Let it Snow -- Well Not This Weekend!

These fun snow men are my latest addition to holiday card collection I'm working on for this weekend's Bainbridge Island Artist's Studio Tour.  This is my second year participating in the tour and it is always so much fun.  I sold out of my snow men last weekend so I had to make some more.  Rosy's favorite is the snowman with the the crown.  When I saw the crown in my stash of embellishments I just couldn't resist.  I'm leaning more towards the friends because playing in the snow with friends is always more fun.  Maybe I need one with just a couple for walking in a winter wonderland.  So many ideas.  I wish I had the time to do them all!

Why I Was Late To Thanksgiving Dinner

I had forgotten how much fun I have making mini holiday art quilts.  I went a little crazy Thursday afternoon coming up with just one more idea that I wanted to try.  Before I knew it, we were suppose to leave in 20 minutes and I hadn't taken a shower yet.  Whoops!  I called in the troops to get the food together (luckily I just had to bring pumpkin pie and dinner rolls that were already made) and took a quick shower.  We were out the door in time to not be the last ones to arrive.  

Santa's Workshop and the etsyRAIN Holiday Show

I've switched gears from preparing for my STITCHED video workshop to frantically getting ready for my first craft show of the season.  I will be at the etsyRAIN Handmade Holiday Show this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, November 26 & 27 at the Intiman Theater at Seattle Center.  I always love this show.  There is so much beautiful work and everybody has so much young energy (I am finding that my definition of young isn't what it used to be).  The show runs from 11-5 each day and the first 50 people each day receive a free swag bag filled with goodies.  I didn't get a chance to send my swag in, but if you stop by my booth I would be happy to give you a free little something.

The last couple of days I have been busy making fabric paper and quilting and painting fabric.  I now have a whole rainbow of colors including lots of Christmas red and green. I have the strips cut, ready to sew together.  I'm making inches for gift tags, always a popular item.  They are such a fun way to add a special touch to a package that really says how special the recipient is. They also can be used for ornaments, place cards or a little bookmark.

These are some of my favorite nontraditional Christmas colors.  I love purple, magenta, turquoise and blue.  They are the colors of the vintage glass ornaments my grandma gave me from her collection when we were first married.  I haven't used them much since having kids--several were broken and I didn't want to risk loosing any more.  For now, I really like using fabric because nothing gets broken.  I make sure to use enough metallic and pearlescent paint that I still have plenty of sparkle.  After zigzagging around the edges of these, I just need to mount them on painted tags, add a ribbon and they are ready to go.  Then of course I have so many ideas for cards that I want to make.  We'll see how much I can get done in the next three and a half days.

An Etsy Day

Today has been a busy day of listing items on Etsy.  Now that I have a new camera, I don't have the excuse of less than desirable photographs.  I can't believe how much easier it is to have a good camera.  The colors are actually right.  The images are in focus.  I don't have to spend an hour trying to get the pictures right in photoshop.  I love being able snap a picture, maybe do a little cropping and I'm good to go.

I have been a little behind with the Etsy shop and have a lot to list.  Christmas time is always busy and I would love to provide some wonderful gifts for people looking for affordable art and fun, unique cards.  Make sure to check out the journals, mini boxes, art cards and other art in the shop.

Samples for STITCHED

Part of my busy schedule the past few weeks has been filled with creating project samples for my STITCHED workshop.  I'd doing "Mini Treasure Box of Dreams" with includes a 1.5" box filled with fabric beads.  I of course couldn't make just one for sample photos, I had to create an assortment in every color of the rainbow.  Plus I added in Treasure Tea Boxes and a set of 10 Nesting Boxes.  My new camera just arrived this week, so now I need to take fun and creative photos.  I'm hoping the sun will continue to shine so I can use a bit of natural light coming through the windows.  Off to work before the rain comes.

STITCHED

I have been so busy with costumes, travel, birthdays and preparation I've neglected to mention by biggest project.  Alma Stoller invited me to be part of an amazing new project, STITCHED.  Twenty  fabric artists are creating twenty new online video workshops.  With your paid subscription you can have access to all the workshops and the STITCHED website, including PDFs, 5 mini tutorials by Alma and lots of bonus information. 

My workshop is Mini Treasure Box of Dreams.  I'm excited to share all my quirky, not traditional methods of quilting and create a project that is special to my heart.  My little digital camera died on a hiking trip this summer.  I used this project as an excuse to buy a new Nikon digital SLR.  As I wait for it to arrive I'm working on samples, photos and all the step outs so ready to start shooting when my new camera arrives. 

Houston -- What an Experience!

Twelve by Twelve exhibit from the red carpet

I am still trying to a handle on everyday life after spending four days in Houston at the International Quilt Festival with the Twelve by Twelve exhibit.  Thanks to the Del Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection all 288 quilts from the last four years of our project were on display.  It was truly amazing to see them all in person for the first time.  Plus, nine of the twelve of us were able to travel to the show.  Our remaining friends were there in spirit and as cardboard cutouts.

Brenda, Terri, Kirsty, Terri, Diane, Gerrie, Francoise, Karen, Deborah, Helen, Nikki, Kirstin

I couldn't believe the size of the quilt show.  Deborah measured the convention center on Google maps and it is 7/10 of a mile from one end to the other, a full 3 city blocks.  This small town girl has never been around so many beautiful quilts. Notice the golf cart in the middle of this picture -- that's how big the show was.



Entrance to the exhibit with the Orange Colorplay mosaic



I was bit overwhelmed  spent most of mine time in our exhibit.  It was a perfect home in the middle of everything.  Plus I felt like a rock star signing autographs and loved talking to people about how much fun the whole experience has been.  We had people taking our pictures.  Several times I had a hard time writing my name because of the bright spots in front of my eyes. 

Book signing



I loved how people would look at the mosaics, traveling from one to the next.  When the figured out that each mosaic had a theme or that the same artist did the quilt in the same place of each mosaic they would gain a whole new appreciation and would have to start over at the beginning.  I can't tell you how gratifying it was to have so many people tell us how wonderful the exhibit was.  Quite a few even said it was the best part of the whole show.  Even better than that though, was for so many people to realize that they can do the same thing.  We're not superstar quilters that are better than everyone else.  We're just twelve women who came together for inspiration and fun.  So many people went home with plans to start their own challenge groups.   





The paparazzi