Something New and Something Old

I am sitting here staring at the blank screen trying to decide where to start.  Lately I've been sort of jumping around from project to project.  Some projects are related to getting ready for holiday shopping -- Trying to figure out what might induce people to add something of mine to their lists.  Other projects are purely for fun.

For the holidays, I've added some new small items to my inventory and I've decided to try a holiday sale in our Etsy shop.  Starting the day after Thanksgiving and continuing through December 29, my lined jackets will be on sale for 50% off.  That sale will be public, but I wanted to give you first dibs.  You can get the discount right now by entering the coupon code JACKETFFA when checking out or using the link www.etsy.com/shop/FriendsFabricArt?coupon=JACKETFFA  .  (This coupon is good only until the public sale starts.)

I've also added some new stocking-stuffer items to Etsy.  I've recently been busy creating needle keepers, business card holders and luggage tags from my little stitch meditation artworks.  It has been great fun to figure out a use for the stash I'd built up.  Now I have motivation to keep playing with that idea.  I had taken a break because I'd built up such a pile and wasn't in the mood to make more cards or collages. 

I need to keep reminding myself not to  let that nagging question "what ever are you going to do with that???" keep me from creating.  More often that not, even if I don't know where a project is going at the beginning, it develops into something eventually.  So these are the latest somethings...

Business Card Holders

Luggage Tags

Needle Keeper "Books"

In between making these, I have also been having fun with stenciling again.  I have done hardly anything with fabric paint since moving to Virginia.  My new studio is carpeted so I was hesitant to use paints here, but I've finally overcome that hesitation.  I just need to be a little more careful is all.  Several of our hand-dyed silk scarves just seemed to need  a little more, so I decided to add some "glam" with stencils and Stuart Gill metallic paints.  Here are some that I've finished.  I'll be doing a few more over the next couple of weeks.

These are all projects I've been doing during my daily studio time, but I always need an evening project too - handwork to do while watching TV.  For that I've decided to two coordinating pieces using some of the squares I'd pieced from Maria Testa's scraps of hand-dyed silk.  I love working with these.  The colors are so intense and vibrant and the textures are lovely to stitch on.  My plan is to do lots of random stitching to add even more color and texture and then to overlay the skeleton leaves before mounting them on pre-stretched canvas.  Here's the preview.

So I think that brings you pretty well up-to-date with my latest mischief.  I hope you're having as much fun as I am.

Happy Thanksgiving.