A Bit of This and That

I have been working on a few small pieces of art this summer along with the Summer of Color challenge that I am participating in.

These two photos are of a watercolor card that I painted.  I wanted to play around with my Twinkling H2O's after doing so much textile art.  I decided to paint this little whimsy girl on a thank you card.  The whole card shimmers in the light.  I love these watercolor paints for the beautiful rich colors and the shimmer and sparkle from the minerals.  

I drew this fairy on watercolor paper a while ago and decided that I finally needed to paint her.  She is also painted with the Twinkling H2O's.  It is good to play with supplies and gain more knowledge about how they work.  I also enjoy painting just for fun with no other purpose in mind.   

I read about how Susan Brubaker Knapp took a denim jacket and stitched it with a sewing theme.  You can read about her's here.  I found a denim jacket at a resale shop here in town and decided to do the same thing.  I have been working on this for a week, so I don't have very much done yet.  This project is perfect for those times when I have to sit and wait for one thing or another or while watching tv and movies with my family.  So far I am enjoying covering areas with these simple hand stitches. This project will keep me busy for a long time to come. 

I hope that you enjoyed these glimpses of what I'm up to.  Have a great week,
Janelle 

Summer of Color-5

The colors for SOC this week are red, royal blue, and a touch of light blue.

I have a lot of blue fabrics and a bit of red that was enough for my plan for this week. I decided to dye a piece of fabric royal blue so that I had a piece dark enough.  I have been wanting to make a royal blue piece for a while, so this was the perfect time to make one. Here is my selection of fabrics for this week.  The one that looks white is actually a pale blue. 

Here is more of the piece of royal blue fabric that I dyed. 

In keeping with my nature theme I decided to make a bird on my quilt block for this week.  We have a lot of birds where I live and I enjoy watching them.  I loved creating this little bright bird.  I used my pale blue piece of fabric for the background.  Even though we were only supposed to use a touch of blue, this piece made a perfect backdrop.  There is only a touch of blue dye in the fabric, so it fits well enough for me.  I also added just a touch of light blue stitching to the bird feathers on the tummy and tail.  I also added some cream like a real bird would have.  I couldn't help but add some white swirls to the sky.  I love the movement that the swirls add to the background.  

I used rayon threads in the free motion stitching so that the feathers would shimmer in the light. 

I hope that you enjoy my submission for SOC this week.   Next week will be the last week and quilt block that I'm making for this quilt.  I hope to see you next week.
Janelle

Summer of Color-4

This week the colors for SOC are pink, apple green, and a splash of dark green.  

I happened to already have a couple of pink pieces of fabric to choose from and a large selection of greens.   I love having different greens in my fabric stash, they always come in handy. We had a big storm this week that knocked out our power for a day.  A lot of people in the area lost power for even longer.  So I'm glad that I didn't have to dye fabric this week.  I have to have water for that and no power means I have no water.  It wasn't that bad though, just inconvenient.  That is part of summer time in Michigan anyway.

So onto the art now.......  I recently got a new dye called Granny Apple, so I had to use that dye for this week. 

I decided that this color scheme was perfect for a little dragonfly and a grassy hill.  I used Pellon 805 to fuse all the fabrics down to each other and to the batting.  Then I free motion stitched the grass for texture and to make sure that none of those little pieces came up. I used a variegated perle cotton thread to outline the dragon fly with hand stitches.   

When I put the whole quilt together into a nature themed art quilt, it will all come together and be quite lovely.  I am really enjoying the colors this year and seeing all the creative projects that the other artists are making.  If you would like to check them out click here.

Until next week,
Janelle

Summer of Color-3

This week the SOC colors are lavender, grey, and a splash of plum  These color were fun and inspired me to design a panel that wasn't a flower.  I challenged myself to make every quilt block in this series relate to nature and have both machine and hand stitching.  It is nice to create different themes for each block. So far I haven't added any backing or done much quilting in the backgrounds.  I am planning on adding those details when all the blocks are done.

These are the fabrics that I dyed for this project.  I don't have any plum dye so I used a dark purple/red that I already had on hand.  My lavender looks bluer in the photo than it is in real life, because my camera has problems with purples.  It is a lovely color and one of my favorites.     

I knew what elements I wanted to use in this block from the beginning, but I played around with the placement a bit.  I finally came up with something like this.

I fused the fabrics down after I placed them just like I wanted and machine stitched the ground, tree, and the darker part of the sky.  Then I added stitches for the leaves of the tree.

I hope you enjoyed this week of SOC.  You can see what the other artists are up to on this page.
I'll see you next week,
Janelle

Artistic Dates

http://www.handsandharts.com/blog/artistic-dates

Summer of Color-2

The colors for this week are coral, teal, and a splash of bright white.

I had a coral fabric to use, but I had to dye a teal.  None of the ones that I had were quite the right color.  I love dyeing fabric all different colors so that I have a stash of fabrics to use when I want to make some textile art.  I also dyed a piece going for a pinker coral.  I added a little too much pink for it to work, but I still have the pretty fabric for something else.  

Teal

Coral

Both together

The piece that I dyed that turned out too pink.

After I got my fabric ready, I put the two pieces of fabric together with a piece of stabilizer in the middle.  Then I free motion stitched flowers using a zig zag stitch.  I cut the flowers out and stitched them to my teal quilt block with some white perle cotton thread.  I love adding dimensional elements to my quilts.  

I used the pinker fabric for the back of the flowers.

I think that all the quilt blocks will look wonderful turned into a quilt at the end.  It will really come to life when I add the stitching to the backgrounds.  I hope you enjoy my creative process. Have a good week,
Janelle

Sun Printing

I made a video last week when I was sun printing.  Today I edited the video and put it up on YouTube.  I hope that you enjoy seeing a bit more of my process. 
Click Here

I will also put this and a link to making my sun printed pillows up on my free tutorial page in the next few days. That can be found here. 
Have a great weekend,
Janelle  

Summer of Color-1

It is time for Summer of Color again.  This has been one of my favorite summer art activities every year for the past three.  I am expecting this summer to be a blast too.  I love having color prompts that prod me into directions that I may not have gone in otherwise.  The colors for this first week are teal, yellow, and a splash of pink.  I like using these colors anyway, so this one was fun and easy. 

This year I decided to make quilt blocks that are 6" x 6" and after all the color prompts I will make a wall hanging art quilt. I love making textile art and want to continue in that trend this summer.  I'm going to try and stick with a nature theme this year as well.  Here is my first quilt block.  

I used all cotton fabrics that I dyed myself.  I added fusible to the back of the fabric, cut out each element, and fused them to the teal background.  I added stems with embroidery thread and I machine stitched the flowers and the vase.

To see the whole quilt developed and finished please keep following along every week.  
Have a great week,
Janelle

Workshops

Local people, what workshops would you be interested in taking from me?
• Painting a textured whimsy canvas
• Painting an art journal page and learning more about art journaling
• Dyeing cotton fabric
• Making printed fabric art cloth
• Sun printing fabric and making a pillow
• Any other ideas
I'm wondering what people are interested in learning. These workshops could be for adults, kids/teens, or a parent child mix.

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you would have fun trying out.
Janelle

This is Granny Apple a new color of dye that I used for the first time today.

Art, Beer, & Wine Featival

I am going to be selling my art at the Art, Beer, & Wine festival on Saturday at Ella Sharp Museum .  If you are a local please come out and join the fun. I will have some new pieces for sale and many previous works.

Click here to see the festival poster

One of my new pieces is "Flourish". Just like flowers add beauty to our environment, so too does love add beauty to our souls. It is a mixed media painting that is "16 x 20".     

I hope to see you there.  Have a great weekend.
Janelle

Life

This week I have been focusing on my garden and getting everything planted.  Here in the north there is a limited growing season, so I want to get everything in as soon as I can.  Last week we had frost, but hopefully we are past the last frost date now.  I love to plant flowers to make my garden beautiful.  I also grow herbs and veggies so that my family has fresh delicious food to eat.  I love using photos of my garden for inspiration for my creative work as well.

Yesterday was mine and my husband's wedding anniversary. We had fun celebrating and enjoying each other's company yesterday evening.  We have been married for 20 years and together for even longer.  I'm so grateful that I found this loving wonderful man to spend my life with.  I'm not saying that everything has been perfect, because we have had our share of problems and down times.  Together and with the love of God to support us, we have made a great life and have five wonderful children.  My man wrote a post about us too.  You can read that here.

After our evening out we came home and watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones.  During the show I played around with my new Tombow Dual Brush Pens to create a page in my journal.  They are fun to use.  I added water to blend  and just got a feel for how they work.  I intend to use these as watercolor markers and just have fun in my journals and for making cards.

I also started a new painting yesterday.  I am working on an more abstract piece again, but probably not totally abstract.  I'm trying to paint with the flow this time rather than planning as much.  I'm using Golden High Flow Acrylics on this painting too. They are really fun to work with too.  I love how easy it is to get drips and runs with these paints. 

A basic beginning, acrylic on canvas.

Tonight I am going to an opening for an art exhibit at a local museum.  This is the first time my art has been in a juried show and I'm looking forward to being a part of this. The exhibit is for members of the Jackson Civic Art Association it is in the Hurst Gallery at the Ella Sharp Museum here in town.  The opening is from 6-8 this evening, but the exhibit stays up through July 5th. If you are local come out and help all the wonderful artists celebrate.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Janelle 

Everyday Enchantments- Day Five

Today is the last day of this mini class, but you can go back and join in at anytime.  You can also sign up for the larger class in June.  I think it is going to be a fun creative time so please check it out.  If you would like to check out the videos that go along with this series go here. 

Click here to visit Jani Franck.

Today is all about connecting to your creative spirit.

The first exercise is to do a scribble drawing with your non-dominate hand.  I have done sketches with my left hand before, but this was more freeing.  I didn't have to worry about making it look like anything or look good, I could just scribble.  It opened up my creativity without any negative feelings.

The second exercise was to write a short personal credo.  You can read mine here.

I am looking forward to connecting to my creative side and activating my creativity more fully.  These exercises give really simple ways to do this.

Thank you Jani,
Janelle

Everyday Enchantments- Day Four

I am enjoying these daily prompts to bring myself back in touch with my innate creativity.  Jani has some lovely easy ways to bring out creativity.  If you would like to check out the videos that go along with this series go here.

Day four is all about water and the first exercise is to drink a glass of water while thinking about where you are right now. Forget about what comes next or all of your worries, just feel this moment in time.
I am thankful that I have clean drinking water available in my home.  It is very refreshing and nourishing to hydrate my body.  I love the feeling of relief that comes from drinking water after being very thirsty.  However I should remember to drink water more often so that I am not dehydrating myself.
Jani also talked about using a shower to wash away mental tension, stress, and clutter.  A shower gets me ready and charged up for the day to come.  Often it is the time when I am just simply trying to wake up and get ready to face the day.  You can visualize through words, images, or actions to get rid of anything negative that is holding you back.

I love looking at water as much as I love looking at fire.  I really enjoy sitting by a lake and just watching to movement of the water.  It is calming and relaxing for me.  Someday I would love to live near a body of water instead of just having rain to look at.

Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes.

A local Michigan lake

Click here to visit Jani Franck.

I hope that you play along and join in on Jani's class next month too.
Janelle

Quilt Show

I have a quilt in the Jackson Quilting Guild show today and tomorrow. For all you local people it is open today (May 17) from 9-5 and tomorrow from 12-5. The show is being held at the Jackson Catholic Middle School on Cooper St. There are many amazing quilts being shown, plus demos and many other things for fabric enthusiasts. Please come out and join us.

Everyday Enchantments- Day Three

I am enjoying these daily prompts to bring myself back in touch with my innate creativity.  Jani has some lovely easy ways to bring out creativity.  If you would like to check out the videos that go along with this series go here.

Day three is all about connecting to the fire in your life. Again there are three exercises to try.

One: Rub your hands together to generate heat and place them on your chest.  Living in a northern climate I often do this just to get some warmth in my hands.  Even sometimes in the summer it can be cool at night. This is a nice way to activate your body heat and to connect to the inner fire.

Two: Light a candle or if you are able a campfire outside.  One of my favorite summer activities is to sit by the campfire and watch the flames.  (Marshmallows are a nice touch too of course. )  I can watch the flames for a long time and not get bored.  I like to light candles inside too. With small children around, I usually only light them during power outages these days.

Three: Make a doodle without looking at the paper of fire.  I did that from my imagination today, but hopefully I can have a real fire sometime this month.  I will doodle the flames then.   

Click here to visit Jani Franck.

I hope that you play along and join in on Jani's class next month too.
Janelle

Everyday Enchantment- Day Two

I am still enjoying these daily prompts to bring myself back in touch with my innate creativity.  Jani has some lovely easy ways to bring out creativity.  If you would like to check out the videos that go along with this series go here.

Day Two is all about air and there are three exercises to try.

One: Light incense or open a window to freshen the air in your space.  I don't have any incense, but I do like to light fragrant candles to freshen the air.  At this time of the year when the air is a nice temperature I like to leave the windows open as much as possible. Yesterday I did have my windows open and got to freshen up the living space.

Two: Take a wind bath outside.  I have been outside the past several days in the wind quite a lot.  I have had the feeling of the wind blowing around and whipping my hair and clothing.  If you talk to my family they will tell you that this is not a feeling that I enjoy very much.  I don't like it when my long hair blows around my face so that I can't see and gets tangled up.  I do like a gentle breeze on my body when I am hot, but I hate having air blow on my face.  I will have to look at this a different way the next time I'm out in the wind and let it refresh me instead of annoying me.

Three: Taking three deep breaths and thinking or letting out the negative and taking in the positive.  This is such an important process and can even reset our brain chemistry in a physiological way.  Deep belly breathing is something that was taught at my son's Asperger's group to help the kids and parents with anxiety and negative spiraling.  For Jani's exercise I thought about breathing in love, abundance, and freedom and breathing out anger, confinement, and drudgery.

Here are some pictures from outside my windows through the seasons.  I like to bring the outside in through my windows. 

You can sign up for the entire class that starts in June here:

Click here to visit Jani Franck.

Enjoy bringing some cleansing breath into your life.
Janelle

Everyday Enchantment- Day One

Jani Franck is hosting a mini e-course this week as a taster for her class that starts in June.  This class is all about reawakening your natural creativity and bringing a little enchantment to your everyday world.  Jani's classes are wonderful for finding your creative dream and bringing it to life.  I am part of her Forge business mentoring program.  I have learned so much and have grown through this program.  I would recommend her classes to anyone who wants to grow creatively.  

Click here to visit Jani Franck.

Day One of the five days of Enchantment is keeping yourself grounded while you create so you don't get lost in your head. You are supposed to pick a pebble from somewhere that has meaning to you and keep it around your work space.

Last summer I went with my family to Lake Michigan.  We collected rocks while we were there and I have saved them and decorated a few.  I keep these near my work space so that I can look at them and remember that day with my family.  These rocks keep me connected to a place that is important and holds happy memories.    

I was also supposed to walk barefoot outside.  Since we are having such a rainy couple of days, I'm going to wait to do that when it is a bit drier outside.  The last exercise for day one is to write twenty earthy words.   

I hope that you enjoyed day one and will come back and see more here.  Please join in on the fun too.
Janelle

Honoring Women

I have been really busy since the beginning of last week.  I'm trying to declutter my house and get rid of things that we no longer need.  I had a garage sale last weekend and I'm having another one this weekend.  After those are done we will donate the rest to local charities.  It will feel nice to get some of these accumulated items out of my house and to people who can actually use them.  I am looking forward to having usable space again.

While I was sitting in my garage last weekend I finished drawing a whimsy girl and some flowers that I needed to complete a Lifebook lesson.  I used permanent ink to go over the lines that I wanted to keep and I erased the rest.
Then on Sunday afternoon I painted them with Twinkling H2O's, which are some of my very favorite water colors.  They have a beautiful shimmer and shine without being too over the top. After I painted them I cut them out and glued them to an acrylic background that I had prepared.
May is the month that Catholics honor Mary and all women. So I added some thoughts that I had after reading an article by my Bishop about honoring women.    

I also drew another whimsy character last weekend, but I haven't had a chance to paint her yet.  I am spending a lot of time this week getting finishing touches done on the two pieces that I showed you last week, so that they are ready to enter the show this Friday.  I am also still working on decluttering.  I hope that next week I'll have time to go back to the quilt that I have started and have more time to paint.
Have a great week,
Janelle