I don't think I have mixed dye in a prettier place.

The accomplished Gabi Tisch. I feel honored to have her in my class.

Beautiful Sabine.

In the first two days we learn monoprinting with stamping.

Everything is going well and I am soaking up the love and beauty here. If ever you are able to come to Switzerland on vacation or take a class, Tex Art Academy is the place to come! This is an amazing experience.

Marlis Egger of Tex Art Academy. I begin teaching tomorrow!

Put your heel in erm...the...and turn, three times.

This weekend David and I had our nephew Kyle come and we gave him a grand tour. We went to The Top of the Rock and saw a 360 degree view of New York City. Now that I understand Manhattan and its environment this was an amazing experience for me. NYC is really just so small, it is jam packed and that makes it seem huge, but it isn't.

We went to see the Talk to Me show at the Moma, and to a Mets game. This dog was really talented. He had a pipe in his mouth, wore clothing and yawned.

The 7th inning of the Mets game was so exciting but they ended up loosing anyway. It was worth it though.

While waiting to get pizza at John's in the village, New York City showed its local color and we watched a girl get arrested. More action than I have seen since we moved here. We learned that you Don't Steal Watermelon, especially in front of cops and then mouth off about it. I would have thought all of that was obvious, but, you know.

Then yesterday I taught Soy Wax Batik with Paint at The City Quilter. This was a sample I made in class and I think it was particularly successful. I did bring my camera but forgot to take a single picture of my fabulous students. I will be teaching an add-on Soy Wax with Paint class on Wednesday the 31st, so if you are local or visiting, sign up. There may be a spot or two left.

Yesterday I taught at The City Quilter in NYC, it was great fun, the students were enthusiastic and we made some great stuff.

I was very excited to hear that there was a wait list for the class, and they have stated they would like to have another class (or two) in August.

Shirley was my helper through the class. And although she thought this piece was chaotic, it washed up really well. Too bad I didn't get an 'after' photo. Maybe she will email me one?

Joan was please as punch and a great student too.

I loved the way Kathleen applied the paint to the cloth, her pieces sort of glowed. I will have a to try making a few pieces in her style. Students teach as much as learn, that is what I love most about the whole exchange.

Yesterday I taught at The City Quilter in NYC, it was great fun, the students were enthusiastic and we made some great stuff.

I was very excited to hear that there was a wait list for the class, and they have stated they would like to have another class (or two) in August.

Shirley was my helper through the class. And although she thought this piece was chaotic, it washed up really well. Too bad I didn't get an 'after' photo. Maybe she will email me one?

Joan was please as punch and a great student too.

I loved the way Kathleen applied the paint to the cloth, her pieces sort of glowed. I will have a to try making a few pieces in her style. Students teach as much as learn, that is what I love most about the whole exchange.

(I am sorry this is a blurry photo but) Meg Mooar went to this same lecture in Houston and took up journaling as a result! Look at her enthusiasm in showing me the pages. And she brought a non-quilting art friend to see my lecture too!

Meg is front and center in this photo too, less blur!

I have been a member of three quilt guilds, when I started attending NSQG, as we tend to call it, I was just hitting my artistic stride. I decided (without asking) that I would create a monthly surface design challenge and would go home each month to create a supply list and basic outline. I gathered a group of people and really took advantage of what everyone had to offer and enjoyed being a member of the guild.

I found the guild to be predominantly traditional but very supportive of artistic aspirations and developments, I mean last night their quilt art special interest group had a how-to about blogging!

I felt honored to be asked to speak with them and went home feeling enthused, it was great. AND, um... I sold two small works last night. (Yippee-I love selling work)

I am going to lecture at my most favorite guild tonight, wish me luck.

Houston was fabulous! I taught, I laughed, I hooked up with friends, new and old. I had a woman named Laura visit all the way from Italy in one of my classes! Jennifer made some fantastic samples and took both classes I taught! Surviving the Runway was visited by the police! Judy Coates Perez and I worked on the Spoon Balancing aspects o our creative resumes, it was just so much fun. Helen Gregory showed off her rubber arm super powers, while Pokey Bolton gathered the most handsome young man for a dance.

If you want more of a Quilt Festival update, perhaps you will check out Jane LaFazio, Tracie Huskamp, Leslie Tucker Jennison, Jamie Fingal and Deborah Boschert's blog.

I didn't shop much-honestly, I didn't factor enough down time. I did purchase 4 moons from Shibori Girl. And I bought a fat quarter of double woven dot from June Colburn.

I am going to be at Quilt Festival 2010 and will be dye painting during Open Studios on Friday from 5 to 7. Will you please Join me?

I will also be teaching:
Thursday: Freezer Paper Paint, Oh My!

Friday: Sampler: Bead Embellish, Encrust 10-12 Friday
Lecture: Journaling as Inspiration for the Quilt Artist 3-4
Open Studios: Dye Painting 5-7

Saturday: Stamping in Depth

I would love to see you, play art with you and have some fun. Please come visit me or take a class.

Carole is a Phoenix native and she brought cookies....which went straight to my heart. Carole will forever remain a Most Cherished Student because of it . No! no! I mean she will forever remain a Most Cherished Student because she went home after the Stamping in Depth class and continued making stamps into the wee hours of the night. The stamp pox hit Art Unraveled pretty hard.

Soy Wax Batik with Paint remains my most sought after class and I totally understand that! It is so addictive and easy to use. Beside which you can have a spa like experience if you choose to bury your hand deeply into the soy wax itself.

Leslie (far left), had a neat approach with paint and made quite a few samples that were quite good. She allowed me to iron and wash one of her pieces and I bet she has some lively cloth to use in her art. I would love to see it (and post about it) if you are a reader, Leslie.

Rice Freeman-Zachary came and played for a little bit too. I think she is a really neat person. Whip smart and ready to fully engage. I like that in a person.

I am on the road, we (my Man and I) are sitting in the library in Sedona, cooling off and zoning out. This is my first ever, on the road blog post. That is one of the cool things about having a laptop! Soon we will return home to our nest in Brooklyn, pet and hug Arrow and settle back in (that is) until I am off to Create Retreat with my good friend Pat.

Oh and Jane LaFazio uploaded a photo of she and I at Art Unraveled it is shows the Greater Scaup T-Shirt I worked on last week.

Carole is a Phoenix native and she brought cookies....which went straight to my heart. Carole will forever remain a Most Cherished Student because of it . No! no! I mean she will forever remain a Most Cherished Student because she went home after the Stamping in Depth class and continued making stamps into the wee hours of the night. The stamp pox hit Art Unraveled pretty hard.

Soy Wax Batik with Paint remains my most sought after class and I totally understand that! It is so addictive and easy to use. Beside which you can have a spa like experience if you choose to bury your hand deeply into the soy wax itself.

Leslie (far left), had a neat approach with paint and made quite a few samples that were quite good. She allowed me to iron and wash one of her pieces and I bet she has some lively cloth to use in her art. I would love to see it (and post about it) if you are a reader, Leslie.

Rice Freeman-Zachary came and played for a little bit too. I think she is a really neat person. Whip smart and ready to fully engage. I like that in a person.

I am on the road, we (my Man and I) are sitting in the library in Sedona, cooling off and zoning out. This is my first ever, on the road blog post. That is one of the cool things about having a laptop! Soon we will return home to our nest in Brooklyn, pet and hug Arrow and settle back in (that is) until I am off to Create Retreat with my good friend Pat.

Oh and Jane LaFazio uploaded a photo of she and I at Art Unraveled it is shows the Greater Scaup T-Shirt I worked on last week.

I am going to be Road Tripping to Chicago in a few short weeks to teach at the Create Retreat and I would love for you to join in one of my classes. My Soy Wax Batik class is just about full (Thursday August 26 from 9 to 4, samples here), so I am going to highlight these two classes:

In this class we will make freezer paper stencils, mix and use color to create our own unique painted cloth. If you would like to see a few more samples of this technique, click here. This class will be offered Wednesday, August 25 from 9 to 4.

I will also be teaching Inspired Journaling, every-single-day! class. In this class we will explore creating backgrounds, layering and collage. It seems I have been heavily into journaling lately, so check out this link to see more samples. This class runs Friday August 27 from 9 to 4.

I have teamed up with Crafter's Workshop to offer this great giveaway. The first 5 people to tell me they will sign up or have signed up will receive one of these great stencils.

I am going to be Road Tripping to Chicago in a few short weeks to teach at the Create Retreat and I would love for you to join in one of my classes. My Soy Wax Batik class is just about full (Thursday August 26 from 9 to 4, samples here), so I am going to highlight these two classes:

In this class we will make freezer paper stencils, mix and use color to create our own unique painted cloth. If you would like to see a few more samples of this technique, click here. This class will be offered Wednesday, August 25 from 9 to 4.

I will also be teaching Inspired Journaling, every-single-day! class. In this class we will explore creating backgrounds, layering and collage. It seems I have been heavily into journaling lately, so check out this link to see more samples. This class runs Friday August 27 from 9 to 4.

I have teamed up with Crafter's Workshop to offer this great giveaway. The first 5 people to tell me they will sign up or have signed up will receive one of these great stencils.

I have been wanting to do a mass open of Mail Art for a couple of weeks and now is the time. Follows are a bunch of student works driven by my recent Let's Exchange Some Art class through Joggles. We made papers, ATC's and Tags and then made envelopes out of our papers and mailed them off to one another. It was great fun.

Here is some of my mailed artistic wealth!

Lisa sent me some work by her 13 year old daughter too! Get 'em young!Debra tells me this class did wonders to encourage her as an artist and that makes me happy.

Debra tells me this class did wonders to encourage her as an artist and that makes me happy.

Carol C did a great job too.

Suzanne thinks she made mistakes but I can't see them.

Carol L says she caught the pox big time. It really is hard to resist. Sadly, there is no immune booster for this condition.

Jeannie busted some bold moves! Look at that red! Yums.

Terri used some scrumptious colors.

Michele did some super fun work too. I love the red dots and the numbers and the....

The Mistress of Longears was quite timely in getting her Mail Art out, you would think some bunnies were rushing her out the door.

It was alot of fun, great fun to get real mail too.

And hey. If I put the wrong name to your work, pipe up! It is hard to do long pictorial posts like this.

I have been wanting to do a mass open of Mail Art for a couple of weeks and now is the time. Follows are a bunch of student works driven by my recent Let's Exchange Some Art class through Joggles. We made papers, ATC's and Tags and then made envelopes out of our papers and mailed them off to one another. It was great fun.

Here is some of my mailed artistic wealth!

Lisa sent me some work by her 13 year old daughter too! Get 'em young!Debra tells me this class did wonders to encourage her as an artist and that makes me happy.

Debra tells me this class did wonders to encourage her as an artist and that makes me happy.

Carol C did a great job too.

Suzanne thinks she made mistakes but I can't see them.

Carol L says she caught the pox big time. It really is hard to resist. Sadly, there is no immune booster for this condition.

Jeannie busted some bold moves! Look at that red! Yums.

Terri used some scrumptious colors.

Michele did some super fun work too. I love the red dots and the numbers and the....

The Mistress of Longears was quite timely in getting her Mail Art out, you would think some bunnies were rushing her out the door.

It was alot of fun, great fun to get real mail too.

And hey. If I put the wrong name to your work, pipe up! It is hard to do long pictorial posts like this.

This is a tutorial of sorts. In this tutorial I would like you to embrace the concept of resists for paper. In a very broad sense a resist is anything that blocks or preserves an area in your painting. You could simply lay a piece of paper over your page and paint off the edge and call it a resist or you can explore the friskets and tapes available at your local art store. Getting to know what is available and how to use then is half the fun. I have created a video that shows the creation of a single page in my journal. In the video I use Magic Removable Tape. This is an easy way to create straight lines on your page.

So about using removable tape. When you apply the tape to the page, firmly push the tape onto the page. You do not want a slight buckle to occur. This will allow paint to gather in the buckle and negate the use of the tape to create a straight line in the fist place. You can cut into the tape with an Xacto knife to create curved lines too. This tape comes in multiple widths, I am using 1/2" tape in the above video. It also comes in 3/4" and wider.

This tape sometimes leaves a sticky residue after removal, in which case you can easily remove the residue with a Best-test Rubber Cement Pickup.

Sometimes this tape can make a really firm bond with the paper and doesn't want to be removed. If this occurs, simply warm the tape up with a heat gun or hair dryer. This will loosen the glue and you will be able to lift the tape off easily. For the most part this is not an issue. It is only an issue if you lean heavily on the tape with your elbow, leave the tape in place for a few weeks or do some other extreme thing to the poor tape.

If you are able to lift the tape without marring the surface or stretching the tape, the tape can be use several times before the tacky glue will become spent and tired. Check it out.

In this video I also use Zebra Sarasa Gel Retractable Roller Ball Pens (10 pack), which I like for the most part. They are water soluble and they mix well with paint! An added benefit in my eyes. BUT! They also become permanent with heat, so ironing your page will heat set these inks (awesome sleuth work on my part). The blues and dark greens are too close on color for my liking, the barrel is not indicative of the ink color as far as the blues and dark green goes. BUT! They write on top of both gouache, my beloved paint, and acrylic, my second favorite paint to journal with. I love having a set of colored pens that work well on top of paint. If you have other suggestions, please don't hesitate!

You will see the use of the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen again. I love this pen. L-O-V-E it. Last time I spoke about this pen I had a couple of people ask about it in camparison to other brush pens. Sometimes I wonder if I should start answering questions within the comments section of the blog, what do you think? At least then everyone could read my response! Anyway, I told her I like this pen because it is an actual brush, unlike Tomboy brush markers it actually has bristles, not just a felt tipped shape of a brush. This pen is expressive and useful. I want to say it is even bad ass!

I also used a Lower Case Alphabet stamp set and an alphabet stencil (whose collection I will be expanding upon, suggestions welcome)

I will be teaching Inspired Journaling at Create on Friday, August 27. Unlike this video I will also be verbal and share artistic approach, ideas about composition and playful prompts to get you thinking about what we are doing and why! I do hope you will join me.

This is a tutorial of sorts. In this tutorial I would like you to embrace the concept of resists for paper. In a very broad sense a resist is anything that blocks or preserves an area in your painting. You could simply lay a piece of paper over your page and paint off the edge and call it a resist or you can explore the friskets and tapes available at your local art store. Getting to know what is available and how to use then is half the fun. I have created a video that shows the creation of a single page in my journal. In the video I use Magic Removable Tape. This is an easy way to create straight lines on your page.

So about using removable tape. When you apply the tape to the page, firmly push the tape onto the page. You do not want a slight buckle to occur. This will allow paint to gather in the buckle and negate the use of the tape to create a straight line in the fist place. You can cut into the tape with an Xacto knife to create curved lines too. This tape comes in multiple widths, I am using 1/2" tape in the above video. It also comes in 3/4" and wider.

This tape sometimes leaves a sticky residue after removal, in which case you can easily remove the residue with a Best-test Rubber Cement Pickup.

Sometimes this tape can make a really firm bond with the paper and doesn't want to be removed. If this occurs, simply warm the tape up with a heat gun or hair dryer. This will loosen the glue and you will be able to lift the tape off easily. For the most part this is not an issue. It is only an issue if you lean heavily on the tape with your elbow, leave the tape in place for a few weeks or do some other extreme thing to the poor tape.

If you are able to lift the tape without marring the surface or stretching the tape, the tape can be use several times before the tacky glue will become spent and tired. Check it out.

In this video I also use Zebra Sarasa Gel Retractable Roller Ball Pens (10 pack), which I like for the most part. They are water soluble and they mix well with paint! An added benefit in my eyes. BUT! They also become permanent with heat, so ironing your page will heat set these inks (awesome sleuth work on my part). The blues and dark greens are too close on color for my liking, the barrel is not indicative of the ink color as far as the blues and dark green goes. BUT! They write on top of both gouache, my beloved paint, and acrylic, my second favorite paint to journal with. I love having a set of colored pens that work well on top of paint. If you have other suggestions, please don't hesitate!

You will see the use of the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen again. I love this pen. L-O-V-E it. Last time I spoke about this pen I had a couple of people ask about it in camparison to other brush pens. Sometimes I wonder if I should start answering questions within the comments section of the blog, what do you think? At least then everyone could read my response! Anyway, I told her I like this pen because it is an actual brush, unlike Tomboy brush markers it actually has bristles, not just a felt tipped shape of a brush. This pen is expressive and useful. I want to say it is even bad ass!

I also used a Lower Case Alphabet stamp set and an alphabet stencil (whose collection I will be expanding upon, suggestions welcome)

I will be teaching Inspired Journaling at Create on Friday, August 27. Unlike this video I will also be verbal and share artistic approach, ideas about composition and playful prompts to get you thinking about what we are doing and why! I do hope you will join me.

Let's Exchange some Art, ATCs Tags and Mail Art starts on Friday June 25 and I would love to see you there. The class covers making creative papers using our own handcut and carved stamps, making and using stencils and using those paper in ATCs, Tags and Mail Art to be exchanged among members of the group. The class costs 45$, which I think is a great value, especially considering it can be done in your jammies!

Here are some other teaser posts, click here, here and here.

Let's Exchange some Art, ATCs Tags and Mail Art starts on Friday June 25 and I would love to see you there. The class covers making creative papers using our own handcut and carved stamps, making and using stencils and using those paper in ATCs, Tags and Mail Art to be exchanged among members of the group. The class costs 45$, which I think is a great value, especially considering it can be done in your jammies!

Here are some other teaser posts, click here, here and here.

Last month, when I went to PTown, I found these odd little mixtures of Tjaps and Wood Blocks. I snapped them up and customized them with handles for ease of use in the soy wax pot. Yesterday I was able to use them for the first time and here is an example of my first try. So far so good.

ETA: I made the handles using threaded rod, dowels and glue. I cut the rod and dowels down, drilled holes in both the Tjap/Wood blocks and the dowels and glued everything together.

I will be teaching soy wax resist at Art Unraveled in Arizona and Create in Chicago in less than two months! I would love the chance to meet you!

Last month, when I went to PTown, I found these odd little mixtures of Tjaps and Wood Blocks. I snapped them up and customized them with handles for ease of use in the soy wax pot. Yesterday I was able to use them for the first time and here is an example of my first try. So far so good.

ETA: I made the handles using threaded rod, dowels and glue. I cut the rod and dowels down, drilled holes in both the Tjap/Wood blocks and the dowels and glued everything together.

I will be teaching soy wax resist at Art Unraveled in Arizona and Create in Chicago in less than two months! I would love the chance to meet you!

Quilting isn't my only gig. I love to paint and play too. Actually. I got stopped up with The 20, hit a road block, and have been out on a limb ever since. It is also called breathing air into the creative block. I trust it will come around again, but in the meantime, I am playing and getting ready to teach Let's Exchange some Art.

In fact, I may well be finished making samples and step outs for the class. I had so much fun! I learned alot and am ready to share my findings with all of you. I do hope you will sign up!

Quilting isn't my only gig. I love to paint and play too. Actually. I got stopped up with The 20, hit a road block, and have been out on a limb ever since. It is also called breathing air into the creative block. I trust it will come around again, but in the meantime, I am playing and getting ready to teach Let's Exchange some Art.

In fact, I may well be finished making samples and step outs for the class. I had so much fun! I learned alot and am ready to share my findings with all of you. I do hope you will sign up!

Who the heck doesn't like to get something personal in the mail?

In my upcoming Joggles class we will be exchanging little beauties through the mail. The above is a sample of what you might get from me, if you sign up for Let's Exchange some Art! I know I have been pushing this class, it is my newest offering and being a fickle artist, I am the most excited about it. So heck! Go ahead and sign up! I want to play some art with you.

Who the heck doesn't like to get something personal in the mail?

In my upcoming Joggles class we will be exchanging little beauties through the mail. The above is a sample of what you might get from me, if you sign up for Let's Exchange some Art! I know I have been pushing this class, it is my newest offering and being a fickle artist, I am the most excited about it. So heck! Go ahead and sign up! I want to play some art with you.

I can't figure out what the business is!

I will be teaching at Create! I am teaching Freezer Paper, Paint, Oh My! Soy Wax Batik and Inspired Journaling, every-single-day! August 25 through 29! Please sign up! Come out and play, join creative forces with us!

I have been having fun writing up my class for Joggles. We will be exchanging Tags, ATC's and envelopes, so I am making things in multiples. Today I will seek out a copy shop and make some color copies of some of the papers I have been making.

Here I am making some ATC's, again, in multiple. I hope you will sign up for this class. At the very lease post a comment on the post just below this one to win a spot in the class. Commenting on this post won't work. Enjoy!

I can't figure out what the business is!

I will be teaching at Create! I am teaching Freezer Paper, Paint, Oh My! Soy Wax Batik and Inspired Journaling, every-single-day! August 25 through 29! Please sign up! Come out and play, join creative forces with us!

I have been having fun writing up my class for Joggles. We will be exchanging Tags, ATC's and envelopes, so I am making things in multiples. Today I will seek out a copy shop and make some color copies of some of the papers I have been making.

Here I am making some ATC's, again, in multiple. I hope you will sign up for this class. At the very lease post a comment on the post just below this one to win a spot in the class. Commenting on this post won't work. Enjoy!

I am getting ready to teach Inspired Journaling, every-single-day! at Art and Soul in Hampton Virgina in less than two week. The interesting thing is that I have not been journaling recently. Over the winter months, I took a Book Binding class and made my first journal. Then the book became precious...too good to be used...

What? Pardon me?

I abhor that sort of behavior! I constantly reinforce that 'supplies are what you make of them...'. It is almost a personal mantra. So I have been getting dirty. And loving it. I have moved right into my first handmade book and created 8 pages in 2 days.

My favorite product of all is the Pentel Pocket Brush Refillable Pen. If I may say so... Do not pass go, just go buy one and purchase too many refills to go with it. It will allow you to make thick and thin lines in a format less akin to a brush, more like, well, a pen! I love this pen.

If you wonder about my gouache palette, go read this post. My new set of paints, the smaller palette in the video, is totally informed by searching and pouring through Roz Stendahl's web site. Who, not suprisingly is talking about paint in her latest post! Roz is also the one who turned me on to the Pentel Pocket brush pen!

I am getting ready to teach Inspired Journaling, every-single-day! at Art and Soul in Hampton Virgina in less than two week. The interesting thing is that I have not been journaling recently. Over the winter months, I took a Book Binding class and made my first journal. Then the book became precious...too good to be used...

What? Pardon me?

I abhor that sort of behavior! I constantly reinforce that 'supplies are what you make of them...'. It is almost a personal mantra. So I have been getting dirty. And loving it. I have moved right into my first handmade book and created 8 pages in 2 days.

My favorite product of all is the Pentel Pocket Brush Refillable Pen. If I may say so... Do not pass go, just go buy one and purchase too many refills to go with it. It will allow you to make thick and thin lines in a format less akin to a brush, more like, well, a pen! I love this pen.

If you wonder about my gouache palette, go read this post. My new set of paints, the smaller palette in the video, is totally informed by searching and pouring through Roz Stendahl's web site. Who, not suprisingly is talking about paint in her latest post! Roz is also the one who turned me on to the Pentel Pocket brush pen!

While I am in Chicago I figured I would leave you with a shopping list of some of my favorite books, supplies and music.

Music:
Emily Wells The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties
I love listening to music as I create. I like folk, singer songwriter and a bit of funky sumpthin'. This album is all that. It is easy to listen to and super smart, this young lady is a talent to watch.

Laura Marling I Speak Because I Can
Another bright and intelligent female musician? Yup. Gorgeous songs, well written lyrics. She is coming to Brooklyn, but is all sold out. Darn!

Johnny Flynn A Larum
This album is a perfect spring listen! This is bubble gum for the ears. I love it.

Little Bee: A Novel
I am reading this right now and am in love. LOVE with the style, cadence, and story. I love to read, I don't talk about it much but. There you have it. If you too are a reader, freind me through Good Reads, I will keep up with your list.

Who knew Amazon had soy wax?
Natural Soy 444 Wax: 10 pound bag

And while I am at it? Joggles will be hosting a couple more classes of mine! It is always a good time to promote my own stuff! Barb loved the Mark Making class I offered and is going to offer it again, if you want to learn to dye your own embroidery thread? This is the class for you! Don't think about potato chips.

I will also be giving a class called, "Let's Exchange some Art: Stencils, Stamps and Grounds!"

I will be teaching some of my stamping skillz, while working through layering techniques to create pretty works on paper.

We will make ATC's, Tags and MAIL ART. We will use the postal system as a gallery and send fancy mail to one another! I love the word fancy.

Please sign up and play with me! I am posting this a bit early but you can just email Barb at Joggles and tell her you are interested.... I think the official posting will occur on Monday the 19th.

Now I have to go pack... I am doing anything not to pack! I want to go to Chicago. I want to teach, I just wish I could beam myself up and over.

While I am in Chicago I figured I would leave you with a shopping list of some of my favorite books, supplies and music.

Music:
Emily Wells The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties
I love listening to music as I create. I like folk, singer songwriter and a bit of funky sumpthin'. This album is all that. It is easy to listen to and super smart, this young lady is a talent to watch.

Laura Marling I Speak Because I Can
Another bright and intelligent female musician? Yup. Gorgeous songs, well written lyrics. She is coming to Brooklyn, but is all sold out. Darn!

Johnny Flynn A Larum
This album is a perfect spring listen! This is bubble gum for the ears. I love it.

Little Bee: A Novel
I am reading this right now and am in love. LOVE with the style, cadence, and story. I love to read, I don't talk about it much but. There you have it. If you too are a reader, freind me through Good Reads, I will keep up with your list.

Who knew Amazon had soy wax?
Natural Soy 444 Wax: 10 pound bag

And while I am at it? Joggles will be hosting a couple more classes of mine! It is always a good time to promote my own stuff! Barb loved the Mark Making class I offered and is going to offer it again, if you want to learn to dye your own embroidery thread? This is the class for you! Don't think about potato chips.

I will also be giving a class called, "Let's Exchange some Art: Stencils, Stamps and Grounds!"

I will be teaching some of my stamping skillz, while working through layering techniques to create pretty works on paper.

We will make ATC's, Tags and MAIL ART. We will use the postal system as a gallery and send fancy mail to one another! I love the word fancy.

Please sign up and play with me! I am posting this a bit early but you can just email Barb at Joggles and tell her you are interested.... I think the official posting will occur on Monday the 19th.

Now I have to go pack... I am doing anything not to pack! I want to go to Chicago. I want to teach, I just wish I could beam myself up and over.

Rather than being "under the gun", I figure this is more akin to being "under the needle". I leave for Chicago on Wednesday, two days from now. One and a half days, really. Flutters of nerves in all I need to get done between then and now.

But then I completed this today. A small piece fit for my Small Works, Big Impact class. Of which, I have already completed these:

All of which I like, but none I am in love with. But that first image? Fresh off the needle? I loves me some that.

Rather than being "under the gun", I figure this is more akin to being "under the needle". I leave for Chicago on Wednesday, two days from now. One and a half days, really. Flutters of nerves in all I need to get done between then and now.

But then I completed this today. A small piece fit for my Small Works, Big Impact class. Of which, I have already completed these:

All of which I like, but none I am in love with. But that first image? Fresh off the needle? I loves me some that.

I am a lucky woman. I get to lecture and teach on a subject that I love. Making stuff!

This week I gave a lecture to my very first quilt guild! I walked in as a 20 year old, having found a notice about the event in a local newspaper. The lectures I experienced back then really gave me a sense of wonder and awe at what might be had in the world of quilting and quilt art. I remember participating in challenges and worrying my samples were not good enough. I wanted to much to win the challenge blocks each month. In other words, I had fun! And they gave me a scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Technology!

So, on Monday of this week, I visited them as a Lecturer. It was great. A milestone of sorts. And my mother and father were part of the audience!

The next day I taught a private class to a fabulous group of women who have a group blog called Sisters in Cloth.

I taught this class at the Guilford Art Center. Which I think used to be called the Guilford Handcraft Center. But this place also has a heart connection for me. I took my first quilting class through this place. I learned Grandmothers Flower Garden, Rose of Sharon and Log Cabin. This is where I fell in love with quilting and cloth. I actually took that class in the same room I taught in this week.

These are a couple of my samples from the class. This one utilized a fish tjap that one of the students brought. I wish my crackling hadn't obliterated the fish quite so much. But the colors are fab.

And this piece really shows the layering of the technique fabulously.

So, can you tell I had fun?

I am a lucky woman. I get to lecture and teach on a subject that I love. Making stuff!

This week I gave a lecture to my very first quilt guild! I walked in as a 20 year old, having found a notice about the event in a local newspaper. The lectures I experienced back then really gave me a sense of wonder and awe at what might be had in the world of quilting and quilt art. I remember participating in challenges and worrying my samples were not good enough. I wanted to much to win the challenge blocks each month. In other words, I had fun! And they gave me a scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Technology!

So, on Monday of this week, I visited them as a Lecturer. It was great. A milestone of sorts. And my mother and father were part of the audience!

The next day I taught a private class to a fabulous group of women who have a group blog called Sisters in Cloth.

I taught this class at the Guilford Art Center. Which I think used to be called the Guilford Handcraft Center. But this place also has a heart connection for me. I took my first quilting class through this place. I learned Grandmothers Flower Garden, Rose of Sharon and Log Cabin. This is where I fell in love with quilting and cloth. I actually took that class in the same room I taught in this week.

These are a couple of my samples from the class. This one utilized a fish tjap that one of the students brought. I wish my crackling hadn't obliterated the fish quite so much. But the colors are fab.

And this piece really shows the layering of the technique fabulously.

So, can you tell I had fun?