Sea'spired Wearable Art at White Point

Here is the 'social' post that was created for me for White Point Sea'spired Wearable Art Show. Each artist, who was invited to the show, gets their own poster to use on social media. If you are in the area on the Saturday before Mother's Day, drop by and say hello!

I also found out this week, that I have been accepted into the Windfall Fine Art & Handcraft Market, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, September 28 - 29, 2019. My daughter, Jill, will be sharing the space with me.

Fun times ahead!

The Sea-Spired Wearable Art Show

White Point Beach Resort is hosting The Sea-Spired Wearable Art Show on the Saturday before Mother's Day. This is the first time such a show has been held at the resort. I was invited to attend and show some of my wearable Art pieces which include Fibre Lace Scarves, Fibre Art Pendants, Art Pins, Evening Purses and Card Cases.

I was also interviewed by Heather Laura Clarke from the Chronicle Herald. You can read it HERE. 

 

CQA / ACC

The Canadian Quilters' Association just posted all the entries from Quilt Canada's 2015 National Juried Show. I had a very quick look at all the categories and they are quite impressive. Please take a few minutes to look at this show.

In the wearable art section, Judy Kelly, former CQA President and member of the Eastern Edge Quilt Guild here in St. John's, has used fabric selvages to create a very unique coat. Congratulations, Judy. Hopefully, we will see it next fall. I had an opportunity to see a chair that Judy covered with fabric selvages a couple years ago. That, too, was amazing!

The theme for the Trend-Tex Challenge at Quilt Canada this year was Blowing in the Wind. Check these out too.

CQA / ACC is also on Pinterest.


Enjoy!!

Some Good Market

Tomorrow, I will be at Some Good Market. The market is located at Canon Wood Hall, on the corner of Military Road and Kingsbridge Road. This will be the last market in town until after Christmas.

I will have my one-of-a-kind Fibre Lace Scarves and Fibre Art Pendants. I will also have a limited number of covered journals, Credit Card Holders and Starfish Pincushions (new). There are still some Christmas shimmer ornaments and Christmas Wearable Art Pins.

Fibre Lace Scarves

Fibre Art Pendants

Wearable Art

Here's a sample of the pins I make. The ruler and quarter will give you an idea as to their size.

Almost Finished!

Yesterday I chose the base fabric for my row house pins. The next step was embellishing the fabric and stitching all over it with Sulky Sliver Thread. Then the embroidery machine did its work! I still have to trim the threads from the edges of the houses. Have a look:

Before stitching

Before cutting out and snipping threads!

Ready for the backs. I use recycled leather and suede
for the backs of my wearable art pins.

Fabric Selection

Today I selected several pieces of bright coloured fabric from my stash. The time has come to make a few more Wearable Art Pins: Row Houses. My supply has dwindled and I need more.

Hopefully, I'll get a start on actually doing the surface embellishments tomorrow. Anyway, have a look at the fabrics I pulled out and the one I finally selected. Since the pins are small, I try to start with a bright base. Then small bits and pieces of shiny, glitzy stuff are laid on the surface of the fabric. I keep the scale of the art pins in mind so that the yarns and other embellishments don't over power the end result.

Sulky Totally Stable Iron-on Tear-Away Stabilizer is ironed to the back of the fabric. This product is a tear-away stabilizer that provides support, and prevents puckering. It's perfect for applique, decorative stitching, buttonholes, delicate fabrics, quilt templates, and more. I like it because it is quick to iron on the back of my fabric and is perfect for the free motion stitching I do on the fabric surface.

Check back to see the next steps.

Wearable Art Pins

I make one-of-a-kind wearable art pins from textiles and fiber. There is a story about how they started. Several years ago I was wondering what to get my mother for Mother's Day. She kept telling me that at her age (she is now 92), she didn't want anything unless she could eat it or wear it. Well, I pondered over that for a few days. She has collected brooches / pins for years and liked wearing them. At the time, I was making fantasy fish for some small framed art pieces. I looked at the ones I had made and decided that one of them could be a pin. Voila! I used recycled leather for the back. She loved the one I made and since then, many different kinds have been designed and created for the retail market. Here's a sample of my pins:



I also came across a wonderful collection of art pins from the Contemporary Art Society of Victoria 2013 Brooch Show.  These are well worth a look.

Enjoy!

My Display at the Atlantic Canada Trade Show (ACTS), Halifax

Here are several views of my section of the Newfoundland Labrador booth at the Atlantic Trade Show. The company setting up the displays were very cooperative and prompt. My section didn't have a black panel, which had been requested. Within minutes that was corrected. My lighting was changed too.

To the left (on back wall) is a large poster displaying the wholesale items. Below that is a clear Plexiglas shelf holding Art Cards and Wearable Art Pins. Thanks goodness for the Dollar Shop! I purchased small art easels to hold samples of the cards. If you look closely, you will see them.

Everything hanging is attached with Velcro.

I have a sample binder with samples of all my wholesale products. My tablet has a spread sheet installed for doing orders and that is connected to a small portable printer. So, I'm all set up. It's going to be a very busy weekend.

New Wearable Art Pins

I just finished a new set of needle felted wearable art pins. These are embellished with Sulky Sliver threads, decorative yarns and beads. Recycled leather is used on the back. Each is one-of-a-kind and numbered.

New Needle Felted Art Cards

This is a busy time of year for those of us who produce certain items for the wholesale market. I create unique products that are very affordable and small enough to mail in an envelope. 

• My greeting cards are digital prints made from original textile-based art. 
• The art cards are images constructed by using various combinations of needle felting, hand / machine stitching, and / or painting, then attached to a card.  
• Shimmer Ornaments consist of a variety of images stitched onto a hand constructed, translucent background with machine embroidery outlines and details. These can be designed to be site specific.
• Felted ornaments are constructed from a variety of needle felted yarns.
• Wearable Art Pins consist of a wide variety of images constructed on a hand layered background that I call 'fantasy fabric'. They consist  of a variety of decorative yarns, glittery threads and fabrics, tulle and lame with machine embroidered details and outlines.

All my needle felted art cards are sold so I had to get busy and make more. Here's the ones I did today.

Another sheet almost ready to be needle felted,

Happy New Year's Eve!

What a difference a year makes! Last December was a mild one with very little snow. In fact, we had a green Christmas. This year, winter started very early with piles of snow and very cold temperatures. The thermometer below shows one of the very few days that was above freezing.

I am looking forward to 2014 and all that it will bring.  Last March, I decided to go wholesale with some of my small production art work (Shimmer Ornaments, Wearable Art Pins, Art Cards, Felted Ornaments and Greeting Cards). It was a big step for me to take as I had been resisting it for many years. However, it has opened up other opportunities. I was invited to the Atlantic Trade Show (ACTS) in Halifax so I will be going there the end of January. Then, the local wholesale show is in March.

Production work is taking up much of my time at the moment but I'm hoping to set aside some time to experiment with more surface embellishments. I have some copper wire that I want to play with as well as a small gel printing plate for fabric printing. My yarn stash is overflowing and my wool roving needs attention. I have a few new toys to play with in my studio! Who knows where all that will lead.

Thank you for following my blog posts and to those who leave comments. I may not respond to all of them but they are read and appreciated. Happy New Year! I wish you health, happiness, time with family, and lots of fun in 2014!!!

Enjoy!

December 2012

December 2013

Something Fishy Comes This Way!

Today I'm sharing my latest Pisci Fantasticus creations. If you are in the St. John's downtown area you will soon see some of my 3-D fish hanging in the window of the Newfoundland Weavery. The Weavery is carrying some of my smaller creations: shimmers, art cards, greeting cards and pins. There will also be a limited number of the hanging fish. I use batiks for the fish as the fabric colours are so vibrant! Check here, here and here for more fish on my blog.

I will also be having a guest posting an article soon. Check back!
Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Although I'm rather late posting this, I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day.

I had a very rewarding one at the Crafter's Wholesale Show. One more day to go. I decided to wholesale my packaged card sets (the newest ones aren't on the site yet), shimmer ornaments, and a select few (row house, fish and starfish) wearable art pins (scroll down). Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done!


Check here for previous post on St. Patrick's Day sites to visit.

Book Covers

The last couple of days, I've been making new book covers for Devon House Craft Shop. (See them below). I use mainly batiks as they have such vibrant colours. With Totally Stable stabilizer / interfacing ironed onto the back, this fabric takes well to free motion stitching. The fish, flowers and puffin are from my machine embroidery collection (original designs). These designs are part of my wearable art pieces.

Here are a few links to tutorials for other journal / book covers:
Sewing Crafts
Craft Passion
Sew Mama Sew
Bloom and Blossom
Moda Bake Shop
Threaded Mess
BluDor Magazine (nice gift for a child)
Field Trips in Fiber

For links to other references for book covers on my blog, go HERE and HERE