bjp 0612 - royal and rich

Purple is the colour of wealth and royalty!  It's also my older sister's favourite colour...so it does have a natural place in my work.  I've twinned the number six this time, with the copper 'ruler' bit from a set of charms gifted by said sister and a black one from an old work calculator that was well past it's prime!!  Silver, copper, light purples and violets were added for contrast.  The lovely art deco silver button is from my vintage collection.  The copper wire 'spring' was hand wrapped by me on a metal mandrel, that had been gifted to me in a beading class. No, I've never held glass to a flame to make beads, but I'm destined to do that one of these days.

I saw an article in the Cloth Paper Scissiors magazine a while back, that showed how to cover old buttons with paper to use in mixed media work.  Well, of course, I had to try it, but instead of using a solid piece of paper, I collaged several bits of Japanese paper I had in my stash.  I used matte acrylic medium for the collage, but modge podge would do as well.  BTW, if you're going to try this at home, remember that the buttons are not washable, so it's really not a good idea to use them on clothes!

The small white piece with the tangle of beads was sent to me all the way from Kaite in Australia!  She found it along the roadside, on one of her many, healthy walks around the neighbourhood!



The copper leaf has been in my stash for a while and the piece underneath it is another of the charms sent by my sister.  I decided to couch the piece on with floss, to add another level of texture.

Not the best photo, but I like the angle and feel that it gives the viewer a completely different perspective on the piece.  Call it my artsy photography attempt!!!

The finished piece!!!  Vintage & family button jar buttons (including the collaged one), hand wrapped copper spring, pearls, bugles, miscellaneous beads, vintage sequin, de-constructed jewelry parts, road 'kill' from Australia & gifted charms.  Stitches include stacked, back, flower, bocce/boucle, couching & a crazy kind of freeform netting.

Do you believe that I'm right on track with the project this year AND that I've completed six months of bead journals?  As usual, I have no idea what I'm going to do for next month, but I want you to know that I do have a couple of numbers up for consideration.  Ahh, you've guessed it!!!  It's the number seven......but I have three or four good ones, so I'll need to hold auditions in the next couple of weeks. Lights, camera, action!!!!!  Oh the suspense...........



update + mail x 2

"Into the Deep" is coming along nicely! The binder clips are helping to control the unruly canvas, so I'm getting a lot less fraying on the edges.  I seem to have veered off somewhere and the bottom edge is definitely not square.  I'm not going to worry about that, but will just be happy with whatever serendipity brings!!!

BTW, my friend Kaite in Australia has taken up the needle challenge and is now knitting squares with yarn bits. Hers will be made into squares and then eventually into a blanket. Isn't that a cool idea? I love projects that use up leftovers of any type!!!! Do you have any ideas?

A couple of close-ups!!! I think that I'll collage some of these together when I get enough and then print them off on either paper or fabric (or both). Wouldn't that be cool?

Remember my "Four Fabric Flower" swap on the Cloth Paper Studio, Yahoo group?  I just received these lovelies in return from (clockwise) Meri, Janene, Rachel (x 2 as she was the hostess and went overboard once she got going) and Barbara.  Thanks ladies!!  I'm not sure what I'll be doing with them, but rest assured they will show up somewhere in my work.  I'm playing with the idea of a fabric book and I think that Meri's lovely raw canvas beauty is a strong possibility for gracing the front of the book.  It won't be soon, but we'll see.............

Unexpected mail from Kaite in Australia.  Well she actually told me that she was sending something, but I didn't know that the little wooden birdhouse would be included.  Roadside pickings (from her walks) for my bead journals, a knitted flower to yarn bomb my balcony railing and a surprise package that I'm not allowed to open until July 23rd (I wonder why??).  Oh yes, missing from the photo are cards & brochures, plus a couple of numbers for future bead journals.  Of course, I couldn't let you see those yet, could I??  BTW, the wooden spools were from a recent yard sale purchase.  I thought it was a nice way to show off the little house.  Now I wonder what type of birds would live in a collaged house of stamps?



into the deep - betwixt and between

I always like to have an in-between, hand stitching project on the back burner, for those times when the muse is not being cooperative and I need to keep my hands busy.  This piece is my homage to the daily stitchings and scratchings of Judy Martin and Penny Berens.  I greatly admire the work of both artists and while, not committed to working on my piece daily, I'd like to think that I'll throw a few stitches on every time the mood strikes!

A long narrow piece ( approximately 6 inches wide by 4 1/2 feet long) that's gentle and very soothing.  I admit that the rolled up canvas is a little awkward, but I'm getting used to it.  Narrow strips of cotton batiks & commercial fabrics have been stitched into machine wrapped braid and then couched onto the artists canvas background, with two strands of embroidery floss.  The original machine wrapped braid technique was taught to me by Penny B. many, many years ago, so I thank her once again for her invaluable instructions.

Detail of the braid and stitching.

Mostly straight and tidy, but I do need a way to corral the canvas while I'm working on it.  Perhaps long safety pins!  Any other brilliant ideas?



The threads are clippings from other projects and mostly live in a big old jar!!!  Don't they make a nice background?

Now enough of this, it's time to start my June bead journal!!!