Collaging

I found this beautiful image of the girl on Hope Wallace Karney's site Besottment. I put her over this crazy background I made. I had a bunch of tiny scraps of paper that were headed to the trash since I thought they were too small or weirdly shaped to use again. Something stopped me though and I decided to try and use them as a background. I was challenging myself to see if I could fill two pages without tearing or cutting, just using the scraps as they were. I got at least three quarters of the job done that way but then had to break down and tear the remaining pieces. I'm not saying it turned out beautifully but the challenge was fun.

You can see the crazy background on the left. I used some gesso to calm down the right side but left enough color so she had something to stand on. Check out Hope's site because she has a new really cute image available now.

Starting Over

   I'm going to be starting over in several parts of my life soon. Since I am 49 and going to be an adult soon, I need to make some changes.  More on that later this summer. This week, however, I had to start over on learning how to use a computer. After empathizing with other bloggers about being without their internet for a couple days, my computer stopped working. Actually it was my monitor that went to sleep, never to wake up again. I had a feeling lately that I needed to save pictures and other important things. I even got some new CDs to put it on but then ignored my gut and now it's too late.  Now my big lump of a desktop is sitting there with all that information in it. Big arghhhhh!!!!!!!  The good news is I didn't sit and mourn too long but went straight to Best Buy and bought a laptop. It was the cheapest thing I could find, only $349.00.  It is way cooler than my desk top but I still miss that big lug. This mouse pad is difficult to get used to and I've had some hate moments but it is getting easier.  The picture software I am used to is gone. Hopefully I'll find a way to get my pictures off my desktop that doesn't involve buying a new monitor. For now though, I need to learn about this new computer. I guess it's good for aging dogs to learn new tricks!
  Since my create time was taken up with computer issues this week, I don't have much to share with you. I did make a pillow though along with my sewing students.

This cute watermelon pattern came from the DIY Dish.  After looking at their pillow again, I see I should have made the white background smaller but it was fun to make and my sewing girls really enjoyed making it. The pattern is for the watermelon applique and I cut three inch strips of fabric to border the white background and added the red trim like the DIY girls. I also used some black beads to make watermelon seeds. It's an easy summer sewing project you might like to try.

Birdsong Tag Book Swap

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to do a tag swap. Karla Nathan is hosting it. I LOVE her blog! I was a little nervous taking it on since I had never done one before but, hey, that's how you learn! Here is what I ended up with.

I knew right away I was going to embroider something but otherwise it took me this whole time to come up with the final product. I just did a step at a time and waited until I came up with an idea for the next step. First I found this free embroidery pattern for the bird on LollyChops.com. I embroidered the birds on linen and added the musical note myself.

Then I made a branch for the birds to sit with some vintage seam tape. As I sewed, I pushed the tape towards the presser foot so it would fold over on itself and look ruffled.

Next I painted the backs of the tags purple and found a cute bird stamp at Michaels. Oh no, I didn't save the package so I don't know which company made them.

Then I stitched the linen to the tag and added a yellow bow.

Now I just need to add my name to them and send them off.  I can't wait to see the tag book I get back. It will be a while as the deadline is still a month away but when I get them I will show you. This was lots of fun to make and I'm glad I didn't chicken out and not try it.

  Are you doing something creative this weekend?? I hope so! Have fun!

June Collage Challenge

Time for another collage challenge hosted by Mary Green at Green Paper. Here is how it works. You create any piece of art using at least part of each of the 3 images provided. She always gives really great images to work with. I got a little crazy last time with the bird hats but this time I went with trying to make it pretty.

I made a background with strips of paper like I had learned from Mary in the Green Paper Collage Club. I added the Colgate ad on top and then put gesso over all of it. Then I water colored the background leaving the ad with just gesso. Then I added the other images. I cut the flowers into three pieces to spread the color around.
Check out what everyone else did with the same images by clicking here. Since I was working in my glue book, (oops, I water colored in my glue book) I put some pretties on the opposite page too.

         Thanks again, Mary, for having these challenges! I love doing them!