Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July to all!

Land of the Free!

Home of the Brave!

I hope that you all get to celebrate on this special long weekend with loved ones and friends.

Oval Floral Pendant

New Oval Pendant Series, this is the first listing.

It looks so vintage and is a beautiful statement piece.

On My Drawing Table

The Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck NY will be in a few short weeks. Last

year had a conflict of interest for me and I couldn't do it but I'm busy getting 

new art ready for this year.

I will have new designs in my prints in different sizes.

New series and sizes for my wearable art pendants.

 

I will keep you updated as we get closer and I get more photos done.

 

Fingers crossed for beautiful weather!

 

In my Studio

I am busy getting ready for the upcoming show season.

My first one this year will be Sunday, May 8th at 

The Makers Market

Railroad Ave.

Warwick, NY

It's a lovely market and I meet the nicest people there.

Also close by is a Farmers Market and the Town of Warwick

with restaurants and delightful shops.

This new little chickadee will be featured on a new style pendant.

It is an oval shape and I just can't wait to assemble them this week.

I'm still working on this birds eye view of a nest. I'm not at all happy with the background.

While looking for a bit of paper with my mothers handwriting on

it, I found this newspaper clipping.

That is me on the right with my first ever art award, I was in first grade and very

intimidated by the camera! 

Have a lovely week!

Printing on Fabric

For a project that I'm working on I need to have a prototype made up that is print ready 

on fabric. I wanted to use muslin, not the white cotton fabric that

is sold by the sheet ready for the printer. I had made this up years
ago and made pillows from my artwork. It isn't very washable
but can be wiped with a damp cloth after drying.

First you need freezer paper.

It is a heavy paper that has a plastic coating on one side.

That side is very shiny so that is the side you want to attach the fabric to.

I make sure that the paper is cut straight to ensure that it runs through

 the printer without getting bunched up.

Also I use it standard size: 8 1/2" x 11" I tried cutting it larger

but the paper gets too floppy that way.

I first give the muslin a nice pressing and that also makes the fabric a bit warm and
in my opinion, may help hold the paper in place better.

Then the shiny side of the freezer paper gets placed down on the muslin and a light 

ironing is used to smooth it. You don't need the iron very hot and
just do a quick light pass and check to see that it stuck.
.

For this project, I needed three pieces so I just kept lining them up along side each other, then snipped away and trimmed the edges to the paper. It is easier sometimes to do this step with a rotary and a straight edge on the cutting board.

Three pieces of fabric ready for the printer. Make sure that there are
no stray threads.

 

These are the printed pages on the muslin. Before you
attempt to sew, let this dry for 24 hours. The ink
needs to be very dry. It won't be a brightly colored
print as Spoonflower can do on their professional
printers, but it's a great way to find out if
your pattern or design works.

Thomas would rather I hold him all day instead of working on art.....

Thank you for reading and hop on over to Instagram to follow also!
Have a nice day :)

My Lovely Week

I got to spend time with this little man, we had the best day!

Worked on an enlarged printable Christmas Belle.

Spent the night in a haunted mansion:

http://hauntedhistorytrail.com/places/burn-brae-mansion/

The spirits were quiet that night!

Drove the Hawks Nest, one of the most scenic drives in the country. This video isn't
working I'll try to figure out how to share, but trust me its a gorgeous drive!

Tried to update my selfie...sigh....time is marching on!!!

Finished it off with a healthy bowl for lunch today, it was yummy goodness:

Chopped avocado, romaine, red peppers, green olives, brown rice,

feta and sunflower seeds. Topped off with a drizzle of evoo and balsamic syrup.

Hope that your week was lovely too.

Living Room Mantle Decorating - Valentine's Day

For many years I worked as a floral designer and

home decor merchandiser. I loved any and all Holidays!

Always an excuse to decorate, even though I've cut back quite

a bit I still have to do something....

 

This card was one I came across while cleaning my MIL's appartment.

It was one that my Father-in -Law gave her when they were first married.

I love it! I like to think of them as a newly married couple with many many

years ahead of them. This card was from the late 40's.

This book was an estate sale find.

I'm guessing that it was from the 50's or so. Probably one

of the first DIY card selections. Inside there are cards and

envelops to cut and decorate.

I love to decorate my fireplace mantle seasonally and here is

the February mantle. January's was pretty much a blank slate,

after taking down Christmas I did like the empty open look.

Here it is head on...in all it's quirky Valentine splendor! LOL!