Coptic Stitch Book

A few days ago, my friend Martha (of The Art Girls) taught us how to bind a hand-made book with Coptic Stitch. Here are some shots of my first attempt at this method.

The front cover was stamped with one of my hand-carved stamps onto black matboard. The little book is 3.5 x 5", and 1.5" thick.

I made 10 signatures from different hand-made papers (from Texas Art Supply).

and here is the binding itself ... Coptic Stitch isn't as hard as I had thought it would be, and I'm definitely going to be making more of these.

Art Girls Beading Day

Well we really did have a Beady Day at my house on Sunday ... Honest! Only you couldn't prove it by these pictures. Gloria showed her gorgeous jacket, which was part of her ensemble that won Third Place, as well as Viewer's Choice, in the Rosenberg Cotton Fashion Show. This was fabric that she had hand-dyed, discharged, stamped, and painted. Her finishing techniques are exquisite, too.









Martha is our Tie-Dye Girl, and was checking out some of the pictures Gloria brought back from her Maine vacation with her granddaughters ... some of which we snitched to use as inspiration for fiber art.


Mary Ellen brought her collage piece to finish ... here it is without the edging finish that she added later that day. I think it's beautiful even without the finish! Below is a closeup of the collage by itself.



Patricia asked me to take a photo of the latest polymer clay bracelet I bought from her, for her portfolio. The photo isn't the greatest, but the bracelet is a show-stopper ... literally! I have people stop me all the time and ask me about it. She made it expandable, which is why it's different from most bangle bracelets. The gorgeous colors are achieved by her technique of Mokume Gane'.



And last but not least, we awarded Patricia "Best Laugh of the Day" with this photo ...



... and not a bead to be seen!

Silver Wire Wrapping

Yesterday, Martha and Patricia and I did some silver wire-wrapping to make some more funky earrings. Here are the results:



My SS triangle earrings with Toho triangle beads. I think I'll try again with a heavier wire.


Martha's pod-shaped earrings with dyed freshwater pearls. I like the size and shape of these earrings, and they will go with everything.


Patricia's arrowhead earrings with white freshwater pearls. She was concerned that they wouldn't show up with her white hair, but I think we convinced her that they are very elegant and beautiful!

In the meantime, Ann came to keep us company, and while we played with silver wire, she worked on replacements for her woven beaded bracelets that are selling like hotcakes at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery http://geraldtobola.com/coppershadetree.htm in Round Top, Texas. I wish I had a picture of one of the bracelets to show you ... will get an image next time.

Thank you, Annie, for teaching me the Spiral Rope beading technique yesterday ... I worked for many hours last night and today, and here is my finished 19" necklace:

earrings & things

On July 14, Martha and I visited Patrica at her house for a PMC (Precious Metal Clay) day ... we each made a pair of Fine Silver earrings (some of us made more!) It was easier in some ways and harder in others than you might think. Here are a few pics.


Martha & Patricia


Martha & Me


Martha's earrings ... these are actually 3 layers of silver, regardless of the gold color of this photo. Sorry this is so blurry!


Patricia used a patina on her earrings ... they turned out gorgeous!


Mine ... no patina ... I liked the matte silver look.

Clay Play Day

A few weeks ago, 4 of us Art Girls had a get-together to play with polymer clay. Patricia, our resident Mokume Gane expert (because she's done it before and was willing to teach us) came with a lesson plan and hand-outs! She even went so far as to create templates and cutting mats for us, and showed us how to make a "guillotine" for making perfectly straight and even cuts in the clay tiles and tubes.

Here are some pics from that day ...

Linda (me), Martha, Patricia, and Mary Ellen.


Martha & Mary Ellen, with ME's Diva Art Doll


Mary Ellen's Sister Shrine


Mary Ellen's Box Shrine ... for some reason, Mary Ellen was the only one with Show & Tell that day.


Our sweet teacher, Patricia.


At last! The 4 Mokume Gane Tile Bracelets ... it only took us 5 hours, LOL!

More Quilt Festival Photos

That's Sylvia Weir, making the little devil horns behind her friend's head! Sylvia introduced me to these two gals ... sisters! ... on my first day at Festival, and I really liked them ... Linda Jackson and Jackie Mauer. Wish we all lived closer together so we could party!


My very dear friends Sharon Dixon, Lynn Douglass, and Jamie Wallen (I'm squeezing in there on the right.) This was the last night after Festival, and we were all VERY tired!


Ann Meyer, Martha Harrell, Mary Ellen Hahn, Patricia Daugherty, and Gloria Kohnen ... my Art Girls! We had a wine-and-cheese party the same night as the QuiltArt Reception, so there was much hilarity!


This is what happens when you are the only one awake at 7:00 in the morning, with nothing else to do but play quietly with your new camera.