Good morning. Well, Saturday I got a few things on the work table and yesterday was a gorgeous day here in Pa. so we went for a lovely country drive. I try to do that whenever I can on the weekend. I just have to get outside and breathe some fresh air. I'm getting excited because Autumn is coming and I get all fired up to weave and do other fiber like things. So there will be many drives to the mountains coming. Ok enough of me salivating over Autumn. 

Back to book making stuff. We did get the sewing frame made and today I hope to get some good shots of it. But first I have to ship out an order that makes me happy. "One Held Breathe" sold and she is going to her new forever home. The reason I bring her up is because I've been thinking that a mixed media stitched piece like that could possibly make a nice book cover. I would have to find a way to do it where the edges would not be too bulky. Perhaps the stitched work would just be collaged on to it. Hmmmm....thinking about that. Also thinking about printing the image of the finished work on to canvas. So many ideas running around in my head. 

Well, my tea is getting cold. I'm off to the studio as I always like to start these post in the morning and finish after my studio time. Maybe I can actually open a window today, wouldn't that be great. Can't wait to say goodbye to Summer.  I'll be back with pics. 

And I'm back.....
I worked on some more of my little weavings and playing around with some of my digital papers to see what goes well with them. Asemic writing with a rosegold weaving, bluegreys and teals, blacks, creams and a navy indigo style blue weaving. It looks black in the photo but it's really more blue. That color is one that I dye that simulates indigo.

All of these little weavings are using my hand dyed yarns. The yummy texture in the digital paper under the black actually started as a photo I shot of winter snow on a brick sidewalk and a rusty fence image that I shot near an old barn. Pa is loaded with that sort of rustic rusty stuff. I love it!

The teal and greys are on a watercolor painting I did. I also cut out some more text for collage. I just cut things out and stock pile them. I also cut up an old book to use the boards and I think I'm going to add that tree digital I did to the inside cover. Nothing is glued or stitched down yet. Isn't it the worst to glue something down and then change your mind. Ugh! I try my best to not break out the PVA until I'm sure about the composition and layout. Live and learn.

Speaking of PVA glue... I have found that it drys so fast. So I have been mixing in some paste to slow it down when I'm working so I don't feel so rushed. I use Yasutomo Nori paste and sometimes I make my own. Nori last longer than homemade paste. And I love the way it smells. I love the stuff. It's great on delicate papers too and it's acid free. 
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I've tried a 50/50 mix of Nori with PVA and a 75/25 PVA/Nori just play around with it and see what mix percentage you like. For Book Cloth I have made my own paste because it takes a lot of paste. I haven't tried the Nori for that yet but I might. I keep a couple in the fridge, that is the best place to store it. You can get it at Blick here. I get the 10oz. containers. I'm sure Amazon has it too. 

And FYI I did take some photos of my sewing frame but the light was running out and I didn't like them so I'll try again tomorrow. So that's all for now. Ta Ta my Peeps. 
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A new project is at hand and I have a helper. My hubby is helping me make a Book Sewing Frame. I have drawn up a sketch and we have all of our supplies ready, and he is now the owner of a Router so that is going to help make the slots where the tapes and cords go etc. I will post some pics when we are done. I have wanted a sewing frame for some time now so I'm excited to make one. With all of the little copper tapestry looms that we have made we had several of the parts already on hand. It's very similar to making a little loom with the threaded rod for tension. 

As for todays work on my books and journals I have to get to the studio and see what happens. Still drinking my morning tea and getting ready for my studio time. So I'm off now and I'll be back and you won't even know that hours have passed....... 

And just like that I'm back. Didn't get pics of the new Sewing Frame yet, probably tomorrow. It's looking good, almost done. I'm loving it. So today I continued with the idea of something woven on the book cover page but I wove with paper. I pulled out my paper strip basket and used them for the warp and the weft. Then began a collage page on coffee dyed paper with linen, a little asemic stitching leftover, other fabrics and Japanese papers etc.

​Also a couple more digital paper print outs to play with. The woven paper is from a Japanese book, I love how Japanese text looks, it's like little mark making magic. It probably seems even more enchanting to me because I can't read it. Ha Ha 
This text is from a wonderful book with poems and it is translated to English as well but I'm only cutting up the Japanese text. Well, so far.

​So here are a couple of pics for you and I'm off to dinner for Friday night Sushi. If you didn't already know I'm a Sushi Monster. That's right. I love it!!!! One of my all time favorite foods. Yummy! I have my friend Ann from grad school to thank because she got me started on it and she created a Monster! Thanks Ann! Twenty some years later and I still love it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Got to go EAT! Later Peeps. 

Hello, today I continued with yesterdays ideas. I used my old barn digitals to cover more boards. I really like the look of those and I'm super critical of everything so saying I really like them means I must really like them. Ha Ha  

Still playing with these little mixed media collaged tapestry pieces. Laying things out... I like to cut a window the same size as my cover to help with the layout and composition. I started  doing that all the way back to my days in school in Montana, when I was working on my textiles and clothing degree in the fashion department. It's a great trick. I use it all the time. I always save old mats and modify them to the size I need.

I determined today that the fringe on the first one seems to be fine. We will see once I glue it down and stitch the book. So a couple of people on Instagram said they would like a digital package of the old barns so I will be making one for the shop.
​Time to go and make some dinner. Thanks for stopping by and as always thank you for your kind comments on Instagram and for you support. I really appreciate it.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my little hand carved wood book corner cutter I made. You slide it up on the board corner and then make a mark on the paper or just cut it. It gives you just the right amount of paper for the corner turn in. Not sure if book corner cutter is the correct name but that is what I'm calling it. 

Ok so today I'm starting my next 30 day challenge. So far so good and it really felt good to get back to my work table after all of that digital work. I was missing the hands on work. Touching fabric, and paper and all that yummy tactile stuff that I adore.

I got one book board covered to see what I think of my old barn doors on book covers and I think I love it. I haven't made a digitial papers pack of this yet but I think I might. What do you think? Read on to find out more about that little mixed media tapestry collage. I was having so much fun I'm heading back to the studio for more. Catch ya later. 

So I was playing around with some of these little tapestry weavings and I wondered if it could be a book cover? Is the fringe too long and will that be an issue? Not sure yet. I'm going to use my digital peeling paint paper and cover my board then put the tapestry collage on and see what I think. If it seems to long I'll just snip it down. This was really fun to make today. I have a whole basket of these little weavings that I want to collage etc. A little mixed media tapestry fun. A very tactile art journal experience. Old hand dyed linen, Japanese papers, tea dyed paper, text, a tiny weaving on a small weaving. Talk about layers, hand stitches, all the things I love.

This last week has been a busy one. I was working hard to get my first digital papers into packs and made into collections etc. The first six are done and now live in my shop. 
​I hope you can get a chance to pop over and have a look. The response has been great and I'm making more soon but before I can do that I have got to get back to my art journals that I promised.

I've decided that I will do Art Journals as my next 30 day challenge, this will help me push on and get some finished and into the shop. So the new challenge will begin soon. I'll put up a new count down meter and then I'll be off to the races. Now I just have to remember how I put that first meter into the site. Hmmmm isn't that the way it goes. If you don't do something everyday then when you need to do it again you have to re- learn what you did. Especially with blogs and html code and all of that annoying stuff. Ugh! Anyway here are a few of digital pack images for you. The high res images are in the packs  when you purchase/download. 

Yay! My first 30 day challenge is complete. And I don't have any images for you today because I have been working diligently on my digital papers (printables) that will be coming soon to the shop. Themes are being used in each package. Today I worked on Trees I, as I'm sure I'll do more than one package with a tree theme. So I just want to thank everyone that stopped by during this 30 day challenge. Your support is very much appreciated. So stay tuned for the next challenge. In the mean time I'll have more to post about the digital papers and art journals coming soon. Thanks Peeps.

As this experiment of 30 days of stitching is coming to a close and I'm thinking about it; I would have to say that it really worked. It got me to my computer so I would blog regularly. I just needed a self imposed push, a goal, a little discipline was in order. I'm going to continue with this 30 days of.... there is still many things I want to explore and having a 30 day concentration really works. It's not about a finished work of art it's about freedom to explore and play and see what happens.

It can help you freshen up your perspective and hone your approach to making. Also small time blocks can be used very effectively. And there is something to be said about repetition. A daily practice is very important to a self employed person. I work every day pretty much, I think all artist do because you really can't shut it off. It's wired into you. But I can withdraw into the studio and I'm finding that this ritual of blogging daily (if I can) is helping me connect more. Even if a post doesn't get read by tons of people which was never really the goal.

​The goal was about getting me to talk/blog more about my work and process and what is the point of having a blog if you don't use it. Right. And thru that process of writing and just talking you can discover and discovery is always a good thing. So I'm feeling good about it and getting ready for the next go. What will the topic be? I'm still adding to my list and deciding what will be next. 

Today I found some more of that yummy discharged fabric and discharged shibori. Little bits but enough to work with. Also some black rayon hand stitched with linen that I forgot about. Pairing these with some digital papers I made and coffee dyed papers. I'm lovin this palette. 

On my table today. Tea and coffee dyed papers and some print outs of my photography and digital papers. Just testing the waters printing out on my inkjet printer on card stock and regular printer paper. Also testing watercolor paper tomorrow. I found out today that I have to get an add on application to offer pdfs in my Big Cartel shop so that will  be next on my list so I can offer digital papers in my shop. There will be themes. Asemic, old barns, peeling paint, splatters etc. Still working it all out. I'm going to make the pages for standard printers so 8.5" x 11" so anyone can print them out. My printer will do larger but I think I should stick with what most people have. Anyway, I have a lot more to do but they are coming along. Wabi-Sabi love. And that is my hand print on the right. A little bit of me in there. 

On my table today....stitching and painting on Japanese paper. Collage with tea bags and waxed handwoven fabric, some little tapestry weavings that I hope to use in a mixed media piece. Those are a series I'm working on.... working name is "Remnants" still figuring that all out. Some of this may end up in an art journal. That black discharge fabric is from my sash and I need to do more. I love that fabric but I have not found another black rayon that discharges this same wonderful creamy color. Still looking. I got that black in Savannah years ago when I was doing my grad studies at SCAD. Those were fun times. A great school. Only three days left in this challenge and then a bit of a break while I think about my next 30 day challenge. I have a long list of ideas for that. Here are some the ideas I have on my list. These are things that I want to work on more in a daily proactice.
1. 30 days of... Mark Making
2. Print Making
3. Encaustic
4. Book Making(bookarts)
5. Paper Making
6. Eco Dyeing 
That is my short list for now. I have many more on the list to think about.
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A couple more pics for you and I'm off to get dinner and get back to the studio tonight. Ta Ta Peeps.

Yesterday was a beautiful Sunday and I decided to take a break from the Studio and we went for a lovely country drive in the Pa. mountains. It was very relaxing and just what I needed to help me recharge my batteries. Hubby was driving so I could just relax and look out the window in a dreamy haze. I love doing that. I just let my mind go and observe nature. A walk in the park does the same thing for me. Probably even more so. The Japanese call it "Forest Bathing" 
Goggle says: Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is simply spending time outdoors under the canopy of trees. In Japanese, “shinrin” means forest and “yoku” means bath, or immersing oneself in the forest and soaking in the atmosphere through the senses. 
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I recently saw a movie about trees and they had a segment on Forest Bathing. That was the first time I heard the term and I loved it. Does it count if your in the car in the mountains surrounded by trees with the window down, and your head hanging out like a dog with a big shit eating grin on your face? 
I think that might count. And speaking of counting. I'm counting down the days on this challenge and the days until Fall arrives. Then I will do a great deal of Forest Bathing in the Autumn leaves. Come on Autumn! So yesterday was a mental health day and today I'm hoping to get back to work with a refreshed feeling. Off to the studio I go and you don't even have to wait.....I'll be back with pics. 

Why is there a stick in this image? Good question. I have been picking up sticks for a really long time. I don't know why. I'm compelled to do it. I've always had hopes of finding a way to use them. Maybe for a handwoven wall hanging or maybe a book bound with a stick spine. Or maybe to carve a crochet hook....who knows. Well, at least I have a good stash of them so maybe something will come of it.
So on my work table today... some art journal pages, some drawing, stitching on a weaving sample maybe could become a bookmark etc. Some free motion stitching I think will become a journal cover. Still thinking... A little stitched pocket with a printed photo of wood from my outside table. In the pocket, a tea dyed recipe page, a seed pod, a little bit of linen. I thought that might be fun to put in a journal.
​These recipes are from an old southern country style cook book that is yummy. I don't cook from it anymore because it will make you fat! Or in my case fatter! But I still love to read the mouth watering recipes. So I thought I would dye a few pages and use them in journals. Ok it's time for dinner. I'm off. Later Peeps.  

Just playing....on my work table today. What will these become? Collage? Art Journal pages? Maybe a little of both? Not sure yet but I have a few ideas swimming around in my head. It's a nice quiet Saturday afternoon and it feels good to just play with my materials. Little bits and pieces, I'm all about that lately. Finding little scraps here and there; that is perfect for collage and art journals and it feels good knowing that I'm going to use some of these bits. The journey continues and I'm on my path. Really the goal is the path don't you think? Ok, just throwing that out there into the Abyss. Going back to my play for now. Ta Ta Peeps.

Day 22 I didn't get a post up because I was so busy with the Shop Update. Now that I have that done it's time to get back on track and finish up this challenge and get going on the next push for my shop. The Art Journals and Digital Papers are coming soon. So you will be seeing some work in progress on that front. Some stitching will be going on for sure. I'll be back with pics soon. 

I finished these two Tree Studies for the shop update. Painting with free motion stitching and hand stitching. With little bits of metallic stitching, it's very subtle but when the light hits it just right you can see a little bling. 

This lady may look familiar to you. She was a study that I started for a work called "The Messenger" that became a tapestry. In the tapestry there is a door and a crow also. Here I was working only on the lady and I decided to weave the image instead. Today I decided to finish this study and if all goes well she may make it to my shop but not this Thursday. Maybe next week. I'm working on a new way to present them without a Mat and frame. Fingers crossed that my idea works.  

Here is another that I've been working on. Not finished yet but I'm happy with her so far. 

This mixed media painting will be in the Shop Update, August 6th. Not a lot of stitching in this piece but just enough to do the trick. I'm very happy with the results. The tiny weaving was done with silk/wool warp and woven with paper text strips, wool, metallic thread, and a bit of tea over dye. The metallic gold is hard to capture in a straight on shot so I've shown it at an angle so you can see the bling. 

Today was about cleaning up the studio and doing some maintenance on my Singer Featherweight. I had some new parts delivered months ago and just now got around to putting them on. She got a new needle throat plate with seam markings. The new one is not of the same quality as the original but I think it will be ok. I wanted the seam lines but if it doesn't perform as well as the original I will change it back. The little hooks underneath were loose and one of the tiny screws seemed a bit stripped out. I got it tightened up as much as possible. New parts these days are never like the originals made back when manufacturing in the US was supreme. I also got the new thread holder for spools that perform best with a horizontal feed. And she got new lubrication and new rubber feet underneath. The old ones were completely flat and disintegrating. So now she is sitting on my table nice and even and proud. What a beauty she is. I love her!

I'm pretty busy working on the shop update but I did mange to get a few mixed media collages with stitch started. I also got a little time to work in my sketchbook today. I love stitching into paper so I just keep a needle in the pages of my sketchbooks so I'll have it at hand when the mood strikes me. Also working on some slow stitching pieces that I want to find a home for. I have a basket full of bits and pieces of stitching that I do usually in the morning with a cup of tea or in the evening while watching a movie. Just stitching as a meditative practice. It calms me. It helps me think or sometimes it helps me "not to think" to clear my mind of all the crazy in the world right now. 

​Here are a couple of pics from my work table. I was just able to catch some light from the window. The light in that room is best in the morning but hey I don't have anything done and ready to shoot in the morning. Just making due with what light I can find. I'm a light chaser. Ha Ha 

I'm trying to find a way to implement some of my hand stitched patches into some collaged works. Still working on this idea. ​