The Big Studio Downsizing Frenzy

I'm in a major downsizing mode right now. It's time to shed stuff, stuff, and MORE STUFF! So far, I've spent a great deal of time going through every little thing in my art & sewing studio and let me tell you that there were many very little things!

It required sorting through 
tubs of all types and sizes...

...and quite a few tubs with small compartments

where lots of little objects were stored.

Take a gander at most of 
the emptied tubs so far.

After many days of going through stuff, a mere glimpse around the room and into cabinets tells me to keep going! 

Getting rid of stuff is some liberating stuff! 

In fact, it became so addicting that during my discarding frenzy, I was afraid one of the dogs might accidentally end up in a trash bag! 

Poor, sweet babies! 

I love these guys!

Chewy and Elmer
Please don't put us in a trash bag!

Thankfully, I've settled down a bit and moved on to other rooms for now. I'll return to this one later.

Where is it all going?

Some will go to Goodwill, 

lots will be given away,

and

there's always the handy dandy trash can.

Much to my delight, quite a few large
trash bags full of junk exited this house!

At one point, after going through a plethora of costume jewelry, buttons, beads, baubles, and other artsy trinkets, I looked into the trash bag and it reminded me of a movie scene where someone had just opened a treasure chest! It even clinked and clanged when I moved it!

Out the door it proceeded.

Bah-Bye!  

Below are some of the items I'm
giving away if anyone is interested:

A Dip Handmold for Papermaking

Papermaking Info on the other side.

I used up some of the included items.

 

Mosaic art tiles

(sandwich bag size)

Craft trims

(gallon bag size)

Vintage threads

(gallon bag size)

Rolls of Ribbon

Bag of Shells
(gallon size)

Buttons

(quart & sandwich bag sizes)

Mostly Big Chalk

Rand McNally Maps for Collage Art.

The box originally contained all 

50 states but a few are missing.

Shiva Oil Paint sticks & Pentel Oil Pastels

(quart bag)

Odds and Ends

ColorArtz Airbrush Compressor and 

 Fabric Paints (which I've also used on paper).

I've had the above at least 10 years. I used them again about a year ago to see if they were still good. I tried an opened paint pouch and it worked just fine so the unopened ones should be good as well, but of course, there are no guarantees!

The Pasta Machine and Polymer Clays

have already found a very nice home.
I know they'll be very happy there!

Ditto for the serger and thread.

They're going to a loving home as well!

There are so many reasons for this downsizing but that's for another blog post which will most likely be on my other blog, Smiles For Many Miles, when I get to it.

See you soon. 

Tootles For Now,

D~~~~

Kraft-Tex Journal Cover and a Finished Project

Have you ever heard of Kraft-Tex? 

A couple days ago, I took a neat class at the Denton Sewing Center where we created a journal cover out of Kraft-Tex. 

It's some pretty cool stuff! 

I read a couple blurbs about it in Quilting Arts Magazine awhile back, and was intrigued so I didn't hesitate to sign up when I spotted the class.

The reverse side of this 

label calls it "Paper Fabric."

It can be sewn, cut, dyed, painted, washed and no telling what else! Our instructor, Bonnie, even boiled it for five minutes. She said it cooled quickly, and then she wadded it up and scrunched and scrunched and scrunched it to see what sort to texture emerged. So it appears that it's a toy to play with too! Woo-hoo!

We embroidered on it.

The remainder of the project involved sewing.

I opted to do it at home and made a boo-boo!

The sewing line on the far left of the black Kraft-Tex binding is the mistake. I top-stitched it from the underside. I think the word "TOP" is a dead giveaway as to where I was suppose to sew on it. The correct top-stitched sewing line is on the right and looks much better! 

Nevertheless, I was very pleased 

with the end result. 

  And it was a super easy project too!

While I was in finishing mode, I completed 

the Tumbling Hearts Candle Mat from the 

KimberBell Embroidery Event.

That's it for now. 

Y'all have a blessed, beautiful & creative day!

D~~~~

KimberBell Embroidery Event

I spent Thursday and Friday at the Denton Sewing Center attending a KimberBell Tea Party Event which is an embroidery class. I've had my Janome Memory Craft 15000 for about three years. I've used it for sewing but I've never done a stitch of embroidery on it so this was my first time. (Note: The Janome Memory Craft link above is for the newest model.)

 I didn't know anyone in the

class but I met some nice ladies.

This is Terry and Debbie sitting behind me.

The rest of the class (mostly).

Camaraderie occurred.

Debbie, the shop owner, and her 

daughter-in-law Brooke having some fun.

Debbie told me that the step-by-step instructions as well as the fact that you leave with finished projects are what make the KimberBell events very popular. 

I scoped out the Kimberbell website and was amazed at the amount of KimberBell events taking place across the country. 

To see a list of events, click here. 

Embroidering a card.

My completed projects are below:

"You're My Cup of Tea" Tea Towel

"You're Tea-rrific Mug Rug"

Love You to Pieces Zipper Pouch

Love is in the Air Embroidered Card

Sew Sweet Cinch Bag

And...

I didn't finish this last project but I'm showing it to you anyway because it's almost done and I think it'll give you a good idea of what it will look like when it's completed. I opted to complete it at home which I will do in the next few days.

Tumbling Hearts Candle Mat

The class was a total joy and I learned a lot! 

I can't wait to take more classes, and 

the Denton Sewing Center offers many. 

To see their calendar of classes, click here.

See you soon!

May Your Day Be

Creative & Bright!

D~~~~

Devotional Journal

I mentioned in a previous post that I received this Beautiful Word Journaling Devotional for Christmas.

It measures 8" x 6". 

I love it for various reasons, such as: 

• The content is interesting and inspiring,
• The pages are all formatted with decorative inspiration on the left border and open space to journal on the right border (see below),
• It's arranged so that I will be journaling every other day instead of every day which I really love, and 
• The pages are fairly thick and sturdy.

I may not get these pages done in a timely manner and that's quite alright. If I'm behind (which I am), I'll either wait for the dates I missed to roll around next year and journal on those pages then, or I'll continue journaling them in sequence even though it's not the current date. I think I'll do a little bit of both. 

I started journaling on the pages the 10th of January, and I have completed three so far.

Here they are:

Wisdom is my word for the year.

Page close-up.

Supplies used:

Diamond-shaped sequins, 

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, 

MozArt Watercolor Brush Pen, 

Artist Loft watercolors

My favorite page of the three.

The wonky house and roof are made of commercial fabric scraps leftover from past projects and they had been previously backed with Misty Fuse. They were cut out with an Olfa rotary cutter using a scallop blade. The round window was a leftover as well as the small door. All elements were ironed in place. 

Page close up.

Supplies used:

Artist Loft Pearlescent Watercolors, 

fabric scraps, Misty fuse, 
rotary cutter with scallop blade, 
Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens.

The third page.

After drawing the heart, I scanned it into the

Brother Scan N Cut SDX225 

 and cut it out of white, sparkly fabric on the 

Brother Scan N Cut.

This fabric had also been previously 

backed with Misty Fuse so it too  
was ironed onto the page.

Page close up.

Supplies used:

Brother Scan N Cut SDX225, Twinkling H20's, 

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, 

commercial fabric scrap, Misty Fuse, 

Copic Sketch Marker.

Quick! 

Get me a Band-Aid!

I see bleeding on the left

and bleeding on the right

of the next pages!

It's literally a bleeding heart!

Tee-hee-hee!

Looks like it's time to try a different marker!

See y'all soon!

May Your Day Be Creative & Bright,

D~~~~

Gifts for Dear Friends

In addition to making gifts for grands in December, I also made four art quilt wall hangings for a Christmas get together/slumber party with girlfriends. 

Several of us created handmade gifts and another friend bought handmade. Of course, gifts were not required or expected. Sharing time together is more cherished than anything else!

Faye made fun Boho bags.
We all loved them!

Cindi gave cool jewelry travel bags.
They were a hit as well!

Suzette made pretty necklaces.
Everyone loved them too! 

And, as I said earlier, I made four art quilts.
Here they are in progress.

Auditioning the placement of various 

elements before ironing them down.

The finished pieces.

(Commercial fabric, Misty Fuse, Glide embroidery thread, 
Go! Cutter & dies, plastic eyes, Mod Podge)

I had ordered some fabric from Amazon which didn't work out. As a result, I got a late start on the project. Other than the time crunch, they were great fun to make, and I learned some things along the way which is always a good thing! 

Due to time, I wasn't able to quilt them as much as I would have liked nor could I add some embellishments that I thought up during the creative process. I was disappointed about that but that's the way it goes sometimes! 

They all loved them anyway and 

that's the most important thing!

Faye, Suzette & Cindi (l-r)

(One of our friends wasn't able to
make it at the last minute so she 
will receive hers at a later date.)

I couldn't decide who to give what so I 
put them in bags and let them pick a bag! 

We all had an extra special good time!

Lots of laughing occured...

...as you might be able to tell!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Several firsts occurred for me during this project. 

They include:

• First time working in a series.
• First time making four art quilts in one day. (Heck, I can't recall that I've ever made ONE quilt in a day!)
• First time doing this much machine appliqué around the elements. (I'll try using more contrasting colors next time). 
• First time creating with my Go! cutter. 

Go! Cutter (left), dies (right).

This Go! Cutter is pretty cool 
but oh my...  
hubby gave me a 

Brother Scan N Cut SDX225 for Christmas!

This machine cuts everything from 

fabric to felt to vinyl to balsa wood.

 It cuts pretty much anything up to  

3.3 mm thick but that's another post. 

Or two.

Or three.

Or many!

See you very soon!

D~~~~