The catalog of the OWH sketches that I have printed out has 4 to a page. So I work on all four, one after the other. This is why I still had the fancy diecut labels out on the desktop when I started to work on OWH sketch 174

I also had a regular round element out and decided they looked good when layered together. So the scrollwork would stand out I decided to use solids for the blocks. And to maintain a fresh look, I made all the borders in white.

This also coordinates the borders with the base paper of chevrons.

I decided to use some gold peel-off stickers for a little extra zing.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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It certainly is easier to get started making a card when you have a sketch to work from - as long as the sketch is inspiring to you!

I was inspired by OWH sketch 173

I had a label diecut that was near to the right size and with a backing cut to the size of that in the sketch is exactly right. Now, what to do with it? Use a rubon!

I chose colors from the rubon for the base card and the two panels as well as the feature border. The rubon sheet had the bow used above the basket and the floral corner elements.

What with the corner elements I decided to leave the big dot off of the sketch.

I raised the feature up on foam tape.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I've wanted to make a bookcase quilt for quite a while. Every so often I would search for patterns but never really found anything that was just what I envisioned.

Then I decided to just design my own in EQ7. 

I decided to do paper piecing as it seemed like the easiest way to get it precise. The hardest part was getting the grain lined up which was necessary since I had selected a wood grain for the background.

I selected scraps that I thought might have been used on hardback book covers. After they were all sewn together I used a range of warm grey alcohol markers to shade the edges of the spines to create the illusion of them being curved. It worked very well.

I quilted by stitching in the ditch around each panel and then around each book.

I love the casual 'arts and crafts' look that I achieved on this. I created more dimensionality by using two tones of the wood print -dark behind the books and light for the shelves and bookcase frame.

This one will be for me to keep and hang on the end of the fireplace.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Due to the need to have a lower surface for sewing I gave in and rearranged my quilt studio.

Several goals - move as little furniture as possible, overhead batting must remain accessible, all machines must be near the (scarce) outlets, need to close up the work triangle, don't lose access to the bookcases.

I measured and made a scale drawing of the room on graph paper. Then I did the same with all the pieces of furniture. I colored the furniture with highlighter and then cut them all out. I arranged the paper furniture in the paper room and took a photo with my phone. I repeated this about a dozen times and then I could scroll through them until I settled on one.

The plan I decided to use allowed me to leave the large cutting table with its support bookcases in place. YAY! But, alas, I wanted more seating room after I had done it this way and ended up moving the whole thing 8 inches.

Here is the view from the door as you enter:

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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While I was scouting for backing papers for the last few day's projects I ran across a piece of ColorMe paper that I had spritzed with Glimmer Mist - a couple of YEARS ago!

Time to use that!

I pulled some plaid paper with the same blue and then added purple elements to pick up on the other major tome in the plaid.

I had a sentiment already stamped on a coordinating lavender cardstock so I banded that with the blue of the other border.

The camera really did not like all the pastel so the photo did not come out well.  Here is another angle that looks a little better.

You can see that the sentiment is popped up on foam tape.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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This could easily becoming a never-ending process! By sponging the Distress Ink through the stencil yesterday it left ink on the stencil surface. So I grabbed another piece of watercolor paper, misted the stencil and laid it down (wet side down) and held it in place for about 30 seconds.

I dried this with a heat gun.

Then the background was too pale for me so I sponged Tea Dye Distress Ink directly onto the paper.

I also spritzed with Shabby Shutters and Mustard Seed Distress Markers using a bulb sprayer.

This was decorated with table scraps and a stamped sentiment.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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When I made the background for yesterday's card, lifting away the stencil pulls the color with it. Can't let that go to waste so I flipped it over and pressed it onto another piece of watercolor paper. I held it in place for about 30 seconds to let the color soak in.

I liked it 'some' but it was pretty light. I dried the stencil and laid it back in place. Then I used a foam applicator and colored the open areas of the stencil.

I used a bulb sprayer to spritz over the surface with Shabby Shutters and Mustard Seed Distress Markers.

I mounted on a dotted card base and added table scraps and a stamped sentiment. Two bronze peel-off sticker leaves finish this one.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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While I liked the concept showed yesterday I wanted to try to get better contrast. I started with Distress Inks in Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Gathered Twigs applied to watercolor paper with a foam applicator.

I chose a large metal stencil of leaves and misted it with water. This was placed water side down onto the colored paper and held in place for about 30 seconds. Then it was lifted and blotted with a paper towel.

After dries with a heat gun I used a bulb sprayer to spritz with Shabby Shutters and Mustard Seed Distress Markers.

This was a MUCH better result than yesterday's card. I had enough of this to make two card fronts.

The first I placed on a goldenrod base and decorated with table scraps. I added some nail head stickers and gold peel-off stickers.

The other half of the paper was placed on a burnt sienna base and decorated with table scraps and a stamped sentiment.

YES! Much better result!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I was reading the Hero Arts blog the other day and came across this technique for using a stencil. It was what I had been aiming for when I did one of my stencil tutorials that kinda failed.

I had inked up my watercolor paper with Distress Inks using foam applicators then laid the stencil on top and spritzed with water to remove some of the color. What happened was that the water went under the stencil and I did not get clean outlines.

Well, in the above link and also this one and this one a different approach is used.

So I had to give it a go with these new instructions and got a better result.

I started by using Distress Inks in Iced Spruce and Weathered Wood. These were blended onto the watercolor paper using a foam applicator. Then I used a mister to spritz a stencil of birch trees and flipped it over (water side down) and placed it on the paper. I held it in place for about 30 seconds then carefully lifted it up. 

I used a paper towel to blot away some of the water and then dried it with the heat gun.

The result was very low contrast so I laid the dried stencil back in place and drew around the shaped with a Distress Marker in Bundled Sage.

I trimmed down to the best part and mounted this on doordinating green papers.

All of the trim work and sentiment are silver peel-off stickers.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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One list mom issued a pattern challenge. I actually took the time to go print off the pattern for use and I'm glad I did.

I found some illustrations I wanted to use and actually pricked out the pattern onto three printed papers to use with them. The two others will show up here later but I wanted to post the one I got stitched out.

I used threads to go with the illustration and then used a craft knife to trim out inside the circle with a bit of a margin.

I mounted the stitched paper over the illustration with foam tape and onto a base card in a coordinating color.

I added a strip of gold peel-off sticker trim at the top and bottom.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I set out to use the techniques presented by Tim Holtz in his February posting for the 12 Tags of 2015.

This is the project he made:

The idea was to create a collage tag with the theme presenting things you love.

Here are the steps used to create my piece:

--Gather stickers, scrapbook paper, printed tissue, tissue tape, etc. with the theme (in my case this was all related to sewing and cooking)

--Run a base piece through the Xyron to cover with adhesive (in my case the base was tagboard and I used a piece 5.75 x 4.5 instead of a tag)

--Adhere the printed tissue as a base layer (I used sewing pattern)

--Adhere other selected items in collage arrangement (I used two handwritten recipe stickers, cardstock with dress forms, a strip of graph paper, cardstock with fabric print, sticker of a quilt and button stickers)

--Trimmed all the overhanging elements to the edges of the base piece.

--Added tissue tape in two styles with measurements and numbers (to represent measuring tapes)

--Lightly sanded the edges of the piece then used the sanding block to scuff the surfaces of the elements to distress them.

--Sealed the whole surface with clear matte medium. Dried it.

--Applied 'Picket Fence' Distress Stain over the whole surface. Dried it.

--Sealed with clear matte medium again. Dried it.

--Outlined the elements with Distress Marker in Walnut Stain and smeared with a fingertip to create shading.

--Applied a gold sticker frame, gold sticker corner and gold sticker lace trim.

--Smudged shading around all of these elements with same Distress Marker.

--Selected a copper heart element with engraved text.

--Sanded surface and applied Picket Fence Distress Stain to it. Dried. Glued to surface with Glossy Accents.

--Used black Sharpie to reinforce the engraved text.

--Cut out tiny letters and glued in place with Glossy Accents.

--Darkened the letters with the Walnut Stain Distress Marker and smudged with my finger.

--Used a bulb sprayer and a Black Soot Distress Marker to spatter the whole surface of the piece. Dried it.

--Punched 1/8" holes in the button stickers.

--Tied coordinating twine through the button holes with the knots in the back.

--Used same twine to tie a real button in place inside the frame with the knot on the front.

--Used foam tape to mount the piece to a fabric-covered mat board backing.

Here is the finished piece:

This will be a display piece on the door of my quilting/sewing studio.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Challenge from a paper embroidery group Make a card with a 'vintage' theme.

I selected the 3D image first and then chose a pattern for a stitched frame for it. The background paper went with some of the leaves and I matched the threads to various parts of the illustration: a dark green, verigated pink/rose and verigated beige/tan.

I used a round punch on the illustration before assembling it. Then I trimmed it all out to a square.

I attached a scallop-punched paper at the top and backed this with 1/2 of a paper doily. I attached the other half of the doily at the bottom and wrapped with a ribbon trim.

A dark green card base was trimmed with a fancy scissor corner.

I used 'champagne' pearls in two sizes to decorate the card.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Assignment: make (for a swap) a paper embroidery card for a guy.

A quick search through my patterns brought me to this billiard table from a book by Joke de Vette. Her sample was all in gold threads but I wanted to make it more 'realistic' so I selected a dark green cardstock to stitch on.

The outer rims of the table are done in green. I then stitched the cues with a tan and the balls with burgundy, purple and rust. Each of the balls is stitched with a different sequence, too.

I decided that the balls and cues needed to look more dimensional so I covered them with Glossy Accents.

Here you can see the shine and rounded shape on the balls due to the Glossy Accents.

I finiahed off the card with the addition of a black peel-off stitcker sentiment.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Here's my latest paper embroidery challenge for the new year. The group leader selected 'Winter Flowers' for the theme and to me that always comes back to Poinsettias.

I used my own pattern for this card, chose a grey cardstock with red dots and set to stitching. Yellow for the center, Christmas red for the flower and true green for the leaves.

I decided to skip a sentiment after mounting the stitching onto a bright yellow folded card base which matches the center.

Since this is a challenge rather than a swap, I now have the beginning of a stash of Christmas cards.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

Updated: Sunday, 25 January 2015 6:19 PM PST

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When I bought my new sewing machine, the SewSteady clear acrylic table I had used with my Janome did not fit. So I ordered a new table when I got the machine.

When the table came, it did not come with a carry case so I have been hauling it back and forth to workshops, tucked under my arm. I always remove the legs and drop them in one of my supply cases.

Flash forward to Christmas when I received a stack of 1/2 yard cuts of 6 fabrics with sewing materials printed on them. they are all in blacks, reds and white. The minute I saw them I knew I was going to construct a carry case for my acrylic table.

I measured the table, drew a plan on graph paper, wrote myself some step-by-step directions and started cutting.

The front and back of the case are sandwiched with batting and backing and I did overall loopy quilting.

I constructed a pocket for the outside which closes with velcro and hold the table legs.

I bought 1" webbing and top-stitched fabric onto it before stitching to the case.

The case closes with velcro. For the lining, I used a gifted-to-me fabric that was so ugly I couldn't imagine what else I would ever do with it (note blue, yellow, red, white above).

The case fabrics are MUCH cooler than the lining:

I used the reds and blacks for the front and back of the case. I used smaller amounts of the whites as I thought they might show dirt sooner. The scissors are only used on the pocket and the buttons are used for the carry straps as well as a binding for the raw edges of the flap, front of case under the flap and the flap of the pocket.

The table measures 23 inches square and the case is about 25 inches square when closed.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I needed a card for an upcoming swap on a paper embroidery list and the assigned theme was 'friends'.

In flipping through my file of patterns, I ran across this cutie - printed for free from a blog. I perfectly suited the theme.

I chose a medium brown and a dark orange for the two puppies with black features on both. The noses were designed to be stitches through the whole circle but I though it looked nore dimensional with them only done 3/4 of the way.

I rounded the corners with a punch and added a brown cross-hatch and a solid black for the background. An orange solid was punched with a scallop and tucked under the right side of the image.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Weekday mornings I watch four arts and crafts shows on OPB+ (Oregon Public Broadcasting). They range from painting to quilting, scrapbooking to crochet, and sewing to jewelry. One of these is Beads, Baubles and Jewels.

A while back I viewed an interesting project that used a large rhinestone, thin wire and a sprocket. It looked interesting to try.

Here’s a photo of a pendant she made. It is about one inch across.

I looked through my supplies and found that: 1) I had no sprockets – so I bought some but the store only had the mini size. 2) My rhinestones were much flatter than theirs and 3) my wire was thicker and I only had colored wire.

I soldiered on; doing the best I could with the supplies I had and came up with a ‘passable’ version. Here is my pendant:

Mine is actually about 1/2 inch across. I'd like to try this again with the proper materials but it's not worth it to me to actually go buy new product just to give it a go.

So I will have to live with this one.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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My scraps speak to me. I guess they are always in the back of my mind and, when I see a new sketch, someone will call out from the depths of my brain with, "hey, remember me? I'd be perfect for this. Come find me."

This is the sketch I started with - OWH 172:

The element that called out was a floral scene sticker that I had recently come across when sorting my sticker file (after two sets of grahdkids has used them).

I went through the 6x6 sheets of patterned cardstock to select pieces for the two squares and the background, then chose the purple for the base.

I had tested out a text border folder on a shimmery purple strip so I used a round punch to isolate one word. This left the word at the top of the circle and I added a gold peel-off sticker to the lower half.

I wanted a bit more gold so I seleccted some sheer ribbon to tuck in behind the circle which is popped up on foam tape.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Too simple for my taste - here is OWH sketch 171:

I had a photo - taken years ago in either Nebraska, Tennessee or Virginia - that has never been just right for using on a card until now. I cut it down for the three panels and backed that with blue to work with the sky.

A light woodgrain paper served for the card background.

I had one moose left on a sheet of gold Dazzles but he did not stand out enough when applied directly to the photos. So I stuck him on some golden paper and trummed him out with a craft knife. He was facing the wrong way to use on the sketch where they have the circle element so I placed him in the lower right facing inward.

This left me the opportunity to punch two circle elements in the same solid papers and use a gold sticker greeting inside. This was popped up on foam tape.

I used a gold gel pen to add a doodle line around the perimeter.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Some sketches just tell you if they want to be feminine or masculine. I got a masculine vibe from OWH sketch 170.

I immediately knew I wanted to use that stamped dragonfly again and I already had it colored in the file of stuff I did on the day with no power. It was not quite the specified size and the orientation was landscape instead of portrait. But it worked well in this layout anyway.

I selected papers from the scrap bin and trimmed the dragonfly with a thin white border. This meant I needed a thin white border elsewhere so I cut the background down to allow the card base to show on the edges.

More white was called for so I used a single word from a sheet of rubons.

What appears to be three brass brads are actually sticky-back dots.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

Updated: Wednesday, 21 January 2015 5:13 PM PST

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