Baby Shower

Last weekend was the Baby shower for my step-DIL. I had fun planning it with her mother. Jeannette mentioned blue teddy bears for the centerpieces and I had to accomodate her! I found 14" blue bears on line very reasonable (though I had to buy 12 but they still only came to $4 each!) I used her invitation as a base for the label on the center of the bag as well as a smaller version for the favors. I cut out the "It's a Boy!" with my Cricut-I put the paper through the Xyron to make it sticky backed so once the letters were cut they just stuck on the ribbon. The bears are sitting in blue paper gift bags with white polka dot stickers. I found that neat tissue at the dollar store. Once they were on the table, we strung a Blue, White and Brown balloons from them. Looked very cute if I do say so myself. I also made gift tags and a card for her using a file I got from the forum at http://www.surecutsalot.com/ for the baby carriage though I made a few changes. The Mother to Be was happy and that's all that matters.

I also knit the baby a Hoodie sweater. I started a blanket, but I don't know if I'll have it done in time. His due date is April 21st! This is the first grandchild for all and everyone is so very excited.

Just in Time for Valentines Day

I just finished a doll that was a last minute creation. I was playing around with a new cloth head and face and put a hole in it! Since it was already stuffed, I thought I would do a clay/cloth over as practice (which I need!). And lo and behold, The Red Queen aka the Queen of Heartless, was born. She is not as evil looking as I had hoped, but not too bad. As she progressed, I read of a process to create a textured finish on grunge board by Kat, a fabulous mixed media artist and I was inspired to create the crown. I used lots of products by Ranger Ink I usually use on my cards including Stickles (glitter glue that is very fine and sparkly) and Liquid Pearls (Dimensional paint). Her eyes and lips are coated with Glossy Accents (similar to Crystal Lacquer)and her eyelashes are held on with it. Her "makeup" is Perfect Pearls (a mica powder that is sort of self sticking) Raspberry sparkle for her blush and an overall coating of Pearl. I also used the Rander Inkabilities pen for the whites of her eyes and the light of life dot. These are by far my favorite pens for this purpose. Her fingernails are Stickles as are the accents on the lace around her skirt hem and on her shoes too. So Happy Valentine's Day!

Weeping Will Class now available!

The class for Weeping Will the Tree doll, is now up and running. It is a self paced class so you can participate any time you want. I hope you take a peek at him and get inspired. The techniques used include creating collage fabric, fabric over clay over cloth sculpted face, incorporating wire and beads, freemotion stitching with water soluble stabelizer and incorporating found objects, rejects and recyles into a work of art! Interested? Sign up here !

Convergence

The class for Weeping Will is finally finished. YEAH!!!! I'll post when it will be available.

Our doll club decided to do an ongoing project of costuming a stump doll. While searching for stump doll patterns, I found one I had created a few years ago. My dear friend Maria had surgery a few weeks ago and I wanted to do something special for her as a get well gift. I know she loves anything Marie Antionnette and the colors pink and green so thought I would use the stump doll pattern and make her a doll as a test run. I am really pleased with how the doll turned out and really enjoyed making her though the pattern does need a bit of tweaking. I changed the body shape so I didn't have to build panniers. Her clothes with the exception of her bodice are all rectangles. the under skirt started life as striped silk that I embellished with ribbons and stitching. The over skirt is solid silk embellished with some subtle stitching and lace flower appliques. I had to dye the embroidered organza middle skirt to soften the colors. I also discovered I own NO pink fabrics! How did that happen???? Though I must admit I am more partial to the soft peach and green. The wool I used for her wig was a gift from my friend Colleen. I think she sheared it herself! (Just kidding!) I used lots of mousse and rollers to style it. I am debating whether or not to put her out as a pattern. Now I can do another test version with all the changes I made to the original. Her costuming was inspired by this pic.

Catching Up

I have been busy working on the Tree Doll Class and still have to bit to do on the final lesson. I found some pics I thought I had posted before. Here are some more of the ornies I made for gifts. I also have been making a card or two with my Cricut machine and the Sure-Cuts-Alot software. The dragonfly was created with this software. I also scored a couple books of scrapbooking paper - some glittered, foiled, flocked and embossed and used some for the blue/brown cards. These butterfly cards were made without the use of the cricut but I really like the way they turned out. They are thank you cards.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, my letter to the editor with a pic of my pink paper purse was printed in the new Quilting Arts! How cool!

New Class Coming Soon!

I have finally finished Weeping Will. He is the subject of a new class coming soon. I finished him last year but wasn't happy with the way the branches were so he sat until I figured out what I wanted to do. So here he is, just have the last lesson to complete so look for the big announcement soon!

Want to be a part of the ArtBra Calendar?

Call for ArtBra Submissions!

The first WTWW ArtBra Calendar was released in 2004. With the production of 4 calendars, A Way to Women's Wellness, Inc has donated $50,000 to several organizations for breast cancer research beginning the first original ArtBra Calendar.

We are seeking submissions for 2010 exhibitions and the 2011 ArtBra Calendar. To download ArtBra Guidelines - please visit http://www.artbra.org/ ArtBras should be sent to Vickie Brown no later than April 1, 2010. Please ship to WTWW, 1233 Broad St, Perkasie, PA 18944

Funds from the 2011 ArtBra Calendar will be donated to the North Cypress Medical Center in Cypress, Texas. The WTWW ArtBra Exhibitions will be held in 2010
at these national events ~ The American Sewing Guild, Houston International Quilt Festival, Long Beach Quilt Festival and the Embroider's Guild of America Convention. The schedule of events may be viewed at the site.

The Calendar also includes crazy quilt wall-hangings, that a group of ArtBra designers, create each year. The wall-hangings are donated to specific breast cancer centers across the US. The 2010 WTWW Calendar includes three crazy quilt wall-hangings. The Fan block crazy-quilt will be donated to the North Cypress Medical Center in Cypress, Texas.

To see the fan blocks in progress, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/24705906@N00/4277698246/

2010 WTWW ArtBra Calendars are available for $14 at http://www.artbra.org/

For questions or addtional information, please contact Vickie at info@artbra.org