ArtFiberFest Round-Up

Just wanted to post some miscellaneous photos from ArtFiberFest before I close the chapter on this inspiring retreat. Above is a pic of the front of the registration packet. All those felt "orbs"  (Fiberfest's theme this year) look like they'd be fun to make.

I put together this little photo album, featuring some hand-stitching and my perfected French knots, thanks to some how-to tips from Ruth Rae. I used Ellen's tutorial from our spring Joli Paquet blog here to make the album.

I bought this sweet little needle book from Charlotte who was selling them at the Vendor Marketplace on Friday night. It was a cinch to put together. I think she may still have a few of them left here.

Here's a photo of the beautiful campus at Reed college. Trees and other lush plants abound!

Relaxing and patiently waiting for the cafeteria to open for breakfast.

Here we are at our "tree house" table after breakfast. Two stories up, the view was amazing!

(Clockwise around the table, starting at the left: Me, Linda, Tammy, Juanita, and Cindy)
Linda and Cindy in the dorm. I love how some of the girls made their rooms all comfy-cozy with quilts and pillows from home.
Juanita and Lori hanging out in the kitchen of Bidwell Dorm. The dorms were brand new and beautiful...makes me want to go back to college again!

Make room! - The Queen (AKA Lory) has arrived, wearing a crown made in Alisa Burke's Creating Royalty class and scarf from Mary's Felt Collage workshop.

Rice Freeman-Zachery showing off the latest addition to her wine bottle installation.

Show and Tell Night was held in each of the three dorms on Saturday night. It was so much fun to see everyone's creations on display.

Tracie showing off one of the topsy-turvy dolls from Roxanne's class.

Here is Linda's funky rug hooked bird (nicknamed Bobby Dax) made in Mary Stanley'sworkshop.

Tammy posing by her Enchanted Felt Cottage made in Charlotte Lyon's class.

Texas friends and travel partners, Juanita and Cindy. It was so fun to finally meet some of my cyber-friends.
Thursday night we attended Mini Workshop Demos held in each of the dorms. (Yes that fireplace is in the dorm - times sure have changed since I went to college!) Reenie Hanlin showed us how to knot knit with her beautiful hand-spun yarns and fibers. 

Charlotte Lyons showed us how to make this darling little mini cottage.

And Pam Garrison showed us how she makes her gorgeous "Anthropologie Inspired" coffee filter garlands.

Sunday came way too soon and it was time to say our good-byes and leave our beautiful setting in Portland. Time to return home with our heads full of wonderful inspiration and memories. Thank you Teesha and Tracy for a truly remarkable experience! 

As we flew out we could see a glimpse of Mount Hood in the foggy distance. Back home to the reality of laundry, dishes, and the drudgery of everyday life. But not for long! We are heading off to our cottage later today to spend some time with our friends who are visiting from Florida. I'm hoping to put together a new journal before we leave so I can work in it while we are gone. 

AFF:Part Three:Keepsake Legacy Album

On Saturday I took the lovely Ruth Rae's Keepsake Legacy Album workshop. Poor Ruth was feeling under the weather for the entire time she was at AFF. But that didn't stop her from teaching a fabulous class. Plying herself with medication, throat lozenges, funny tasting tea and kleenex she was a real trooper!

I enjoyed learning different techniques to create a legacy album with bits and pieces of ephemera, both originals and representations. We learned that free-form stitching cane be done on our sewing machines using regular presser foots. I used a photo of my grandmother's family on the cover of my album which I am going to use to commemorate the ancestors of our family tree.

Ruth taught us to make pockets and tags and other compartments to hold photos and ephemera related to the subject.

Old lace and vintage papers combined with newer fabrics and trims, dyed, burned and heated to look old created some amazing pages.

Here Ruth is showing us how to bind or album. 

All the cold medication was making Ruth giddy and silly! Here she is with Penney, who taught me that turning your tension knob ever so slightly can make the difference between a smooth running sewing machine and a chugga-chugga sounding sewing machine. 
Penney also was my partner in crime when it came to any technique that involves heat and a burning candle!

AFF:Part Two:Enchanted Felt Cottage

On day two of ArtFiberFest, I took Charlotte Lyons adorable Enchanted Felt Cottage workshop. My cottage (shown above and below) continues to be a work in progress. It is so enjoyable to sit in the evenings at home and continue the embellishing process. Somewhere during the construction of my cottage I decided to decorate it with a House of Love theme, featuring 3 generations of wedding photos.

I used some vintage buttons and a scrap piece of embroidery in the gable. I chose the color scheme for the cottage based on the colors used at my daughter's wedding last fall.

The little aqua posies were leftovers from the favor boxes we decorated for my daughter's wedding. Next to the little cottage door (with the wonky stitched window panes) is a photo of my DH and I at our wedding. 

On the right side of the cottage, I sewed a metal jewelry piece embossed with a quote from Ghandi that says, "Where there is love there is life." 

I added a photo of my daughter and her husband from their wedding, some vintage button flowers, a piece of old lace embroidery and tiny aqua seed beads. Fortunately this was a hand-stitching class, which gave and my little Janome machine a much needed rest.

On the left side of the cottage, I did some "landscaping" with some felt & ultra suede trees trimmed with beads and a little garden of aqua beaded flowers. A mother-of-pearl window finishes this wall up.

An antique brass charm frame holds a well-known phrase from traditional wedding vows.

On the back of the cottage, I used some tiny frames to feature wedding pictures from my parents (on the right) and my in-laws (on the left). More vintage lace and Battenburg trim, and an aqua button top off the wall. 

"I do, I do" is typed out and mounted on a scrap of vintage paper. I used a single pearl in the center of the button to represent the pearls brides wear with their wedding gowns.

Here my classmates are busy stitching away - from left to right there is Tracie, Cindy, Pam, Charlotte.  Charlotte's class was very relaxing and restful and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all her stories while we worked. She was so willing to lend a helpful hand and encouragement throughout the day. 

Here's Cindy, Juanita, Nicky, and Tammy busy at work constructing their cottages. I couldn't believe how quickly this class flew by!  I'll share the class I took with Ruth Rae in the next post. Until then. . . . . .

Happy Fourth of July!

AFF:Part One:Art Studio Journal

Oh what fun we had at ArtFiberFest...Oh, I'm so sorry to bore you by repeating that comment over and over again. But it truly was the best! I highly recommend that you try to attend an Art Retreat, even if it is right in your home town (right Tammy and Linda?) because it is so inspiring and you leave with so much excitement and renewed energy. 

My first workshop was taught by the talented Roxanne Padgett. Roxanne is super organized and brought a wealth of supplies and let us use them all. Not to mention the cute hand stenciled folder filled with goodies she put together for us.

Roxanne taught workshops on all three days and the one I took was called Art Studio Journal. In a way these journals reminded me of those cloth books we had as toddlers with all the interactive features. However, this one was for grown up artists with pockets and places to hold art supplies to carry along with you.  
Pockets, pockets, and MORE pockets. I think we were secretly trying to see who could create the most pockets inside our books. The page above features removable tags to hold fibers and a palette of watercolor crayons along with a paintbrush so you'll ever be without paint.
I had a bear of a time with my little Janome sewing machine in this class. As everyone else's machines were purring along quietly, mine was chug-a-chug-chugging the whole time in between the bobbin thread jamming up and my muttering choice words of frustration. I hope I didn't annoy too many of my classmates! Thank goodness for Reenie, who sat next to me and used her magic touch to get the machine moving again.....for a while anyway!
I used one of my needle-felted flowers on this page and made a note pad of paper back at the dorm to fit inside one of the pockets. There's even a place to slip in a pencil on the left side!

I used a lot of Amy Butler fabrics in constructing this journal. Love her fresh graphic designs and nature inspired color palette.

Here we are all working away on our various journals. Thanks so much to Suzanne who sat at the table behind me and let me borrow her pinking shears. Suzanne always comes prepared!

Next time I'll show you what I made in Charlotte Lyons workshop on Day Two!

Back from ArtFiberFest

I have returned from Portland but have not quite recovered from the wonderful time I had at ArtFiberFest. This necklace from Tammy sums the experience up perfectly - all we did was laugh and eat and laugh and make crafty things and laugh for four days straight! Now it's back to the old grind and I'm having trouble adjusting to the doldrums of everyday life. I'm still in the process of emptying my suitcases and need to put the finishing touches on my projects. I've got photos to share and will post them later this week. 

Off To Portland

This will be my last post until I return from ArtFiberfest in Portland. I've been running around like crazy making sure I have everything I need to bring for the workshops. I'm taking classes from Charlotte Lyons, Ruth Rae and Roxanne Padgett. Charlotte will be also teaching a mini workshop along with Pam Garrison, and Reenie Hanlin. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures to share with you when I get back.

Catching Up

Oh boy! Have we had a lot of rain here! I feel like I should be building an ark soon. We've had terrible thunder storms off and on the past two days. Last night while I was out running a few errands, it became so dark you would have thought it was midnight! The shopping carts in the parking lot were flying around like they were as light as feathers. I was fortunate that one of them didn't run into the side of my little Beetle. Anyway, I was buying a bottle of nail polish at Ulta and when the clerk asked if I wanted a bag, I said yes, but not for the polish - to put on my head! So there I was running to the car wearing a bright orange bag on my head. Lovely!   

I've been getting things ready to go to ArtFiberfest next week. This is my first art retreat and I'm really looking forward to it. I admire Teesha Moore's work so much (especially her journal pages, which are amazing) and have heard so many fabulous things about her various retreats. I'm still trying to figure out how to get all the supplies (including my sewing machine) into one suitcase and keep it under 50 lb. limit. 

Spent the day yesterday finishing up on a few projects so I can mail them out before I leave for Portland. I made the notecards pictured above for a swap I am in. I used Lisa Kettell's lovely image of Marie on these, along with vintage wrapping paper and dotted Swiss fabric. 

She Shoots...She Scores!

I can't believe I was able to get these pics!  So excited to actually see the tiny blue robin eggs in mama's nest!  We've never had a bird nest located in a place low enough to actually get a photo of the inside of it. This one is still situated just out of eye-view (even if you stand on tippy-toes) but not out of the eye of the camera held at arms length above my head. I took a chance that I was aiming in the right direction and after a few failed attempts, I finally got it right!
I always wait until mama leaves the nest to take a break (or look for food) before I take any pictures because I hate to disturb her motherly duties of egg hatching. 

My Peonies

Yesterday while working in the garden planting flowers, I discovered that my peonies were in full bloom. They are a yummy peach color semi-double hybrid called Coral Charm. We planted them close to 28 years ago and they are still growing strong all these years later. Our neighbors planted peonies from the same nursery in their yard when they built their home in the 50's! 

As they continue to open, the flowers turn a creamy ivory color.  

I planted this purple Clematis along the side of our garage not knowing for sure if that was the best place for it in regards to how much sun it would need. I always think it is such a miracle that these delicate flowers grow and bloom every year from one single skinny vine branch. 

Pretty Pink Cottages

1. Pink Cottage, 2. Pink House, Key West, 3. River cottage, Bantham, 4. pink cottage, 5. Pink cottage, 6. Falls Cottage Jackson NH, 7. Cottage of Sweets, 8. pink cottage : prestienge, 9. Pink Gingerbread, 10. Pink Door, 11. Pink Thatched Cottage, 12. Charming "Pretty In Pink" Cottage, Bryant AR, 13. Lakeside pink, 14. pink cottage, 15. Rose Cottage, Cockington, 16. Cavendish, Suffolk, 17. pink cottage, 18. Colourful Contrasts, 19. Devon Dream, 20. Untitled