SORTING, SQUISHING, STITCHING, AND POUNDING...

 So, what's going on over at the Quill you might ask and I would answer, a whole lot of sorting, squishing, stitching, and pounding.  

What are you sorting you might ask and I would answer, stuff I culled from the studio and scraps of this and dabs of that, things I am assembling into inspiration art kits to list in the shop.  (I would insert here a huge thank you to those who purchased kits!) What kind of kits will you have this time you might ask and I would answer, cool ones!  Seriously, there will be one for the sepia lovin' collage enthusiast...

And one for the nature lover...

And one that is pure child's play...

And one that is over the top lavish Victorian in theme...

I hope to have these four complete and listed by the weekend.  That takes care of the sorting part of the post, moving on the squishing part.

So, you might ask, what have you been squishing, and I would answer, I have been squishing flowers.  Did you know that you could squish them in your die cutting machine?  Me either, but you can, HERE at Stamping With a Passion is a post I found on making flower prints on watercolor paper with your die cutting machine.  Very cool!  Mine, not so cool, my flowers were too wet due to the rain here and did not imprint well even though I brought some in to dry out before trying the technique.  Once it drys up a bit I will try again...

So, you might ask, what have you been stitching, and I would answer, scraps.  I had a small basket of scraps that had accumulated from various recent projects that needed to either be used or scrapped.  I noticed how they all had that beach like feel to them and decided on stitching them rather than scrapping them.  I made them into various backgrounds that I hope to use in a memory book of our upcoming summer vacation to the beach...

This will be the grands first time to see the ocean and I think a fabric book would make a special keepsake.

So, we have covered sorting, squishing, stitching, and now pounding.  You might ask, what have you been pounding, and I would answer, flowers.  I know, I know, the poor things are being brutalized around here, well not many, just a few.  This might sound crazy but I had a dream about a fabric flower and had a desire to try and recreate it...

I will tell you about the dream and the result of the experiment of reassembling a pounded flower in my next post.  I also promise the sun printing tutorial is coming soon, as soon as it stops raining and we have a sunny day!

That is about all that is going on at the Quill.  

What are you up to?

NOTHING TO BLOG ABOUT...

Think, Think, Think is a phrase often uttered by Winnie The Pooh when he faces a puzzling problem. It is usually accompanied by him sitting down and much head-scratching.  I have been sitting down this morning with much head-scratching think, think, thinking and trying to come up with a blog post.  I have nothing to blog about.

I thought about sharing a bit of Easter at the Quill but that is over with and this was the sum total of my "decor" if you can call grabbing a few things from around the house at the last minute and foofing them up with candy actual decorating...

Nope, nothing to blog about here.

Then I thought about talking about what new things are unfurling at the farm...

But then I thought that spring is probably being overdone so, nope, nope nope, no blog post here.

I think, think, thinked some more and wondered if a walk down the winding road to the singing creek would be blog worthy...

Where I followed little heart shaped Wild Dogwood blossoms as they rode on babbling bubbles across slippery moss and sandstone...

 Sometimes sticking long enough to pose for a picture...

And how the story weaver in me took off writing in my head as I clicked away at each little nature heart on its journey, but that was all just folly, nope, nothing to blog about here either.

I could have told you about getting caught in a sudden shower of glistening rain drops...

How Handy Hubby and I had to make a run for it back the farm house from the curve where old Johnny Marse slid clear down to the bottom of the holler backwards in his battered pickup one winter when the ice was on.   How he was pretty sure he was "uh meetin' his maker" askin' forgiveness for a blue blaze of cussin' when he slid off the ravine, he said he just sat back and waited for the end while it was just trees that flashed before his eyes as they whizzed by and not his life.  

How when the wild ride that would rival Mr. Toad's was over he ended up stuck in his truck wedged between two trees til some bypassing Blue Tick Hound set up a holler and Johnny's daddy come to see what he had treed, begin surprised that it was his son Johnny.  But, you don't know where that scar in the earth is at that curve of the road and since you don't know Johnny either and can't here the tellin' of this tale in his distinct voice you won't find it as funny as it really is so, nothing to blog about here either.

I thought about my favorite photo I took over the weekend of a small bush growing wild on the roadside with its tiny little bells for flowers...

But that is all there is to tell, not much to blog about.

My last thought was of how Easter morning dawned bright and clear at the farm and how it hit me like a ton of bricks that Handy Hubby and I were the only ones about the place and it would remain steeped in silence on this holiday.  No family, no big meal, no dying or hunting of eggs, memories of the past weaving themselves through the quiet rooms, laughter here, a snippet of conversation there, love everywhere and most present of all was the big lump in my throat that I could not seem to swallow.

Not being able to go through with our holiday plan for the day we spent a quiet time of reflection on the banks of the Buffalo at Tyler Bend where so many happy memories of summers past resided...

Sheltered by the bluffs, soothed by the sound of the lazy rivers flow, serenaded by the lone cry of an eagle we watched two adults with brightly colored totes darting across the river bank collecting stones as if they were prized eggs being tossed into colorful baskets as they called to each other, "Look at this  one!  See what I found!", tourists.  Easter egg colored canoes slipped past on the mirror like surface with paddlers waving and calling out, "Happy Easter!  Happy Easter!"  And how I wondered if I could possibly drag the most gorgeous piece of weathered water washed wood back to the farm to use as a curtain rod but we were in my car and the piece of wood was probably as long as my car so I sighed and left it there.

Not much of a story there either, think, think, think, nope, nothing to blog about here today.  

Blog fodder is such a puzzling problem.
Think, think, think...

SHOP LISTING: ART & EMBELLISHMENT KITS...

 I have been doing a little bit of a studio de-stash and putting together some art and embellishment kits.  I have finished and listed four themed kits in my shop, Quill Cottage Curiosity Shoppe.   Each kit contains ephemera, fabric, trims, and embellishments perfect for making cards, tags, or collage projects.  Each provides a little extra inspiration for jump starting your creativity.

Pretty Paper Doll...
SOLD, thank you!

French Flair...
SOLD, thank you!

Autumnal Treasures...

Bountiful Birds...
SOLD, thank you!

Kit contents and pricing can be viewed HERE.

Besides putting together art kits I have also been working on more backgrounds to use in my artwork and trying to finish up a free tutorial to share with you on some simple surface design for fabric, sun printing.  Many of you had questions about that process I thought I would share how I do it with you.

 If I can get the sun to co-operate I can finish up the photo portion.  It has been popping in and out behind the clouds the last few days and the one key thing you need for sun printing is...sunshine!  Hopefully I can share that with you next week.

I know you are all busy making plans for Easter weekend as are we here at the Quill.  We are having a big family celebration here tonight.  It is my son's birthday, our first family cookout of the season, and an Easter egg hunt for the grands.  There is nothing like a gathering to warm the heart with gratitude and love for the blessings of family.

I wish each and every one of you all a blessed Easter!

EN PLEIN AIR STUDIO...

The Lady Banks roses are in full bloom here at the Quill, the scent softly wafting on the spring breeze...

 

Enticing me to come out and play...

 

Promising a peaceful perfect place to set up an en plein air studio...

 They have festooned themselves with pretty pastel ribbons...

Strips of muslin dipped, dyed, and dried...

 Barely there blue, soft sea green, light lemon yellow, calm coral, and a tad of tan...

Sun printing on the stepping stones...

Rusty junk...

All wrapped in fabric...

Uh-Oh!  Something went a little wrong!

I imagined a creamy fabric with rusty details, instead I got black and gray Birch bark!

Roll number two, what's a girl to do?  

I imagined rusty wire tracks across the sepia surface but got a kind of sad tie dye effect...

Bundle number 3 oh dear me! 

It came out looking like a bacteria slide under a microscope...

This little experiment went awry due to a chemical reaction in the metal and a compound I added to speed along the rusting process.  Impatience rarely pays off, next time I will allow the base process to work its magic without my "help".  In all honesty I love the surprise designs, that is part of the fun, not knowing exactly what will be revealed at the end of the process.

Fabric number 4, the sun print is a score!

Back indoors, a gathering of sun dried hand dyed ribbons ready to be stamped or stitched... 

Interesting surface design to incorporate into projects...

This is how I spent my weekend, soaking up the sun, savoring the floral scented breeze, wrapping this, dying that, tinting here, being surprised there, all en plein air!

 My hope is that some new play things will get me inspired to create something, I am in a creative slump.  Remember the commercial that the guy says he has come to the end of the internet?  I feel like I have come to the end of creative ideas.  I am pretty sure it is just a case of spring fever, I want to be outside.  At least I am being productive making up masses of muslin ribbons and fabric backgrounds until my indoor studio muse calls again.  Maybe I will set up an outdoor sewing studio today!

Blessings of Bliss,

Sandy

P.S.  I also planted some bulbs, mixed Caladium, in a nice shady spot near our garden pond.  If anyone out there can give a novice non-gardener kind of gal like me a little advice I would really appreciate it.  The package said to plant the bulb pointed side up.  Well these things looked like lumps of coal, no real point.  There were some little sprout things coming out of one end but I could not tell if they were roots or shoots.  I am trying to figure out if I planted them down side up or right side down!  

  This will be yet another interesting experiment here at the Quill!