back to the drawing board

[take a closer look here.]

not classes - just meetings. so to finish off my summer i decided to go school-themed for  this month's a muse challenge - stick to the pattern. i was actually able to work in to my design the only piece of a muse patterned paper i own - but it's just sort of hidden behind the ruler paper. see those scallops - i punched them out of this a muse paper. and of course the school stamp is a muse, as well.

cardstock: bazzill [kraft]; paper: a muse [green/vintage], cosmo cricket [checkerboard &  measuring up/material girl 6x6 mini deck], jenni bowlin [black/memo book]; stamp: a muse [school/around town collection]; ink: tsukineko [tuxedo black/memento dye ink]; metal accents: queen & company [green & orange/mini brads]; paper accents: prima  [blue & yellow/flowers]; fiber:  mettler [black/polyester thread]; punch: ek success [dotted scallop/edger punch]; tools: janome [sewing machine].

my second project from my online sewing class - a drawstring top gift pouch. of course, the awesomest thing about this little bag - i made it about 6x8 - is that now when i can't remember how many stops it is to 42nd street i no longer need to pull out my iphone. i'll just check my bag. before i leave next year i plan on buying like a bazillion yards of this fabric. lucky for me, the store i shop at in the city - they are the ones who designed the fabric.

fabric: the city quilter [nyc subway black & nyc subway white/times square collection], ribbon: [black/grosgrain].

i know - not the most exciting of projects i've shared. but i am actually quite proud of my napkins. the first napkin i made is on the left - it's just a simple single-sided one. next i moved on up to double-sided. and finally ended my napkin making adventure with one that is double-sided and has a rick-rack edge - fancy, huh. so where have i been learning these sewing skills - at this online class here.

fabric: moda [sky outdoors, butterflies daffodil, eggs melon, sky garden & ovals nest/freebird by momo].

 

i hardly ever share 2 at a time - but since these cards are basically the same design i figured they should share today's post. i came up with the idea for the first card when i was working on this gallery idol card. then when i saw this month's hero arts challenge i thought about entering it, but decided to rework it with some brighter colors and use a bunch more hero arts stamps. and what i came up with is the second card. i haven't had much luck with the hero arts challenges in the past, although almost every card i made last winter for the challenges was later requested for publication - so i guess that isn't too bad.

cardstock: bazzil [atlantic/grasscloth texture, avalanche/grasscloth texture], dcwv [dark blue]; paper: american crafts [green], scenic route [green with polka dots], [scraps]; paper accents: prima [yellow flowers]; chipboard accent: advantus [mini butterfly/heidi swapp]; metal accent: advatus [mini fasteners/tim holtz idea-ology], queen & company [mini brads, red & blue brads]; stamps: hero arts [woodland creatures/cl261 & vertical clouds/wood mounted]; ink: ranger ink [jet black/archival ink]; liquid accent: ranger ink [spiced marmalade/tim holtz distress stickles, glossy accents]; embroidery floss: dmc [black/#310]; die-cut: sizzix [scallops/tim holtz collection]; punch: martha stewart [grass/border punch]; other: [cardboard box, stick, machine stitching].

a project i made just over a year ago, then sent it off so it could appear in the april/may issue of simply handmade. see how it has fabric on it - well i've been doing some stuff with fabric this week. nothing fancy. just finally learning how to really sew. i've had my machine for about 3 years now and i figured i should probably start using it the way it's supposed to be used. so last night i made a napkin. yeah, i'm totally on my way to project runway.

paper: studio calico; fabric: moda [recess collection/american jane]; paper accent: jenni bowlin [ticket]; stamps: prima [bingo & notebook/clear stamps]; ink: ranger ink [old paper & antique linen/tim holtz distress ink]; paint: making memories; embroidery floss: dmc [#838]; other: plaid  [flower wall hanging], [buttons].

paper: sassafras lass [cherry delicious/wee bundle]; sticker: sassafras lass [apple/cherry sweet treats cardstock stickers]; accent: maya road [blue bird/birds of a feather trinket bead]; fabric: [white with lace edge]; fiber: dmc [green/embroidery floss]; other: [mini wooden birdhouse].

saturday i spent the day in the city at the westbeth community center taking an art journal class taught by the super talented julie fei-fan balzer. one of the awesomest techniques she taught us was how to turn boring ol' masking tape into something way more exciting. on my card above is the tape i made in class with watercolors - when i got home i stamped the cityscape onto it and cut out the individual buildings and sewed them down. the other totally awesome thing about the day was i was able to meet valerie in person - we met online earlier this year thru the gallery idol contest. check out valerie's blog - she has more info and lots of photos of the day.

cardstock: bazzill  [beetle black/criss-cross texture], neenah [classic solar white]; stamps: a muse [cityscape/wood mounted], hero arts [vertical clouds/wood mounted]; ink: ranger ink [jet black/archival ink]; paint: ranger ink [gesso/claudine hellmuth studio], bienfang [orange, new gamboge, sap green, primary blue, cerulean blue & magenta/watercolor brush pens]; tools: janome [sewing machine]; other: [masking tape].