WASSIMA Art Deck - Getting the Goods Ready!

For those who participated in Emily (SheGoddess Herself!) Falconbridge's "Mini Art Journal Challenge" in 2007...you will know why Aimee and I are SO EXCITED TO DO IT AGAIN! This was my favorite project in the last few years....and I missed it when the year was over (and shhh....don't tell.... but I still have a few unfinished prompts from the end of the year....things got a bit crazy for me so I lost my mojo there....but I still plan to FINISH! Even if i just DOODLE THE WORDS and decorate the card. In fact...that is my promise before I start the next one!! I will post, I promise!) OK...back to NOW....

Aimee and I invite the WASSIMA gals to join us (and anyone else who wants to play along!). Be sure to read Aimee's post on it, too....she has photos from her 2007 set on her blog. Some of mine can be found here. And Emily's are gorgeous as well...plus she explains all her great painting and layering techniques, so be sure to look at her examples, too. Look at the comments on Emily's cards to find others who participated last year - there were some awesome artists playing along each week.

You don't need much to get started. Just one ordinary deck of playing cards....and the rest is up to you:

• Pull your favorite bits from your fabric, fibers, scrapbooking, painting, crafty, artsy stashes to decorate your cards.


• You can decorate the bases all at once then journal each week or create each card as you go....whatever works.


• You might want to make a home for your cards! Last time I started with a cigar box filled with bits of this and that....and tried to use what I had in the box each week. Other weeks I used magazines to collage, or my latest favorite patterned papers and embellishments. Aimee was REALLY good about only using her scrappin' stash....I LOVE how layered and ORGANIC hers were. Originally, I made a pouch for mine per Emily's example (I bought her KIT, so sorry, I have no idea where to get that fabric!) and still LOVE the pouch--even tho' my cards long ago outgrew their home!!

Ready? WEEK ONE will start on Sunday, Jun 22. I will post the prompts on ODD weeks, Aimee on EVEN weeks. Get yourself a deck of cards and maybe a box or tray or basket that will be dedicated to this project for the next year.....and let's MAKE ART!

Happy Father's Day...

Sending a shout out to all the Dads out there today...wishing you and yours a happy celebration and hoping you are receiving the royal treatment on your special day!

Father's Day was always tough for me since our dad died when I was 11---I don't even have memories of what our Father's Day celebrations were like. I miss my dad more and more the older I get...

So this one's extra special to me since Miss Sirryha entered our lives this year....and I'm feeling such happiness on this day for my hubby....we're off to make new traditions together! : )

And Pap, I miss you.

Happiness Is...

1. A three day weekend!


2. A scrappin' day with Inspired BFFs Aimee and Stella!


3. Dinner out with family at Flemings (happy birthday, Ethan! happy graduation from 6th grade, Landon! Happy school's almost out!!)


4. FOUR. NEW. AMY. BUTLER. FABRICS. ARRIVED. IN. THE. MAIL. YESTERDAY! (and one on backorder!)

The only downer is this wicked STUFFY NOSE. Blech.

Lovin' Trees. And Aprons. And Bloggers. And IKEA!

OK....THANKS to EMILY and the ladies who replied to my question on Emily's blog about the FABRIC IN THOSE APRONS!! IT IS FROM IKEA!! NO WAY SHUT UP!! I was just there and bought a yard of the TREE fabric 'cause it was precut and I didn't have the heart to keep DH waiting while I dawdled over all the bolts ....figured I'd go again for MORE. And now I MUST because I HAVE. TO. HAVE. THIS. APRON!

Wouldn't this TREE fabric be perfect for a family tree wall hanging (or pillow, or quilt or scrapbook cover?) I want to stitch names on all the leaves...oh imagine a whole FAMILY REUNION panel - the last names of the families could go up the TRUNKS and each person's first name on the leaves. Oh that would be a great QUILT, don't you think? YUM.

Quilt Envy!

OK...someone grab me a paper bag...I am alone in the house and I just saw Anna Maria Horner's new quilt pattern for her Drawing Room line and I think I am hyperventilating. How gorgeous is this fabric? And this quilt pattern? You can get the pattern free on her blog here.

(And where oh where is Heather Bailey's post about her new lines???

If I Had A Million Dollars.....

....first I'd buy all these HERO ARTS tree stamps. Then I'd stay up all night making cute cards like this one for my gal pals and Inspired Peeps. (And then I'd feel overwhelming guilt for buying more crafting supplies when I already have SO/TOO MUCH and I'd have to start a charitable foundation of some sort. And then I wouldn't be a millionaire anymore and we'd be right back here where we started.)

And DAMN....why didn't anyone tell me CLAUDINE HELLMUTH was doing a HERO ARTS giveaway?? Huh people??

Is it the weekend yet?

'Cause I'd rather be playing with this stuff rather than going to work again in 12 hours. Working on a set of fabric blocks for Little Miss (this one took an ENTIRE BAG OF POLYFIL! Yikes. Gonna have t0 scale down!) And the quilt topper is for a doll bed in the making (2 inch squares)....it matches Little Miss's Crazy Nine Patch quilt. Are you seeing a pattern emerge here? I can't stop! LOL

I am DYING to see Heather Bailey's new fabric lines.....has anyone seen anything from Quilt Market? Pop Garden and Bijoux are her two new lines...I have only seen one little adorable outfit made from the fabric on Flickr. Oh my is that the cutest ever?

Aren't Yellow and Red Fun Together?

A little vignette of what I am looking at while sorting and organizing photos on my laptop. (In my kitchen, at my desk - which sits between the fridge and the siding glass door that leads to the deck.)

I am loving YELLOW and RED lately. Was loving red and turquoise all winter....I think the yellow just took over a bit when Spring hit. : )


How cute is this little HEN? It's an egg cup from ANTHROPOLOGIE (bought it in RED too when I was there last)....made it into a little pin cushion to hold pins for my bulletin board at my desk. The ladybug is a glass magnet (gift from my sister Lisa. How cute is that?) The button/heart photo was from Anna Maria Horner's blog around Valentine's day, I think (as a free download--isn't she kind and generous? I love that girl!) I've been rotating the "inspiration photos" clipped in that yellow pitcher. And the yellow polka-dot frame is the first bit of yellow I bought a drillion years ago for the kitchen. (Oddly, my kitchen is "not yellow" - tho you'd not know it from these photos!) The photo is me and my two older sisters at the Pittsburgh Zoo at the Lion drinking fountain circa 1967--(do I look to be about 3?) Notice my sisters had cute shoes on--I was in CLODHOPPERS (corrective shoes that I wore until 3rd grade or something? hated those...always wanted to shop at the REGULAR shoe store. Now I hate shoe shopping. You'd think I'd be all Carrie Bradshaw--gimme my Manolo Blahniks after such childhood trauma! But not. I have stupid short, wide feet. Impossible to get a comfy pair of non-orthopedic-looking shoes on these stubs of mine! LOL)

But I digress! What was I talking about, anyway?

Another One About Pottery Barn Pillows

Why, Pottery Barn, why? Why must you tempt me so with your PILLOWS? I want them ALL. And so I splurged on a pair. My new strategy is to buy (or sew!) just the cases and switch 'em up every now and again (thus avoiding the OVERFLOWING MOUND OF THEM STORED IN THE CLOSET). Not sure why, but pillows are scrumptious to me.

Bought two of these: (snagged the "R" and "S" on the table there on sale at Anthropologie....will nail them up on the wall when it is late enough to start hammering....oh, in about 30 minutes? 8 am on a Saturday morning...that's 'sleeping in,' right? Think the DH will notice?

OK...maybe instead I should start whipping up some of these:

I love a BIG SQUARE pillow with a center button. And I love ANNA MARIA HORNER's fabrics....so these are pretty much PERFECTION in my book. Snagged the photo from Melissa Averinos's blog "YummyGoods" - go CHECK HER OUT. She has a fabric line coming out in August and she took tons of photos of all the booths at Quilt Market....and you will just DROOL over the fabrics and creations. I want to MOVE INTO ANNA MARIA HORNER's booth. And spend my summers in Amy Butler's. scrumptious. I want to know how these quilting/sewing/fabric designers get SO MUCH DONE?!?! Anna Maria has FIVE CHILDREN! And she PAINTS! And DESIGNS FABRICS! AND SEWS AND QUILTS. AND TAKES PICTURES! Have you seen her KITCHEN? Check out her FLICKr photostream.

Maybe I need to start mainlining coffee or something? I just want to shadow them for a week or two and figure out how they do it all.

Oops. Pretend you saw this on the 24th!

...cause I was supposed to post it then as a reminder to document my Sunday...but I was too busy having fun with the Pgh guests! xoxox



OK....loving my extra day off today (but it is going too FAST!)



Working on lots of stuff....including the May 25th "scrap your day" page...you will NOT BELIEVE HOW MANY PHOTOS I PRINTED FOR IT.

Button Blossoms

OK....who saw Kal's posting about her friends Oliver and Katie and those adorable button flowers?


I think I used every button in the house.



I am ready to start cutting up clothing to access more.



Made bouquets for the guest rooms this weekend (because I'd rather do that than wash the windows. Figure the guests won't notice if they have these pretties to gaze at!)

And these will sit on our dining room table 'cause they just make me GRIN.

The one about all the pretty princes and princesses.

Memorial Day Weekend Guests!

Nieces and nephews and kids galore!

Sunshine, swimming, cookouts and s'mores!

Graduation plans and birthday cakes!

Sisters, scrapping, shopping, laughing.

A perfect weekend and more to come! (Nik--we need to get some pics of us! xoxxo)

On an unrelated note....

Looking through some photos for my inspiration board.....I want pretty much everything in the Tracy Porter catalog....and Anthropologie.

But it ain't in the budget.

So I have this trick...where I pull out pages from magazines or catalogues and stick them on my bulletin board. Eventually I will get tired of looking at them....

...but I really really want this lamp. And these sheets!

Crazy Nine Patch Quilt - DONE!

The Crazy Nine Patch quilt for Little Miss is FINISHED!! Whoohooo!! Go Me!! (Been at it since 6:30 am...on and off between chores and the other things that interupt me as is my usual!) So excited to be DONE. I forgot how to do the binding - so there was a lot of "fudging" along the way....but I like the homemade look of the stitches....even though it was done on the machine (except for the binding)...it is by FAR not precision work! But like I told the quilt shop natzi lady who blasted my technique--I don't plan to enter any county fairs with this one. (And uh....hello, mean quilt shop lady? whatever happened to "the customer is always right?") Anyway -- it is definitely a labor of love, not perfection! Just wanted a playmat for our little Peanut when she visits....I hope she likes it! Can't wait to snuggle her in it!

I used the DMC Pearl floss and tied square knots in each block corner (or close!) - and I thought that would be all that I'd do to quilt it all together....but I decided instead to just run it through the machine - curvey lines from side to side to get more of a "puckered" look...hoping it softens up with washings and gets that nice worn, well-loved and used look.

Thanks for peeking in on me and your kindnesses --- loving our artistic shares!!

Quilt Queries Answered

Hi all!! Thanks for the nice comments on the CRAZY NINE PATCH QUILT! In answer to the questions:

This one is for Miss Sirryha....started as a little something to wrap her in at night when taking her in and out of the car....but now I see it as more of a playmat and all around "her blankie!" I can't wait to do a photo shoot of her perched atop this in the grass - blowing bubbles together!! The photos don't do the colors justice...they are VERY vibrant. And I decided against yellow for the backing.....going to go with the paler teals/greens for a backing and binding. Also bought some varigated teal DMC cotton pearl floss to tie off all the corners.....just to add a little extra texture.

Did not do any sashing - just stitched all the blocks together -- 5 across, 7 down. The blocks are 8 inch squares. (Started with 36 nine inch squares....as you cut and stitch the pieces, the blocks whittle down an inch.) I want to do an embroidered "made with love" patch for the back....but the quilting will just be real simple, since there is so much going on with the fabrics on front.

Note to self: it was so HARD for me to keep cutting down these fabrics! Felt like I was loosing the beautiful patterns....so either start with LARGER squares (so each section is bigger) - or - stick to smaller prints. Lots of options here, it was hard to decide where to stop cutting, but in the end I am happy with the overall piece now that the top is done.

Will post more pics when it is all done! Thanks for looking and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Crazy Nine Patch Progress!

Whoooeeeeeeeeee! It pays to get up at 6:30 am on a Saturday!

Ready to stitch together the top! Then to search out some sunshine yellow fabric for the backing and binding.....cannot WAIT to finish it!

I am Crazy. Thus I have begun a Crazy Nine Patch Quilt.

Yes, I know I have another quilt that is not finished (gettin' there, Lyndee! Honest!)

Yes, I know Ethan is almost 15 and I haven't finished his Bar Mitzvah scrapbook. (In my head I have...I promise it will be done before LANDY's Bar Mitzvah!)

And yes, I know the house will not clean itself, the laundry will not do itself, and the refrigerator will not restock itself. I will get to it. Seriously. Eventually. Maybe even tomorrow.

But for now....the baseball game is on....Rob is cozy on the couch...and the sound of the sewing machine is soothing to me and reminds me of Gram.

And this fabric is delish. (progress photos of the actual blocks tomorrow!)

EDITED, SATURDAY MORNING, 7:10 a.m.: Some pics of the blocks so far!! Cannot wait to just stitch these babies together in one big panel (no sashing...that looks too "country" to me). Think I can get it all done today? Time me!

Oh crap. I put the MISTAKE one on the TOP. I really need to hire a professional photographer!

Mourning my DayDreamingBoy.

Awww crap. My beautiful JASON voted off! boohoo! I know he couldn't win it...but I wanted him to have his hometown hurrah on the "Final 3" week.

Oh well...there is always the SUMMER TOUR : )

Peace. Love. JASON.

Shout out to SHANI!

Hey Girl!

This one's for you....since you asked so nicely and all : ) hee hee!

How excited are my INSPIRED PEEPS to be starting an ART GROUP?? I am so excited...and I have the GREATEST IDEA....READY??

OK...here's the idea I plan to submit to the group.....

I have been thinking of the EXCESS in my life...too much STUFF...too many PRODUCTS unused (and yet I still want MORE.....what is the deal???) and I am completely bored with everything on the walls in our house....I want new art but cannot justify the expense....you get where I am going with this???

So I have been EYEBALLING these two large pieces in our dining room....they set me back about $80 each (Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon..not MOMA or anything- but still!) - so I cannot just toss them.....but I don't like them anymore. So I thought....wonder if Rob would mind if I GESSOED OVER THEM and made something ELSE! Something Anahata Katkin-esque...maybe a MANDELA....or something like what EMILY FALCONBRIDGE DID HERE. Start a whole new LOOK to the haus.......

Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose. How about making ART out of STUFF THAT YOU HAVE AROUND BUT DON'T WANT ANYMORE? Of course I would not expect anyone to SHIP something huge....but maybe a little something....take a frame that you no longer LOVE and reinvent it. Take a plain notebook from your STASH OF A GADRILLION and create an art journal for a special friend. Make a wall sculpture out of a few old paperbacks (folding the pages into designs....saw it a while back in Home Companion Magazine and WANT TO DO IT!)

I thought Jilliene would especially appreciate the GREEN take on this! : )

Ready. Set. Hope. GO CAMERON!

My cool and cute redheaded girl friend Cameron (second from right in the photo!) is doing the AVON WALK in support of breast cancer. Her team is "Hiking for Headlights" - clever, girl! (you can buy the teeshirt here.) We can't wait to read your posts, Cameron---we know how hard you have worked on your fundraising and training!! WOOT!! You go, girlfriend. Hike on.