Wire Cookie Rack - Whimsical Mixed Media House

My girls and I just LOVED the cover art on Cloth Paper Scissors latest issue - (November/December 2010). It shows Andrea Ockey Parr's "Quirky Cookie Houses" made from wire cookie cooling racks!
They are so whimsical and adorable - and my girls love to get messy in the art room, so we had a great time making these! They are very easy to do - just go thrift-store shopping for a few wire racks to cut up (we discovered that the thinner ones work best) and prepare to get a little messy!

Bryanne's is finished - her favorite colors are yellow and orange, as you can see! She wants to add a bit more embellishment later - but I couldn't resist sharing her latest creation : )

I hope you adore her little creation as much as I do!

~ Enjoy! ~

Holiday Art Quilt - Little Red Cardinal

One of my favorite back issues - "Quilting Arts" Issue #34 - In this issue, there is a wonderful article by Karin Winter called "Quilted Pet Portraits" - I decided to try creating a bird from several different layered scraps of fabric combined with thread painting, as her how-to article describes.

Here are some photographs of how my little red cardinals came out! : )

And so - I had to create a little "home" for this particular bird, as he was so sweet!
I used the "Impressionistic" style art quilting to create a background for him, with greens and bits of red and white and yellow for contrast - I also used some pre-cut felt snowflakes, the kind you find in a craft store for making kids' crafts! They were perfect trapped under the tulle - added a little bit of wintery effect to the sky, especially when overstitched with metallic silver thread!

I chose to bind this little 16.5" x 15" quilt with forest green binding strips - added an even more festive effect than my usual black binding - reds and greens and blues are great for a holiday feel.

~ Enjoy! ~

Little Prince Art Quilt #3

This is my newest "Little Prince" art quilt, version #3. I'm so happy with it! I took some of the best components of the previous two quilts, added fur-type fabric for the sheep, and added an additional character to this quilt - the fox! He was a bit of a challenge - but LOTS of fun, and I love how he looks : ) I might have to make a few more little foxes on different backgrounds for fun!

I'd love to share (with permission) what my friend Sheri said about this quilt when she first saw the photographs. It was the most amazing "review" of my work - I've never heard things described in this way - she is a brilliant writer about art - just chatting with her on etsy gave me such inspiration and clear definition of my own styles. She wrote this and had it sent back to me within 15 minutes of me sending her the link to the photographs - so I know it was an instant response, honest and heartfelt - pure emotion after viewing this piece - she called it "spontaneous combustion" in another note! ; ) Pretty amazing writing for a "combustion!" Anyway, I just had to share this - because it isn't every day you receive a response like this to your work, where you realize someone else in this world TRULY "GETS" your message!!

Here was her response:

"I love the how you've selected fully saturated colors, mixed with pops of bright and vivid jewel tones. Even the hematite grey of the planet is so rich! The green, red, and yellow primaries are an eye magnet, but there's so much energy and movement all around, that my eyes bounce back and forth from the main focal elements (prince and rose), then to the sheep, the fox; then to the glittering background sky, the dense foliage, down the trunk of the tree, and back to the little prince again!

I am still in awe of how you've incorporated all of our best loved characters, and married them with your ingenious interpretation of that enormously majestic baobab tree emerging boldly from its floral textured planet, fantastical shimmering multihued sky, twinkling golden stars, and splendid swirls (which remind me of other galaxies)! The fox is perfect and so pretty. He looks proud, wise, and oh so proper in his sitting posture! Maybe his big fluffy tail makes him just a tinge vain. hehe ;) Your sweet little conflicted sheep, has a such a stressed out expression, as if he has doubts about being bad (nibbling on the rose). The little guy is also so soft visually (and probably more so in person) that I want to gently touch him with my index finger, through the monitor, just to feel the bounce of the cushy fabric.

Last, but the most special is our hero, the little prince in reclined pose, with his ever concerned thoughts of caring for his vulnerable, yet surly precious rose . . . extending one arm tenderly as if to hug and protect her. Very, very, sweet!!!"

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Thank you so much, Sheri - for sharing with me your response

to seeing this quilt for the first time - it was so touching and inspiring to me : )

   

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Here is a link to the "Photobucket" slide show - feel free to visit the link

to see even more photographs of this new quilt! : )

Link to Slide Show

~ Enjoy! ~

Purple, Silver & Gold - Sari Ribbon Baby Album

This is a special album cover I created for an etsy order - featuring the layered silk sari ribbons and loopy spine trim. The purchaser wanted this album cover for a 12" x 12" album, for her first baby, and requested purple since she didn't know the gender of the baby yet.
Donna at Field's Fabrics helped me out quite a bit with selecting coordinating fabrics, as I was a little stumped on how to include silver and gold - as I haven't ever really combined the two colors together! She was a huge help to me (I love shopping there!) - and I'm so grateful!!

Here is how it turned out! : )

~ Thank you for looking! ~