Mid November

It's November 23rd.   Black Friday.    Who's out there shopping?   Not me, for sure.      I thought I'd take today to finish up some things and also to update this blog.      I've been in another swap with the CA art girls, and this time the one requirement is that there is at least a little bit of fabric on our post cards, or they can be totally fabric.    No other theme.    So, I think the variety will be great.    So far, I had one card from Roberta, who does not sew, but is game to try using fabric scraps.    This one has a piece of one of her husband's neckties.     Interesting in itself, as she does not even have a stash of fabrics like so many of us.   So, she used what she had.   Good for you Roberta.     The fabric and collage elements all work so well together, it's a really nice card.

Debbie sent this lovely card on which she used a fabric background, a stamped leaf image with copper paint on another bit of fabric, a piece of yarn/ribbon, and stitched it all together with turquoise thread.    This is very lovely.   It only had to come less than 50 miles, and it took $1.95 worth of postage according to her post office.   

The next card is one from an online group challenge.  It had to come all the way from Canada , and it cost Mary Lou Curry $1.05 to mail it from there.     The theme here was two colors plus a button.    I'm particularly fond of her color choices, and all the different things she used to create this quilted card.    She mailed it in a clear envelope so none of the attached yarns snagged in the postal machinery.    

This next card with the line up of women, is the one I sent to Roberta.   I made 8 of them for the swap and didn't make an extra for myself.  Wish I had.   I guess I"ll have to dig out that special fabric again and do it later.      I've saved the fabric for several years, waiting for the right thing to use it on.  It seemed like a good opportunity to share it with some artist friends by using it on post cards.  

I made a fabric envelope to house a birthday present I made for my granddaughter in Boston.   I thought the fabric was so lovely I could not resist.   One the other side I stitched on the address labels, and a piece of paper where the postal stamp would be attached.     I wonder if she'll recycle the fabric?  

The next sample I'd like to share with you is a stitched piece of fabric which was done with a layer of paper napkin stitched to the front, then dampened and the paper napkin rubbed away except for close to the stitches.   I loved the sampled I'd seen of this technique online, but am not really happy with my results.   I'll be trying it again soon, and maybe I'l use a double stitch with the machine from Rosemary.    I think the lines would be more dramatic.    I'm showing the front and back so you can see the process better.      

The last one is using the same technique over fabric with a collaged paper element over it placed with gel medium, and then the whole piece was coated with a diluted white glue,, so it's sort of plasticized.

These are a few of the things I've been up to or have received.    Enough for one post.     More to come.