actual hot press watercolor paper I taped it onto.

Not bad....my colors are a little flat....and in some places I may not have pressed the tape down well enough. But all in all.....Roseanne's artist tape on hot press watercolor paper gets a thumbs up. 

One more little experiment....

I tried doing a little faux weave with torn pieces of tape....again on some release paper....then watercoloring it. I was thinking I could pick it up as a whole unit but that wasn't the case. But I was able to reposition the pieces on another piece of paper after it fell apart.  

 

And I will say...I quite love the texture. I think I'm going to have fun playing with this tape....and I'll never know where I'll end up until I get there.  Thanks Roseanne!

Home

 "There's no place like home!" 

That's the name of this little handmade puzzle Anne loaned me.  It was made by her father-in-law....and it's quite special.

It seemed a little daunting when I dumped it out....didn't see much color.

But once I got rolling...I knew it was going to be fun...the pieces are incredible...and it's only 9 inches from top to bottom.

I have a photograph to go by....a sweet cottage with lots of gardens....

there's the color!

And in stark contrast to this serene puzzle.....I'm working on the project that goes along with Izzy's Confidence Kickstart class....and I'm throwing everything at it but the kitchen sink!  It's a little wild.

I still don't know where this is going to end up...but I'm following along with the lessons. We started with blank paper...did a little drawing with pencil and crayon (to act as a resist during painting)....added collage papers....then paint and lots of stitching. Next I fused a few fabric dots and added a little more stitching.  It started as a rectangle but we were supposed to cut it in half and join the two pieces together.  It's been a wild ride so far....but I'm rolling with it.

I realized it matched a section of my entryway rug!

AND....I stitched the third panel on the lampshade.....three to go!  

And...an evening of dinner and cards with friends....it was a good day at home sweet home.

Linda's Lamp

The timing was right when Paul and I started furnishing our weekend house in South Portland about 12 years ago.  Linda and Connie were downsizing and we got lots of their extras and hand-me-downs.....including this sweet little lamp from Linda.  It didn't make it to South Portland...but it found a home in the guest room in Lexington on my mother's upright desk. 

But the shade was fragile...and the fabric was starting to rip.  I moved it to the condo...thinking that maybe....just maybe I would recover it. 

Two years later....it was time.

Lucky for me...Patsy has covered several of these curvy shaped shades....so she's teaching me the process.  I've done the drum and tapered type with straight sides...those are fairly simple....but this kind seemed a little intimidating.  

Here is one of the lamp shades that Patsy has reworked....and it lives up in the loft of their new home we just visited.

She calls it her boudoir lamp.  It's kind of sexy.

The process is a little fiddly....many hand made things are. The first step was wrapping/covering all the wire edges in cotton binding....giving me something to stitch to.

I forgot to take a photo before I started adding the fabric panels....so this is a view down inside.

The next step was hand stitching lining to all the sections....then trimming them up close to the stitching.  I'm not trimming until I need to as the fabric frays easily.  I completed all the lining panels during my getaway.

Now I'm stitching the polka dotted fabric to each section.....and I'm going to try and do one panel a day.  It's kind of hard on my hands....so I have to be careful not to overdo. 

I leave plenty of extra fabric to grab as I pull and hand stitch the panels to the covered wires.  Again...I'll trim it off as I go along.

I got the second panel on this morning....and auditioned back on my mother's desk which is now in our dining room at the condo. Once I get all the panels stitched....I'll cover all the seams with trim using fabric glue. The glue will also seal all the seams.

I think it's fun.  The polka dots give a modern and funky vibe to this vintage glass base.  And I love that Linda's lamp will be a mix of her...Patsy...and me.  And if it stays here....it will also be connected to my mom.

Dabble Day

I know life is good when dozens of creative projects were calling me today. It was hard to choose what to do....so I dabbled in a lot of things as I settled back into my daily routine.

We had 6-8 inches of fresh snow so I started the day with a little walk in the neighborhood....looking closely at interesting places where the snow settled.

I've been trying to keep up with the #fabricrecipies challenge on Instagram....and today's prompt was "vintage."  I love my collection of vintage thread spools. I found this box...which actually has a see through cover, at a yard sale years ago.  It came with some threads already in it...but I've filled it up with some of own. 

I signed up for a free class by Izzy Morre  called Confidence Kickstart.  I've taken a couple classes from Izzy...she's a great teacher. What drew me in was the opportunity to get to know my sewing machine better. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never actually read the manual, and there is a lot I didn't know.  This class was the nudge I needed.

Izzy encouraged us to choose a protege to teach....as we learn.  I've always learned as I teach...so this idea was both silly and brilliant.  I've propped up a little finger puppet I'm calling Oscar....and he's learning along with me.

I can't believe I actually found my manual!

Actually reading the manual is really helpful!  

I've already learned that I have a thread lock button on my machine (game changer)....and with the push of a button I can do mirror images of the decorative stitches. I played with the tension dial for the first time ever and learned how easy it is to interchange the presser feet and what all those weird ones are for.  I use the regular zig zag and free motion foot...but have never experimented with the others.  

I wonder what other manuals I should read!

And I couldn't help myself....I sewed one polka dotted panel on my little lampshade.  I'll write a little more about this project in the next few days....it's a bit out of my wheelhouse...and I'm actually feeling like I might be able to pull it off.