Second Floor Challenge



Today is another Second Floor Challenge from Julie and Nathalie.

EMBOSSING POWDER.

http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2012/09/second-floor-challenge-9-embossing-powder.html

 I hadn't used my embossing supplies in at least 10 years.
I thought I would use the back of an altered children's book.
Good and sturdy.




I started out by stamping the squares and sprinkling the powder....




......but after the heat, parts of it were still ooey-gooey and runny.




I sprinkled more powder and heated it again and it was okay, not great, just okay.

 I used markers and inks and colored it some more.
I am still not done with it but I am putting it to the side
for another day. It is still slippery....
maybe it just needs to dry more.
Do I like it? The jury is still out on that decision.

So then I tried the embossing powders with gesso.

I think that's what Nat did.

http://nathaliesstudio.com/2012/09/18/second-floor-challenge-9-embossing-powder/

And I had no idea you could do that...so I tried it.

 

 

And then I was SO SO curious about it.....

I took a small 5x7 canvas I had

and brushed half with gesso

and half with embossing ink

and sprinkled four colored powders

down the length to see what would happen.

powdered, before heat

After heat

 

Look at the difference in the texture!

Plus the embossing ink leaves a blue color,

but it is a smoother finish.

It seems to lay more on the surface.

 Then I powdered it up some more with blue...

and added more clear powder over it all.

I played with inks and markers, trying to get it into all the bubbles.

 I got some interesting textures.

It was educational.

So I tried it on another piece.

Hmmmmmm.....

I got to thinking about embossing...

I hadn't done it in so long....

mostly because years ago I found an embossing replacement.

I think of embossing as being raised...

and I usually only use it selectively,

such as making lettering or titles stand out on a page. 

There is Definitely MORE experimentation in my future!

 

Well that was a long post. Sorry 'bout that.

It was a long morning doing it too.

But if you don't put in the time to learn something new...

then you will never know what you missed.

That is what I learned today.

You don't have to like everything you make.

Sometimes you can chalk it up to experience.

And if I'm not 'all in',

 bravely doing it,

I'll never learn it,

and I'll never know.

 

Here's to courage.

xo

Flourish

 I really have been busy doing other things this week...

but I always try to have a book or two open

so I can keep a finger in the mess.

It's a beautiful mess!

My Daily IS worked on daily but I didn't get photos this week.

Mostly I have been quilting for my customers.

This Folklore quilt was finished this afternoon.

It really turned out lovely.

And the next wool customer quilt is ready to go on the machine.

 

 And I just wanted to add these on the bottom.

I want to keep working on faces....

I spent a day last spring with Kelly Rae Roberts' book,

Taking Flight,

open in front of me trying to learn her technique.

It was fun.

I have so much to learn about incorporating them into my journals.

Heck, I have so much to learn, Period.

 

 

 That's my week in Art, my friends.

 

Keep trying new things.

Learn to Flourish.

And Be Brave.

xo

Daily Journal

 Brave Girl Art School

began this week.

The first class is funky flowers

and the first exercise was just drawing flowers.

Very enjoyable and very relaxing.

Kind of like zendoodling,

very meditative.

The next exercise is to make a funky flower collage.

Very Fun!

Go here to sign up:

http://bravegirlsclub.com/

 

And then there are my Dailies.

 

  Some days I write more... some less. 

 I have done more quilting than art the last few days.

I have a list of custom wools haunting me.
I quilt part time for ladies who send me their quilt tops.
I load them on my Gammill Classic Plus
and make them come alive!
My quilt business is thriving.

I figured I better do some catch up...

so I can play hooky a day or two next week.

 

I began this Folklore quilt this week.

 This belongs to a woman in California.

Be Brave.

xo

Second Floor Challenge

 I enjoyed taking the Second Floor Challenge yesterday.

http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/second-floor.html

Luckily for me, there were some thunderstorms that rolled through our area.

 I always unplug my quilt machine during storms.

So, guilt free, I made a mess at my art table.

 

The challenge was *use 3 different stamps*

Easy Peasy.

I even carved a simple arrow stamp from an eraser.

Julie does a lot of that, and one of these days

I will take her online stamp carving course to improve my skills...

The way I understand it....

the SFChallenge is meant to push you...

to get you thinking a different way....

to challenge your creative bone.

So I did one....

and then another.

 This first one began a long time ago.

Sometimes when I have mod podge all over my hands

I just keep going with it.

I have a pile of paper ephemera...

newspaper words, numbers, sayings, photocopies, phonebook pages,etc

that I tear out when the mood strikes

and I modpodge those kinds of things on my journal pages.

 Then sometimes I will have paint all over my hands and I will

go through those journal pages with things modpodged all over them

and I will paint them.

They are just layers, my dears.

 My second offering. Different colors. Different message.

This one had no paper ephemera glued down on it.

Just stamps. And Neocolor II crayons.

 

I love this stuff.

Art really did save me.

 

Be Brave and Carry on.

xo 

Labor Day

 

My two customer quilts are ALMOST done.

Just details in the flowers...

and part of one border. 

But I zipped them off my machine so Laura could work this weekend.

She finished EIGHT baby quilts!

(I promise I'll get those two Imperial Blooms back on the machine

first thing in the morning!)

 

 I worked along side Laura alot.

I am trying to impart my 'machine quilting wisdom' to her!

It's not rocket science... but there is still alot to it.

I sewed some red binding onto this bright one....

it is one of our favorites.

They were leftover squares from another project years and years ago.

Did I tell you Laura went through my UFO cupboards

 and counted more than 50 unfinished quilt projects?

Yes, I am a process person!

It's the journey that I love.

It drives my daughter crazy!

 

Another project I worked on while she quilted at the longarm

was the squares from my wool class.

Sue gives us {two} six inch drawings of the next blocks

at each class and we go home and interpret them with wool fabrics.

We bring them to class and we work on stitch embellishment

and discuss (critique) everyone's blocks.

As the blocks multiply we pin them on the design wall

and audition colors and placement.

Overall it is an inspirational class.

 

 

 

Five years ago I never would have used this ...

... poison-chartreuse-olive-y green color as my background colors.

Sue really challenges me to think outside the box.

 I like to plan my block out and baste it on the background.

I hate the applique pins.

I have scratched my arm one too many times.

Basting the pieces are worth the extra step to me. 

The blocks I did today.

The first two class blocks.

I have already begun to embellish these with silk ribbon embroidery.

 It was great to have 2 of the kids home.

We did make a drive to Columbus on Saturday for a family party

and got to see 2 more kids.

That was a long drive and a quick visit.

But still fun times with the family.

And the newlyweds stopped in

on their way home from the airport last night

and left this morning.

They looked tanned and happy.

 

 

You just never know where life is going to take you.

So Be Brave.

No matter what happens.

xo