2015 July
Time Away!
7/28/2015
Brent and I dug right into making sense of the garage after he picked me up at the airport. The garage was packed and we weren't able to find anything we needed when we needed it.
This was the last major project to finish on the renovation of his house. The garage was the catch all for all of the supplies we needed to redo the house, and that on top of a mess from when he moved. It was crazy!
Although it was a two day project, we made great progress and had everything organized by the time we finished. Not only can he find what he needs, he can walk all the way around the garage!
It felt so good to be on the bike and have that little bit of exercise. The shadow is as close as I get to a selfie. I just wanted to prove that I really was out riding a bike. I used Natalie's bike while I was there, but sure would have liked to have had my bright colored bike. Maybe next time.
It usually takes about 15 minutes after I arrive to have Brent's house littered with projects. This time it actually took two days since we started in the garage.
One of the main reasons I went to see Brent was to help him design a custom pattern for a jacket. I think we succeeded through a little trial and error.
There are two classes, in all the classes that I took for my four year college degree, that I can say I absolutely use on a regular basis, one is a textile class on the properties of fabrics, and the other class, that I used this weekend, was a flat pattern design class.
We started with a sloper pattern based on his measurements. this is a great thing to have if you want to make custom clothes that fit your shape perfectly. All patterns are made from the same basic sloper pattern and it is adjusted according to the style of the garment that you want to make.
We made a muslin template and adjusted from there. As I made the pattern, he worked through the details that he wanted on his jacket. He concentrated on the stitching details and learned to sew (the only thing he had ever sewn before was a pair of leather shoes... blue suede, of course!). He did an amazing job and really paid attention to details. I told him he just made a college pattern without going to kindergarten. Now he just needs to add buttons and wait for the weather to cool. What a great creative week.
Back home now and working on final details and shipping for Phoenix. I can't believe that it is less than a week away!
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It Smells Like a Barnyard!
7/22/2015
What do you do when someone gives you a gift in an old plastic bag that smells like a barnyard?? In my case I wanted to jump for joy! My husband on the other hand looked at this bag in the laundry room and asked, "what the heck are you into now??" "Now," I said, "I get to try something new." I received a surprise gift of sheared wool from a new friend, and I am so excited to clean it, dye it, and use it in some felting!
Here's the picture of the wool inside the plastic bag before I washed it
Here's a picture of the wool after I washed it and had put it on my kitchen counter. It does smell good now. I was headed out to work when it needed to lay out to dry and I was afraid if I left it on the deck in the sun, it might blow away. I was at work and got another call from Jeff. "If you want me to cook dinner you have to move this stuff." Needless to say I decided it was time to go home. After all... he was cooking dinner!
I spend all kinds of time on Pinterest and have a board with fibers and textiles where I love to post creative fiber projects. A good portion of them are felted items, nuno felting, wet felting, needle felting. I enjoy the creativity. I found a woman on Pinterest and I was thrilled with her blog and the classes that she taught. I decided that I might have to take some classes from her and then realized that she is in Australia.... not in the budget for this year!!
We are still frantically working on items for Phoenix. I am leaving for Florida for a week and my class supplies and teaching supplies need to ship while I am gone. I am lucky to have Delphia to ship them for me while I am away.
We are still frantically working on items for Phoenix. I am leaving for Florida for a week and my class supplies and teaching supplies need to ship while I am gone. I am lucky to have Delphia to ship them for me while I am away.
So as I am packing for Florida I am packing my prized possessions to take with me to play. My serger was shipped to me by FedEx so I figure it is safe to pack and to ship on the plane as luggage. I have packed and duct taped and created a handle to try and make it as safe as possible. I still have jitters about it being away from me. I guess that is like sending a kid to camp.
You have it all as ready as possible but you never know what will happen! Here is hoping for a safe journey!!
The rest of the supplies are packed in my suitcase and ready to ship. I have several other projects in mind and I know that I just have to have what I might need, whether it gets used or not.
There is not much room left for clothes so I will do a little washing while I am down there. It is a good thing it is warm.... 2 shirts, 2 shorts and life is good!!
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I Can't Be That Old!
7/14/2015
In the meantime, we are hard at work in the studio getting boxes ready to ship to Phoenix. I am headed to Florida next week with more projects with my son and need to have everything for my classes and my personal class supplies packed and ready to go before the plane takes off.
So... the pressure is on!
I spend time each year trying to figure out what I have in the studio that I can package and sell that you can't find at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Each year I try and figure out one or two new items that will draw artists to my booth. Check out one of the new fabric packets good for collage or fiber art.
The biggest sellers to date are definitely the fiber bundles that we put together. They are used for all kinds of artwork, wether you are a fiber person or are into other mediums. Check them out on our easy site, Funky Fibers. Now to figure out what else is new for this year!
I don't have too many days where I can get up and have one thing and only one thing on my agenda. When I am able to carve out that time it is kind of special. Thursday was one of those days for me. It was made even more special because of the wonderful people with whom I was able to spend the day reminiscing. Marcia and Bob have a huge part in the woman that I am today and I am thankful for a friendship that has lasted for 40 years. Everyone needs such good mentors and friends. 40 years....Oh that makes me sound old!
No... it can't be.... a 40th class reunion! Oh yes it is! It has been really fun to catch up with high school classmates on Facebook and I was so looking forward to visiting at the class reunion this year. But that is not to be. The reunion will be while I am teaching and taking classes in Phoenix this year. I am sure I will hear my ears burning with tales of a wild senior year. maybe it will be best that I don't go!
I took home my weaving, since I have stripped out the house and have basically a blank slate, I am trying for figure out what artwork will go where.
I hung the weaving over the sofa on a nail that was already there ( I know it is too high but I wanted to check color) and am thrilled to see how well the weaving matches the sofa that we just reupholstered.
Now to get the walls painted, new drapes made and figure out what goes where.... Just glad the colors go so well.
Maritess is working hard to get our Etsy site up and running and we were lucky enough to have one of our fiber bundles to be picked and "favorited". Love it when people notice what we are doing!
I am headed out to make more ottoman basis, take my son to the airport and hopefully miss the storms that are coming through!!
3 Comments
Paula - How awesome to have a day to do what you want. I just had one of those and it was so much fun. So excited for you Leslie. New horizons.
Mary MacMichael - Leslie, You are the bomb! Love, Love, LOVE that you are the person you are and give so much of that creativity to others and help draw that out of themselves. Have a great trip and I KNOW that your Creator - ivity goes ahead of you! Your light shines so brilliantly.
Gaye Medbury - Leslie, love the sofa. It's so cool. You really amaze me with all your talent and energy.
Bits, Blocks and Pieces...
7/7/2015
It's always nicer to be able to use my saws and sanders in the parking lot than in the STUDIO. I still haven't dusted since the last time I used the saws in the STUDIO! The dust is still thick!!
I took advantage of the break in rain and pulled the saws outside to start preparing the legs for my footstool bases for Phoenix. I was able to dodge raindrops and got all my cuts done. I took them inside and was able to glue them all together, let them dry overnight, and then drilled and pegged them.
I took advantage of the break in rain and pulled the saws outside to start preparing the legs for my footstool bases for Phoenix. I was able to dodge raindrops and got all my cuts done. I took them inside and was able to glue them all together, let them dry overnight, and then drilled and pegged them.
So glad to have them done. Now if I just had my own table saw I could have the rest of the wood cut and the footstools done and finished. I really do hate waiting on other folks to get things done and a table saw sounds like a great birthday present!!
I find that we do better at art shows when we have samples made up of what folks can do with the supplies we are selling. Karen and I played with the felting machines the other day. We started with tubs of supplies at our fingertips and we each gravitated to completely opposite looks.
I love the way Karen took the edge of a sweater neck and created an off kilter clutch using the sweater banding as the starting focal point. She then embellished with wool felting and lots of fun buttons. It turned out great!
I know that you had no idea which purse was mine. :)
Color, color and more color.
Color, color and more color.
I started with the felt base and then added a bias cut striped polyester (left over from a wedding I did several years ago) as the main embellishment. I then added bright colored metal rings and buttons. What a relaxing day that was!
I would love to know how many of you have felting machines. This can all be done by hand felting, but the machine is fun and takes half the time. Let me know if you have one and would like for us to set up a play day for machine felting!
We are in the process of getting the studio ready for two days of volunteer sewing with Impact Shelby to make walker caddies for the nursing homes. Lots of clean up to be ready in time, but I was able to finish the Phoenix packets for the journal class that I'm teaching before I did all the clean up. One item down, lots more to go!
So after working all day I have been going home and taking my house apart. I'm getting ready to paint and purge lots of stuff from my house and then to have a great big barn sale the first weekend in September.
Once I have an empty slate and repainted walls I will decide what does come back and what goes.
Maybe I will have to make some new art for the walls. Ohhhh that feels so good!!
4 Comments
Ellen Yunker - Leslie, I'd LOVE to have a felting machine workshop! I got a great deal on a machine through a LAFTA friend but haven't even had it out of the box yet. Some fun at MEM studio sounds like just the right thing to get me going!
Jayn Lando - Your house is gorgeous ... can't believe you just take it all down and start over ... but I guess at least you're keeping the same house ... :)
Leslie - Ellen... as soon as I get back from Florida we will schedule something with the felting machine. I LOVE to just sit and create! Will let you know!!
Leslie - Hey Jayn! Thanks! It was a tough decision on wether we were keeping the house or starting over... redoing won out at least for awhile!! Come play after I get back from Phoenix!!
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