MARIE E LA PAYSANNE CUFF SWAP



I've just taken part in a CUFF SWAP . It's the first time I've made a cuff and I think I've found a new way to destress at the end of the day. I tea dyed the top layers and used some old upholstry fabric for the lower layer. Bit mad that I went wonky whilst machining but practice makes perfect as they say.

Definately love crafting in the fibre sector at the moment....not missing my mixed media, as you can only have too much of a good thing...working with ATCs is enough for me at the moment with my favourite group and artists ATCS FOR ALL.

Time to plan my next cuff.
ciao
crafty

CATCHING UP



Catching up with my squares for the 39 squares sew along, these are days 11 - 13.
ciao
joan

DAYS 8 & 9



39 SQUARES days 8 & 9 , day 8 slightly off line ...I had the hiccups !!!
ciao
joan

PERSONAL NOTEBOOK JOURNAL SWAP







These have been done for a swap on ATCs For All, using mixed media and collage techniques on 300lb paper measuring 4.25" X 5.5".

MIXED MEDIA.



Combination of organza, nappy liners, acrylic paint and freestyle sewing.
Nappy liners are heated with an iron or heat gun in some areas until they start to melt, then painted and then freestyle sewn onto the organza.

To see in more detail click on images, as you can't really see them all that well on the above scanned images.

Not finished as I still have to add one or two layers of chiffon and then some more freestyle sewing.
learnt this technique some years back by a Janet Clarke, definately need to play more on the fibre art side of life.
ciao
joan

39 SQUARES



Days 6 & 7 for the 39 SQUARES stitchalong by Amy
Have been doing satin stitch ( I call it my strangling stitch !!!!!!) to try and improve ..still have to practice but almost there, at least the little bird looks alive and well !!!
For those of us who want to improve and learn more in the world of embroidery here's a nice blog to learn some stitches called STITCH SCHOOL
Am really enjoying this as it's not overwhelming like having to do a big project, that I usually start and get fed up with and becomes a UFO which eventually sees the light of day many years later............like doing my sampler quilt started 10 years ago and now I've just got it out again to finish thanx to doing these squares.....

I've actually put my beloved mixed media art, mainly paper on hold !!! I've fallen in love with fibres again..........me thinks it's time to combine the two once again.
ciao
crafty

s39 SQUARES PROJECT



I decided to take part in this daily project by Amy on the blog 39 squares she has set up for this project. As she's celebrating her birthday she decided to do 39 squares, I've decided to do mine as 51 squares to represent each year of my life .....let's hope I finish.

I have tried embroidery on many different occassions but am a very bad embroiderer, even my sister-in-law in Sicily a professional embroiderer who embroiders bed linens, towels etc for a living, has tried to teach me but unfortunately without much success, the problem..............I'm too heavy handed and these delicate looking stitches look as if they have been strangled by me !!!!! I'm Ok doing stitcheries as they use very basic stitches.

So after seeing this project on Amy's blog I thought 39 little 1" X 1" squares will be a greyt little project to do without feeling over whelmed, doing a little square each day.

I'm into the world of fibers at the moment, have let my mixed media slump a little as after many years of doing it, I feel I need to go in a new direction for a little while.

I've posted days 1 - 5 together as I started a little late.

ciao ciao
crafty

Just luv the outfits of these gals in the photo especially the boleros have been surfing the net on blogs and e bay relating to the 1930's - 60's trying to get more info about vintage sewing patterns ,I have a nice little collection at home but have previously used them in my mixed media art but now I would like to get them to try and make some outfits as buying vintage outfits here can be very expensive and to have them sent from abroad costs even more, mind you I recently bought some 1950s Harrod's shoes from e-,all for the grand sum of 15 euros

I've always been interested in the music and film musicals of these times, I just adore Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly can watch them for hours, and oh those women that looked and behaved like delicate creatures dressing in such wonderful flowing clothes. One problem though........ the dress sizes of the women in those times !!! my what small busts and tiny waists... am having a problem trying to find patterns in my size 18 - 20, luckily some of the sewing pattern companies produce repro vintage patterns and sometimes go up to size 24 and . I'm also trying to do more arts and crafts from these times to.... so when I say MANY YEARS AGO I will mean MANY YEARS AGO !!!

This afternoon I went to see my favourite swinging band THE GOOD FELLAS at the opening of the American Graffiti Fast Food in Forlimpopoli FC. Greyt music, greyt people, vintage cars and the guys'n'gals in their vintage clothing dancing boogie woogie just FAB .
If they ever happen to be in your area go and see them you won't be sorry.

Wish I were younger and had the figure asI would love to have the courage to dress up in pencil skirts, sheath dresses ecc,... the patterns I'm trying to find are more adaptable to my age and size !!!....mind you I am learning boogie woogie and lindy hop (swing) and am enjoying every minute of it even if it does leave me out of puff!!!

One greyt retro blog came across is TALES OF A RETRO MODERN HOUSEWIFE, she has some greyt sections , my favourite is A PICTURE AND A QUOTE section. She would love to hear from other Italian bloggers as she would love some advice on Italian cooking.

I'm learning a lot from these retro blogs and the philosophy of the family and the housewife in those times, I think we should all try and adopt at least one of the things every now and then. My favourite reading has been about how families lived on rations during WWII, especially in the UK, how woman dyed their legs with tea and drew a line up the back of their legs to resemble silk stockings when they would go out.how they took over from the men in the factories ecc ecc, would love to do some research and find out what happened here in Italy in those times.

ah well time to come back to the real world and go and wash the dishes !!!!

cheerio for
joan

ALISA BURKE ...THANK YOU ...THANK YOU ...THANK YOU.

The generous Alisa Burke had a new year giveaway on her blog, she was offering 5 of her online workshops and..................................I was chosen for one of them, this is the first time I've ever been picked for a giveaway etc and the course I've chosen is the RECYCLING REMIX online workshop as this year I want to go more GREEN with my choices for my art .

This couldn't have come at a better time and has cheered me up no end after all the personal problems of 2009.... I'm so appreciative of kind people and it's nice to know that they still exist in this mad world we live in.

IMPORTANT NEWS............on Alisa's blog
As she could only offer 5 courses on her giveaway on Wednesday the 13th she is offereing $10.00 discount on all her online courses.

looking forward to doing the course
ciao a very happy crafty

SILVER WEDDINGS,

Next year in 2010, there are a lot of silver weddings being celebrated mainly my old school friends in the Uk, mine included.

One of them has decided to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary by walking up the aisle again and sayin " I DO " and after the wedding the wedding breakfast/ party will be celebrated in the style of the year 1985.

I have been extended an invitation, would love to go and if I do I hope it'll be better than the last wedding I went to..............first time I couldn't wait to get away from a celebration , food was bland , beverages scarse, company not the best and the music you couldn't even hear !!!.

I've been making some gifts for my friends, some crochet doilies as that's what I was crafting in 1985 , using very fine Sicilian crochet thread and a very tiny crochet hook mainly 0.75 mm or 0.8mm and sometimes 1.25mm. Need to wash the beige one as someone decided to put their cup of tea on it !!!!!

and some sterling silver earrings.....now to decide who gets what

I'm pleased with the way they have turned out as It's been ages since I've crafted any of these as I've been mainly concentrating on the mixed media sector. Think I will make these on a more regular basis as it was very relaxing.
I'm now making granny squares, don't know whether to make a blanket, slippers, pot holders or a waistcoat. I've also started knitting some winter jumpers , they knit up in a day as you use one big needle and one small needle. I originally bought the patterns in 1982, they are called odd pins.
Here it used to get up people's nose ( probably still does !!! ) when I used to say I used to do that years ago....but if we look around all those old crafts are coming back into fashion. I learnt to knit and crochet when I was 6 years old and we also learnt to knit and sew in junior school .....even the boys .....greyt times.

Zetti ATCs for various swaps.

ART JOURNAL PAGES are almost finished, last time I blogged about these pages they were just finished backgrounds ready for journalling on.



This is a Zetti journal page, have alway loved teesha moore's zetti art. Collage images are by crowabout you can get them from her etsy shop.




collage images by itkupilli.

ciao
crafty

GRUNGY MICROSCOPE SLIDES.

FRONT

BACK

Some handmade grungy microscope slides made using vintage digital images, transfer images and collaged between glass microscope slides.
These aren't finished yet as I've yet to decide the final outcome:- necklace, brooch or bookmarker.
ciao
crafty

Alisa Burke Christmas tutorials.



One for a Christmas Wreath



and a Christmas Tree dec 02.12.2009



and a felt hat

ART JOURNAL PAGES.

The above are some pages I've prepared ready to work in my art journal. I've used acrylic paints - opaque and metalic colours, water colour crayons, vintage book pages, masking tape, gel medium and vintage digital images.

FAT YELLOW


This is a 4" X 4" art squared, chunky page or fat page. The images I have used are from a digital collage sheet by lisa's altered art. The collage sheet costs $1.00 yes $1.00, She has different colour collage sheets listed and other themes for this price, they are listed under the NEW section.

Last night I couldn't sleep so I stayed up and made 6 fat pages and 2 skinny pages with these collages sheets, so it looks like a colour fat book is in the making.

have a happy day and enjoy yourself
hugs
joan in Italy

PS
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SWAP THIS FOR ANOTHER YELLOW FAT PAGE , PLEASE E-MAIL ME IN PRIVATE.

CHRISTMAS CHEER

Some ATCs, twinchies and inchies made for a swap on atcs for all .
Images are by lisa's altered art.

Christmas gifts this year.......that my family will have peace and serenity.

But and a big but if I had to choose one gift I would choose an online workshop but the problem is ......which one ? there are now so many to choose from I don't know where to start. I first took an online worlshop with suzi blu almost 18 months ago, and, thouroughly recommend it, I have done some others with well known artists, wyanne, willowing and again, thoroughly loved them but now ..............well where do you start?.....
There are so many and people and groups I've never heard of and now a lot of people are asking prices that I think are just a little OTT ( over the top ) for what they are offering and a lot of courses are more or less offering the same thing with just a little change on something so they can call it different.
As they say in Italian "hanno spuntato come i funghi " they've grown like mushrooms ( fungus), they are even being offered here in Italy too, ..... PORCINI MUSHROOMS !!!!!! LOL
take care
hugs
crafty joan

Rent an art & craft video.
http://www.artworkshops.tv

AJ page...............hey I'm letting go.

Another page from my art journal a Suzi Blu influenced page.
I'm hoping my daughter will be able to adopt these words and hopefully applicate them to herself.
Next week will be the 2nd anniversary of her boyfriend's death , and the last two years she hasn't been in love with life, she's hardly laughed and she hasn't smelt the flowers only weeds that have been suffocating her as they do with the flowers.


Let's hope a new chapter of her life will start soon just as a new page in my new art journal and this page I have also dedicated to her but also to me as I need to have a little bit more faith in myself. I'm good at helping other people take that leap but have noticed that once they have lept they don't encourage me to do the same and just leave me hanging there, so maybe it's time for me to take the leap...................but say the net doesn't appear ??? !!!!

ciao
crafty joan