Month: March 2011

More Handmade Sketchbooks

| terriaw

Based on all the great feedback I received from you and friends at school on the first batch of sketchbooks I made recently, I made a few more.

I cut apart paper from a large sketchbook leftover from a drawing class I had last semester. I used a stack of small cereal boxes for the covers. The Lucky Charms and Trix are my favorites.

I glued colored cardstock to the inside covers to hide the cardboard. It’s nice to have a colorful background to illustrate as a title page or just add more doodling.

They measure 4.5 inches wide by 5.5 inches tall, a perfect size to fit in a purse or tote bag. I have to admit making these sketchbooks has become addicting!

Art Cards 2011 – Week 12

| terriaw

Last week, Michelle and I swapped cards to celebrate the first day of Spring.

She received my package so I’m excited to be able to share what I made for her. I was inspired by a photo she shared recently of a ribbon of daffodils growing across a field. Daffodils are such a cheerful flower, usually the first to bloom in my part of the world. Since I was mailing this little card to Michelle, I really wanted to created a postcard image. I found a piece of paper in my craft stash that had stamps all over it, and I saved one of those air mail stickers from another package I received from her.

I also found inspiration from one of my favorite spring flowers that will be blooming soon, crocuses, along with some lyrics from a Bob Dylan song that I know hold a special place in her heart.

The entire lyrics say “just to dance beneath the diamond sky, with one hand waving free, silhouetted by the sea, let me forget about today until tomorrow.”

I have to admit I was happy with how these turned out, so I made a duplicate set to have in my own journal.

I also made a couple more cards for the new week.

I have been inspired by all the spring bulbs trying so hard to come back to life here even though our temperatures continue to be cold (30 degrees F). I drew an illustration of the first tulip leaves to come up, cut them out and pasted them on a bright blue background for a 3-dimensional effect. I found a Chinese proverb that was a fitting sentiment to use for my journaling.

More and more birds have been returning to our part of the world, especially the common grackles, who act like bullies of the birdfeeders in our yard. They are fun to watch, but they are noisy and eat everything. I loved illustrating one of them clucking away because of the beautiful irridescent blue and purple and black colors of the feathers.

I haven’t added a journal sentiment to this card yet. I want to add this saying “Birds return every spring like clockwork, but where is the clock” but I’m not sure how to make all that fit on this little card. You know me, I’ll figure it out!

Be sure to stop by our Flickr group to see what Michelle and Sandra have been doing on their fun art cards.

Little Forest Finished

| terriaw

I can’t believe I have another finished quilt to share with you. This is so exciting! I started to grow this little forest a few months ago.

Thank goodness for spring break last week, when I had time to work on this project too. I am so happy to be able to show it off a little.

I love how it turned out, so I can’t wait to hang it up!

Colors of the Ocean Finished

| terriaw

Thank goodness for the break in the semester we had last week, when I made time to work on this project. I am excited to share my finished Colors of the Ocean quilt!

I started this project as a part of Cherry’s quilt-along.

I made progress pretty quickly by finishing the top. And then it sat for awhile.

It was wonderful having time over spring break to quilt it and bind it. I love how the straight line quilting turned out. And I adore these colors. I am definitely sold on this modern look of solids and straight line quilting.

Sketchbooks – Make Your Own

| terriaw

For my concept development class, we had to make our own sketchbooks over spring break.

We had to make one large size, so I cut apart a Lucky Charm cereal box (one of my favorite cereals), cut paper to size, and took it to Office Max to have a spiral coil added for the binding. (This one was a hit at school so I might have to make more!)

On the inside front cover, I glued a piece of red cardstock to cover the cardboard.

On the inside back cover, I glued a piece of yellow cardstock to cover the cardboard, and added an envelope to use as a pocket.

We also had to make a pocket size sketchbook, so I took the opportunity to use this perfume flyer I’ve been saving because I love the sexy imagery.

For the inside, I hand-sewed my blank pages like you might see in a moleskin cahier notebook. (I used a pearl cotton thread ball in black and a regular sewing needle, the same one I use to hand stitch binding onto a finished quilt top.)

My favorites are these moleskin covers, which I made using prints from the Circa 60 Beach Mod organic cotton collection by Birch Fabrics. Such cool retro and outdoorsy prints!

Since we had to make our own sketchbook pads from scratch too, I also made a few moleskin-type notebooks to insert into these fun covers, using pages from a drawing sketchbook I had left over from last semester.

I have to admit, I adore these! I love those fabrics, and I love that I can reuse these covers over and over again by inserting new moleskin notebooks as I fill these up with doodles, drawings and inspirations. This set was also a hit at school! I received several suggestions to make more and sell them in my shop and in local stores, so they have been moved up on my list. (I will let you in on a little secret – I look forward to the day when I can make these with fabric I designed myself!)

We have to commit to a certain about of drawing in these sketchbooks each week. The idea is the more you like your sketchbook, the more you’re willing to make the time to draw and doodle in it. Fun stuff!

Art Cards 2011 – Week 11

| terriaw

Spring break was the theme for my art cards this past week! I had more fun practicing my illustrating skills and watercolor painting techniques, so I think this is becoming my new favorite style.

I enjoyed a quiet week at home, getting caught up on sewing projects, working on some homework, and spending time working in the yard. The grass is greening, more bulbs are peaking up, and the wildlife has returned to play. Things are definitely looking up in our yard, so I used that inspiration to illustrate my first card.

I was also dreaming of spring break trips from years past, so I illustrated a beach scene. How fun it would be to escape to that beach!

My favorite cards are the extra set I made for Michelle, since we agreed to swap cards on the first day of each new season. But I can’t show you those until she receives them. I love how they turned out, so I hope she likes them too! In fact, I duplicated them to have a matching set in my journal.

Be sure to stop by our Flickr group to see what Michelle and Sandra have been doing on their fun art cards.

A Shabby Chic Pillow

| terriaw

Is the shabby chic decorating style still “in” anymore? Not that I pay attention to the “in” decorating styles.

I made this patchwork piece quite awhile ago with the intention of making it into a bandana scarf. But realistically, I knew I wouldn’t wear it as a scarf.

So I quilted it with some free motion fun, and made it into a pillow cover instead.

I was compelled to add the blue pom-pom fringe because it was in my stash, and it seemed like a great way to top off the shabby chic look.

Dave isn’t big on the shabby chic decorating style because it can be so girlie. I love this look so maybe I will use this pillow for myself or as a gift. It was a treat to have a small sewing project like this to work on during my spring break.

A Sunny Spectrum

| terriaw

We have finally taken a turn toward Spring around here with the sun shining more regularly, melting our snow and revealing grass.

I found some tulips peaking up too, which the rabbits have been snacking on, so I covered these new shoots with mesh wire to keep those pesky rabbits from doing more damage.

Bring it on, Mother Nature!

Speaking of sunshine, did you know that Anna Maria Horner has a collection of quilting cotton solids? I knew these fabrics came out at the same time her Little Folks collection was released, but I wonder why we haven’t seen any of these solids in any shops. I know Kona Cotton solids and Moda Bella solids are quite popular, so maybe that’s why stores didn’t pick up another range of solids.

I ordered a stack of 12 fat quarters directly from her shop since I couldn’t find it anywhere else. It’s not a big color range, but the colors included are very vibrant and beautiful. I would love to make this or this just for the fun of playing with these fabulous colors.

I have another set of cheerful voile and cotton fabrics in my stash waiting for the right inspiration. These colors are the perfect pick-me-up for a time of year when we are ready to move from winter to spring, craving sunshine and warmer days.