Many Thanks

It's been a very busy Spring with multiple opportunities to meet with friends old & new. Just to be clear I am not saying any of my friends (or I) are old. To rephrase, long time friends.

I pulled out the embossing letters i created awhile ago & did some thank you notes for friends who hosted me on my mini travels a couple weeks ago.

I added the water color first. Then did the embossing with my light pad. Love that thing.  

 This is most of the cut outs for the letters. The fun is mixing & matching.

 The light pad mentioned above. Beats the old light boxes by a mile.

Just about ready to head out to PBI in 2 days. There is always the worry, am I taking enough? Am I taking too much? Since I am driving I can put more in my car than I need which is a bonus. The weather in Michigan this time of year can be ANYTHING. So packing for summer & winter just in case is warranted. I will be making paper & I refuse to be cold so have packed appropriately for an artic trek, plus rubber boots. 

 I'll mention here my love of packing cubes. Seen in the lower part of the picture. They come in all sorts of sizes & colors, & they make packing for a long trip, where you are moving from place to place, so much easier. My husband & I can pack in one big duffle and know what belongs to whom. Plus your clothes don't get wrinkled because they are contained. We stay in a dorm type setting for PBI with no closets so they are great for keeping things organized for an extended stay.

I hope to be posting from PBI. Wifi there is a little wonky, but watch for me! I'll be the one with the smile on my face.

Fiber Art Visitations & Musings

With the A to Z challenge over I have to find a new rhythm for blogging. There have been many posts by others who relate the same sentiment. My goal is for at least twice a week. Hopefully you will stick with me.

I recently traveled to visit friends and art exhibits in lower Michigan. Helen Hiebert's at the Kalamazoo Book Arts center. She does wonderful things with the penchant thin abaca has for shrinkage.

 I was so happy to see these little flowers in person. I've looked at them in publications & online but enjoy sticking my nose into the finer details. The supports for the "petals" are what looks like a cotton cord.

Helen's other specialty is water marks. It's like the "brand" on a piece of paper. A disturbance is created on a paper mold so less fiber settles in that are and you get this lovely translucent "mark".  There are some amazing examples of water marks in history. I'd like to fire up a couple vats of paper pulp this summer & play around with some of my own.

The other exhibit was in Mt. Pleasant at the library on the campus of CMU (Central Michigan University).
FAN (Fiber Arts Network) of Michigan displayed some wonderful items. First one by Anne Kowaleski who I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know a bit.

         There were several pieces by Delores Slowinski. The link takes you to an article that has lots of images of her other stitched art that is very different from the above.

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                I have a thing for art dolls & these beauties by Jennifer Gould had me enthralled.

Enjoy the shows. I'll be back soon. Off to PBI in5 days & I can't wait!!! I'll have lots to share.

Little Bits of Art

Before I head to PBI I had to get my May edition of Artist Trading Cards ready to ship out.

I painted Sumi & walnut ink onto muslin. Once dried I embellished with a gold oval using my trusty hand cut stencils & Inka Gold paste...new item for me that I love! Then used one of my kitchen/art tools, an apple corer, dipped in red acrylic paint for the little dots. 

For substance I stitched the muslin to heavy water color paper with a satin stitch. Voila, done. I try to make my little cards original and hand made each time. I find playing with techniques I've run across i this little pressure free format gives me lots of ideas for larger projects.

Time for Sharring

I really enjoyed the A to Z Challenge. Ran into loads of interesting people & their blogs. My in box has grown from the one's I've chosen to follow.  So in order to spread the news I will share a few of my favorites over the next couple posts so you can take a peek for yourself. I was a little surprised that there weren't more visual artists involved, the vast majority were writers.

  Melanie Schulz decided to do  flash fiction posts for the month. They are very engaging and a little eerie. Leave me asking what happens next?!!! They are in YouTube and worth the couple minutes needed to watch one. Her blog is here.

At the very end I ran across this blog, Counterweight Press. A letter press owner figuring it out as he goes along.  I really want to meet him & see his process and "meet the press". He happens to also be in Michigan. Who knew?  This is a picture of the type of press he owns. Not his in particular.

I am off to PBI, Paper & Book Intensive, in 2 weeks for 3 classes over a 10 day period. This will be my third time at PBI. Paper & book geeks at summer camp. It's a fantastic gig. So look for post during & after.  I'll introduce you to the instructors and the beauty of the location on Lake Michigan.