A Birthday Postcard

Here is my gorgeous fiber-art Birthday Postcard from my friend Liz Broussard, named "Shattered & Scattered". Besides the beautiful stitching, the sewn binding is made from painted coffee filters! Thank you Liz!

This time I'M a winner!

Robin Gisela Towner (http://artaddworksforme.blogspot.com/) had a "100th Post Giveaway" on her blog, and I won 3 wonderful pieces of her rusted fabric! Now, you all know how much I love rusted fabric, and this stuff is beautiful! I received it in yesterday's mail ... one piece from rebar, one from some very kewl keys, and even one from a rusty old firepit! Thank you so much, Gisela! (And sorry for inadvertently typing "Robin" instead of Gisela at first!!!)

The WINNER of the Name-That-Show Contest!

Since the 2008 Journal Quilts Exhibition is a juried show this year, we wanted to be able to see all the rest of them in an on-line show (on the QuiltArt List). We wanted a new name for all the wonderful quilts that either didn't get finished in time for the deadline, didn't get juried into the big Houston show, or just wouldn't be able to be there for whatever reason.

I posted a contest with a "Fabulous Prize" on the QuiltArt List for the winner of the naming contest ... and I got to choose the winning name! It was so much fun ... I received many, many entries ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous ... all of them lots of fun to read. Diane Ferguson was the hands-down winner. As soon as I read her entry ... "Braving the Elements" ... I knew it was "the one".

Then I had to scurry around and find a "Fabulous Prize" to send her! I knew it needed to be something quilt-art related, but also wanted to add something fun and funny ... so Sebastian the Sock Monkey entered the picture. Combined with a yard of my own hand-rusted cotton fabric, this was the perfect "Fabulous Prize".

Diane received the box I mailed her yesterday, and she immediately blogged about it ...

(http://yarngoddess.wordpress.com/). Here is what I Commented on her blog.

Diane, congratulations again on choosing THE best name for our on-line exhibit of Braving the Elements!

Sebastian is one of my vintage sock monkeys who has been in my collection for at least 20 years. Although beloved by me, he didn’t get along so well with the other sock monkeys (and one sock kitten). He tended to sneak up behind them and bite their tails, sometimes leading to midnight mayhem that I would discover (and have to clean up) the next morning.

So poor little Sebastian had to go. I’m so glad he found a good home with you. He is very friendly to frogs, turtles, lizards, and horned toads (if you can find any of those anymore!), but you would be wise to keep him away from any other sock monkeys. He’s a trouble-maker!

Oh yes, the rust-stained cotton fabric was made in my back yard, with some rusty old horseshoes, under the watchful eyes of some very confused mockingbirds. You have two shades of rust, due to the fold in the fabric.

Again, congratulations on your winning name! And THANK YOU!

(Diane, I "borrowed" the picture of Sebastian on the rusted fabric from your blog ... it was so much better than the one I took! I hope that's OK ...)

Floating Downstream on the Planet Jupiter

Floating Downstream on the Planet Jupiter, 6"x4", also started as a needle-felted base, with hand-dyed cheesecloth, ribbon, yarn, and wool. The little Venusian girl was separately beaded as a doll, then attached to the base. She is vacationing on Jupiter, serenely floating downstream, dreaming of a Venusian boy.

New Beginnings

New Beginnings, 4"x6", is an encrusted piece on a painted background. An original design created from a Photoshop-manipulated photo of a flower from my back yard, it ended up looking more like an egg than a flower. Either way, it reminded me of "new beginnings".

The Gift

The Gift, 4"x6", is a combination of two different projects. The original beaded doll on wire was created separately, and I had him on a little doll-stand. The background was needle-felted natural dyed shredded bark, and originally had an entirely different purpose. The two seemed to "fit" together, and became "The Gift".

The Lizard Constellation

The Lizard Constellation, 6"x4"is a painted background, beaded around a beaded button. Larkin Van Horn (http://www.larkinart.com/) taught me to bead a button, and this is a very dimensional piece ... one of my favorites.

Deep Currents

Deep Currents, 4"x6", is also a caged face cabochon. This face is ceramic rather than polymer clay, and has been in my "stuff stash" for several years, so I don't remember where I picked her up. Her veil was created with size 11 and 15 seed beeds, and surrounded by stacked beads. Almost all of the deep sea coral is made up of stacked beads, with a few Swarovski crystals thrown in for sparkle. The surface is a hand-dyed silk chiffon.

A Lunar Blessing

I thought I would add the rest of my 2007 Bead Journal Pages. This one, "A Lunar Blessing", 4"x6", started out as a machine-felted postcard. My friend Betty let me play on her embellishing machine one day, and I had a ball! After the piece was felted, though, it languished in my sewing room for want of a focal point. Once I came across the little polymer clay moon-face, I thought caging her at the center of the moon would be a lovely addition. I used my hand-dyed silk chiffon as the moon-beams, with a spattering of tiny beads added as stars.