Today I had the morning off, something I have not had all summer. I decided to go down to the beach, since the temperature was not steamy yet. We had a little storm come through yesterday and the water was still in a turmoil. I was really amazed when I saw the trunk of a tree on the sand. It really shows the force of the water. I took a few pictures of it, but my favorite was the second one above. The third picture was from a large piece of driftwood further down the beach, that obviously had been underwater for awhile. It looks like an art quilt to me. The last picture is of my booty for the day. I love all these small pieces of driftwood and hope to add them to my art in the future. The two little containers on the right are two chewing tobacco tins. Who knows what I will do with them. Now I feel refreshed and inspired and ready for a day in my studio.

I have some catching up to do. I have to confess that I have been reading a lot and watching movies, in addition to working of course. I have never gotten use to the Florida heat. I am beginning to get cabin fever and am ready for it to cool down some. In a week and a half, I am taking a trip to visit my daughter, Carolyn, and granddaughter, Hunter. They live in the Denver area and the weather there has been hot also. But it will be a change of scenery and a chance for me to go on adventures with my granddaughter.

I have not totally abandoned my art. As I mentioned on an earlier blog, I took a class from Debbie Babin. The above pictures are from what I made in that class using the cloth paper. Debbie had designed fish to go on the top and sides, but I preferred to come up with something different, so I made starfish and seahorses. I was not super happy with them. The starfish are too big for the space and the seahorses needed to a different color. I think they do not stand out enough. In the class she also has us make a tray and cloth sushi, embellished with beads. But I stopped at this point. My motivation for taking this class was to make more cloth paper. I do plan to fill up the take out box with goodies to take to my granddaughter.

In addition I have made a series of pens and also started a cloth journal book about my ancestors that I plan to share with Hunter. Pictures to come in the next post.

The last two weeks I have been taking Debbie Babin's class called "Think Outside the Takeout Box"

It has helped me get motivated again, plus I am learning. Debbie demonstrated her technique in making cloth paper when I was at a retreat in March. In this class, our first task is to make cloth paper. During her demonstration she made it look so easy. But doing it takes a little bit more effort than it first appeared. The first picture is my second attempt at the process. The second picture is my first attempt. (I can never get the order right when I upload the pictures) I think I have made progress.

The next two pictures are my Chinese take out box all cut out, one featuring the exterior and the other the interior. This week is the part I like best. We will be embellishing the box and putting on the handle using beads, one of my favorite things.

I hope to make more cloth paper this weekend. It is addicting. Back to embellishing.

The last few weeks have whizzed by. I took a quick trip to Atlanta to help my sister-in-law pack up her apartment. We had very little time for play, but we did get an hour in at my favorite consignment shop. The reason I like is that each month an item is there, ten percent is taken off the price. I found these two teapots for 70cents each.

I have been playing with my Huskstar needle felting machine. Above shows where I have been felting roving to water soluble stabilizer. Next I am going to felt scraps of silk to it. After that I will free motion quilt the top, then rinse out the stabilizer. At this point I do not know if I like it or not. We shall see.

As I have been in a lull lately, I enrolled in Debbi Babin's "Think Outside the Takeout Box" class. The class features the paper cloth technique she showed me at Focus on Fiber. I have been wanting to make more, so this will get me started, plus the rest of the class sounds like fun. I gathered materials yesterday and washed my muslin. I should be able to work on it tomorrow.

I also ordered Linda Matthew's new DVD called "Felt-Punch-Embellish: The Workbook". Her next class on this subject is in August, when I will be in Colorado visiting my daughter Carolyn and granddaughter Hunter, plus I would like to learn more now. I think DVDs are a great learning tool. You can work at your own pace, etc, etc. The downside is that you do not get the instructor feedback and the classroom forums.

We have a nice feast planned for today the Fourth of July. Rick has been marinating baby back ribs and will smoke them today. I made potato salad and "Summer Salad" yesterday. The Summer Salad got its name last month at my daughter Mary's birthday party. She and her friend put on a low country boil. I made a salad consisting of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, celery and onions with a light dressing of olive oil and lime juice. One of the attendees called it "Summer Salad" so that is what I am calling it from now on. I am glad I did all my cooking yesterday.

Have a safe Fourth!!

The pictures are from earlier this month. This was my first try at Deconstructed Screen Printing. I am really happy with the results and hope to find some time later this week to try my hand at it again. For texture I had used bubble wrap, a rug grid, a plastic coater made from shelf liner, and few textured pieces of cloth.

Right now my studio looks like a bomb blew up in it or something. I think this is the worst it has ever been. To get back on the creativity wagon, I am going to have to clean it up. I know somewhere buried in there is my camera, which I am really missing right now. So I guess I better get started.

I have been trying to get back into the groove of creating. I have been working a lot lately and the creative side has been frustrated by its lack of play. To get me jump started I have been surfing the web looking at every one's accomplishments. I came across this site and took the quiz.

Take the Quiz here!

I have been busy prepping for some deconstructed screen printing. It seems like it has taken me weeks to get ready. I have finally put the screen fabric on my frames that I varnished last month. I am hoping to screen print tomorrow.
Here is what else I have done to get ready or still need to do:

• Soak fabric in soda ash and dry it. My husband rigged up a clothes line for me last weekend. So that chore is done.



• Tape the screens with duct tape. I plan to do that tonight.



• Make print paste. I did that last weekend, so it is all ready.


• Make up the thicken dyes, which I am going to due after I finish this entry.



• Prepare a portable padded print surface. That took a few days for me to complete. I am not 100% happy with it, but it will do for now.



• Prepare screens with thickened dye paste. I will do this in the morning and print in the afternoon, as the weather is in the high 80s here and the screens will have plenty of time to dry.



• I plan to watch Kerr Grabowski’s DVD again tonight to get ideas for background ideas and techniques.



• Then I get to print.

The First picture is of the screens after they were varnished . The second one is the portable padded surface I made. And the last one is of the screens needing to be taped, plus I need to cut off the extra yardage.