Improvisational Surface Design

Very rarely do I abandon other projects to work on something new. Recently, an opportunity presented itself that caused me to work on something unexpected. This recently happened because of a challenge posed by the Improv group of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. The July prompt was 'Surface Design'. My piece incorporated both improvisational quilting and surface design. This piece is mainly green because I am also working in a series with color as the focus. It felt like green should be used this time. 

This project inspired me to try a bunch of different things in one piece. For me, this is part of the fun. What starts as an experiment with materials to learn how they work together becomes an exploration of techniques and outcomes.

The first step was to see how a variety of media would work with this stencil on a piece of PFD Kona cotton. The Stabilo chunky pencils and the Derwent Inktense pencils worked as expected with no bleeding. Once the Inktense pencils and Inktense blocks were activated with GAC 100 the color did move. The Crayola Fabric, Marvy, Sharpie Stained, and Jacquard Tee Juice markers bled slightly but were easy to control. The Dye-na Flow is more challenging to control. I use water brushes filled with the dye and this can saturate the fabric quickly.

Next, after digging in my scrap box, I found several strips to sew together. Then, Pellon fusible web was applied to the back and a circle was cut using an Accuquilt die. This process was repeated on the stenciled piece. In order to have some variety with the circle sizes and fabrics, I used a set of smaller circle dies (Hero Arts) that are usually used with paper. They worked great. Both the large pieces and the additional smaller ones were attached to a larger piece of solid white fabric. Additional stenciling of circles and partial circles offers visual continuity. Adding stitched circles to the piece continued the theme. These circles were made with an embroidery sewing module using a wide range of thread colors.

I got a little carried away with adding circles and the finished quilt was too busy for my liking. It measures about 16 x 17 inches. The picture above shows it on my design wall.

Close up

The busy little quilt needed to be mounted onto a solid background to give it some space. After auditioning a number of options, I decided to use a previously painted wood panel, measuring 24" square. The sides are now painted black. I layered a piece of batting and black fabric together and quilted it enough to hold it together. The edges were turned prior to quilting. Then I attached the small art quilt to it and glued the entire thing onto the wooden frame.

The finished piece on a blue wall in my kitchen

Next month's prompt is "Sunshine". I am excited to try something with Tyvek for this challenge. What encourages you to work outside your normal process?

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Inktense Blocks

Inktense Pencils

GAC 100

Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 Pencils

Crayola Fabric Markers

Marvy Fabric Markers

Sharpie Stained Markers

Jacquard Dye-na Flow

Pentel Water Brushes

Jacquard Tee Juice Markers

Extra Deep Cradle Panel

Bullseye Circle Dies

Studio 2 Fabric Cutter

Hero Arts Circle Infinity Dies

Hero Arts Stacked Circle Stencil

Hero Arts - Stencils - Stacked Circles
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Elizabeth Craft Designs: Getting Started With Planners Part One

Elizabeth Craft Designs Planners

This will be a two-part post because there is a lot of information to cover! This first post will mainly focus on the A5 standard slim planner.  In addition to discussing Elizabeth Craft Designs and getting started with planners, the posts will cover what is needed, what are compatible companies, and so much more! But first, why invest time and money into crafting a planner for yourself?

Click on the image to enlarge the Suggested Uses infographic

What do you do with a paper planner?

Many people keep a planner for the calendar. It is a great way to keep your day, week, month, and year organized. Some people use it to keep track of appointments, school holidays, trips, practice schedules, work commitments, and general obligations. Other people use planners for aspirational purposes, such as goal setting, meal planning, weight, and exercise tracking, budgeting/spending tracking, self-care, or hobby scheduling, etc. And then there are people like me. We keep track of many of the above items and also lots of other fun things, such as art journaling, memory keeping, mini-travelogues, favorite quotes, gratitude journals, etc. Yes, there are apps for many of these things - but some of us like the feel of a pen in hand, the texture of the paper, and the ability to create something specifically for our own needs.

Getting Started - Materials

It may be worthwhile to evaluate your intended purpose. But, sometimes, as I create something I think of new ideas for using an item. Having a plan is not necessary when making a planner. That being said, some decisions will need to be made at the start. Are you making inserts for an existing planner? Are you creating a mini-book, cover-to-cover? How much do you want to create from scratch versus using ready-made materials? Do you want it to be clean and simple or filled with lots of bits and bobs?

We will delve into more details in the next post. But for purposes of getting started, let us assume you are all-in on the idea of crafting something from start to finish. Take the pieces that pertain to your needs from this information to make something that works specifically for you!

Choose the planner size. As previously mentioned, this post is geared toward an A5 planner. The TN (travelers notebook) sizes will be addressed in a future post. The photos and text that follow show the components and sizes of the die cuts from good beginner die sets with which to get started. The measurements are rounded to the nearest sixteenth of an inch for each individual cut item.

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 1

Planner Essentials - 1 

11 DIES

PAGE DIE SIZE: 5” X 8.25” (12.7CM X 20.9CM) 

Large Rounded Frame 3" also cuts interior mat 2 5/8"

Small Rounded Frame 2 1/4" also cuts interior mat 1 15/16"

Rectangle 1 1/4" x 5/8"

Tag Label (like on drawer fronts) 2" x 3/4"

Folding Round Tab - open 1 3/4" x 1", closed 7/8" x 1"

Stitched Circle - 1 1/2"

Scalloped TODAY - Scallop Frame Circle 1 9/16" also cuts circle with TODAY 1 5/16"

LOVE THIS Circle - 1 5/16"

YES Circle - 1 5/16", also cuts thin round frame 1 3/8"

Page Reinforcers - cuts 6 circles, approximately 1/2" each

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 2

Planner Essentials - 2

9 Dies - package says 8 dies

PAGE DIE SIZE: 5” X 8.25” (12.7CM X 20.9CM) 

Large Tag 2 1/2" x 4"

Small Tag  2 3/8" x 2 15/16"

Pocket with 3 Slots 2 13/16" x 2 1/4" Pocket width - 2 1/2", 3/16" between pockets, offcuts 2 1/2" x 3/16"

Thin round frame 1 7/16"

NOTED Circle - 1 5/16"

Arrow - 2 3/8" x 3/8"

date tab - 2 5/8" x 1/2"

details tab - 3 7/8" x 1/2"

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 10

Planner Essentials - 10

11 Dies - Package says 7

PAGE DIE SIZE: 4.7” x 8.25” (11.9 cm x 20.9 cm

Perforated Postage Stamps - four attached 1 3/8" x 5 3/8"

Smile Square Frame - 1 13/16"

Staff/Stave - 3" x 3/4", offcuts 2 13/16" x 1/8"

Round Swirly Design - 3 3/8" x 2 1/8"

Large Treble Clef - 11/16" x 1 13/16"

Small Treble Clef - 1/2" x 1 5/16"

Large Eighth Note - 5/8" x 1"

Small Eighth Note - 7/16" x 3/4"

Large Beamed Sixteenth Note- 13/16" x 7/8"

Small Beamed Sixteenth Note- 5/8" x 11/16"

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 41

Planner Essentials - 41 Rounded Corners Page

8 Dies

PAGE DIE SIZE: 4.7" x 8.27" (11.9 cm x 21 cm)

Stitched panel -3 13/16" x 7 3/4" 

Double Frame - 2 3/4" x 7 5/16", also cuts one stitched tag and one stitched mat each measuring - 2 5/16" x 3 1/8"

Vertical Numbers - 7/16" x 6 1/4"

Arrow Clip - 1 7/16" x 1 3/8"

Short Tab - 1 13/16" x 3/4"

Two longer Tabs each measuring - 2 1/16 x 11/16"

Planner Binder - Blank Canvas

This is a canvas color planner on both the inside and outside. It isn't made from canvas but can still be altered with paint, ink, or ephemera.  This A5 size planner binder comes with 6 binder rings, interior pockets, a tab for a pen or pencil, and a band closure. It measures 9" x 6.25". 

In a future post, we will talk about ways to alter planners and some of the coordinating products that are available for them.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Mentioned:

Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials

Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 1
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Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 2
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Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 10
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Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 41 - Rounded Corners Page
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Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - A5 Planner Binder - Blank Canvas
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Creative Watercolor Media Card Made with Re-inkers

Creating a Watercolor Card with Re-inkers

The latest AECP class that I completed is the Creative Watercolor Media course in Level 2. There are many different ways to achieve a watercolor effect. Watercolors come in many forms: liquid, pan, pencil, crayon, dots, tubes, and sticks. However, this class is all about using ink with water to create a watercolor look without actually using watercolors. Just as pigment intensity varies with true watercolors, the pigment load exhibited in inks varies, too. The card pictured here is made with water-based dye inks from re-inker bottles. The more diluted the ink, the more transparent the painted image. But first, let us talk about the necessary supplies to work with re-inkers in this manner.

Paper Matters

There are many watercolor papers available. The kind that I used for this card is from Fabriano. It is 300 gsm, 140 lb, and comes in a 9 x 12 pad of 60 sheets. I mainly use it because it is more economical than many of the other papers I've used in the past. It does have the typical watercolor slightly-bumpy paper texture. This makes it challenging to achieve a crisp stamped image. Because these images were to be heat embossed with gold embossing powder, I wasn't very concerned about the texture of the paper. Using a stamping platform and double stamping with Versamark helps to ensure a good enough base for the powder to stick. I also made a background with re-inkers on the same paper as the stamped and die-cut images.

Creating a Background

The background was made by dropping dots of Burnt Red, Marigold, and Citrus Burst dye ink re-inkers onto wet watercolor paper, and then using a straw to blow air across the page. I also used a pipette to see if the same effect would be achieved. The pipette didn't work well because there was not enough air to move the water and ink. It came in handy to add more water, though. As it turned out, it is good that the background was never going to be the primary focus because the results were different from what I had hoped. The ink dots were too saturated and created blobs. Next time, I will mix the re-inker dots with water before applying the ink to the paper. 

After the background dried, I splattered some opaque white watercolor (Dr. Ph Martin's) and some gold metallic watercolor (Altenew's) over the paper. 

Painting the Stamped Images

Because of all of the little wells, using a mixed media mat made it easier to mix the ink with water. This also allowed for lots of surface area to dilute the ink even further. The picture above shows the four blue inks: Sea Breeze, Turquoise, Tide Blue, and Starlight, along with the green Firefly ink prior to mixing with water. I used a wet-on-wet technique which moves the ink and water on the images really easily. This is something that takes practice. Some of the flowers and leaves look better than others! The painterly effect of ink with water is always fun to behold. I like the contrast of the warm-colored background with the cool-colored flowers and leaves. To give depth to the card the blossoms are popped up with foam tape. The sentiment strip was laying on my desk leftover from another project. It fit perfectly.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Build-A-Flower: Primrose Layering Stamp & Die Set

Versamark Stamp Pad

Deep Blue Sea Set of Re-inker 

Burnt Red Re-inker

Marigold Re-inker

Citrus Burst Re-inker

Firefly Dye Ink Re-inker

Metallic Watercolor Pan Set

Fabriano 140 lb Watercolor Paper

Dr. Ph Martin's Bleedproof White

Silicone Mixed Media Mat

Dylusions Dyalog Journal

Decorated Dylusions Dyalog Cover - No Limits

Looking for the lemonade

Sometimes life provides you with enough lemons to make lemonade.
All of my art journals were damaged when our rented storage unit leaked while parked on our driveway this winter.  It was a bummer. 
I have been collecting quotes for decades. These were stored in the art journals that I have been making for over ten years. Now that the journals and quotes are gone, it was time to start fresh.  So I decided to start my new collection with a new kind of journal. This one has inserts with different paper colors or styles.  Each of the components is separate, including the cover. I opted for the plain cover so that I could decorate it.

Before drawing and coloring the cover it was a plain white canvas

It was a lot of fun decorating the cover with a variety of stencils and inks or paints.  Because I took this with me for a little weekend getaway, I limited the number of supplies that I could use for it. This was actually quite helpful because it also limited the color palette.

Below is a picture of my little travel kit that I took with me when I started two of the quote booklet/inserts a few weeks ago when I flew to Tucson.  This one is all black paper and has quotes by women. I love how easy it was to work on the airplane with my little booklets!

My airplane travel kit

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are making time for making art!

If you are interested in watching a video class of the woman behind the Dylusions brand, here is a link to a free class. It is a good introduction to Dyan Reaveley and some of the things she has designed with Ranger.

And here are some of the supplies that I used:

Ranger Ink - Dylusions Dyalog Cover - No Limits
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Faber-Castell - Mix and Match Collection - Pitt Artist Pens - Metallic - Classic - 3 Piece Set
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The Crafter's Workshop - 6 x 6 Doodling Template - Mini Abstract Leaves
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Ranger Ink - Dylusions Dyalog Cover - No Limits
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Faber-Castell - Pitt Artist Pens - Lettering Set - Primary
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Sponge Daubers for Ink Paint Glue More - 40 Pack
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Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Pads - Tumbled Glass
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Painting on Fabric Using Pigment Powder

Lately, I have been working with fabric. It has provided a great outlet for me to play with my stash by dyeing, painting, quilting, incorporating surface design techniques, and anything else which I can think up. Today, I decided to try using Colourarte's Primary Elements pigment powder to paint on some fabric that I had dyed a few months ago.

Hand dyed denim on left and cotton scarf on right

The original fabrics were white or off-white and now they are beautiful shades of blues and a bit of pink/magenta.  These seemed like great choices to paint upon.

Obviously, blue is a first choice for me when it comes to adding additional color! I used several different colors of Primary Elements but chose to stick with a cool palette. (Maybe even a 'cold' palette, as in sherbert! *See note below.) At the time, I was thinking of a tone on tone effect.  But as I was painting, I realized that more contrast would be more interesting so I grabbed some solid fabric to paint, too.  Those pictures are below the scarf.

Stargazer, Bolivian Blue and Green Pearl Primary Elements on tie-dyed scarf

In order to see how the rich colors of the pigment powder would work with a colorless extender I mixed about a teaspoon of the pigment powder with about a tablespoon of medium.  This is what I used:

It was fun to mix the powders and see the results. Sometimes paint colors change quite a bit when they are dry, so the anticipation of the end product was part of the fun! I decided to add a bit of white Brusho Colourcraft powder to the pigment powder to see if it would change the opacity much.  It may have been that I did not add enough but it wasn't a very noticeable change.

Forest Green Primary Elements is most noticeable on the top left piece

The pink denim fabric was left over from when my 11 year old daughter and I made an apron together several years ago. She wants me to make a book bag from today's painting experiment!  I love how the large stencil from this month's Stencil Girl Club collection made this project even easier!  The colors of the fabrics and the paints remind me of summer days with ice cream and sprinkles.

The lighting is wonky, but this is actually an intense pink color!

*Colourarte is having a "sherbert challenge" and I thought of Raspberry when I pulled out the fabric. The painted colors showed up a lot better on the solid color fabric.  And the picture below is a better representation of the background fabric!

The large piece of blue dyed denim in the top couple of pictures was painted also. But I will share the outcome of that on another day when I have sewn it into something!
I hope you have a wonderful, warm day with a cold treat! Thank you for stopping by today!
Have a wonderful day!
Beverly

Creative Roundup - Lots of Photographs

For lack of a better post title, the following is some of what I have been doing the last few months.

Dyeing scarves

Chenilled a puppy quilt from hand dyed flannel

 The puppy quilt was for the little fellow pictured below.  We got him from a rescue and he turned out to be sick.  I spent several weeks tending to him and cleaning up the evidence of his tummy troubles.  I am happy to report that he is doing great, now. 

 

New Puppy

 It has been a long time since I dyed fabric, maybe more than a decade! The process is really fun.  It was nice to ease back into it with some scarves and a little bit of cotton yardage. Because of the dyeing success, I decided that I would like to try painting on fabric. This shirt was very plain and off-white is not a very flattering color for me. Jacquard paints to the rescue!

Fabric painting with Stencil Girl stencils

Front of shirt was done with a tiny stencil from the March Stencil Girl Club set that I moved around a lot to make it into a flower-like shape. The back was from another stencil from March's Club set.

Back of shirt painted with Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow

There isn't a lot of continuity in my workflow, but here is some more evidence of how I spent my time since the start of the year.

 

Art quilt bed topper for my mother's 80th birthday

 The bed topper pictured here was a work based upon what I thought were important moments or objects that formed part of my mother's life. Like so many things in life, it isn't the entire story, but hopefully part of a good story.

Freehand cut orchid applique for the quilt

3 dimensional aspects to the quilt include this little pillow

Photos printed on fabric make up part of the background

 

My helper needed to pre-fur it 

 For the most part, I feel the time was well spent.  It is nice to be able to spend time following creative pursuits.

And playing with animals.

 

Happy Puppy

House cat playing with daughter

 
Thank you for visiting!
Beverly