Gypsy Soul tags

Every product needs a tag and I have been stewing about the tags for Gypsy Soul Designs for some time. I am new at a lot of this and I am constantly learning and finding inspiration. Its hard to put a first effort "out there" but I think its important because maybe my little project will help someone else find the courage to try something new!

I've been reading about art journaling and that inspired me to take the same approach with my product tags. I can have fun and play with the tags and no two need to be alike! All of the materials I use have a story, a gypsy soul, why not my tags too!!

A plain tag soaked in coffee to give it an aged appearance.

I seriously used Crayola brand washable paint! Someday when I understand more about the products I may opt for a more expensive paint but this works just fine.

Swirls always seem to be a logical beginning for me!

I decided to throw some colors together that I think are pretty.

I LOVE Glimmer Mist! It is addictive. This color is Latte. I wish the sparkle came through better in the photo.

Some sparkle and a tiny scrap of vintage wallpaper for fun.

The other side....I am going to go over my blog address in dark pen but you get the idea.

This was a late night quickie but I just wanted something to get my process going. After playing with paints for a few minutes I was inspired to do a little more in my art journal. I love how one thing leads to another! My next project is sewing machine doodles on tags...who needs sleep anyway??!!

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Today's Gratitude

A friend shared this recently and its a wonderful thought for the day:

"There is always, always, always something to be thankful for."

Even if its only 5 minutes....take some "you time" today!!

A completed journal spread....very fun just to play!!!

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Grandma's birthday quilt

My mom celebrated her 60th birthday this year so I got all the grandkids together to make her a birthday quilt. Kids and fabric markers are an excellent combination! I love their creative freedom.

I cut 11 inch blocks of solid, light colored fabric and told each child to draw a picture for Grandma. In the interest of saving fabric I had them do a preliminary picture on paper with regular markers, then when they had a basic idea of what they wanted to draw they used Crayola brand fabric markers on the blocks. I asked them to keep about a 1/2 inch border around the edges so nothing would disappear in the 1/4 inch seam allowance.




Instead of a label I made a block in the one remaining space.


I placed the blocks in order from the oldest to the youngest grandchild and made easy strip blocks from flowery fabric in my stash. What Grandma doesn't love flowers!! I spent a little extra time making bias binding for the scalloped border (which is hard to see in this photo). I was very excited with how happy and bright this quilt turned out. A special gift for a very, very special Grandma!!

An amazing self portrait!

A boy's feelings on Grandma's yard.

Some of the cutest daffodils I've seen!

So bright and pretty.

Getting the kids together to create this gift was a fun day for them and it can be done with the simplest of quilt patterns!!

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Coming soon...Grandma's quilt!

Busy birds...

My son found this perfect little bird's nest. So much work and care went into it. We hope the sweet bird family moved on to even better digs!! Looking forward to great weather this weekend and some outside time....be sure to check back soon for GRANDMA'S QUILT PROJECT!! We've had some really crafty kids around our place...Pin It

Feeling Like Spring!!

My metal bird nesting in the cosmos!

Gerber Daisys make me happy.

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Mixed Media Journal

MY INSPIRATION JOURNAL...


Mixed media art is everywhere and my addiction is growing! My friend Renea' is an awesome paper artist and after months of oogling and wishing, we took the plunge and decided to give mixed media journals a whirl. With her support and a few supplies I bravely stepped away from my sewing machine to try out our new craft.

But where to begin??

There are tons of amazing project examples on the internet and in magazines but I was still lost and not even sure if I had what I needed to get going. (I didn't even know that Gesso existed, or how to pronounce it for that matter.) Fortunately for me I came across Ashley at lilblueboo.com during my search. If you wanna be completely, overly, stupendously amazed at the crafting ability of a single human being I highly suggest you check out her site. And, again, I say WOW!

We chose her "composition book art journal" example to get us going and took it from there! Renea' dove in like a mad woman while I took a slower approach. (I'm still afflicted with flashbacks from grade school art class where it was painfully obvious a master painter I did not make!).

Some tools of the trade.



Doodle artist Traci Bautista's brand of mod podge.


So, half a glass of wine and a few loose directions later, I let myself be seduced by the no-rules approach to slapping on mod podge, colored paper, paint and whatever else tickled my fancy. I've kept a written journal for years and decided I wanted to make an Inspiration Journal; a place where I can put favorite quotes or images that inspire me and insights I want to remember and look back on later. These journals take time so instead of powering through I decided this will be a great project-in-progress. No pressure and I can apply different techniques to new inspirational ideas as they come along. I figured since it's for me and me alone I could let go of worrying about whether it actually looks like a first grader made it (besides, some of those kids are crazy good!!).

Here are some humble beginnings and I will be sure to share new pages and fun things to try as they come along. I'm excited to see how my journal grows. Hope you like it and maybe decide to try one of your own!




My first flower doodle. The ladies were printed from Stampington's inspirational quote of the week email and the big flower was outlined and painted from craft paper. I love how the typed lettering torn from a vintage dictionary and my writing add a layered look from under the paint.



This tag was soaked in coffee to age it, painted and covered in glossy mod podge. I love the loose texture of the ribbon.



The page as a whole.

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A little serendipity

It isn't all that often I get to browse a thrift store without the company of my kids, however on a recent trip to the Oregon coast I got said opportunity thanks to my hubby. He found the advertisement for $3 Bag Day and I was there in no time! I didn't realize until I was at the checkout that I was a DAY EARLY! That's okay.....for $4.75 I came home with some sweet treasures and my thrift store fix!





The background is my retro ironing board cover! I couldn't resist the lime green and flowers and it sure brightens up my sewing area more than the boring, burnt blue cover I had. The pink, flowery pillow case made me think of my little girl and may become an apron. The vintage Simplicity patterns are fun sitting on my sewing table and I know I'll find an interesting use for the pattern paper inside (mixed media journal perhaps?). Not pictured is a 1950's-era yellow bowl with a lid....I am thinking it will make a great new home for extra buttons.

I love hunting for the unexpected and then figuring out what it will become. Sometimes its something completely different than I initially plan but that's half the fun. When serendipity happens its a creative gift I try to appreciate to the fullest - its not always easy to keep the critical brain out of it but when I do its usually a much better result!Pin It

How It All Began

Six years ago I fell in L-O-V-E with fabric and was fortunate enough to find a lifelong friend and quilting teacher when I needed her the most! She offered me the basics and had me rip apart more than a few quilt blocks in the process. Sad truth: There is no moving forward without a seam ripper!

After learning to quilt I found I was drawn to projects and ideas a little more outside the box...and then I discovered the options for creativity are ENDLESS!

The foundation for this blog dawned a year ago when I stumbled across the book Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects.  http://dsquilts.com/  WOW!! On the front cover of this incredible book is a scarf made from upcycled fabrics, and I had such a strong, physical reaction to the concept I KNEW I had to make some and fast!




Best book ever!


After following her instructions to the letter I figured out what I liked, tweaked the pattern to suit my own tastes and got giddy considering all the embellishing options at my disposal. Then I began hunting thrift stores, garage sales and free bins for any and all fabric that spoke to me. There is something very liberating about throwing a wool suit into the washing machine, then tearing it apart and seeing where it ends up in an entirely new creation.

I went wild on scarves and sold some during the holidays. It was tough for me to put myself out there in such a way and my first holiday bazaar wasn't the blow out I had hoped for. But my feedback was positive and I got some scarves into a store on consignment (thanks to my friend Julie who belived in me more than I did!),where I was given rave reviews. I even had to sign an "Artists Agreement!"





All my efforts tied to a ladder for display




One of my favorites - I kept it for myself


At the time I felt like a fraud, not a "real artist," someone who snuck in the back door, etc. and so on .......but it got me thinking. I am SO impressed with all the crafy, bloggy, interesting people out there, why is it that I can't join in?? The answer is simple: permission. I did not give myself permission to believe I could do something fun, interesting or beautiful. I did not give myself permission to "put it out there" as they say, and see what happens. So, here it is. This is me putting it out there! I'm gonna get a little adventurous and see where it takes me. I can't be the only person out there looking for a little inspiration so my goal is to soak up all of it I can and then turn around and share it here!

Feel free to take any idea or project that speaks to you and make it your own. My scarves began as an idea in a fabulous book - the longer I played and contemplated the more they became mine until I realized they were mine! And it felt great. The journey was the thing!

So, I invite you to enjoy this blog and please check back whenever you like! You never know when inspiration may be waiting!!!

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Welcome!

Welcome to my little corner of the web! I am very excited to be here. This blog will certainly grow and change but there are a few things that will remain the same:
#1 - Positivity rules here, negativity doesn't belong.
#2 - This won't be just about sewing. Any fun, interesting project that gets the creative juices flowing will be shared in the hope it ignites a spark for someone else.
#3 - I will ALWAYS give credit to other artists, creatives, writers, and idea-thinker-uppers. I believe whole-heartedly great ideas should be shared.
#4 - PLEASE leave comments and suggestions for ideas! There is so much out there to experience and I would love to get to know anyone who takes the time to read this blog.
#5 - CREATE!
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