A Little Publicity!

Once again, I was fortunate enough to have a postcard printed in Quilting Arts Magazine!  I originally posted it here before I mailed it in.  Now that it's in, I'm glad I took the time to create one.  It was a fun challenge to get my vision down in the small 4x6-inch frame, I got to use both fabric and paper (the book is paper) and now I get to see my work in print!  Fantastic!  (If you go to the link where I first posted it, you may notice I positioned it with the feet pointing up.  I intended for the viewer to imagine themselves in the artwork, being the person relaxing with a book in the sun!  But QA decided to place it the other way around.  I guess that works too...)

Staycation Postcard

Quilting Arts Magazine is sponsoring another postcard challenge.  The theme for this one is "what I did on my Staycation."  Even though we did actually get away to the beach at the end of the summer, most of the summer I was home and working but took little "staycations" by escaping into a book.  I still think it's the most fun, relaxing, inexpensive, and easy way to get away from it all!

Great News!

I just received the latest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and was excited to see they published the fabric postcards from the challenge due in January.  I had sent in 2, which I posted here.   I had a tip-off from my friend Vivien that one of mine was published, and sure enough, there it is in the picture below (top, second from the right)!  I was kind of surprised that they chose this one, because the little duck I made was kind of cute and charming, but then again, this one uses a greater variety of media and incorporated more words.  I really admire all the other beautiful postcards they chose to publish.  The world is full of talented people!

After taking a whole week off from the hand sewing on my totem, I finally got back to it this weekend and now it is complete, except for the tabs at the top for hanging, which I hope to get to soon.  I'll post pictures of the finished piece as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, I took charm breaks between the sewing and have a new bracelet to show you.  I received these charms over a month ago, in time for St. Patrick's Day, but I just didn't take the time to put them on a bracelet.  I finally did it this weekend, and I really love the way it looks.  I notice that the color-themed swaps seem to contain more simple "dangle" type charms, but the coordinating colors make such an impact when they're all together, don't you agree?  This one is just so cheerful and happy and brings to mind sunshine, green leaves, and flowers.  I love it!

I'm currently finishing up two sets of charms for the "feather your nest" swap.  I really like the way they're turning out and I'll post them when they're done.  G'night!

Fabric Postcards

Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine is holding a postcard challenge, due in their offices next Friday. I knew I wanted to send them one as soon as I read about it in their Nov/Dec issue, but of course with all the holiday stuff happening, I put it off until the new year. Luckily I was able to get these completed and mailed today. The lure of having something published in an upcoming issue is too great (even though my pieces are not selected very often - just once - click here to see).

There was no theme for this challenge, so I had kind of a hard time deciding what to make. I came up with the above little character first, with a little poem on the back: "When stormy rains are falling, put on your happy shoes, with a smile as your umbrella, you'll always beat the blues!". I had wanted to simply stamp the words "Let a smile be your umbrella" on the front of the postcard, but I did some research and found out those lyrics are still under copyright, so I went with an original poem instead. The rules of the challenge require the postcard to be at least 50% fabric, and this one is all fabric, and not fabric that I've stamped, painted, bleached or altered in any way. Cloth Paper Scissors is really a magazine about Mixed-Media, and with no real mixing of media in the above postcard, I decided to make a second one, below.
For this one, I used a background of pretty blue batik fabric. Then I stamped positive words all over some green "paper-cloth" I made last year. I free-motion stitched some leaves around the words and cut them out to be the top of a tree. I stitched a trunk out of miscellaneous yarns and threads wrapped in tulle, then stitched it all together onto the blue background. It's definitely more mixed-media, but I still don't know what my chances are for being published. There are lots of talented people who subscribe to Cloth Paper Scissors! Even so, it was a fun exercise and a nice positive start to the new year.

Spring Rains

It seems like in the last three months, we've been getting all the precipitation we didn't get last July (see this post here). We have had major snowstorms and now major rainstorms. Here's some photos of how the neighborhood was looking yesterday. There were standing puddles in the streets and rivulets, rills, and rivers running down the sides of roads.

It was actually quite pleasant to walk along listening to the birds sing and the little streams bubbling along next to us.

Another benefit to the rain: all the bulbs are finally making an appearance! Here are some daffodils,

some mountain bluebells,

And some hyacinths. Can't wait to see the flowers!

And as promised, here is the postcard I created for the 3rd Great Big Stitched Postcard swap. The theme was love, and I've been noticing lately that love in the movies is often portrayed as a feeling, but love in reality is an action. It's what you make a conscious decision to do everyday. I thought about including images like a parent getting up early to prepare breakfast or pack lunches, or grocery shopping, or cleaning, doing laundry, helping with homework, going to a job - all the things we do directly or indirectly for the people we love. But since the postcard is only 4"x6", I settled for a simplified version of love in action. Here it is!

Postcard received!

Here is the cool postcard I received from Lynda Howells of the UK! It was cheerfully waiting for me when I returned home from vacation. I like the way she included clocks from both Grand Central Station and from the Hampton Watch Company to signify our personal time zones. That, and the phrase "Time and time again" kind of link us together in a relative way, don't you think? I'll hang it in my studio!

And now that I'm home, maybe I can find some TIME to get down there and finish something!

Weekend in a nutshell

I just finished this postcard to swap in "The Great Big Stitched Post Card Swap" sponsored by Beth Nicholls. I received the address of the person this will go to - she lives in southern Australia! I hope it gets there in one piece! The theme of the swap was "time" so I stitched on the words "time and tide wait for no one." According to Google maps, she only lives a few blocks from the ocean, so I hope she likes the wave imagery. (I'll have to figure out how much postage this will need.)

Last night we went out to see Toy Story 3 for Father's Day. (My husband loves the Toy Story movies. He has all these deep theories about how the role parents play in their kids' lives parallel the toys in the story, and that eventually our kids will no longer need us, just like Andy no longer needs Woody and Buzz.) The movie did not disappoint. The characters are as charming as ever and there are lots of laugh-out-loud moments and plot twists that keep you engrossed. My favorite scenes involve Buzz Lightyear in Spanish mode (hilarious!). If you like the Toy Story movies and are in the mood for something light and fun, I would highly recommend it.

We have been having some beautiful summer weather so Friday evening we brought some pizza down to our little beach. Cassie and the girls had a great time playing in the water together. Cassie is an excellent swimmer.

Of course, after she is thoroughly soaked through, her favorite thing to do (next to eating every scrap of food she can find on the ground) is to dig! Here she is getting completely sandy. She always needs a good hosing after we get home.

One final (funny) note; I decided to leave Cassie out while I was away at work one day last week. When I got home, I noticed the little statue we have on the front step had been altered slightly! Too bad - My husband picked that out especially because it reminded him of himself and his three daughters. Now two of them are headless! Crazy dog!