A tisket a Casket

Tidying up yesterday I came across this Casket I made last summer. The casket was inspired by a article that I read in the June/July 09 issue of Stitch Magazine from the UK written by Janet Humphrey.

Instead of using the pattern provided in Stitch, why make life easy, I pull out a book I've had for ages Embroidered Boxes by Jane Edmonds. I reduced the size of the pattern in the book adapting it to the techniques given in the magazine.

The base used is Pelmet Vilene which is then dyed. Silk and sheer fabrics are bonded to the Vilene, free machine embroidered and hand embellished. I used lace that I had dyed myself and the lining is silk. Painted wooden beads are use for feet. With great intentions I had planned to make 2 more in a larger size for my little grand daughters. That has yet to have happened, but as they are only 3 I do have some time until they would have a use for it.

Rock sculpture on the Beach

Although I live in a large city I am very lucky to have access to a beach and boardwalk a few minute drive from my home. We decided today to have lunch and a walk on the boardwalk even though it was cool and overcast.

We came across this man building rock sculptures next to the boardwalk. We stopped to chat and asked what he used to attach the rocks to each other and was amazed at the answer which was "nothing is used". Balance and finding the center of gravity, and thats it.

Some of the rock were quite large and in the photo above you can see one of the items used was a cement block! At the end of each day he knocks the sculptures down to prevent any accidents.

What a interesting way to spend your spare time!

I loved the roots of this tree and can see potential for a embroidery here. Lots of ropy texture. The on line class I am taking,Studio Journal, has me looking "with a artist" eye and taking lots of photos for future inspriation.

This photo is of the life guards perch. It looks so gray and desolate today. Below are houses that face the beach, I think how nice their views mus be any time of the year with the park and beach in front of them.

class exercises

One of the exercises we have been given in the class I am working on is creating a Rubin Face Vase. A Rubin Face vase is a vase that is created by the profile of a face. I though it would be interesting to use the profileof my twin grand daughters. It was a bit of a challenge to find photographs that would work and were about the same dimensions. I played around a bit in a imaging program trying to get the dimensions the same and printed out the photo, then cut them out to make the vase. This process would have been a lot easier if I understood how to use Photoshop.

A Martha Steward Moment

I had intended when I started this Blog to only share my creative stuff and I guess you could stretch and call a cake creative. It was my twin grand daughters 3 birthday this month and I asked if they wanted a cake or a cup cake, both was the reply. I found a cake mold in the shape of a cup cake and the girls "helped" me decorate it. They were besides themselves with the joy of gum drops, smarties (M&Ms) and sugar stars, and certainly sampled them as they decorated. As you can see from the photos I've posted the "cup cake" was a huge success. My daughter called it a Martha Stewart moment!

Free Motion Embroidery Samples

The FME class took place over four weeks, with lessons being send out each week. Janet Clark our teacher lead of through a series of exercises to get the feel of working in free form. Above is a sample of one of our exercises.

As the lessons progress I found my control of the stitching and my skills started to improve.

The photos of the Tulips are from week 4 and the last lesson. We were instructed to print a photo onto cloth and then using the sewing machine add texture, and dimension to the photograph.

On line classes and Kaleidoscopes

I have not posted in a while due to taking 3 on line classes through Joggles which have kept me very busy. The first class which is just finishing is Free Motion Embroidery, given by Janet Clark. It has been a wonderful way of improving my skills and confidence in FME. Janet has been a excellent teacher. In my next post I'll upload some of the samples from the class. The other classes I am taking both being taught by Sharon Boggon are A Studio Journal as a Designers Work Horse and Sumptuous Surfaces which is a Design class. One of the exercises we have been given was to take a image and make it into a kaleidoscope. I used the image of the hat and the tar pits which are in my last posting here to make my kaleidoscope. I think the results are just too cool! Sharon has been a wonderful and encouraging teacher and I am looking forward to the rest of my lessons arriving each week.

Tar Pits & textiles

I am now back home and want to continue to share some of my experiences and photos of my L.A. vist with you.

Last tuesday after visiting the LACA museum to see the Renoir exhibition we wandered over to the La Brea Tar Pits which are just across the street. The tar pit looks like a large pond with a bit of a oil slick floating on the top. The tar pit has yielded up a vast quantity of fossils from saber tooth tigers to elephants as you can see in my photo. I find it somewhat magical that it is still here. I also included a photo of graffiti that was written with the tar that bubbles up through the path.

Our next stop was the Craft and Folk Art Museum which is nearby. What a treat was in store for us, there was a exhibition of Tarot cards called The Fool's Journey. No photos were allow so I am not able to show you the interesting cards that were on display. The second exhibition was of textiles from central Asia & Iran. On display were coats, hats, and rugs of the nomads of Central Asia. The design and colours used in their work was spectacular.

Strange tree

While driving today in Los Angeles I spotted these trees growing in the center of a roadway. The have green lichen on the trunk and huge thorns. Wonderful texture, but you would not want to lean against one! After some research on the net I found that they are Silk Floss trees, Cebia Speciosa. I wish I could be here to see them in flower. If you click on the photo's you can see a magnified view.

Photo's of LA

The top photo is of the mountains nearby they were topped with snow on the day I arrived. A very unusual occurrence here. The second photo is of Santa Monica Beach at sunset. We actually saw some dolphins swimming by that evening

California Dreaming

It's the fourth day of my visit here in LA. The weather has been wonderful. Warm, sunny, and 30c above Eastern Canada's temperatures. On Thurs. I had a visit to the Getty Museum. Fantastic building which perches high above LA. The architecture and gardens are amazing. Well worth a visit if you are lucky enough to get out this way. On the same trip to the Getty we drove into downtown LA and visited the fabric district. Temptations galore. I ended up with buying several yards of trims and ribbons. The button selection was overwhelming as you can see in the photo above and I am sorry now I did not buy any.

We also drove through Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, along Sunset Blvd. and Rodeo Drive. All these names out of movies and books so exciting. The beach at Santa Monica was beautiful and sunset when we were there. I will add some photo in my next post for some reason I can't do it now, most frustrating!

Getting Ready

I made two handbags as gifts for my friend Nola and her daughter when I vist LA this week. Packing has started, always so difficult when traveling from one climate to another. I am always sure I am packing the wrong things . Journals packed as well as various "stuff" to embellish the journal as I travel. I found a little set of coloured pencils to use they are about 2" tall and have a small traveling box which should be useful for some drawing and colouring . We have lots planned for my trip , a flea market isit, vintage paper show, Renior exhibit, and the Surface Artist Design meeting. Two more sleeps to go!

LA Journal

LA Journal from Diane Smith on Vimeo.

After several tries I have finally managed to upload the video of my travel journal. In a previous post I showed the photo of the cover for the journal from the class Remains of the Day. The theme of the class is scrappy and reuse. Trying to keep to that I used old magazine pages, envelops and scraps of previous projects and machine stitched to make the pages. I'll be using my Pogo printer while traveling to add photos to the journal as well as bring a small box of "stuff" to add and embellish as I go. Using scraps forced me to work out of a box of neat and tidy to work more intuitively and less perfect.

LA Journal

http://vimeo.com/9172228

Post Card Exchange

I have been exchanging ATC with a on-line friend in Australia for the past year. We decided to start this years exchange with postcards and the theme was seasons. I hand been mulling over various things I could do with seasons but had not come up with a firm idea until seeing Donna Funnell's show and tell at our Guild last week. She did a wonderful series of post card for exchange on trees. What a inspiration and the light blub went on. The post card is entirley is fabric and machine embroidered. I shall post it to Australia on Monday. Now for next month theme, my turn to come up with a idea.

Scrappy Journal Class

I started a new on line class this week called Remains of the Day/Pure Experimentation. Mary Ann Moss is the instructor. There is a very lively Yahoo group attached to the class. What a lot of information is being exchanged in each post. Washi tape has been a hot topic this week, last week it was Pogo printers.

Part one of the class which I have just finished is the journal cover. We are supposed to work intuitively and layer scraps of fabric to make the journal. I find that I tend to get hung up in perfect! Sigh! I am trying.

Tomorrow I start making the paper pages for the signatures. Again it's working the same way scrap paper layer and sewn. I have trolled through the house looking for bits and pieces to use. Of course I had a big clean out last week and got rid of all the old magazines which I could have now used. Isn't that always the way? I'll post for all to see when done.

Silk fiber

I received these two hanks of silk twists today from The Thread Studio in Australia. Now what to do with them? At the moment I am content to just stroke and look, but will have to think of something special as they are such wonderful colours.

Lost Photo

Somehow this photo of the backpack was disappeared from my last message. It will take me a while to get the hang of posting. This fabric was purchased in Asheville, NC. The quilt shop called the Asheville Cotton Co. was one of the best stocked shops I've been to.

New Year 2010

2010 is a new year and a new beginning to start blogging.

I have been working over the holidays not in my usual paint/paper/fiber but actually following a pattern and making handbags and a backpack. Very relaxing following a pattern and the only decisions are what fabric to use.

This backpack is made from Lazy Girl Designs Pattern. I purchased the fabric when we were in



Ashville, North Carolina.

Another Lazy Girl Design. The fabric that I used came from Japan purchased by my daughter when she was living there. I have been saving it for a while and was quite pleased with the finished product. The button, hard to see ,I know, is an old one from my stash waiting for the right time to use it.

These two bags were made as gifts one for my daughter and one for her mother-in-law.

I am presently taking a some line classes with with Maggie Grey and also Linda Monk and Carole McFee. I've given myself a bit of a holiday and plan on resuming the lessons this week. I'll post my results as I go along.

New beginnings

I am the mother of two grown children and the grandmother of twin girls. My love is working with fabric, dolls, embroidery of any kind. For the last while I have been experimenting with Mixed Media and Journaling. Starting a blogg is a giant leap into the unkown .