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April 2011
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June 2011

May 2011 posts

I took a little vacation this holiday weekend. On Thursday my husband, my brother, his girlfriend, and I all piled into my brother's tiny hatchback and drove six-and-a-half hours from New York City to New Hampshire to meet my mother for a family friend's wedding in Vermont. We had a great time eating, antiquing, hanging out, eating, playing night wiffle ball (well, I watched), sitting by the lake, eating, sleeping late, driving all over the place, and did I mention eating? And though I neglected my e-mail, my blog, my facebook page, and didn't even bring my real camera, there's... Read more →


We are almost half way through 2011 and if you ask me what I have enjoyed most about this crazy Art Journal Every Day idea, it's an easy answer. And it has nothing to do with my own art journaling journey. Rather I have been inspired by others' bravery in what they write -- the stories they tell in their journals. I have been impressed by the amazing talent and the gorgeous pages rolling through the flickr pool each and every week! I have been awe struck by how powerful a few scratches of color and a well placed word... Read more →


Right before I headed off to CREATE, I decided to make each of my students a pretty name tag. I think it's nice to have a little piece of art from your instructor, don't you? So I hand stitched about fifty name tags. On the second day of the retreat I realized that I hadn't taken any photos of them! So I spread a few onto my hotel room floor for some iphone camera action. Here's a small sampling: Although it was a lot of work (only 18 of the 50 tags are pictured above), it was well worth it!... Read more →


What a whirlwind of a week spent in lovely California. Though I hardly ventured out of the hotel, except to buy a phone charger (I forgot to pack mine)! I taught three classes and took two. I taught my "Distress Ink is Awesome" class: And "Layered Images: A Stamp Carving Workshop": And finally "Easy Pendants": I took two book binding classes. One from Angie Platten (read about it here on her blog) and the other from Dea Fischer. I always bind my books in a kind of messy five hole stitch, so it was awesome to learn some new techniques.... Read more →


May Flaum is a multi-talented scrapbooker and she has just written a new book for F&W media called Scrapbook Workshop. It's available for pre-order on Amazon right now. Just $15.99 (which is a savings of $7 off the cover price)! I was delighted when May asked me to contribute to the book. And just about fell over when I saw the cover of the book. That's my face! On the cover of a book! How epically cool is that?! So the photo, journaling (typewritten on the yellow paper), big book page flower, and layers of stitched paper and washi tape... Read more →


I've got lots of fun classes coming at you this summer! A new session of my Journal Quilt class at The City Quilter is starting soon! When: June 3, July 8, August 5 • 12-2pm Where: The City Quilter: 133 West 25th Street (between 6th and 7th) • New York City Contact: The City Quilter Website, 212-807-0390, [email protected] The Journal Quilt Class Warning! This class is addictive! Each month we experiment with a new art quilting technique. We mix structured journaling activities with free form design lessons. Each month you will create a unique 8.5x11" quilt that tells your story!... Read more →


If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, all the posts can be found here. Please read this post first. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. Just play! After fallling off the art journaling wagon in April (too many deadlines, and too much travel), I'm pleased to say that I'm back on track for May! I have managed to art journal every single day of this month so far and I'm thrilled and delighted by that.... Read more →


This month's prompt at the Creative Therapy blog is: Describe (or show) yourself at this point in your life. This is a quilt that I call "Possibilities." I wove strips of fabric together and added lots of hand stitching and beading to represent the journey I've taken so far. The large yellow square represents something new on the horizon -- a door or a portal to a new adventure! I am in the midst of making some changes to my life. Lots of changes! And exciting new possibilities lurk on the horizon! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →


I was cleaning up my studio this weekend and came across the ghosts of projects past. You know, the leftover bits and bobs, the piles of fabric and paper I pulled for various projects and never put away. I'm pretty ruthless about throwing things away, but one thing I just could not get rid of was these edges I had cut away... ...from this quilt... ...in order to square it up. I zig zagged the edges together. And then trimmed them down to 2.5x3.5 (ATC or Artist Trading Card size). I had a few pieces that weren't quite large enough... Read more →


My blog readership has grown exponentially over the past two years. So I thought I might share a few older blog posts now and then, under the assumption that most of you haven't seen them! And many of them are still very relevant. Today I thought I'd share (or really re-share) a post I wrote in December of 2008. It's about how I work with photos and my process is pretty much the same today as it was then. I've made a few edits and additions which you'll see in this lovely red italic writing! Enjoy! A woman named Diana... Read more →