Featured Artist of the Week - Desiree

I have Desiree over today!
Here is Desiree!!!

In 2007 I needed a birthday gift for my very bohemian sister.  Being an avid quilter and lover of color, I had a bunch of batik fabric scraps lying around and I got the idea to piece them into a simple tote-all style bag.  It was such a big hit I began making them by request and listing them in my etsy shop: Hamncheezr.  



My inner hippy wants this bag so bad!!!!!
After a while I began to make and list bags at random; sometimes a certain fabric would catch my eye and I’d make a bag just to be able to use it as a lining, or sometimes certain scraps looked good to me.  Making my batik bags is very freeing as no real planning goes into each bag, just a desire to have a well made, beautiful and unique finished product.  No two bags are ever absolutely alike.  Each bag is hand made by me and is machine pieced and quilted on the outside, then it is lined with cotton quilt-quality fabric.  The straps or handles are all different as well, and a lot of times I will create a closure for the bag with a tab and vintage button.




Over the years I’ve branched out from just tote bags to small lap or wall quilts and “Busy Bags” as I call them.  Another brain child of a needed birthday gift, the Busy Bag is a small, educational accessory designed for little girls ages 2-6.  The various button, zipper, tie, Velcro and snap features help hone fine motor skills and the cuteness of each bag just can’t be beat!  Everything is very securely sewn on and attached, making these little bags absolutely machine washable.



CUUUUTE!
My family is very crafty, my Mom is an artist and she taught all my brothers and sisters and myself to quilt, sew and knit at an early age.  I craft as a hobby and stress reliever (because as a stay at home Mom sometimes you just have to do something for yourself) but I love that I’m able to share a little bit of my creativity with others and I love when I hear from people who have used and enjoyed my items.



I so love this one!!!

Here are a few more pictures of Desiree’s items! All of them are just so pretty and you can tell they are made with love and care! The fabrics are just to die for!!! I love her use of colour as well! If you want to keep up with Desiree and her busy needles, you should definitely follow her blog!

 

 

This one is hilarious!

CUUUUTE!

I so love this one!!!

If you are an artist, or know of an artist you think deserves to be featured, please let me know by leaving a comment here.
My featured artists will go on to be featured on two more blogs this month. Next on  Louise's blog then the Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at karengass144@gmail.com

I won Third Place!

in the Dropped Stitch Sewing Contest. Here is my winning outfit for a doll -

This is a contest being done at Kathy's yahoo group. This is a great group where we can buy elastic and knit fabrics for lingerie at wonderful prices. But we can't buy things all the time, so we have contests! This contest is based on the TV show Chopped. Each entrant got a package of exactly the same things, and had to create something out of it. A portion of each thing had to be used. Everything they gave us was textile related except for one thing - a wood cutout. :( It finally dawned on me - a 'portion' of everything had to be used, so I asked Mike to cut it into two squares and I made a purse!

This is the purse. I painted it brown, and used the end of my paintbrush to make the squares. In between the wood squares is foldover elastic.

I tied all her curls back with the remaining lace.

We were given two kinds of elastic - fold over and a scalloped edge white one. I combined the two to make wide belt for her coat. This is the back view.

This is the front view of the belt. And yes, I did make buttonholes for the buttons.

The neck of the coat and the hat.

Closeup of purse

These are her boots. I sewed strips of fold over elastic together. Then I changed to a variegated thread and sewed back and forth about 100 times to create this new 'fabric'. I hand sewed them together in the back, and added a cuff of the coat material. I glued the foot bottoms together. I was going to add a leather sole, until I checked the list of what we were allowed to add and not allowed to add. No leather. So, she has to stay indoors!

It was a lot of fun, and now I get to move on to the Main Course, which starts on June 14th! :)

My Daughters New Blog

I'd like to invite you to visit my daughters new blog, especially if you are or know someone who is a single mom. This is her situation, and she is blogging candidly about the experience. After years of learning to paste a smile on our faces and go to church every Sunday, no matter how much we're hurting, we are learning to be transparent and forget all the 'How are You/' 'Great thanks, how are you?'.

http://trialsandtriumphssms.blogspot.com/  This is her URL and I know she'd be blessed if you stopped by and left a note of welcome to the blogging world, or some encouraging words. The name of her blog is Trials and Triumphs: Single Mom Style.

I know I don't normally talk about personal things on my blog, mostly just the sewing and needlework, but there are times that are exceptions and this is one of them.

Featured Artist of the Week - Arlene

Here is a very talented woman with a stash game!!!!!
I have Arlene here today! Most of you may know her as the “spinartiste”
She has a stash game going on right now! Go check it out!!!!But then: BUCKLE UP! Because I WILL participate and it WILL be super fun!
Anyway, here is Arlene!
“Hi, my name is Arlene Ciroula and I’m the owner and publisher at www.spinartiste.com, an online publication that focuses on making and using hand-crafted fibers and yarns.  I started the site about a year ago because I wanted more information about the indie fiber scene (mainly hand spinning) and didn’t feel like there was anything out there giving me what I was craving.  The site includes weekly featured indie fiber artist profiles, a gallery page, free patterns for using hand spun yarns, and an extensive library of links for spinning and dyeing related instruction.
For 2012, we launched a brand new feature known as the Secret Stash Game which is like “Top Chef” for fiber artists.  Every other month, 20 fiber artists have the opportunity to receive a game kit containing very similar materials.  They have four weeks to produce a project and send in images.  They must use something of everything in the kit and nothing is to be added. 
The images are posted for the readers to select their favourite.  The response to the first round of the game far exceeded my hopes and sold out very quickly!  There are many other exciting developments in store for this site this year as well.”

If you are an artist, or know of an artist you think deserves to be featured, please let me know by leaving a comment here.
My featured artists will go on to be featured on two more blogs this month. Next on  Louise's blog then the Indie Mosaic blog and was just featured on Bridgett’s blog! So you get maximum exposure! Since we all do different things you will reach different readers on each of our blogs and you really get your name out there! It’s really great. And best of all: It’s free! If you enjoyed reading this and want to be featured, or know of someone that you think should be featured, leave a comment on this post, or email me at karengass144@gmail.com

Don't give up on me!

Blogging posts will resume shortly. Life has been a little crazy lately - but I'm making some changes, cutting some things out for awhile, and slowing down. I'll be adding blogging back into my schedule. Oh - I have to make a schedule! :) I've been learning some awesome new things about Patternmaking and have a project in the works that I hope to be able to share in the next few weeks. Maybe more than a few weeks, but soon! It's pretty fun!

I'll be back sooooon!!!!