Photo Summary Part 1

Much has happened over the last few months, including a move to a new home! (Stay tuned to see my new studio!  Yay!)

A quick photo summary before I get back into the creativeness:


February

February trip to babysit this crazy crew of grands

March

New project!  Inchies!  (More in a later post)

April

Trip to the 'Old home place' with oldest daughter

May - Trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

Creativity:

New cuff

Textile art!

Well, that's the first part, Part 2 -- next post!  

Click on my handiwork if you want to see a bit more!

Thanks for visitin'!

Moving on to New Baby Creativity!

The quilt show being over, now is the time to switch the gears of creativity.   I want to share some of my recent creativity in regard to babies!  I am going to be a great-grandmother again!  Can you guess the sex of the baby with this little embroidery hoop that I made:

For sale at my next bazaar!

Yep!  It's a girl, but no pink for her!  Her mother wanted bright colors for the baby blanket:

It's made of fabrics that I had left over from all the aprons that I have made for my wholesale customer in the past several years.  I added a bright backing of stripes and a monkey print.  It really turned out to be fun!

Besides this project for my granddaughter, I had a client's custom project--a layette for her baby. Here's a few pictures. The interesting thing about this project was that we ordered the cute panda fabric from France!

Minky Blanket and Nursery Pillow

Fun bibs!

Receiving blankets

Matching diaper bag!

Whew, that was a large project, not even showing all the items!  Lots of work and satisfaction for me! Now it is on to my craft show season!

More houses . . .

I said in my last post that I have bee obsessed with little houses in my crafts.  Thought I would begin to share what I have been up to!

How about some zipper bags with  textile art houses for decoration!  Loved making these! I used scraps from my scrap piles to make the houses.  Love that they use up every inch of my fabrics for creativity!   My granddaughter loves them!

Old newspaper fabric base

"Community housing" :)

Free motion stitching for outlining

I have not listed these on my Etsy site, yet;  I am contemplating saving them for my Big Show in November in which my theme is little houses.  Whatcha think?

Hiatus

Sorry, this blog is taking a winter hiatus.

Webster's:  hiatus--any gap or interruption, as in continuity or time

I am working on a book, and helping another person get started with his blog.  

You might want to check out some of my older posts:

1) if you are interested in writing:

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2011/02/abbys-house-guest.html  (all time favorite post) The original inspiration for my first novel.

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2011/09/jop-link-party.html  Or you might search 'JOP' in the search bar to see several other short creative writing entries from the past Jumping Off Places series.

See also, the small stones page or search 'Haiku' for a series of haiku writings.

2)  if you are interested in crafts, sewing or Etsy, you might be interested in these highly popular posts:

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2015/09/new-project-romantic-wrist-cuff.html

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2014/04/family-baby-quilt.html

or just search 'creativity'

3)  if you are interested in art:

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2012/08/negative-painting.html

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2013/05/header-sketch.html

Or just search, 'art', 'watercolor' or 'sketches'

4)  Also, I have another blog, which I will post to occasionally; it may have more current posts. 

SabbaticalVenture.blogspot.com

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Thanks for visiting and I hope to be back to blogging here in the Spring! 

New Creations!

Been awful busy making new creations for the coming holiday season--using up fabrics from my stash!  I love using my fabrics!  Here are a couple of crayon aprons that I enjoyed making:

and then I have been making more holiday coaster sets:

I've had a lot of fun.  

What have you been up to creatively?

New Project--Romantic Wrist Cuff

Seem to have had writer's block lately, so I have been filling in with creative projects.  The book will have to wait!  (Re-writes in progress.)  I needed some new items for my Etsy shops anyway, so here is one that I just completed and just listed!   A romantic wrist cuff.

I could use a young model!!  This cuff looks awful on my wrist--for picture that is!

 . . .ugh!

Even tho' I can't wear this one, I love making them!  I love the creativity!  And, just so you know, I do wear wrist cuffs.  I like a more simply styled cuff, and often wear one like this patchwork quilted one. It inspires my quilting work and reminds others of what I do!

Age shouldn't be a factor to pull them off, if you like them!   

Confidence and style is all that is needed!

Ever try wearing one?

New Creativity!

Lots of new projects lately:

Recently a return client wanted me to make a banner for the open house of her new home.  She wanted paint chips that said "Home Sweet Home".  I think it turned out well!  A friend of mine helped me cut the letters with her Circut Cutting Machine.  Thanks Ritha!  

Also, made some new items to list in my shop.  I especially like this one!  It would be so cute in a little girl's room!  

Made this one that might be good in your cubicle at work if you are allergic to gluten.  It's hard to refuse all those home-made goodies that circulate around the office when you are allergic.  Maybe this would help others to not offer.  Maybe it would help you to not be tempted!

What have you been up to lately?

Back to Crazy Quilting

The next lesson in my crazy quilting class had to do with templates.  We printed the templates and punched holes in them with a needle so we could use the hole to pencil mark where our stitches were to go.

Some I marked and some I did freehand.  Not all seams are finished yet:

Here's a couple of close-ups!

More progress to come . . . .

Watercolor, my nighttime therapy . . .

June has been a rough month.  Consequently, my creativity has been waning.  So yesterday, I tried something new--at least new to my routine.  I went back to my art--watercolor!  Was inspired by our recent trip to the beach and attempted a painting.  I left it to dry over night . . . .

Then . . . I couldn't sleep at 4 am this morning, so I finished it.

Now I need to get it framed . . . . and I feel better!!!!

Textile Art - New items

I recently created some new items for my Abigail Jayne Art shop.  I love working with textiles, trims and buttons, so this wrist cuff was a natural thing for me to do:

Great addition to that black outfit in your closet!  Listing

I also love hand embroidery and flowers!  I embroider while relaxing in front of the TV in the evenings, so this is the latest result of my creativity.  It is available in my shop.

Cosmos are some of my favorite bedding flowers!  Listing

And this new item is also newly listed in the Abigail Jayne Art Shop.

Like my model?  Listing

I carry kits for these necklaces in my Supply Shop, and I am sure that someone you know could probably do an awesome job of creating with one of my basic kits.  Add feathers, beads, trims, stitches, who knows what . . .????!!!!

What are you creating today?

Tuesday's Textile Art

Welcome!  A new feature here  on Tuesdays:  Tuesday's Textile Art!  

Fray!  Fray to your heart's delight!

Part of my previously utilitarian persona was to have all loose ends tied up!  You know the old saying: "Everything in it's place and a place for everything".  In my sewing, this took the form of finished seams, and a tailored finish.  But, in allowing my inner creativity to emerge, I experimented with letting the ends stay loose! Even fraying them for a new effect!

Making this wrist cuff from an easily frayed satin fabric was a new venture for me.  And it is not cut on the straight grain of the fabric, either, as you can plainly see in the next photo.  Sewing students were always taught  to cut our pattern pieces on the straight grain of the fabric, unless we wanted to get stretch in our particular project.  But when one is doing art, textile art, especially a small venue project like a cuff that is quilted and stitched everywhere, one does not have to worry about the fabric stretching.  You can use the cross grain to enhance the fray process!  What fun breaking 'out of the box'!

I have had many comments on this cuff, since I added it to my shop.  You can see more pictures here.

What have you done creatively lately, that breaks all the rules and breaks "out of the box"?

a Basic Creative Person

Recently I rearranged my business and blogging life.  Most of my crafty business posts were in another blog, which I am now changing with a new URL, to an exclusively wholesale site for the promotion and sale of my custom logo aprons.  Thanks to all of you who have followed me on that blog for more than four years! (If you were a follower there, please consider following this blog--Thanks!)

Although I have had this blog since early in January 2011, it was basically devoted to my creative writing and my art.  But life has changed my focus and now I am revamping this blog to handle all of my art and craftiness!  I am a complex person much like this little pillow that I created to represent myself:

 I love many forms of art and many mediums with which to create--beads, buttons, lace, trims, embroidery, applique, patchwork, paper, watercolor, etc.  Basically I just love creating!  So this blog from here on will be all inclusive of my various interests.

Yes, there will still be displays of my art.  

Yes, there will be some creative writing, that is just who I am! 
I want to say authentic to myself.  (For my writing, check out the tab at the top of the home page for 'Small Stones'--short little creative writing bits, or-- for an ongoing story: 'Abby's Story'.)

So, on with the adventure!  Hope you will follow me to see what creative thing I am working on and hopefully, gain inspiration for your own creative endeavors!!!

Practice Makes Perfect!

"Practice makes perfect", my mommie used to tell me!  So since I am not as accomplished as I would like to be as an illustrator, I practice how I will draw a particular page.  I suppose professional illustrators do this too :)  First, I sketch the idea:

Then I try out some color:

I add a few more details.

And finally work out the page.  (Just a snippet of it, of course!)

Grandma just doesn't like the stairs!

New Adventure!

I am currently in the process of changing my focus for creativity.  For the last few years, I have been concentrating on my Etsy businesses of hand crafted jewelry and hand sewn products and not my art or writing.  Oh, I have had two blogs to keep my hand in writing practice and I have participated in Blue Chair Diary's Sunday Sketches but mostly this blog has been an 'on again, off again' project as far as any writing is concerned--not consistent nor concentrated.   My other blog  has been my focus, including my Etsy businesses, my BBA team, my handcrafted business friends and acquaintances.

Since recently re-thinking my outlay of time in regard to blogging and writing, I have decided to take August thru October to rest from my other endeavours and return to my writing and illustration in this blog.  I will concentrate on a couple of writing projects that were left on a back burner in my brain.  One project is actually a part of this blog, called Abby's story.  There is a tab on my home page to find this project.  But, alas, it is unfinished.  Another project is a children's book series that I started about eight years ago.  Then my breast cancer tragedy struck, my life changed a bit, and I just let my book writing plans go.

So if you are up for it, I will pull out one of these latent projects and take it up again.  I hope you will go on this journey with me to see if I can complete it. I will try to post about three times per week plus posting on Sunday's with my illustration progress on Sunday Sketches.  Your participation with me may be the boost that I need to keep plugging along toward the finish line. 

And, just as a taste of the future, these pictures show what I pulled out of a closet of that old project.  (I will explain in subsequent posts.)



Some old practice pieces

What have you dreamed about completing?

Join me, won't you?