Scrapbooks and journals, oh my!

Besides my February table above, I wanted to show some pictures of the outstanding fabric journal my niece Abby, 13, made and sent to me. When I was at her house last fall, I noticed her busily sewing scraps of fabric together, and she showed me the darling journal cover she was making for one of the art journals I had given her.

Knowing my terrible sewing skills, which usually end up being solved by fabric glue, I asked her if she would make me a journal cover, and when she came to visit I sent her home with a bunch of flannel and other swatches.

A few days ago a fat package arrived, and in it was not only the wonderful journal cover above, but also the teeniest, tiniest one-inch journal with paper inside- perfect for my Blythes and their dollhouse! (I wonder what they'll write in it?!)

Meanwhile, I have been printing color photos of my Blythe dolls for about six months, fully intending to put them in a scrapbook, so I could remember the dolls I've bought and sold. I finally got that going this month. As you can see in the top photo, I had an interloper inspecting my work during the photo session. More pictures on my Blythe blog here.

Yummy Color Books to Devour

What gets your blood pumping? For me, it's anything to do with color as I described in yesterday's review. And if color has to do with arts and crafts, so much the better for me. A fabric store feels like a candy shop to me, even though I don't sew. Bins of buttons, rows of embroidery floss make me feel like Willy Wonka. Same with bolts of cloth, skeins of yarn, thread and other rainbow-hued notions.

If fabric stores or sewing or quilting excite you, too, then you’ll be gushing over Material Obsession: Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke (2009, Stewart, Tabori and Chang, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 208 pp. $27.50. Note, there is also a second book). I can barely sew a lick and have never quilted but the vibrant colors are what drew me to the book. Quilters, I am sure, will appreciate the handiwork even more than I could, as well as the included patterns and templates.

My favorite quilt in the book, called The ‘Burbs, inspired me with its rough-cut, crooked, child-like houses and paper dolls, a deceptively-simple looking riot of color that just might make me give quilting a try. As the book says, “the thing to remember about the quilt is…let yourself go! This quilt is a recipe, not a pattern…There are no rules here-just cut, sew and enjoy.”

If that’s not enough to suck you in, then the names of the quilts will get you, too: Annie’s Garden, Three-Ring Circus, Cowboy Baby, Gypsy Squares. These aren’t your grandma’s quilts, but the ages-old process is the same. Projects range from easy to intermediate and advanced, with basic quilting instructions included for the beginner. And if, like me, you are a beginner who may never actually begin, you can enjoy the coffee-table-book quality of the photographs of the quilts and fabrics in this soft cover volume. Textile-great Kaffe Fassett, whom I first discovered in my yarn-stash phase, lends his thoughts to the forward.

For those who get their color kicks from paper, the very fun All Wrapped Up! Groovy Gift Wrap of the 1960s by Kevin Akers will have you oohing and ahhhing at all the paper possibilities and cringing over all the vintage gift wrap you wadded up and tossed decades ago, if you were tearing open gifts as a kid in the 60s, like me. This Chronicle Books compendium (255pp., $22.95) was published in 2005, but it my color quest; I just discovered it in a museum gift shop. I was drawn to the full-page and many double-page spreads of gift wrap from my childhood; I was sure I recognized a few. It is a vintage-lovers’ delight, from the psychedelic swirls and paisleys to the child-like, cartoon-ish people and oh-so-60s fonts and colors.

I originally thought I might (shhh! Don’t tell!) cut out some of the full pages for use in my paper-crafting and altered arts (not creating plagiarism of course, but for personal enjoyment), but then, like so many other books in my library, I realized it was too beautiful to redact for my own use. If you appreciate graphic arts, the Mod era or even if you got a ribbon in gift-wrapping in 4H as a youth, you’ll enjoy this thorough compendium and color explosion. More than half the pages are full-color reprints of vintage wrapping paper.

Whatever your color vehicle of choice, from flowers to yarn, embroidery floss, beads, paint or fabric, there’s inspiration wherever you go. While beading might not be your thing, looking at the color wheel through a beader’s eye or studying hues in skeins of embroidery floss can lead to a brand new combination or idea for a project in your own area of expertise. Sometimes, I think my area of expertise is buying beautiful books!

Here are a few more of my recent favorites. The titles will denote their area of focus, but don’t limit yourself to only things you already know how to do. Remember, it’s all about the colors! Sew Sunny Homestyle, Tonne Finnegar, 2009, David and Charles, 158pp., $24.99

Fabric Art Collage, Rebekah Meier, 2009, C & T Design, 96pp., $26.95

Embroidery for Little Miss Crafty, Helen Dardik, 2009, Walter Foster Publishing, 96pp., $12.95 Embroidered Effects, Jenny Hart, 2009, Sublime Stitching LLC, 158 pp., $24.95 (Note: this book is spiral-bound and includes many pages of hot-iron transfers and a pocket for storage). I can’t wait to make something from all of them, but even if I don’t get to it soon, I’ve already enjoyed pouring over the pictures many times over. You will too.

Sew and sew and so on

I've been hanging 0nto a dozen or so "girly" fat book pages from friends, as well as some I made, knowing that I wanted to bind them into one book. I was going to use my Zutter binder, but then I decided to cover the covers with fabric. So I just used two rings to hold it all together.

My beginner sewing attempts with my tiny machine continue: I tried to make a patchwork, quilted cover out of fabric scraps, a chenille heart, buttons, a puffed applique and some embroidered roses cut from a vintage hankie.

The end result isn't too bad, but I know I spent more than eight hours on it yesterday, whereas an experienced sewer (sewist?) would have had two four-inch by four-inch squares covered in less than 30 minutes. And, the eight hours were even easy! But they were fun. Well, sort of. Except for all the times I broke my needle, broke my thread, sewed crooked, jammed the bobbin case...pretty much everything an inexperienced sewer would do. But it's a good way to learn.

And now I have a darling book. The back of the Little Red Riding Hood page and the Starry Night page are both by Malin of Sweden. I just adore style, and thanks to her I found the Suzi Blu group. The Barbie page is from Bryanna of The Canary's Cupcake, a fellow enthusiast of all things girly--like Alice in Wonderland, Marie Antoinette, Blythe and Barbie.

The next-to-last page shows the inside front cover with a pocket for Moo cards and the facing page is by me. And the last picture shows the closed book, nice and fat. Thanks to everyone who swapped a page or pages with me.

More Silly Sock Sewing

This creature remains unnnamed so far, unlike Claire and Gladys. She's supposed to be a cheerful monkey from the book, Stray Sock Sewing, Too by Daniel, he of the one-name artists' club. But, she looks like a cross bewteen a cow and an alien to me! But she was still fun to make, and is my best sewing machine effort so far. Just learning to sew after half a century. The triangle halter top I made in seventh grade home ec has been long forgotten, even if it would be still in style.

In the pink, and do we see a pattern here?

I wish I could claim any of this artwork as mine. Oh, I own it all right, but ah, to be the creator. I love the Parisienne, a print from Lulu on Etsy and the chunky face canvas is an original by Catherine Olvier Pluchino. Love it, too! Then we have my Blythe, Daisy, in a pink sweater by nani-store on Etsy, a vintage pink throw pillow with brooch, and a beautifully wrapper bar of soap. Yes. I photographed soap. I find all this eye candy so inspiring, and heaven knows, I need some inspiration. I haven't made much art lately, but Santa delivered a Singer Pixie Plus sewing machine, and I hope to make some sock monkeys and critters, some fabric altered art, and to cover my art journal. All pretty lofty, considering I have never used a sewing machine. My little robot collection and my antique carrom board are more inspiration, along with pretty fabrics, to motivate me to learn how to operate this intimidating little machine. I'll keep you posted...or I'll just keep photographing soap.

A new appreciation for sewers

No, not sanitation systems, although I appreciate those also. I mean people who can operate a sewing machine, or in this case, anyone who can wield a needle and thread without drawing blood, tangling one's materials in knots or making the finished object look like it was not sewn by King Kong or a Far Side cow (they of no opposable thumbs).

I was all thumbs in my first attempt at making a sock monkey, and worse still, I was late and missed most of the free class offered by the American Visionary Art Museum this Saturday. My first clue that I was in trouble was the lack of parking. And when I finally took the elevator up to the third floor classroom of the Jim Rouse (creator of Columbia, where I live) Visionary Center, I was shocked to find fiberfill flying everywhere and what looked like 300 men, women and children busily cutting, sewing and stuffing socks into fabric precursers of homo sapiens.

I couldn't even see a registration table; just dozens of round tables full of socks, buttons, yarn and more. Luckily, a woman wearing a "Monkey Helper" nametag took pity on me and gave me a pattern and five minutes of instruction. Then she started cleaning up. I felt pretty sheepish, thinking I could just drop in anytime--that's how I had understood the event. I also felt pretty disappointed, knowing sewing is not my strong skill and thinking I'd never manage to make a sock monkey, or even a sock amoeba.

But determination is a virtue, or something like that, and I stitched away into the wee hours, mostly because my neighbors were having a raucous party. By 3 a.m. I had a head, torso, legs and one ear, as well as two daisy buttons that gave Gladys all her personality. It really is all in the eyes.

I woke up this morning eager to finish, and hoping all the party-going neighbors had well-earned headaches. I had one, too, from trying to thread my needle without my glasses. But seeing Gladys with all her limbs intact and her wired tail made me feel all better. That, and some oatmeal monster (I mean monkey) cookies we made after that.

Teeny Tiny Sewing Machine and Cat Shown Actual Size

Hello there...I was 'sew' excited to find my sewing machine arrived when I got home from La Florida yesterday. What good is this, you ask? It will sew through paper, fabric, do leetle repairs and most importantly, assist in all forms of altered art. Plus, it is the least intimidating sewing machine I have ever seen- considering I haven't seen one since eighth grade- and even then, I didn't like them. No blue ribbons in 4H for skirts and aprons for me. In fact, no 4H for me, which is why I "made" Adrienne do it. But that's another story. Even Lester is not intimidated by this. Got the little gem from Stampington for $10.95. (Go pitiful Notre Dame today). Off for a pedi.