Autumn Leaves......

I can't wait to get outside. The weather here in North Carolina has been so beautiful, but with yesterday being the first day I could use my studio again, I just had to stay inside one more day and honor the day by painting with Lumiere in fall colors, before begining the outside chores.

I made this journal (based upon Sue B's padfolio pattern) cover as a runner up prize for the Pink Artists' (Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation) charity drawing of the beautiful, Love Squared art doll. In addition to the grand prize of Love Squared, there are tons of cool runner up prizes also made by the Pink Artists. You can take a look by going here.

These padfolios go together relatively quickly, and depending upon how much time you want to put into it by handpainting, beading, embellishing, etc., come together quite nicely.

For this one - I picked out a wild fall batik for the lining, and for the cover, I took some fabric out of the "ugly bag" to paint. (it makes me happy to be able to use ugly fabric by painting over it!)

I painted the cover with Lumiere metallic paint mixed with some acrylic. After it dried, I loaded up a leaf shaped rubber stamp with a ton of paint and stamped it. I really like "loading up" the stamp because it leaves an "imprint," (rather than just stamping on the surface.) I like that additional textural element. Once that dried, I sewed the three sandwiches of outer fabric, Peltex and inner fabric (batik) together with a satin stitch. Once the cover was put together I stitched on a silk leaf I painted with metallic paint, layered that with a bone leaf button, and put a handmade bead on top of that. I then braided some yarn and secured it with a wire laced with beads. I've got a few more in the works wherein I'm piecing the covers, rather than painting - whole cloth.

Today I'm going to switch gears and begin working on Jean's big block applique piece. She picked the Alabama Cotton Boll block to be done in red and green on white. I'm really looking forward to slowing down (physically and mentally) and doing some hand stitching.

Last Minute Gift....

Here's a padfolio I made as a gift for one of Sabrina's teachers. I went by one of Sue B's patterns for reference. I hand painted a nice heavy white cotton duck cloth with metallic Lumiere paints. After it dried, I texturized the surface with a nickle paint and hot fixed some Swavroski crystals into the upper right corner. I satin stitched around the whole thing with metallic turqoise thread, sewed a gorgeous glass button to the front for a wrap closure, and added some beads to the bottom of a fancy yarn wrap. The inside is lined with hand dyed turquoise fabric that is a stunning shade. I also painted the top of the little pad inside so it wasn't that yucky red. I painted it with Lumiere paint -- and now it matches nicely. Click on the picture so you can see the glass button and the texture in the cover. Cotton duck cloth is really cool to paint on -- it's stiff, keeps it's shape and doesn't suck in the paint, particularly if you cover it first with a "light" coat of gesso or textile fixative. I think this really came out nicely. I'm thinking of making another one of these for a giveaway -- what do you think???