Fabric On-Line Class-Free

I came across an exciting opportunity for everyone who likes to sew or create with fabric this morning and I would like to share it with you. Elizabeth (Liz) Kettle, Ruth Chandlers and two other co-authors book: Fabric Embellishing is now available, but these ladies are also offering free on-line classes, based on the techniques found in their books. They are hosting this free class at their forum  If you are interested in doing some fabric weaving, that is the first weeks lesson. Check it out!  Sounds like lots of fun and since I love to do surface designing with fabrics and thread I hope to create a fabric altered book during these weekly classes.
The first week lesson was to weave strips of fabric and here is my little sample.  The second part of the lesson was to create free-form flowers but I didn't have time to do that.  If you go to the forum and look for the Week 1 Photos, you'll see what everyone has shared.  

On-Line Free Class

As some of you know, I have been wanting to learn how to do some basic watercolor painting and recently I was sent a link to sign up for a free water color class that is being taught on-line. I have participated in other on-line live classes before and found them to be totally entertaining, so I thought I would pass this information on to my followers. I hope you will join me in learning some of the basics of watercolor painting-here is the link:
Watercolor Class

Metal Pendant Workshop

I am having way too much fun creating some very unique, mixed metal pendants, thanks to Toni who is hosting this workshop for us over on our Yahoo group. Come join the fun! Link is in the sidebar. I used a variety of things, little screws, Tim Holts' swivel clasps and a small hinge. A star charm and some vintage brass. The old dirty metal behind the star is one I received in a trade a couple of years ago from Amber Dawn (Hi!) and it's been sitting around just waiting for me to get motivated. This piece kind of looks like a door knocker, huh? Two more to go, one for myself, one for the swap we are having on LT and one for a give-away right here on my blog. Stay tuned!

We are also hosting our Halloween ATC swap this month along with our Halloween Charm swap. For the next three months we will be hosting some fun, new challenges for the Holidays. Hope you will join us for some creative fun!

New Workshop for July

Poly Clay Pendants will be our featured workshop for the month of July on The Latest Trends Yahoo Group. To join us, click the link in the sidebar. This is one of the pendants, (I call it: "Grunge") that I made as a sample for this workshop. I love the addition of using wire with the clay, it adds so much contrast.

Digital Tutorials

Do you have the digital software, but don't know how to get started creating digital collages? Come join us at The Latest Trends yahoo group, link in sidebar. We are into our 2nd lesson, adding texture to virtual solid color papers and our next lesson is how to create brushes. The image posted here, is a work in progress and the lessons are basics only, but you will be able to play with your software, have fun and learn some easy clicks of the buttons.

Wax Workshop

Here is one of several finished pieces from the wax workshop that I am currently teaching on the Latest Trends group. There is still time to join us! This was created on a 5" x 7" clayboard substrate, with alcohol ink background and a laser print transfer. I used the white beeswax instead of the natural honey color, but that was just my preference at the time.

Encaustic Wax Workshop

I will be teaching a free wax workshop on the Latest Trends on March 13th. This week we will be prepping our substrates and the list of supplies has been posted. If you've always wanted to learn to do some fun techniques with wax, here's your chance. Learn to incise the wax, add image transfers, inks, embellishments, rub-ons, etc. The book I used for inspiration is: Encaustic Wax by: Patricia Seggebruch which is just full of mini workshops using wax. A must have book for your private library of reference materials.

Tuesday-Feb. 24th

Zeb will be teaching a new workshop on using wax with recycled glass bottles! So go join the Latest Trends group, (link above) gather up all your wax supplies, a couple of glass bottles (ball jars, wine bottles, flower vases, etc.) and join in the fun!
I will be teaching another wax workshop in March, using "Encaustic Wax" by: Patricia Seggebruch as a reference. We will be exploring various materials in combination with wax. Hope you will join us for these learning experiences. As always, our workshops are free to our members. You just need the necessary supplies which most artists have already!

Are you ready for another fun workshop?

Over on the Latest Trends, Peggy G. will be conducting a new workshop on friday, "Painting on Denim" and you won't want to miss this! Peggy is a published artist who has been featured in Belle Armoire several times, as well as several other Somerset Publications. This workshop is free to all members, you just have to puchase your supplies. (Acrylic paints & something made out of denim- which you probably already have!) In an earlier post, I shared a denim jacket that I was working on, well, I'm still working on it but hope to get it finished this weekend during Peggy's workshop. The felting on the back was done with the embellishing machine and organza was quilted over the top in the center panel. There is a pair of painted jeans (June 2007) that were done with a stencil of the alphabet & a can of spray paint!

New Workshop

Eileen is teaching a new workshop "Sewn Hearts" today on the Latest Trends. It can be either fabric or paper. I chose to work with paper but may give fabric a try later. I started with her template, a 6" x 6" heart and cut out the timetex to use for the base. I found some thick, heavy embossed wall-paper to use as my background which is a perfect vintage patina of light cream. I also found some scraps of a tissue paper I had made last month, which I embossed with the cuttlebug. I stitched these pieces on and decided to add lace as the next layer. This was left-over from an early project as well. I love the fact that I can use up these scraps that were worth saving! Stay tuned for the next layer!

New Workshops

We are gearing up over on the Latest Trends group to bring you some fun and exciting Halloween Projects this year! The ATC & Charm Swaps are underway already, (There's still time to join up!) but the workshops will begin on Oct. 5th! Elizabeth will be doing a week long workshop with a theme for the Day of the Dead, followed by my 6 Halloween gift-home decor projects in 6 days, followed by Lesley's week long, Halloween Clock. You won't want to miss any minute of these fun filled creative workshops. This photo shows one of the bonus projects you will get if you do my workshop! Remember, we do not require you to make any purchases other than your necessary supplies, but we also encourage you to use what you have available and as always, our workshops on the Latest Trends are always free! Come join the fun!

Gameboard Workshop!

Over at the Latest Trends, we are hosting a gameboard book workshop on August 14th! Pam will be teaching us how to cut game boards, bind and embellish. I hope you will join us! The link is above. Here are just a few game boards I found in my stash that I had purchased from a local thrift store. What's in your stash?

New Workshop!

I am gearing up to teach another workshop next month on "Photo Manipulation" using mostly inkjet photos, but there will be a few other types of photos thrown in for fun! Original professionally printed photos as well as techniques for cropping magazine photos. This workshop will actually be 4 mini-workshops with lots of room for experimentation. So come and join us at The Artists Circle or the Latest Trends in Mixed Media..links above!

Workshop Assignment

For our March assignment in the Celebrate your Creative Self book, we were to create a mountainscape using various types of paper, gesso and paints. I'm liking this, but....I think it needs a tree or something to give it some interest. Anyway, it has been a challenge and I am learning a lot about water colors. Definitely outside my comfort zone! Next month we will be creating a seascape, well, I've already finished that one, just waiting to find the perfect embellishment for it. Stay tuned, I'll be posting it soon...

Bonding Angelina Fibers

This picture shows a pile of angelina fibers, approximately 1/2" thick, ready to be fused together, using heat. There are some angelina fibers called "flash" that do not bond together, however, if you purchased some of these, mix them up with the bondable fibers to incorporate them.

This is what the angelina fibers look like after it they been pressed with a hot iron..if you heat these fibers for too long, they will lose their shine, so when you are applying the heat, place a piece of parchment paper over the fiber covered stamp and press firmly on the iron for 15-20 seconds and remove the heat.

Here is the almost finished picture frame I created using the pressed angelina fibers...it's waiting for a picture of my GD's first birthday party, with her wearing her "Princess Tiara"

Workshop Assignment

In our second lesson using the book Celebrate Your Creative Self by Mary Todd Beam, the use of white space was the challenge. I have to admit, I struggled with this challenge because I am a primitive folkart painter with no concept of dimension to speak of...I also do not feel comfortable using very wet paints, as I feel I have no control..which I proved to myself I was wrong! I am very pleased with the results and will continue adding more and more depth via shading...This drawing was originally intended for an art quilt but I never got around to actually making the quilt. I may have to reconsider the possiblities....

I should call this one "The Domino Effect" as I noticed the very top adobe looks as if it will fall over....LOL!