Making

Blogland is a busy, busy place right now.

I can practically hear the shuffle of hands making, creating, sewing & sending.

Everywhere I look, on Pinterest or blogs I see such amazing, inspiring work!

I just want to make everything!!

Unfortunately there are only so many hours in the day & my kids are so demanding.

Expecting to eat & wear clean clothes.

The nerve!

I have one Christmas present all  wrapped up!

I ordered Karla's cuff kit & tutorial last week.

I've never made a cuff & was a little scared about it, but I think it turned out nice!

Karla's directions are really clear & there are loads of idea pictures.

Here is the back.

Now that I know how to do this I will be making lots for gifts this year.

Now you may need to sit down for this part.

Last month I did an Autumn swap with Tina .

This is what arrived on my doorstep.

Peek inside!

Scads of beautiful white laces & linens.

This is the coolest resin charm!!!

A wonderful nature collage!
Look at these incredible pods!
And seaweed from her shore.

So I'm blown away, right?
I think Wow, this is a great swap.
But then Lily found one more package wrapped in tissue.

One of Tina's altered books!!

Each page more amazing than the last.

Love the feather in the pocket.

Tina is such a talent, I get so many ideas from her blog.

 

And she shares them so generously!

What an excellent pile of lovelies!

Thank you so much sweet friend!

On the subject of altered books...........

 My latest page for our (Karla, Beth, Sandra) 'Round Robin' book project.

I made these pages for Sandra's book.

A little velvet pocket stuffed with stitching tools.

A vintage tatting bobbin & arm-less reading glasses.

This is the back of the page. I have a beautiful book called

The Portfolio of Needlework that was published in 1855. 

I used a page from that book for my background.

In the window an illustration from a very old reader.

Have I said how much I love this collaboration?!

Every month I look forward to seeing the new pages. 

In a few months I will have a priceless treasure.

This year I am thankful for so many things.

 On my list is the friendship I've found with all of you!

Have a safe happy holiday!

~Lisa

PS Check out my etsy, new things listed!

Fear of Flying

October 6 is my our 15 year wedding anniversary!

(wow, that's a long time)

Kevin surprised me with a trip to Boston.

He arranged everything, even farmed the kids out.

There's only one problem.......

fear of flying!

Thank goodness for Valium.

I've tried to keep my mind off things by staying busy.

Remember these?

The cover & pages Beth made for our round robin,

'Her Life in Stitches'.

Aren't they beautiful?

I spent almost a month staring at them & deciding how I would continue 'her' story.

My jump off point was this card I've been saving for just the right project.

My page is about a girl named May, she is a dressmaker.

The little crocheted bag has been in my collection awhile too.

I think Beth will like this old velvet button.

I adore the silhouette Beth made for the cover.

I imagine this is May as young girl, perhaps the picture used for the silhouette.

Because May is a dressmaker, I used a piece from an old doll skirt as the base of the page.

All done in Beth's 'low color' style.

This project is so fun, I can't wait to see my book when it's done!

 Last week I got some great news.

I won Diane Knotts give-away!

Diane's hand work is perfection!

I had to examine my wonderful pincushion heart up close, under a magnifying glass.

 Such lovely detail.

I didn't expect so many goodies along with my prize.

My favorite are the Diane Knotts originals for my collection!

(she really is a star)

Love these cool pod thingies.

A bundle of sweet laces.

And some vintage papers.

Thank you for spoiling me sweet friend!

All of it will be put to good use, I promise.

I finished up a project for a new class.

Playing with beeswax.

I experimented with some stenciling, & used some cool fabric designed by Tracie Lynn Huskamp.

You can find them in her on-line shop here.

Well, please pray for good weather & a smooth flight for me!

Round Robin

I took a big load to the post office this week.

Lots of projects that went off a little late...

(what's new)!

A very belated birthday gift for a very special friend.

The tease of cool weather has inspired Autumn colors in my art.

The elements I used in this collage are some of my favorites. 

The awesome french lace, vintage velvet ribbon & butterfly that once embellished a hat are precious to me.

I figured I better get a head start with Christmas since I was so late with the birthday gift!

I used an old tabacco tin for the orniment & glass glitter on the stars. 

This will look even better next year when the glitter begins to tarnish.

I'm working on a round robin book collaboration with Karla, Beth & Sandra .

I finally completed my cover & first page.

The project is called 'Her Life in Stitches'.

The book chronicles a girls life with samples of her needlework.

My book is about a girl raised on a farm.

'Low color', tattered treasures & nature were my inspiration.

I used a few different techniques.

A resin block embedded in an old book cover.

It didn't turn out perfectly, but I thought that kind of supported the 'make do' spirit of farm girls.

The sheet music under the photo  is a song called 'in the cornfield'.

The farmhouse piece below is a Tim Holtz idea. 

You can read about it here.

I love the effect!



Here is my first page.

I sent my packect off to Karla, she'll add a page & send it on.

In a year I'll get my book back with 12 wonderful pages.

I'm working on a page for Beth's book now, I'll show you next time.

This is such a fun way to create & share art, I hope to do more soon. 

I've been obsessed with altered books since I read

Collaborative Art Journals & Shared Visions in Mixed Media by LK Ludwig. 

 It's a beautiful book filled with amazing work.

Last year Mary Green invited me to contribute to her online class

Artful Pages-4 Artists 4 Ways.

If you want to learn some tricks & techniques for art journals check it out.

Can you belive September is almost over!

Thank goodness summer is almost behind us.  It was a tough one here.

Now that I'm caught up, I'm off to blog hop!