Crescent moons

I made these as a practice exercise to stitch curvy lines.  The volunteer position to teach refugee women to sew was the reason behind it.  I heard that they are uneasy about sewing on paper.  The idea was to have them practice sewing curvy lines on paper because it's easier and also less costly (no destruction of fabric).  But, they are not comfortable with sewing on paper.  I can sort of understand, because my Eastern European family doesn't always quite get when I sew on paper.  I think it's because sewing is supposed to be a practical and useful skill.  Making garments, that's productive.  While sewing on paper is 'destructive'.  There is no purpose.  Except in art making. 
Anyway.....I though if I have them make greeting cards with crescent moons, which are cutouts from reject black and white paper, will go a bit easier.  I haven't introduced the idea to them yet.  So we'll see.

Time to return to work

My two weeks vacation is coming to an end.  Back to my job tomorrow.  It seems that I was off more than two weeks.  It was time well spent, time off to recoup, regroup, to not have to worry about having to be at any place at a particular time.  I did some crafting, I went to NYC with my husband and kids, I drove to Prescott, AZ with my husband and visited some galleries and co-ops, I got a volunteer job to teach refugee women to sew, I took my kids to Halloween parties, I did not sleep in, as I wanted to make the most of my days, I helped my dad search for a job, I watered my plants with no rush, I enjoyed my time off without feeling guilty spending it without a particular plan.  It felt great.
Here are a couple of pictures of the pine forest near Prescott.


I tried to practice some collaging.  It's new to me, I picked up a book at the library and got inspired to work on some house shaped collages. 


And some smaller ATC size ones too.  I hand stitched this time, fabric on paper.

Watch the Gap

Our recent trip to NYC involved a lot of train/subway rides, and standing on the platform, and hearing the loudspeakers repeat "Watch the gap", and hearing myself saying the same to my kids over and over and over.  But all of that also inspired some collaged art. I made these postcards with paper I recently purchased at one of my favorite local mixed media stores, Craft Fusion, stamps I already owned and some brown craft paper (my favorite).

Also I've been learning about Lenore Tawney, and no doubt I was inspired by her work.

Tote bags

Ahh one of my favorite magazines, and they were kind again to select my work to be on their pages.  This time it was mini tote bags that I made out of jean legs. 
It started like this: about a year or so ago I took my sewing machine to Omaha when I visited my mom.  She asked me to fix some pants for my nephew.  They were worn out at the knees, so I cut them off and made them into shorts.  I used the cut off part of the legs to make mini totes for my daughter and niece.  I liked the results so much, that I played with several pairs of old jeans, cutting off the legs and making mini bags.  I added some decorations with free motion stitching and handles from pieces of fabric too small to make anything else.  And those ended up in GreenCraft.
The issue is out in November.  I got my copy yesterday, and as usual I was excited listing through to find my page.  :-)  Take a look at the magazine if you get a chance.  Usually Barnes & Nobles carries it, also some craft stores like Joann's Fabrics.  Or you can order a copy on line at www.stampington.com

NYC

Well...what started as a funny statement by my son, ended up to a trip in New York city.  A few months ago, he was drinking chocolate milk from a cup that had a picture of the Statue of Liberty.  He said: 'mom, New York City, I am gonna go there in December'.
And so they have been on fall break for the last three weeks.  And I had vacation too.  If you recall, I was going to make a trip to my home country.  And because I once again could not afford a trip home, and couldn't cancel my vacation from work, it seemed as a good surprise to take the kids to New York City. 

'Watch the gap' - I said this over and over to my kids, who kept forgetting to be careful around train and subway platforms.  No one got hurt, so it's all good.


The Macedonian flag in front of the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center.


Kids amaze me, because you place them in a playground with other kids, and pretty soon they have made friends.  Why can't adults do that?  Why do we shy away and barely look at other people who we don't know?

On our way to the Lego store at Rockefeller Center, I noticed this reflection of a building across the street.  I though it was neat.

Coney Island. 




Times Square.

It's October

Finally the season that gives us a reason to live in this desert.....nice and cool with 80F (26C) during the day, and probably 60F (15C) overnight.
I have been really really busy, mostly with work.  The kids have been home on fall break.  We live in a school district with year around school, so frequent breaks are common. 
Also my dad moved here from Nebraska, so he is with us for some time.  Lots of little changes to my normal routines.
Here are some pictures from a little outing we did a couple of weeks ago to Canyon Lake, east of town by the Superstition Mountains.

Tags

Colette Copeland is the master of tag art.  And today Maggie and I are trying to make some of our own.  I used stamps, Maggie.....she is the real artist here, she drew hers.

Solder, instead of resin

I've had a busy week at work on a early morning shift.  I haven't worked a morning shift in many years, so it's a bit of an adjustment to my daily routine.  It's not a permanent change, so I am trying not to get too used to it.

Here is something I did last week on my day off.  I drew and colored some zentangle designs.  I tried to keep a desert-in-bloom theme.  I would have liked to work with some resin, but I haven't had the time to devote to it to learn or mess with it.  Therefore I solder.  I used glass gems again, that are used usually for floral decorations.  They are great in that they distort the image somewhat, making it larger than it is.  The hard part for me has been that I've had to use two glass gems to sandwich my images in between so I can copper tape them together, then solder them.  This makes them a bit bulky.  But guess what, I found out that you can buy copper sheets.  This may work better, as I can tape my image on to the sheet, then leave extra edge to wrap/tape around the gem. 

Phoenix Symphony envelopes

About a year ago on my way out of the library I noticed a stack of books labeled 'FREE'.  Who doesn't like free stuff?!  It happened that these free books were mostly music sheets, road maps, and a few crafting magazines from the 70's.  What a treasure for me!!  I dropped a few bucks in their donation box, and got a whole stack of this free stuff.
I forgot about them until I 'moved' my craft room a few weeks ago.  I am making envelopes now with the music sheets I got.  Quite excited!!

Art journaling 2

A little change of pace for me this week as I've been working an early morning shift.  It seems that's gonna be the routine for the next month at my work. I am teaching a class, and it's scheduled for a really early morning start 630am.  I don't mind it at all, but I am noticing that by 8pm I am soo tired and ready for bed.  Quite a difference from working the night shift for the past several years.
In the mean time, to relax, and fill in some creative space, I have been practicing some more art journaling.  And enjoying it quite a bit.

Art Journaling

I took a workshop today, on art journaling.  I've been psyching myself up to fill in a blank page.  It's hard, because I overthink it.  But today I decided that thinking is not necessary, doing is a lot more productive.  Here are the results.

Craft room

It looks like by the end of the month my dad may be moving to Arizona.  And so we cleared out the room in which I've been crafting preparing it for him. 
To the back of our home the previous owners have built an Arizona room.  They had enclosed a part of the e patio to be a room.  Over the years we turned it into a movie room, and now it's my new craft room.  Complete with movie chairs that I bought long time ago from an antique store. 
It still needs some work and organization, but here it is:  Welcome to my new craft room.


And off course a corner for my little daughter, so she can craft with me.

Feeling like Halloween

Using some Halloween themed stamps.  And you know...the usual, fabric, lace, shrinky dink plastic....
 

Zen-tags

I've been practicing zentanagle/zendoodles whenever I need to relax or focus my mind.  Yesterday I got a zentangle book at Joann's and made some zentangle tags.  I used spray inks as sort of watercolors.  I really wished watercolor was a technique that came naturally to me, but it is not.  And although I don't know what I am doing most of the time, it's the practice that refines any skill.  So I hope in time to be better.

Stitching small

Stitching can be quite relaxing.  In between work, I do a stitch or two on small things, like this old lace fabric.  I must have been thinking and longing for Europe.

Friday is craftday

I seem to get most crafty work done on Friday.  My day off, so it makes sense.  Last week I ran out of glass that I need for soldering, so I tried those large glass stones that you can find in floral section at the craft store.  I loved the results because they are so beautifully imperfect, and they distort whatever image you put underneath it.  It's almost like resin, which I've been a bit uncomfortable to mess with at the moment.

I made this Eiffel tour charm first, but realized because of the oval shape, my clamp wasn't holding it well while soldering.  It was a hazard, and I stopped to go get a better clamp.

I used my husband's old comics.  He's got a lot, so he let me use them.  So these are getting soldered soon.

On a side note, last night I made a promise to my little girl that I will crochet a blanket for her.  She has a little one that I made when she was a baby.  She told me it doesn't cover her.  And it really doesn't.  I will be crocheting a while.  I finished one square, and have no idea how many more I need.  She's picked 10 colors from my stash and we started with purple.