Etsy

Today is the start of making a conscience effort to begin posting something new on Etsy every day. 

Sooooo, here is one of my latest hand dyed silk scarves.

What I love most about it is the lush green background. lol

I like the scarf too.

I'm having a bit of trouble here getting the photos where I want them. So the arrangement is a bit wacky. But you get the picture. 

Have a great day. I'm off to see my Dad who is visiting from Colorado!

How do you all plan your etsy listings?

New hand painted and stamped fat quarter design.

 Here's my latest fat quarter design. 

There are 2 versions: one with the grid lines and one without.

I have a total of 7 available on my Etsy site.

I really love the subtleties of the color palette.

These would work really well cut into 4 smaller pieces as well.

See below for the stamps that I used.

These are the 4 stamps I used.
The small one is cut from a Dick Blick Soap Eraser.
The weird triangle and the odd square one on the left are cut from
SpeedballSpeedy-Cut Carving locks ,
and the tiled green one is an 8x10 Moldable Foam Sheet.
For paint I used Dye-na-flow, Seta Silk and Pro Fab transparent textile paints.

As always, if you have any questions don't hesitate to be in touch.
Have a great day! 

Stamped Textiles and Blog Giveaway!

I have a stamping workshop I am teaching at Harrisville Designs in Harrisville N.H. at the end of the month. In anticipation of this class I have decided to design some cotton fat quarters using only hand made stamps and spray painting for the background color. It has been a really fun challenge!  Here are the two I have made so far. 

Stamps used for the fat quarter above.

Stamps used for the fat quarter above.

If you are interested in buying them to use in your own projects please visit my Etsy shop. 

Oh, I almost forgot. Leave me a comment and your email address and enter your chance to win a copy of my new book "Fabric Surface Design!"

Quilt Show

I spent this past Sat. and Sun. at a quilt show in Amherst, MA. The show was sponsored by the 

Hands Across the Valley Quilt Guild.

It was my very first book signing appearance. I was a bit awkward at first but got the hang of it after a while. I was lucky to be sponsored by my good friends at A Notion to Quilt in Shelburne, MA. The absolutely best quilt shop this side of the Mississippi!

Okay, so maybe I am just a bit biased.

There were some really outstanding quilts on display. And as it turns out one of my very favorite quilts just happened to be hanging directly across from where I was sitting. 

The artist, Ann Feitelson gave me permission to post it here.

 A stunning and very large piece.

Basket Weave II: See Saw

One of the best benefits of the show was that not only did I meet some wonderful new people but I also got to see some fiber art friends that I just don't get to see very often, such as Gail Callahan, Nina Campanon, Rebecca Fricke, Margaret Stancer and many others.

Thank you all for a very inspiring weekend!

Next book signing will be this Friday April, 12 in Worchester, MA at 

The Original Sewing and Quilt Expo.

Once again you can find me in A Notion To Quilt's booth.

Progress

My son has told me that I tend to use my blog like a newsletter and then forget my newsletters altogether. He is, of couse right.

The past 3 years have been a whirlwind of constant activity. There was the opening of my studio, teaching, writing the book, making artwork for the book and more writing for the book. Some where in there I had to close the studio but kept teaching and started working for someone else fulltime.

Not to mention marketing the business, parenting a 15 year old, send the 19 year old off to college for the first time and parenting him in a completely new way! 

Oh and did I say I am married and make an attempt at

house cleaning, cooking and seeing my Mom and Dad. And friends...I have friends!

You get the picture. 

Sigh

Now I am working for a different someone else, but only part time.

The book has been out for just a couple of weeks and I have a potentially new somewhat regular writing gig that is still a secret. 

Shhh

Throughout all of this I have grown, grown and grown some more. 

Sometimes it has been an ouchie.

But mostly it has been great.

I am finally starting to catch up on the business of CherScapes.

ie. setting up my new home based studio,

putting up my new profile on TAFA (almost finished!),

reopening my Etsy Shop with the addition of posting/selling some of my textiles 

(up but not yet full, so stay tuned on that one),

seeking out new venues to teach at (to be announced in my newsletter),

almost ready to send out my newsletter (leave me your email address if you'd like to be on my list),

promoting my book,

and

making art!

PROGRESS!

I leave you tonight with a new image of my first "Little Miracle."

(See the previous post.)

Once it was posted, I saw how much work it still needed. 

Please note that I did NOT remove it. 

Because this is my blog - which is meant to be about process.

Progress!

Little Miracles

I recently worked at a company that gave away little Mexican charms called milagros, to every customer at the check out counter. It was explained to me that the charms represented "Little Miracles" or fortunes that would be bestowed on the owner of a particular charm. The charms ranged from a left foot to a wine bottle and the face of a woman. There were many others. 

Needless to say I thought the charms and the practice were...well...charming. Apparently people throughout the mid west and Mexico collect these small charms, hammering them to the outside of their home around their front door for good luck. I imagine that the sun catches and reflects off the hammered metal in different ways creating glimmer and light and perhaps the sense of a miracle happening.

As any surface design, fiber artist knows, we have a tendency to collect many small bits of fabric with painted and transfered images. Impossible to throw away but not exactly what I want my brain to really scrutinize in my artwork, I recently decided that I would allow myself to transform these little miracles into small art pieces, because the reality is that although I ultimately want to make and work on those large abstract works, I still do enjoy drawing and painting leaves, flowers and other recognizable images from nature. I have come to accept (at least I hope so!) and recognize that this activity should not be frowned upon, but rather embraced as an activity that helps me find balance - it is a kind of meditative process that can bring me closer to my ultimate objective then I had previously thought possible.

Here is my first piece from the series titled "Little Miracles." It measures 10" x 8" and is stretched over a canvas.

Hey Everyone!! Here's the NEWS:

The book is finally really done and out into the world. I am so very fortunate to have had the team of professionals I had to make this book become a reality. Many, many thanks to my editor Gwen Steege, my photographer John Polak and my art director Mary Velgos!

 There is a really wonderful review up on the  Barnes and Noble web site. Thank you Publishers Weekly!

Home based studio is now set up and churning out work! Okay, so I still have all the finishing work to do - but it is operational, including two 8' x 4" tables (one for wet and one for dry)!

New Etsy site will be up in a matter of a week. It will feature hand dyed and painted textiles for other artists, quilters etc. to purchase and use in their own projects. People asked for it and I am finally here to deliver.

I've got (almost all) my proposed classes and workshops listed on my web site here. And very, very soon (like maybe tomorrow!) I'll be sending out a newsletter with my class schedule for 2013 so far.

PHEW!

I have missed you all.
Don't forget to write!

I find that these days I am often asking myself how I measure success. Once upon a time I didn't even consider success. Now I not only think about it often, but I have finally come to understand that it is okay if it changes.

How do you measure success?

Warning!

This is what happens to your garden when you sign a book contract.

Book Samples and Where I go From Here

This is the pile of samples that are in the book. They were made over a period of 6 weeks minus the 12 days of photo shoots - you get the picture. It was a lot of work and many late nights, but not an experience I would trade in for anything.

Of course I can only show you this little peak...

So now what?

Everything is still packed in boxes, but I am on the hunt for a couple of unfinished pieces. When they show up I'll post them here. There are also a couple of pieces that started out as book cover samples. They were both axed for one reason or another but I decided that I will make them into finished pieces.

Also....

I just landed myself a great full time job. 

There has been a very interesting thread on a couple of on-line art quilt sites about making the plunge to being an artist full time.

I thought I would write a bit about that here since I am actually doing the opposite thing. And with just as much excitement and anticipation as the artist who posted the first email.

More to come