Wrapping Up Some Works in Progress

Whoo- Hoo! Am I ever glad to be back here with you all. I had a busy weekend, with my second/last craft show of the season on Saturday. It was a great little show, only 15 vendors at this super cool coffee shop/studio space near where I live. I really enjoy being able to interact a bit more with people and to talk about my work with them. One thing that has become HUGELY clear is that I do a lot better at selling my book than I do my artwork in this kind of face to face venue. I think it's because if I sense someone's interested in knowing how to do wire work, then I get all animated and excited and can't wait to answer any questions they have about the medium. I do love wire. And I do have a wee bit of a fabric obsession, so it really feels natural and exciting to share my love of these through the book, and I think people sense that.

At the sale I was able to use my downtime pretty productively and finished a cuff and a couple of more stars for the garland. So now I can give you an idea of what it would look like hanging in front of a window. I also got started on a scarf I'm knitting for my son. It's beautiful painted looking yarn that made up wonderfully. I have that blocking right now. Now on to some cleaning and then we're going to do some decorating. I really haven't done much around the house yet, and my 5-yr.old just LOVES decorating so we're going to make that a priority this week.

How about you? Have you started/finished any creative projects lately? Have you been able to use those artistic abilities in your home yet? I'd love to know where you are all at and what you've been up to- so please, SHARE!!!

Saying Hello with Fabric and Wire- Easy Greeting Card Tutorial

I had the opportunity to make a greeting card this morning and thought I'd snap a few photo's as I go. It really is quick, easy, and I think still has that handmade charm. Of course, you can vary your wire shape, you could vary the shape of your fabric pieces. You could throw in a little paper or a stamped image on the paper. You could shape your wire like a bird or leaf, and use Christmas of fall fabrics...You really can go all over the place from here, my more simple version here can just be your jumping off point. So take a look, and Enjoy!!
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I Heart Easy- Greeting Card Tutorial
What you need:
A blank piece of paper (8 1/2"w. x 11"h.)
A few scraps of fabric, one square, one long and thin
A wire heart made of 16-gauge steel wire
Embroidery Floss
Needle
Uhu Glue stick
Scissors

Step One: Fold your piece of paper in half to form a card that is 8 1/2"h. x 5 1/2"w. Then grab your glue stick and apply glue to the back of your fabrics.

Step Two: Stick fabric on front of card where desired. Press down and smooth flat for good adhesion.

Step Three: Position your heart on your card where you'd like it. Then, mark or hold down the heart and poke holes on either side of the wire on each side of the heart. So you're making a total of 4 poke holes. A good tip here is to stagger slightly your pokes by about 1/8" so that the paper is less likely to tear.

Step Four: Thread your needle with a piece of embroidery floss, knot one end of the floss, and then from the inside of the card insert your needle through one of your holes. Come up on the front side and then go down through the hole next to it. This will anchor your stitch somewhat.

Step Five: Then come up to the front from the back a second time and this time stitch over one side of your wire heart. Repeat a couple of times and then knot and trim the thread on the back side of the card.
Repeat steps four and five on the other side of your heart to securely stitch heart to paper.Then, write or stamp your greeting inside the card and Voila! A stitched, fabric and wire card that's both easy and super cute!

WIP: Blooms Sculpted Wire Lamp

Been working on a few new things for the etsy shop lately. One of which is this new lamp. The inspiration of this was a pillow I found when flipping through the latest Better Homes and Gardens. They were showing some different bedroom ideas and on one of the beds was a pillow with blooms that looked EXACTLY like my little wire blooms from my photo holders and garden trio's. I'm guessing they were silk screened on.

The image percolated for a few days and then on Thursday I went to my extras bin and pulled out 8 or 9 of these wire blooms that I had made up and stashed previously. To attach them to the lampshade (fanta by IKEA) I used an awl to poke a few holes through the fabric shade along the length of the wire flower. Then using a needle and embroidery floss, I stitched the wire flowers to the shade. Each flower only takes a few stitches to hold it in position. The end result is easy, cute and had that lovely graphic bloom look I love. I've had the shade on a lamp base that was wrapped with wire and sitting in my living room for a few days now. I love it. Although I love big bright and beautiful color, there's just something about black and white that is soooo attractive to me.

I plan on using this as my example and making another to post in the shop in another week. I'd love to know what you all think of it. ;) Should I offer it with the base or separately? What would you do?

BTW- the little scribble bowl beneath the lamp is something else I've been playing with. The acrylic painting is one I did when we got back from Venice in 2003, and the little birdcage to the far right is another idea I've been playing around with. It's base is a collaged plastic lid to a long-gone jar of marshmallow dip. Have a great weekend!!!

Local Craftiness: The Studio at Rush Creek

Last Monday I walked into the place of my dreams. Seriously. I've dreamed of a place like this. Fortunately for me it actually exists and get this, is only about 10 minutes from where I live in Plymouth, MN. It's called The Studio at Rush Creek and is an art studio, boutique, AND makes a mean mocha. I was contacted by the Studio via Etsy last week and on Monday brought in some work to place on consignment there.

It's a fabulous place. I had a great time looking around and with that lovely coffee smell permeating the air I think I could sit and sip for hours- especially if I can create at the same time. I took a look at their class schedule and they offer all sorts of classes. Painting, jewelry making, an intro to encaustic, and lots of lovely sounding stained glass and glass fusing classes. Slumping glass is one of those projects I've been interested in trying for some time but haven't taken the time to search out an opportunity to learn. The price is right too with the average class taking two hours and costing only $24 plus supplies.

When we met we worked out a class which would introduce my wire and fabric techniques. Pretty exciting! I'll be teaching the techniques for sculpting wire birds and stitching fabric to wire to create a hanging wall display on Thursday, Feb .25th from 7-9 p.m. These are simple techniques and once you've you tried them I know you'll be hooked. The wire work satisfies that need we creative types have to "make stuff" with our hands. Stitching the fabric to the wire is repetitive and promotes a feeling of meditation. Similar to the feeling you get when knitting or embroidering. It's a wonderful craft to try with no experience necessary!

I've done some teaching in the past but this will be my first class teaching these techniques and I am so excited! I would love to have any of you that are local to join me! If you have any questions about the class, please contact me. To register, just click on the class schedule above. Happy Crafting!

Just an idea I had...

I'm been waiting to show you a photo of my little fabric and wire cuff until I had it finished. It still needed some snaps. I've never tried to add snaps before and I should probably have attempted it on something OTHER than this cuff to start. Live and learn. Well, maybe. I do this kind of thing a lot. Sometimes it pays off big and sometimes I have to start over.

So the snap thing didn't go real well and I have no finished photo for you so I'll share this. You can still get an idea of what I was thinking... and when I get version 2 done I'll give you all a peek at that as well! In the meantime, happy crafting!!!