Fabric Strips and a Giveaway

I am giving away this mug rug to one lucky follower.  If you would like to win please leave a comment on my website blog post ( not here) sometime this week.  I'll draw the name early next week and send it to the winner. http://www.handsandharts.com/blog/fabric-strips-and-a-giveaway

I put all the names in and had my son draw one out.  The winner is Lita.  Congratulations!  

To You With Love- Step 2

I completed the free motion stitching on my fiber book earlier this week.  I added designs with several colors in the same color scheme as the fabrics.  Some of the designs are really obvious, while others are more subtle.  I like having part of the stitching more hidden so you really have to look for it to see it.  I stitched hearts, flowers, and other floral design.  I may go back and add more stitching later, but for now I'm done with this part.   I also stitched all the pages into a book, so the order is set. Next I am going to add hand stitched details and maybe some beads or other embellishments.  

I hope that you are enjoying seeing the progress of this book. 

Have a great weekend,
Janelle

Tell All Tuesday Featured Artist

Hey everyone I am the featured artist over on Jennibellie Studio this week. You can check out my interview here:http://jennibelliestudio.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/tell-all-tuesday-featured-artist.html

Journal Love

I have a couple of journal pages to share today.  I love to make fun and meaningful pages in my journal whenever I'm able to.

I use my journal to record times that I want to remember, to de-stress and work through the rough times in life, to play and experiment, to work out an idea for a larger piece of art, and to practice techniques.

In my journal I don't have to worry about being a perfect artist or making something beautiful.  I can let loose my creative side and have fun.  If you have never practiced visual journaling, I suggest that you give it a try.  You don't have to share your pages with anyone else, they can be just for you.  So go for it!

These two pages were both from Lifebook lessons.  The flowers are done very loosely with fingers, scratching into the paint, scribbles, and splatters.  I found this process to be very therapeutic and fun. I plan to make more of these in a similar style.  

I had fun making this page that features a photo of my Grandmother. I used some tags from tea and fabric. My Grandmother loved tea and she loved to sew as well. I too drink a lot of tea and as you know I sew too. A lot of memories came out while working on this one.  I love honoring my Grandma's memory through art.  

I hope that you have time to do something that relaxes you this week.
Janelle

To You With Love

I have been working on a new piece the last couple of weeks.  It isn't finished yet, but I thought that I would share my progress so far.

I'm creating a book that is made from all different kinds of fibers.  It has a lot of layers from: new fabric, recycled garments, recycled linens, burlap, dyed cheesecloth, lace, ribbon, vintage doilies, color catcher sheets, and recycled sari silk ribbon made from silk waste.

I am exploring my loves in this book.  I studied French in high school and college and have always wanted to visit France.  I also adore flowers of all kinds, real and imagined, so I added them.  Butterflies are perfect for this floaty feminine love book. They symbolize change, beauty and growth to me.  They change the old into new beauty which I'm hoping to achieve here.  

I wanted a book that was soft and feminine and used materials that might be thrown away along with a few new fabrics.  I love the fabrics that look like mixed media artwork.  I picked up some of these fabrics in May at my quilt guild's show.  I have also been collecting vintage linens and doilies along with some garments that are too stained or worn to be used as garments any longer.  All of these though are perfect for this project.

I decided from the beginning that I wanted a limited color pallet of cream, white, browns, pinks, and peaches.  While I love bright colors, I also love the aged vintage look.

I hope that you enjoy seeing the book so far.  Next I plan to add some stitched designs and then sew the pages together into a book.

I will share the next stages with you as I finish them.
For now go through your day and night with love and grace.
Janelle

A New Batch of Eco Papers

I made up a new batch of Eco Papers last week.  I used a lot of red leaves that I collected from under a neighbor's tree.  Most of this batch have a lovely pink color with some browns and greens interspersed.  They have imprints and impressions from leaves that fell this autumn.  If you click on a photo you will be able to see the larger version.  

Have a great week,
Janelle