Friday, October 15, 2010

studio tour

cloth paper scissors virtual open studio tour

my studio area takes up about half of the room that it's in. the rest of the room contains two armchairs for my husband and i, the tv, the computer desk and all of dave's cb radio equipment. the room has two closets (it's one big room that used to be two really small bedrooms), one closet holds dave's hunting gear, the other closet is in my studio area. my studio is L shaped with one table that divides the room in half and creates the bottom part of the L and two tables along the wall under the window.

1. this is the table that divides the room, it is our old dining room table. it now holds my sewing machine (a bernina 1008). behind the sewing machine are a couple of bins holding in progress projects and fabric bits and pieces. there's a stack of books, a (blank) travel coffee mug that's modeling my new coffee cozy (more on that in an upcoming tutorial), halloween ribbon, spray painted paper, zoe's old ballet slippers (waiting for the right shadow box), some finished mini journals.
2. sewing machine, book shelf. this is the first table that is against the wall, this one is right under the window. it has a book shelf on top of it. the top of the book shelf has my computer disks, coils for my binding machine, and an empty jewelry box. the top shelf has various journals and books. the lower half of the bookshelf holds a stack of 12" x 12" bins that hold scrapbooking papers and collage materials.
3. the desk under the window. a stack of magazines, papers, things to be filed etc. my journal. a box of paints, old family photos. under it all is the newspaper that i use when i'm painting.

4. the third desk (tucked into the corner to the right of the window, formed by the wall and the closet). this is where i work in my journal, pay bills, thumb through magazines. my pens, pencils, rulers, scissors, etc. are kept here.

5. the bulletin board above the third desk. i post deadlines and things that inspire me. to the right is the art doll that i made for the ado wonderland blog event.

6. my closet. lots of boxes and books. my binding machine, FULL journals, photo albums, sketchbooks, finished artworks, etc.

8. my other bookshelf, to the right of the closet, in between the closet and the computer desk. top has finished artworks, knick knacks. lower shelves hold buttons, scrap boxes, labels, sharpies, etc. bottom shelf holds art books (sabrina ward harrison, lynne perrella, traci bautista, lk ludwig).
so that's it, that's my studio. i also have (not pictured) two plastic carts with three deep drawers that hold some of my fabric and paint. they are stacked one on top of the other on the wall opposite my desks. at some point soon i will be purchasing a small shelving system to go against that wall as well. i also have out in the hallway a tall dresser full of more fabric.
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i'm loving this current studio arrangement. i previously had the two desks against the wall but not the third table. it was in the room but just had stacks of stuff on it and my sewing machine was on the table in the kitchen and a large amount of my sewing supplies were in the kitchen too. i came home from work one day and dave had cleared off the table moved it to where it is now forming the L and had moved my sewing machine into my studio and all my sewing stuff. love love.
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hope you enjoyed the tour! the last one that i did can be found here.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

painted canvas mini journal (tutorial tuesday)

today i have a mini journal that i made from a painted piece of sticky back canvas.



you will need:



sticky back canvas
needle and thread/sewing machine



fabric (i used fabric recycled from an old t-shirt)



acrylic paint



cheesecloth
two buttons
skinny ribbon



assorted papers, scraps



1. paint the canvas.
2. cut it to size. (mine is about 6" x 6", closed)



3. peel off the backing and stick it to a piece of t-shirt fabric.



4. stitch the two pieces together. fold in half.



5. make the pages. play with scraps (envelopes, paint chips, paper gift bags, etc.) and sew together.



6.fold the pages in half and tuck them inside of each other.

7. sew the pages into the book
8. make a wrap-around tie for the book by layering a scrap of painted sticky back canvas on top of a dyed piece of cheesecloth and sewing those two pieces to a scrap of the t-shirt fabric.
9. stitch the end of the tie onto the front cover. wrap around the book.
10. sew two buttons onto the tie. tie a skinny piece of ribbon to the button, then wrap around other button to close.



Monday, October 4, 2010

hand cut page titles (tutorial tuesday)

today i have a simple tutorial for you on cutting letters for page titles (for journals or scrapbooks). this is a simple, creative alternative to letter stickers.

you will need:
a scrap piece of paper of white paper
a scrap piece of patterned paper
pen
pencil
x-acto knife
tape

1. start out by drawing your letters on the scrap piece of white paper. (i used a pen and didn't give it much thought, these are my basic doodle letters).
2. outline each letter with a pencil.
3. place the scrap piece with your letters on it face down on the back of your patterned paper. tape down and use your pencil to rub over the whole back to transfer the letters.
4. use an x-acto knife to cut them out.

if i had placed my periods right i could have used this piece too.
5. add the letters to your layout.
the tutorial for attaching the photos can be found here.
for more cut letter inspiration see here, here, here, and here.