Gyotaku fish printing

While at a FiberVoices meeting last week, my friend Susan gave us a little impromptu workshop on Gyotaku fish printing.  Here is the result of my first (and, so far, only) fish print.  He's not perfect (he seems to have a double-chin), but I love him anyway.  Thank you, Susan!

Gyotaku fish print, enhanced with hand-painting.

No, we didn't use real fish!  You can buy rubber fish (cast from real fish) and other critters from Dick Blick Art Supply, as well as other places, I'm sure.

P-shoppin' with Cindy

... Photoshoppin', that is.  Cynthia (Cindy) Powell, of Digital Montage Studio, offers not only live-on-line workshops, but also downloadable versions of her earlier workshops.  Just yesterday I purchased her Workshop #4, and played with it most of the afternoon.


Here's the first piece I've created from this workshop, which includes stamping, painting, and many, many layers in Photoshop:

This involves a "stamp" made from a public-domain Erte drawing, with
a VanGogh background, imported images, and specialty brushes.

I had so much fun with this, and can't wait to get "back to the drawing board" for some more.

Rant: Is a Bone Folder really worth all of this?

OK, we all know what a bone folder looks like, right?  A very common little tool for creasing or folding paper ... used by bookbinders, scrap-bookers, and many other paper artists.

All I wanted was a little old bone folder.  So, I stopped by my local Hobby Lobby, thinking I would just run in, grab one quickly, pay for it, and run back out.  HAH!  I should have known better ... Hobby Lobby is not known for having the best (or in fact, any) customer service.

First of all, of course, there was no bone folder to be found in either the art or the craft section.  After looking and looking, then vainly searching for an employee ... any employee ... on the entire sales floor of this giant store ... I finally trudged up to the front of the store near the cash registers.

There, lounging around the area, were six ... count 'em, SIX ... Hobby Lobby employees, with nary a customer to be seen in the area, laughing and talking and having a wonderful time.  I actually had to interrupt them in order to ask for assistance.  Here's how the conversation went:

Me:  Excuse me, do any of you know where the bone folders would be?  

Them:  (Blank looks.  Confused silence.)  

Me:  You know, a bone folder, used for bookbinding, paper folding ... etc. etc. etc.  

One of Them, who was later discovered to be the Front-of-Store Manager:  Ohhhh, that flat thing that people use for flattening paper?

Me:  Yes, that's the one.

Front Manager:  Well, I don't know if we have any.

Me (After a Long Meaningful Pause):   Well, can you find out if you have any?

FM:  She (pointing) will go with you and show you where they are.

She:  I don't know where they are.

FM:  Yes you do.  They're probably with that scrap-booking stuff.

She:  OK, I'll look, but I'm not guaranteeing I can find it.

Me:  (sighing and following She, with little hope.)

Well, as you can probably guess, there was no bone folder to be found.  Upon returning to the cashier's station with the rest of my purchases (yes, I have no will power when it comes to art supplies), I began asking where the Store Manager was.  

Front Manager:  I don't know, I don't think he's here.

Me:  When will he be here?

FM:  I don't know, they usually don't come in until the afternoon.

Me:  What is his name?

FM (looking shifty-eyed):  I don't know, they keep changing all the time.

Me:  Can you tell me why you have 6 employees up here at the front ... with no customers to be waited on ... and none in the rest of the store to assist customers?

FM (smiling nastily):  I don't know, I'm only the front-of-store manager.  Why didn't you just come up to the front here and I could have sent someone back to help you?

Me (incredulously):  Are you kidding me?

Now, I fully recognize that this little Front-of-Store Manager didn't have any real authority, and that she was just following the rules set down by Upper Management.  Nevertheless, I was trying to get her to understand that I would like my complaints passed up to the next level.  She chose to take the offensive tack, however, by blaming me for not trekking up to the front in order to track down an employee for assistance all the way on the other side of the store.

About this time, one of the Very Valuable Up-Front Employees (the one who stands slack-jawed at the front door to "greet" customers) chose this moment to roll her eyes expressively to one of her co-workers.  Unfortunately, I caught her doing it, and promptly called her on it to the Manager ... who looked me straight in the eye and said, "she wan't doing it about you, she was doing it about someone else."  Yeah.  Right.

As our conversation was getting louder and louder (the woman was actually arguing with me), an older gentleman walked up behind me and asked for the return of his backpack.  When the woman very condescendingly assured him that it was "tucked away, safe and sound", he asked, very politely, why he even needed to surrender it when he came into the store.  When she explained that it was to prevent shoplifting, he (again, very politely) asked if his backpack was any bigger than his wife's shoulder purse.

 

At this point, I was already so mad that I told the manager and everybody else within a half-block's hearing distance that it was an INSULT to their customers to automatically assume that they were thieves, depending on the type and size bag they bring into the store.  

Whereupon, the gentleman and I grandly (and I'm sure, hilariously) stomped out of the store together, swearing never to return.

I'll seriously not be going back to Hobby Lobby ... I'll happily drive a little further and give my business to Michael's.

 

I'm also writing a letter to CEO David Green ... it all comes from the top down, of course, and this Ostentatiously Christian Business has decided it's OK to blatantly insult its customers by assuming that they are shoplifters.

Not to mention never having enough (or any) employees on the sales floor to assist customers.  Ever.

 

Can you tell I'm royally P.O.'d?

 

OK, I'm going to go bind my quilt now.  Maybe sitting nice and quiet in my Big Comfy Chair and hand-stitching the binding will lower my blood pressure.  Wish me luck.

Crown Royal, anyone?

My friend Sharon Dixon, of Katy T-Shirt Quilts, has done what I had always thought was impossible ... she actually made a beautiful Crown Royal quilt!

Crown Royal Quilt, double-bed size

People have been trying to make quilts from the pretty little Crown Royal liquor bags for many years, and I had never seen one that was very nice.  For one thing, the bags are not manufactured with the intent that they be used as anything other than marketing tools to sell the liquor, and therefore are not what we would call "quilt-shop quality" fabric.  For another, people who have tried to make quilts from them generally just try to sew them all together to make a quilt top ... not usually a pretty sight.

Sharon, however, has used her quilt-making skills to actually create a lovely quilt top that happens to incorporate the Crown Royal bags without overwhelming the design of the quilt.  She first purchases two different fabrics to match or harmonize with the bags, then stabilizes the bag fabric before piecing them into her quilt-top design.  She quilts with an overall design on her longarm quilting machine, and hand-binds the quilt for a beautiful finish.

detail of Crown Royal quilt

What do you think?  Isn't this the prettiest Crown Royal quilt you can imagine?  She made this first one to order, and will also make custom sizes if you visit her Etsy shop.  I just had to brag on her here, as I think this one is very unique.  Now I wish I'd saved all my Grandpa's old Crown Royal bags!

Photoshoppin'

I've been taking another on-line class with Cynthia (Cindy) Powell, and learned so much from it.  Here are a couple of images that I played with, to create some Photoshopped collages:

"I Remember Mama"
This was for playing with Layers and drop-shadows.

"Musical Baby"
This was a quickie, done just for learning a different method of creating a shadow.

"Mystery Girl"
This was my most complex collage in the class, made up of
two different faces, changing colors, adding layers and brushes, and
creating a complex background.  It's my favorite, of course!

If you think you might be interested, check it out.  (No affiliation, just a happy student.)  Called "Collaged Illusions", it is supposed to be for beginners, but even having been self-taught in Photoshop Elements and used it for years, I couldn't believe how much I learned from it.

Now I can't wait to find time to play with what I've learned so far!

A Valentine

Look what I received from Maggie Hunt ... an adorable collaged Valentine that I won in her blog giveaway.  Thank you, Maggie, I love it!

ONE page from the ONE fundraiser

Just to give you a little taste, I've selected some of my favorites (in no particular order) from the ONE Cause, ONE Wednesday, ONE Hundred Collages fundraiser.

Be sure to be there with your finger on the SEND key, at 10:00 a.m. CST -- that's THIS morning ... to place your bid to win one of the 100 collages by one of these artists.  (Bidding instructions are on Virginia Spiegel's ONE page, via the link above.)  Remember ... 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE, as your donation will go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Here's what you've been waiting for ... your TEASER for some of the collages that will be available.  Bid quick, or you may miss your favorite!

Bluebird - Judy Coates Perez

Escarabajo 2 - Jane Davila

Brazen - Lyric Kinard

Cottonwood Leaves 1 - Cynthia St. Charles

Peace - Karen Stiehl Osborn

Movin' On 2 - Wen Redmond

Passage - Laura Cater-Woods

Picasso Revisited - Pamela Allen

Remembering You - Jane Dunnewold

St. Pete Lace 8 - Natalya Aikins

Renewal 1 - Jeanelle McCall

Sentry III - Laura Beehler

Silence - Leslie Tucker Jenison

Still Waters 5 - BJ Parady

Traveling Companions - Linda Teddlie Minton

Sweet Tea House - Jamie Fingal

Three Birds - Gloria Hansen

Float Down - Virginia Spiegel

To Be a Fly on the Wall - Pokey Bolton

Yellow Circles 2 - Liz Berg

Written in Stone 10 - Jette Clover

Ice Cube Dyeing

Carol Tackett, of the QuiltArt list, has been experimenting with something new ... ice cube dyeing.  Here are some of her results, along with her comments:

These are the results of ICE CUBE dyeing.  I used ice cube trays and froze the dyes that were very concentrated with urea.

I put a wet soda soaked piece of fabric on a dye table, placed the ice cubes randomly around on top of the fabric, then place another piece of wet soda soak fabric over the top.

I used a hammer to break the cubes up just slightly, covered with plastic and allowed to sit and "batch".  It was quite cold outside, in the high 40's and the table is in the shade.  I left it all day.  These are the results.

The heavier dyed side is the bottom piece of fabric and the lighter piece with more white areas was the top fabric.

I need to do more experimenting but this is the first attempt.

Thanks, Carol, for sharing these results with us ... verrrrry interrrresting!

All 5 fiber/mixed-media collages

I thought it might be helpful to show, in one place, all 5 of my fiber / mixed-media collages that will be included in Virginia Spiegel's ONE fundraiser for the American Cancer Society (ONE Cause, ONE Wednesday, ONE Hundred Collages).

Traveling Companions

Heat Source

In Search Of

The Reach

The Wanderer

Please go to Virginia's blog posting for "Tips and Techniques" on bidding for your favorite artwork.  And remember that the opening bid amounts are only minimums ... since this is a 100% tax-deductible fundraiser, higher amounts are certainly accepted and encouraged.  Here's a brief summary of how it will work:

On Wednesday, February 16, ONE Hundred Collages will be offered with a minimum donation for each collage of:

$160 for two hours (10 a.m. – Noon CST)
$80 for two hours (Noon – 2:00 p.m. CST)
$40 for two hours (2:00 – 4:00 p.m. CST)

Have fun!

Heat Source

We're getting close!  Virginia Spiegel's ONE fundraiser for the American Cancer Society (ONE Cause, ONE Wednesday, ONE Hundred Collages) is happening next week!

Here is my fifth piece going up for grabs on Wednesday, February 16 ...

Heat Source

Heat Source, and the other four pieces (seen in earlier posts) are a part of my Journey Series, exploring new ideas, techniques, and personal philosophies.  Although these 5 pieces were created in a concentrated frenzy of creativity, I am also continuing the series in different formats.  There is much left to explore!

All 5 pieces are mounted on 8"x10" 140-lb. watercolor paper, titled and signed, and ready for framing if desired.

I think we have all been touched by cancer in our selves, our families, or our friends, and Virginia has done a tremendous job in raising so much for research and treatment through the ACS.  I don't donate money to many causes, and can't afford to donate my artwork at all ... except through Virginia and her efforts.  In recent years, Karen Stiehl Osborn has also been working tirelessly with her for the Cause.

I want to thank both Virginia and Karen, from the bottom of my heart.  Through them, I've not only been able to make a meaningful contribution to a cause near and dear to my heart, but have also been able to start and nourish a small collection of artwork by my favorite fiber artists.

To quote from Virginia's own website for the ONE Fundraiser:

One Hundred Collages – Created for this event by an all-star team of artists: Natalya Aikens, Pamela Allen, Laura Ann Beehler, Liz Berg, Pokey Bolton, Laura Cater-Woods, Jette Clover, Jane Davila, Jane Dunnewold, Jamie Fingal, Gloria Hansen, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Lyric Kinard, Jeanelle McCall, Linda Teddlie Minton, Karen Stiehl Osborn, BJ Parady, Judy Perez, Wen Redmond, Cynthia St. Charles, Virginia A. Spiegel.


Please join us for an exciting event of art viewing and collecting, on Wednesday, February 16.  Don't miss it!

Sharon Dixon, Guest Quilter

Sharon's on the right, and that's me on the left ... 2009.
(We simply must take a more recent shot.)
Thanks, Cathy, for sending me this picture!

My very dear friend Sharon Dixon has agreed to appear as my Guest Quilter today.  She is a wonderful machine quilter, with a business in longarm quilting for quilt-top makers, as well as creating one-of-a-kind t-shirt quilts for her customers, called Katy T-Shirt Quilts .  She uses a special soft interfacing so that her t-shirt quilts come out nice and soft ... "real" quilts, not stiff and icky like some I've seen.  She has also now opened a new Etsy store to sell her own pieced quilts.  She has many customers from across the world.

Sharon's funky new layout design for t-shirt quilts

Interview with Sharon Dixon:

Sharon, how did you get involved in quilting, and how long have you been quilting as a business?

I can thank my mother for my quilting career.  She taught me a love of fabric and quilting at a young age.  After making my first quilt at age nine, I pieced and hand-quilted several quilts through the years.  Then when I discovered rotary cutters and rulers around 1989, I became a prolific piecer.  Since there was no time to get the quilts hand-quilted, I had to explore other options.  My husband Tommy sold a tractor he refurbished and gave me the money to buy my first quilting machine.  By 1996, I was quilting for others.  I hadn't really planned to start a business.  It just evolved from a part-time hobby to a full-time business. 

The simplest t-shirt layout.

Do you still piece quilts?  How do you manage your time in order to be both creative and a successful businesswoman?

I'm usually so busy piecing T-shirt quilts or other special order quilts for customers that I don't find much time to piece or quilt my own.  But I try to sneak in one of my own every so often.  Time management is my biggest challenge.  It's so easy when one is self-employed at home to get distracted and not use time wisely.  But I try to work all morning and then take a two-hour break in the afternoon to rest and re-energize before working until about 8:00 or so at night.  It helps a lot that I love what I do.  And I have to admit that I don't follow a rigid schedule every day of the week.  Having flexibility to spend time with my grandkids and quilting friends is important to me.  I would be remiss if I didn't credit my husband Tommy with a great deal of my success because he does so much to help me which allows me time to concentrate on my quilting business.. 

A very cool pieced layout for t-shirts.

What awards/ribbons have you won, and what publications have you appeared in?

I've won several ribbons in the West Houston Quilter's Guild quilt shows, but the one I was most excited about was the Judge's Choice ribbon.  I've been fortunate to have quilts that I quilted for Bonnie Blue Quilts appear in McCall's Quilting Magazine and on the cover of Quilt Mania, a French quilting magazine that is published in several languages.  Cynthia Regone's book Colorful Quilts, A Journey Through Fabric featured several quilts that I quilted for her.  And four quilts that I quilted were published in Simple Strategies for Block Swap Quilts by Lynn Roddy Brown.  I have been told that Lynn is releasing another book in August that will have my quilting in it, and another Bonnie Blue quilt will be appearing in a magazine this spring. 

  

A t-shirt quilt made for the AWTY International School auction.

What advice do you have for customers who have never taken their quilt-tops to a longarm quilter to be finished?

The most important advice would be to find a reputable longarm quilter.  One does not instantly become a professional machine quilter when she purchases her first quilting machine.  It takes practice to develop longarm skills as well as customer service skills.

Texas Aggie t-shirt quilt

What would you do with a year free to do what you wanted with no responsibilities or financial concerns?

I would spend more time with my grandkids and maybe take each of them on a special trip.  I would also do some traveling with my husband and quilting friends.  But most of the year would probably be spent piecing and quilting my own quilts!

One of Sharon's own pieced quilts ... gorgeous!

Thank you, Sharon, for being my guest today ... 

Detail of the quilt shown above.

Please visit both Sharon's Etsy Store and her Katy T-Shirt Quilts website, for contact information and to find out about having your own t-shirt quilt made.  I sleep under one of mine every night, and have others as lap quilts and guest quilts.  The best use of old-and-treasured t-shirts EVAH!