It's Back, The 60 Day Bird Challenge!

The 60 Days of Birds Mixed Media Challenge is BACK!!!

I’m excited to offer this new option for 2017!

I’ve had requests for an in-depth version of the challenge for those who want to push their mixed media skills further! I will be sending daily email lessons for the duration of the challenge, you’ll also receive an invite to an exclusive version of our popular Facebook group, The 60 Day Bird Journal Challenge. Get more details and sign up here.

Quilted Expressions at the Blanden

Join me this Saturday

the

Quilted Expressions Opening!!!

Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Iowa

January 28th from 3pm to 5pm

Artist Talk 3:30pm

Exhibit runs January 28th thru April 15th

All Things End, Eventually!

Field Notes #'s 1-36 ready for their edges to be bound and then mounted to their stretched canvas frames.  Each piece is 6x6 inches.

So why am I having such a hard time getting there? Excellent question. And I finally decided it's because I don't want this particular project to end.

Which is odd because the whole time I've been working on this project I've been chomping at the bit to start the next state of my Fields Series!

Anyway, I'm off to stitch their tiny edges, and get started on attaching the hanging hardware to the frames.

Registration NOW OPEN for Earth and Sky From Sketch to Stitch

Earth and Sky: From Sketch to Stitch 

A Mini Master Class

Earth and Sky is an Eight Week Mini Master Class divided into 2 Four Week modules with a One Week break in between the two modules.

Module 1: Sketch, Draw, Paint, Surface Design

Break Week

Module 2: Sketch, Surface Design, Stitch, Embellish

Class begins April 15th! 
Lifetime Access to the Class

NOTE: Because of the intensity of this class I am limiting the number of spaces available to 20!!!

From Sketch to Stitch

My Aurifil thread color palette for my latest series "Field Notes"

Field Notes was born out of several loves, passions of mine:

The love of the prairie.
The love of crops as they rise out of the ground each year.
The love of the symmetry and simplicity of how the fields themselves are arranged in the countryside.

Field Notes in progress on my table.

Some color studies.

Watercolor crayons, water soluble oil pastels, and water soluble graphite on sketchbook paper.

Field Series Update

My thread order came today. If you've been following me on Facebook then you know there's been a lot of drama lately with my trying to obtain a rather allusive Aurifil Thread color #2612 aka arctic ice.
Well that was through Amazon.

Three spools of the wrong color later I put out a plea on Facebook begging to know everyone's favorite place to buy Aurifil Thread.  Follow That Thread came up, repeatedly.  So late Sunday night I put together my order, which included the much desired #2612, and it arrived today.

And the much desired color is quite desirable!!! It IS the perfect sky color!

#2612 is second from the left and it matches my earth pigment painted fabrics and perfectly!

Six pieces almost stitched, thirty left to go.

My color palette for the Fields Series sans one spool that should be here hopefully this weekend, because I of course ordered it from Amazon.  Odd that it'll be the correct color?

Just 10 Days!!!

Join me as we explore the Earth's natural beauty in Pretty Pigments!!!!  

Class begins September 6th!

 Register Today to receive the Getting Started Bonus Content!

Failure to Post

That's exactly what I'm suffering from a failure to post and regularly.  I just noticed it's been awhile since I've updated.

I've been busy writing content for the 60 Day Bird Journal Challenge, and for Almost Stitched newsletter series (24 newsletters plus 6 bonus surprises) that I forget that others cannot read my mind.

So here's a photo of Pepper, our oldest cat, sporting some attitude while sitting atop a stitched story I wrote up yesterday with my sewing machine.  In between bouts of stitching and writing I've been dodging rain storms trying to get the raised beds planted.

Right now I'm at 50% or so completion and I have to say it's looking good.  John brought one of the porch chairs out to the garden area so that I can sit and watch the birds, butterflies, bees, and paint, sketch, and write unto my hearts content.

A Little Stitching

A little stitching with perle cotton on a mini shipping tag, while I worked on the 60 Days of Birds and the Almost Stitched newsletters!  Stay tuned as I will be giving away several memberships to Almost Stitched!

Fledgling A Stitched Story!

Available: Machine stitched free form style (thread drawn) fledgling bird on natural dyed silk organza fabric! Learn more here in my shop! 

Busy, Busy

Holes detail. Machine and hand stitched painted timtex with aurifil threads.

I've been so busy with getting things done for an upcoming solo show, at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames, Iowa, that I will be hanging on April 30th that I have forgotten to post here.  Lots of stitching and experimenting going on trying to hurry up and birth this new idea I have forming.  Photos and soon!

60 Day Bird Challenge 2015

Join me in 2015 for 

The 60 Day Bird Challenge!!!

January 1st to March 1st, 2015

To participate sign up for my special newsletter created for this challenge alone.  You will receive one email prompt daily for each day of the Challenge.

There is also a facebook group for those participating in the challenge and for those wanting to encourage those of us in the challenge.  In order to receive the daily prompts you MUST subscribe to the newsletter as I will not be posting these on the blog or in the group. 

Each day you will be encouraged to paint, draw/stitch, or write something about Birds. 

Two Red Pears

Two fresh red pears 

I asked for three but it's the end of the fresh pear season here so I'm doing good to have gotten two!

These are not as red as the Barletts I had earlier in the season, these are rudier and are more in keeping with Pantones color for 2015 "Marsala".  I also am quite enamored with the greenish blush on the large pear and the stripes on the smaller pear.

Since I have only two pears my original idea is well, will no longer work.  So I'm playing with these to see how I want to use them in my work.  Next up some thumbnail sketches and I think I will slice one open it could get interesting!

A Pearish Experiment

A thread painting on painted timtex with Aurifil threads.

Playing with an idea for a new series.

More later... from my studio, it shall be fun to see where this piece goes.

Bigos and Beads!!!

Bigos or Polish Hunter's Stew is on tonights menu.

A view in my sewing room, my beads are over there on that wall, and I'm sitting over here; looks like it's time to clear a path so that I can start beading and stitching once again.

Off to Grandma's House Sewing Basket Collection

My grandmother Baxter taught me how to sew, by hand at the age of 7ish, by the time I was nine she had taught me how to sew using a sewing machine and my dad procured, from a local dump, my very first treadle sewing machine.  This collection is reminiscent of both my grandmothers, and my paternal great grandmother, all of whom stitched in various forms from quilting to embroidery, crochet and knitting, and all of them knew how to make clothing without a pattern.

Stitching Again

It feels good to be stitching once again, whilest awaiting layers of drying paint to cure.  This piece is about 8x10 inches in size, machine stitched with green Aurifil thread, wool batting; I also used my Black Birds in Tree Stencil with acrylic paint onto fabric painted cotton cloth.

I shall stitch a few of the birds next, to bring them forward, and add a few beads and then this piece will be done.

60 Day Crow Challenge

It was suggested that I should start a 60 day challenge since I couldn't find one that was theme specific (thank you Jody Lund) I will be drawing Crows and Ravens (Corvus sp.). 

How many of you would like to participate with me in a 60 day bird/crow challenge, this means one bird/crow a day for 60 days.

The birds/crows can be drawn, painted, stitched, sculpted (if you are so inclined), digitally manipulated OR you can write about birds/crows everyday for 60 days.  Interested?

If I get 10 or more peeps interested I will start a facebook group for the challenge.  I will be starting tomorrow as I am getting ready for an Open Studio Tour, October 4th, and want to have some fresh birds to offer up for the tour.

Black Birds in Trees

Working on some Crow Cards this afternoon using my Black Birds in Tree Stencil.

The orange mat is a non-slip artist map, unfortunately there is no label on the mat so I have no idea where it came from.

I started out with a piece of painted timtex that was painted by Seta Color Fabric Paints.  I will be adding some oil bar, ink, and other yummies next, and then it's time for some stitching.

Queen Anne's Crows No. 7 in Progress

I ditched the clock body altogether and am so much happier for having done so, now to create a panel (the one in the upper portion of the niche is a sample) for the upper section of the niche and this piece is good to go.  I'm off to stitch up a new panel for this piece!