Digital Collage for Mixed Media at Quilt Festival

New workshop from Two Sipsters Studio: Digital Collage for Mixed Media debuted at Quilt Festival in Cincinnati.

What fun we had selecting backgrounds and subjects, adding words, and surface design before stitching and finishing!

The sewing labs were great, eliminating the need for participants to each drag a sewing machine to class. Thank you Janome!!

We explored words added as a layer in the digital collage, or added as a quotation printed on cotton twill tape.

Once each participant chose the background, subject, and words, they were printed on fabric and layers of texture were added with stencils and/or rubber stamps.

Jana had never worked with digital collage before, but was able to complete an awesome mini quilt in class.

Eleny was the class angel and passed out class materials, as well as disposed of paint cleanup.

Photographs, words, digital and manual texture are combined in delightful mini quilts for gifting or displaying.

Some students combined their own backgrounds and subjects in Photoshop Elements, while others had little or no experience with the software.

Happy faces share the results of their classroom work, inviting YOU to the next Digital Collage for Mixed Media!!

My first fabric collection for Avlyn!!

This is the main fabric from my new collection Cute As a Bug for Avlyn Inc. The glow worms and lightning bugs glow in the dark!!

The main fabric and this one with the black background have sold out already! I'm thrilled.

This one also has glow-in-the-dark ink. The buzzle bees are adorable!

The quality of the fabric and the printing really exceeds my expectations. This is fabric I am proud to say will be available exclusively in independent quilt and fabric shops!

It’s hard to see in this tiny photo, but these are itty bitty lollypop roses that echo the design of the snail shells.

What fun! I’m over the moon, to finally see this as a finished product—and I’m working on the next collection right now.

Keep checking back. There may be a fat-quarter give away in the next week or so!! Tee hee!

Threadography goddess in northern California!!

Meet Zerita. She is a member of the California Association of Machine Embroiderers (CAME). She was in my Altered Photo Artistry workshop at their annual seminar in 2010. It was a delightful surprise to see her in the same workshop earlier this month. Little did I know, she has become a Threadography® GODDESS!

This time she worked on a cluster of beautiful California poppies. She was too modest to tell me this wasn't her second, or even third, Altered Photo Artistry piece (Threadography). Our mutual friend Rhoda spoke up to inform me Zerita had made 15 in the last year!!!

"These are my passion!" she says enthusiastically. Zerita’s husband enjoys working with Photoshop Elements, so they are collaborative efforts. This is a photo of one wall in their home theater with a display of Threadographies.

A shot of another wall shows they have room for a few more pieces!

I didn’t ask her what this flower is. We saw it in a garden, blooming on an unfamiliar (to me) succulent. The stamen and pistils really “pop” because Zerita painstakingly outlined each of the floral elements.

Purple-and-white iris are a particular favorite of mine and this one really complimented the rainbow of pink, yellow, orange, and blue blossoms in the groupings.

Orange day lily is a good choice for a quilter working on a first-time Threadograph.

Zerita’s 16th piece is a kaleidoscope stitched for a friend—and highlighted with hot-fix crystal rhinestones.

Dahlias are dramatic and beautiful, but I recommend them for a second or third project, because they require so much outlining.

Zerita has done an outstanding job of enhancing the illusion of depth by outlining the flower and not the leaves.

Roses are a favorite subject for altered photos. The curling petals offer plenty of variety in highlights and shadows.

I think these must be hibiscus. Love the detail in the veins of the petals!

Hollyhocks with single petals are fun to stitch, but the intricacies of double or ruffled petals add a richness to the composition.

I'm tempted to say these look like snapdragons, but I'm not positive. Their petals are similar shaped—and they have spotted details deep in the blossoms’ throats.

Oriental poppies with their textured centers offer a stitching challenge, but the finished piece is well worth the effort!

Zerita's husband made the mock-up of a magazine cover as a surprise. Maybe I'll have to add this as a project in my new online Photoshop Elements class!

This is the first exhibition piece of 2011 using the “resolution” to incorporate more painting techniques into my work. This is 12" wide and 36" long. Framed. Under glass (something I rarely do). It’s for a photography exhibit at Artlink Contemporary Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Like much of my work, it began with a photo, two photos actually. This is a shot of the gazebo in Lakeside Rose Garden.
Many hours later, this is a detail of the finished piece. Very out of the box for me: No vibrant colors, lots of subtle shading, no stitching this time (although future projects are planned to include stitching).

I’m scared to deliver it to the gallery today, but part of being an artist is taking risks!

Yahoo! I finally got the right combination of e-mail address and password to get back into my blog. And you thought I was missing in action.

I've been involved in Artworks Holiday Gallery during the holiday season. This is the third year for the gallery, but my first year as director. What a joy, what a challenge, what a blessing!

The gallery is a co-op of 25 artists from the Fort Wayne area, open only November 1 through January 7. The artists each have their own space in the gallery, which is located in a vacant storefront in the nicest mall in town.

A portion of the proceeds go to benefit Mad Anthonys Children's Hope House, (think Ronald McDonald House on a regional scale).

This is a front view on opening day November 1, 2010. The space is 3500 square feet of beautiful open space devoted to the work of local artists.

Each artist works a minimum of 10 hours a week in the gallery. Some serve on the marketing and promotions team, others freshen displays, plan events, etc. Everyone works the front desk, greeting visitors and explaining our relationship to Mad Anthonys Children's Hope House.

The artwork is juried by a governing board and work is selected to represent a variety of media, with the goal of complimenting the work of others, without being in competition.

This is what the space looked like during set-up. It looked like a lot of open space and I thought we'd never fill it up. Silly me!

Since we are in the space for such a short time, the aluminum tree came down the day after Christmas and we created a bright springy look that is in great contrast to the other stores, still resplendent with holiday decorations. What an eye-catcher!

This is to the left of the front door.

This is to the right of the front door. The big poofy flowers are made from tissue paper. Remember making those as a kid? It works on large scale, too!

The glass dulls the color some. This is how vivid the colors are in real life.

So, welcome back to Muttonhead world. This time, I've updated the user name and password and written them down so I can get into this blog again!! Sigh! Isn't technology wonderful?