Basket Case!

I finally had a nice enough day to take photos of the skully quilt that was my Hubby's Valentine's Day surprise!

The pattern is called "Basket Case" and is from the book "Dare to be Square" by Boo Davis.

It turned out fantastic and he loves it! It is the perfect size for him to cuddle under on the couch!

Here is a close up of the awesome quilting that my fab long arm quilter pulled out for me! Skulls and bones with a bit of a swirl.

I forgot to take a photo of the back, but it is a dark black and gray Moda swirl and the white quilting stands out nicely against it. It is always on the couch over my Hubby or sometimes the little dog has claimed it as his own!

WIP Sunday: Yeeehaw!

I know, I know, I didn't need another project, but when your family approaches you and says, "We really want you to make a quilt for your cousin that is getting married and we'll all chip in to buy fabric". What can you say? Hell yes!

The wedding is approaching fast and it isn't realistic that I'll have the entire thing done, quilted, and bound, so my family agreed I'd do my best to have the top complete and show it to the happy couple before taking it back to have it quilted and sew on the binding.

I found some wonderful western fabrics on line and ordered them to get started. I fell in love with the Alexander Henry fabric "Latigo" and even though it is out of print I had to order some from etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/44093617

The seller was great and even had a bit of extra on had so I will be sure I have enough.

So that will be the larger focal squares and then I started sewing the other blocks that will go between. They are star units and fun and fast to put together. I made one complete block to see how it would look and then started an assembly line to get the star points done all at once before I put the blocks together. I should have them finished up today!

The fabrics look great in person because the Latigo is a bit darker than in the etsy sellers photo. I also got some leather look stuff for the sashing. I can't wait to get it put together!

Yes, I'm also working on a personal swap package and the ugly quilt is put on hold for the moment too!

Little Whimsy Mermie

I finished up my whimsy mermaid from the M3 class on Ning last night! My main mermaid painting is still a WIP, but I finished this one up just in time to give it as a gift to a Great Aunt that is having her Birthday today!

It was so much fun to work on the wood and then add the wax! I want to do a few more on wood like this!

Please ignore the dog tail! He refused to get out of the window for me to take the picture and then proceeded to give me dirty looks for doing so.

Here is a close up of the face! This was so much fun! I love the whimsy style.

I'm hoping it is loved by the new owner as much as I loved creating it!

Fairy Journal OWOH!

I sent out my OWOH goodies today and they should arrive at their new homes in a couple of days. I said I would post a photo of the fairy journal that was going to one of my winners and just now had a chance to do so! I didn't take any photos of the pages inside so you will just have to trust me that they are wonderfully magical and full of surprises!

It is on it's way to Arya!

WIP Sunday: A Bit Overwhelmed!

Uhg! I have too many projects and not enough time! Starting work full time this time of year always throws me into a bit of a funk. I loose so much precious art time and I feel a bit overwhelmed. I just need to prioritize and figure out what to do first.

To start with I finally started my mermaid sketch for the M3 class. I should have been working on it last week, but I was so busy! This is just my first sketch and there are a few things I need to change before I start adding color, but it isn't bad. I have plans for the empty space already too.

I think her shoulders are a bit to broad making her feel to manly for me. I'll fiddle with that and the boobies. I know the breasts will look better when I've added color and taken away the harsh lines and replaced it with shading.

Also yesterday I hosted a stitching class/session at our local art center. We are celebrating the 100th birthday of our gorgeous building so I asked ladies to come and stitch up something of the building. I prepared 4 patterns from parts of the architecture and helped those along that needed it with the stitching. We had such a blast we hope to continue it each month even after our project is complete.

I'll share photos of some of the pieces next month when we meet again. It was fun to have a group of people all doing something similar, but with their own touch. I can't wait to see the pieces put together into a quilt or wall hanging!

Happy Sunday! I'm off to have some coffee with the girls, then back to figuring out what projects to work on first!

Hoop Up and Send Swap Round 2 Finished!

I participated in the 2nd round of the Hoop Up and Stitch Swap on flickr. I'm collecting gnome themed blocks to make a quilt out of someday! I have started collecting fabrics as well. I thought I would share the blocks I received this round from some wonderfully talented stitchers!

I recieved this block from a side swap with the lovely Maripen. She had my stitchy friend Heidi (Digital Misfit) design this pattern especially for me! What a lovely surprise!

I also did a side swap with Digital Misfit and she designed me a special surprise too! Me and the hubby in gnome form hanging out our address over our lovely tree home!

Next we have this super sweet little gnome and mushroom house from Marilynkb. I love the bright colors!

The lovely LethargicLass drew up her very own pattern for this sleepy little guy!

Sweetteamom designed this sweet little gnome lass for me!

Last, but certainly not least Jmbmommy drew up this sweet little fellow!

Another wonderful round! I think I almost have enough blocks to make my quilt! I'll have to do a final count and see where I land. Just had to share some wonderful stitching! I'm off to teach/share some stitching with a group of ladies at our local art center! I'll have some pics of that to share tomorrow!

Happy Stitching Saturday!

OWOH Winners!

Happy OWOH Winning Day to everyone! I love this day of the year to see what wonderful goodies I've won from fellow bloggers. I used the random number generator this morning to choose my winners and then had to rush off to work before I could post the winners. So I'm home from work and ready to post!

I don't have screen shots of the random number generator when I drew the names this morning so you all will have to trust me! I clicked it 3 times and wrote down the numbers then went to my blog and found the comments! Totally fair, I promise.

And the winners are............

Leslie was comment 298 and won the mixed media canvas!

I just love your little queen canvas....she is precious.

http://leslie-mylifeandtimes.blogspot.com/

Sandra was comment 278 and won the gnome mug rug!

I would love to be entered in your wonderful drawing
Sandra

Arya was comment 61 and won the fairy journal!

She's stunning and so is the wall hanging...I know where both would hang - I hope I get to one of them...

Congrats to all my winners! I'll be posting the packages on Saturday!

I've also already won 3 prizes!

One World One Heart 2011! Giveaway is closed!

This post will stay at the top of my blog until the winners are drawn on the 17th, but click older posts or scroll down to see new posts!

It is time, a wonderful time of the year! One World One Heart giveaway time! I've so loved participating in this event. I'm sad to say this is the last one, but also happy because I know that the response will be overwhelming. So many friendly bloggers to meet and wonderful prizes to see. You can see all of the participants here:

http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart-1.html

Lisa has so graciously hosted this event for five years! Time to go out with a BANG!

Lately I've had a growing love of mixed media techniques. Playing with so many media really makes me happy. So, this year I've made up a special piece of mixed media art to always remind the lucky winner of the fifth and final One World One Heart giveaway!

It is a finished 8X10 inch canvas ready to hang anywhere. I can just see it in a girl's room, crafty space, or just about anywhere. I used texture paste, collaging, watercolor crayons, stickles, and a billion other arty supplies to create this little Queen of One World One Heart. She holds a globe in the shape of a heart to remind us all of the wonderful giving event.

Since I couldn't just give away one prize I tried my hand at something completely new for another chance for everyone to win! I've always admired paper pieced quilting and found a wonderful free pattern here: http://artisania.wordpress.com/free-patterns/

With my love of gnomes I knew just what I had to do; make a mug rug for one lucky person to perch their coffee or tea and a snack on!

I'm pleased as can be with my first go at paper piecing! The mug rug is 11x 6 1/2 inches. Perfect for a large mug and a muffin, perhaps.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post! Say hi, tell me something you like about crafting, leave a joke or a useless bit of knowledge. I'll accept anything as an entry!

Winners will be announced here on February 17th with the help of a random number generator. First winner drawn will have their choice of prize with following winners getting other prize(s). Please be sure you have an email address attached in some way to your comment. Be it leave it in the comment or have an active blog account so I can reach you if you win. If I cannot contact the winners or have not heard from them within 3 days I will be forced to choose new winners.

Let's all visit as many blogs as possible, make new friends, and maybe even win some wonderful prizes! Good luck everyone and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and say hello!

Due to overwhelming amounts of comments I am adding a 3rd prize!

I promised another prize if I hit 300 comments so I'm making good! I thought I'd share another thing I've really loved creating. A wee fairy journal! It will look something along the lines of this:(Although it will not be this one as it was given as a gift)

A wee book full of fun papers and bits and bobs inspired by the wee folk! Tiny drawings, feathers, fabrics, rusty goods ect.

I will post a pic of the actual fairy journal when it is completed so stay tuned!

Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments!

A Sister's Love

Here is my week 3 assignment for the class I'm taking on Ning with Tam! You can click the button in my side bar for more info on the class.

Our week three inspiration was the famous artist Mucha. Our mythical inspiration was angels. As soon as I saw Tam's piece for this week's assignment I knew it had to be a gift for my little sister. I felt the sisterly love in the piece and let that flow into my own piece as much as I could. Most people took at as a mother and child, but since I'm not a mom yet (besides my fur baby!) I felt the love I have for my little sis.

So I know you are saying, "umm angels.... Where are the wings?" She has invisible wings I say! It is mixed media using water color crayons, graphite, stamps and ink, and acrylic paint. I went with cool colors and warm feelings. The decorated background is supposed to be reminiscent of Mucha's elaborate style. The little girl is holding two feathers to represent my little sister who is now 10. When she was still in the womb she received the nickname of Two Feathers as a nod to her Native American heritage.

A close up of the faces that I'm getting to be so happy with! I'm still struggling a bit with eyes, but I can see myself getting better and better with practice.

This week's assignment is mermaids!

WIP Sunday: Bind Bind Bind!

So this Sunday's adventure is finishing up the binding on the skully Valentine! The Hubby still has no clue about it so I'm waiting patiently for him to leave for work so I can finish up binding the last side! No photos yet, but it will get it's own post.

The next binding project is this sweet little paper pieced mug rug for my best crafty pal Heidi. She will be getting it in a box full of wonderfulness soon! It was my 2nd go at paper piecing and I had a blast!

I'm also still working on the quilt of craziness! I have all the blocks made in to rows and have 2 of the rows sewn together, but it has been put on hold until the skully quilt is finished in time for Valentine's Day! Happy crafting!

WIP Sunday: Crazy Rails and Angel Faces

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone! Sadly I don't even know who won or lost the game as I was sewing away happily!

I was sewing away on a quilt for me! It is gaudy and crazy and a bit like me. I bought the fabric AGES ago off of the clearance rack at the local quilt shop. The entire quilt top fabric cost me $13! I also bought the backing from the clearance rack and it cost around $15! I'm using the triple rail fence pattern and I've been calling the quilt "Path to Enlightenment". It has Buddhas peeking out from some of the rails and the backing fabric is that same fabric.

A sneak peek at the gaudy goodness!

I'm also working on the Mucha inspired angels for this weeks M3 lesson. My background is done and I'm watching the vids on drawing the angel and girl. I plan on this representing me and my sister and giving it to her framed when it is done. It just totally reminded me of us.

My sketches so far.

I'm also going to work on the extra giveaway gift for the OWOH because I'm almost to 300 comments! Yay!