artfiberfest, part deux

OK, now onto the goodies that I purchased! The first three photos are of a beautiful assemblage made by Tracie Lyn Huskamp - it was one of the items in the ArtFiberFest gallery where artists can submit their work for show and/or for sale; as you can see this year's theme was birds and/or nests. I met Tracie Lyn at ArtFest and because we both participated in the art quilt swap that my friend Shari hosted. She is a very sweet and talented woman and I'm glad I got the chance to talk to her about this particular piece: it's made from lots of vintage items including a glove box (as in a place for a lady to store her handgloves!), lace, and a buckle. The nest was from a friend of hers who found it in a tree in her yard that was being trimmed. The former bird occupants were nowhere to be found, and Tracie Lyn adopted the nest and incorporated it into her artwork. What a wonderful job she did, not only to preserve, but also to honor this symbol of home, love, and comfort.

The next photo is of two bracelets from my friend Lisa, who makes gorgeous jewelry. The one on top was displayed in the AFF gallery and the other was one that I asked her to make for me while we were at ArtFest in April. Aren't they both fabulous? Note the charms that she made by hand from Precious Metal Clay - just beautiful! Next is Mr. Chicken Leg from Tiphoni, the very talented daughter of the very talented Teesha and Tracy (who are the ones who put on ArtFest and ArtFiberFest every year). I couldn't resist this little needle-felted guy - I love him! And the last photo is a beautiful pin I bought from Mary (see previous post for more on Mary) - her embroidery is incredible.

The pocketbook is a little thinner, but it was well worth it!!

artfiberfest, part 1

Had a great time at ArtFiberFest...it was fabulous to be around such inspiring teachers and participants! I took three classes, the first two were taught by Mary Stanley who is a wonderfully generous and talented person. The top photo is from her Wild and Wooly Rug Hooking class - she made all these beautiful hooked flower pins for each student to take home - wasn't that sweet of her! The middle photo is my project from the class; after about 12 hours of work both during and after class, this 6" by 4" heart was all I was able to finish. I still want to fill in around the heart and need to decide what to make it into...pillow, journal cover, wallhanging? The bottom photo is from Mary's Painting with Fiber class and it was supposed to be a warm-up project but I spent the entire class working on it - I'm very slow! This little "merit badge" pin is about 1.5" in diameter. My third class was Whimsical Winged Art Doll taught by Kate Lyon, another very sharing and talented teacher. I'll post a photo when I complete my doll.

on my way to artfiberfest

I am off to ArtFiberFest for a few days. One last family portrait before these little Voodoo Monster pincushions go find new homes. Hmmm...do the toothy ones look too much like walruses?

still recovering...

from a strange one-day fever so here's an art journal page from a few months ago...

journal page

funky pincushions

OK, since this blog is supposed to have some of my artwork on it, I thought I'd better post this photo of what I'll be working on in the next week: my trades for ArtFiberFest They are little pincushions - the one on the right I'm calling my Voodoo Monster Pincushion/Stress Reliever. I can't believe the event is only a week away - I'm really looking forward to my classes, seeing old friends, and making new ones.

memories of paris

How cool is this historic cobbled pedestrian street in the 6th off Blvd St-Germain? It's called Cour Du Commerce St-Andre. The restaurant halfway down the street on the left, Le Procope, claims to be the oldest in Paris and the first cafe, opened in 1686.

ooo la la

Here's a selection of vintage Parisian goodies purchased on our trip - sorry the photo isn't very good. These were all from the Porte de Vanves flea market and a bouquiniste on the Left Bank. I didn't get too many of those keys because we didn't know if we could make it through airport security with them in our carry-ons (we ended up checking a bag so it turns out I could have gotten more!) My favorite finds are the little metal keyhole plate and the 1939 agenda. The other items are a hardbound notebook with handwritten text, a small book with printed script, velvet ribbon, and postcards.

back-at-home blues

Feeling so blahhh after returning from our trip to Europe. Too tired to get out a pen and journal today...decided to start this blog since my typing can better keep up with my thoughts. Had a page on Yahoo 360, but that was attracting weirdos. Hoping this will be better and allow me to connect with other people's blogs, too. So anyway, our trip was so fabulous that it was a bit of a letdown to return home. Not that I didn't love picking the dogs up from the kennel and having them with us again (they seemed much happier, too).

This is the first time I've gone somewhere far away and not wanted to go home. I haven't figured out what that means. Haven't properly digested everything yet. For now, here's a photo of part of the inside of Antoni Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia which has been under construction in Barcelona since 1882! Isn't it wild?

Thanks for listening whoever's out there. I'm feeling a little better already.