Going in Style to Quilt Market

My good friend and co-curator for Dinner at Eight Artists, Leslie Tucker Jenison has her first line of fabric coming out at Fall Quilt Market!  I am so exited for her!  RJR Fabrics, Urban Artifacts, Quilt with Love

Sizzix Fab / Big Shot die cutting machine, the best die cutter on the planet in my humble opinion

Enter Hexagons. My favorite shape to cut out on a die cutting machine, and certainly not my hand. These are small and less than 1" in size

I bought this purse at a local thrift store, and it was in excellent condition.  I taped off parts that I didn't want paint on.  Then painted all of pink with white gesso. It is the perfect canvas for my project

Creating a new purse with hexagons in Leslie's new fabric line. I am using Liquitex Matte Medium as my glue for this decoupage project

It kinda reminds me of those gum wrapper purses. Both sides of the purse will be different. I call it artistic license

The other side. Next will be trimming, sealing, sanding, and sealing some more

Finished decoupaged purse in 'Urban Artifacts' by Leslie Tucker Jenison!

The flip side!  This will be on display in the RJR Fabrics booth at Quilt Market in Houston!  Hope to see you there!

Urban Artifacts

I am happy to announce that my good friend, Leslie Tucker Jenison is now a fabric designer for RJR Fabrics!  Her line "Urban Artifacts" will debut at Fall Quilt Market!  I am so excited for her!  Look at these intriguing prints and colors, that are based on her surface design work. I think it's all pretty cool

Sizzix Fabi / Big Shot die cutting machine to cut all of the shapes that I do not want to cut by hand

I cut a bunch of these. Hexagons are less than 1" on the Sizzix machine

Enter a globe.  I bought it at Target, my favorite store.  I have a thing for globes, because there are so many things that you can do with them. One word 'decoupage.' I am going to cover this globe with hexagons from Leslie's line

I painted the entire globe with Gesso, the perfect primer for most of these kinds of projects.

Using Liquitex Matte Medium, I carefully placed each hexagon on the globe, one by one and making sure there was contrast between each one

Whoohoo, ready for the clear gloss

The globe with Urban Artifacts by Leslie Tucker Jenison, RJR Fabrics, Quilt with Love

From the top!

Making Art from Maps by Jill K. Berry

Making Art from Maps by Jill K. Berry.  I am so excited that this book has reached the book section of Amazon and I can finally share my project!  Yahoo!

When Jill mentioned maps, the only thing my imagination went right to, was a pair of shoes. Route 66 came to mind, and I do have quite the collection of maps of the great road. Biker chicks exploring Route 66

Found this pair of biker boots in the sale section of Old Navy.  They were perfect for what I needed.

Route 66 really has some great iconic images. These are some of the watercolors that I did for this project.

and more.  Once I decided where my theme was going to take me, which is centered around motels, restaurants and scenic sights.  What's for dinner along Route 66

Boots in progress.  I used Liquitex Matte Medium to adhere the color copies of my artwork

Looking good with maps and watercolors

in progress on one side of a boot

another side

a closer look at the shoe art

Biker Chicks in Chapter 3 in the 'Fashion' section!  These boots are made for walkin'

Time for a New Journal

This is an ordinary composition book, that I have painted with Liquitex Gesso - 2 coats to cover up the text on the front and a small square in the back.  I squeeze out some in a recycled applesauce container and brush it on.  When you are finished, clean the brush and let it dry completely.  Put the Gesso bottle away and if you want to use the applesauce container again for a Gesso project, with a Sharpie - draw a big "G" on the side, and then put it way out of your reach to dry.

You may be asking why.  I am going to decoupage Washi paper onto the front and back of the journal with Matte Medium.  It is the same color as Gesso, but it dries clear.  The two containers can easily get mixed up if you are not careful. I've done it more than once in this process.  Using a paint brush, I am painting the surface with the Liquitex Matte Medium first, laying down the paper and then painting over the top to secure it into place.  The Washi paper is almost like tissue paper, but better.  I love the transparency and overlapping the papers is quite fun. I got the Washi Paper packs at Daiso.  A brick and mortar store that carries Japanese products and they have an amazing stationery section.

I really like the look of this.  And it has alot of texture.  I didn't care about being perfect, so there are alot of folds and ripples in the paper.  It's going to dry over the weekend, until I add the next step, or layer.

This is wet, but you can see the layering and ripples.

and of course I couldn't leave it alone, but felt that it needed a little pop with the help of a black drawing on it.  so we have a vine with leaves.

And some little stitching lines!

Here is the back

I sealed the front and back with Liquitex Gloss Medium and applied it with a fan brush, for a nice even layer.

Sizzix Spring Fling Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Sizzix Spring Fling Blog Hop!  Stop by each of these artists blog to see what they have created with Sizzix flower dies!
Mon, April 6 - Jamie Fingal
Tues, April 7 - Nicole Daksiewicz
Wed, April 8 - Leslie Tucker Jenison
Thurs, April 9 - Cindy Cooksey
Fri, April 10 - Victoria Findlay Wolfe
Sat, April 11 - Sue Bleiweiss
Sun, April 12 - Jessee Maloney
Mon, April 13 -Karin Jordan

I am using the Fabi machine, which is really a Big Shot with a new dress on.  Look at these new cutting mats in pink!  I can see them on my cutting area.  Unlike the clear ones that get lost.

What I like about the Sizzix die cutting system is that all of their dies are designed by quilters, and there isn't much waste.  I can layer 6-7 pieces of pre-fused fabrics to cut the flowers.  For this particular one, I just need these two designs cut out.

Cut flowers in a Spring basket.The text fabric, lime triangles and pink swirl are from my Heart & Soul Sisters line of fabrics by Hoffman Fabrics.

This is a very rough sketch of the flower dies that I used on all of these projects.  If you click on it, you can see it larger.  There is a link to Sizzix in the right sidebar.

A closer look at the flowers.

Narrow art quilt with basket, flowers and birds.

Oh the fun you can have making flowers with layers

Bring in a pair of oxfords that I just don't wear anymore.  I painted them with Liquitex Gesso, which basically seals the original leather, so i can decoupage on the surface

Using Liquitex Matte Medium, I brushed it onto the shoe, then placed the largest flower first, then another layer of matte medium, so on and so forth, until the entire shoe is covered

Then I painted the white green using Liquitex acrylic lime green paint, carefully not to get the paint on the flowers. Note to self - paint the lime green before you decoupage the flowers onto the shoes.  It would have been way easier!

After the shoes are totally dry, I used a Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Marker, to outline all of the flowers.

I sealed the shoes with Liquitex Gloss Medium, using a fan brush so it wouldn't glob. 

I am so happy with how they turned out.

The three projects made with Sizzix Flower Dies, and bright and fun fabrics.  These are all made by Hoffman Fabrics.