Spring is in the air!

the buds are pushing through the soil...the birds sing happily...the sun lingers a little longer...its almost spring...

A time to clean out the cobwebs and freshen up a bit...and the perfect chance to get a little inspiration at the Spring Market vintage show this coming Saturday...

I'll be a vendor at this event...with a curated selection of vintage sewing paraphernalia and some lovely ironstone dishes...along with original art and a new series of greeting cards...I hope you'll stop by and see me...

a thought to consider...

whatever it might be, wherever it may lead...however long you can...

Running a close second

After my obsession with string...thread comes in a close second...it must be a fiber thing...
though I have to admit that I have little affinity for yarn...

I have plenty of wooden spools of thread...in an array of colors and tones...I've had these large cones for some time...I think they were my mom's...she did a lot of sewing in her time...she had an elaborate system of eye-hooks and dowels rigged up so she could use these larger spools with her old Singer machine...she worked in the costume department of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater when I was young...I think she acquired the large cones of thread then...

In any event, I have no Rube Goldberg system for use with my machine...so I've been thinking what to do with them...and suddenly I had the eureka moment...displaying photos or notes!

I gathered up supplies...pretty simple...
a wine cork and a display pin for each...
wine corks were easy to find...the pins were in my stash...

I figured that I would push the wine cork up into the top of the cone and then stick the display pin into the cork...since the cone is pointed, I trimmed the end of each cork so that it would fit as close as possible into the top...after I trimmed off the excess cork, I added a thin layer of adhesive to the outside of the cork (Amazing Goop being my adhesive of choice) and pushed it into the nose of the cone...I used a large metal nail setter and a hammer to persuade the cork to fit as tight and snug as possible...and then I stuck in the display pin...









Finished!

The easiest solutions are often the best.  
With my large collection of sewing paraphernalia, these two cones fit right in...

and make me smile...

Joining the groups over at Knick of Time's Vintage Inspiration Party and Funky Junk Interiors Party Junk  ...inspiration abounds...

One thing leads to another...

It all started back in November...creating recycled gift items for my holiday shows...

I was using the Spoonflower fabric samples of my photographic collages, making them into sachets...

I also had some transfers of my artwork that my friend Kate of Full Circle Studio had printed for me on her commercial press...using this one in making a pillow...

That little bit of sewing re-ignited my desire to sew...and prompted me to make an artist smock with my vintage mattress ticking, using one of the Spoonflower samples as a pocket on the smock..




So now I was hooked...what else could I create using these samples...but there was a problem...I was running out of samples...then I had my eureka moment!  I had purchased a large stack of transfer paper at a garage sale during the summer...

Once I found the stack of transfer paper, I sewed up another artist smock, again with my photographic collage printed on fabric for the pocket...this smock is the test model for artist Jody Cain of Latitude Studios...wanting a test run on how they wear in the real world...

















At this point,  I was firing on all pistons...couldn't I print onto fabric and use the fabric in different ways...cover design for my recycled journals came to mind...here's how I did it...

These were the two types of transfers in the stack I bought...after working with both, I liked the results from the HP paper better...it seemed to be a smoother print

There's an explicit instruction sheet included in each packet...I arranged my images in Photoshop on 8-1/2" x 11" document - the same size as the transfer sheets...I wanted to make use of every inch of paper...and most important...DON'T FORGET TO FLIP YOUR IMAGES HORIZONTALLY! This is especially important if you have writing on your image...always wise to perform a test run on blank paper before printing on the transfer sheet...though I only paid a couple of bucks for my stack at the garage sale, I am assuming that this paper is not cheap...don't let any scraps go to waste!  Here's what my printed transfer sheet looked like...

Once you've trimmed the images and heated up your iron (with no steam or water in it!) you are ready to go...I decided to use a lightweight muslin as my fabric...I pre-washed the fabric and then tore it into pieces to correspond to the size of the image...
I purposely wanted the frayed edges...

An aside...I have several pairs of Fiskars scissors...the pair with the ribbon tied on is my fabric scissors...used only for fabric...never paper...the ribbon is a quick visual reminder for me which scissors is which...

In transferring the image to the fabric, you need a flat, firm surface...I used a scrap of birch plywood which was very smooth and even...placed on my work table, I knew that I could press down heavily...don't do this on your ironing board - its not strong enough!

Once you are done ironing (again - follow the instruction sheet on time needed) you just peel off the paper...and voilà! 

The image of the daisy was placed off to one side of the muslin...in the open space I stamped the word grow...



















The acorn image was sewn onto a cover of a mini journal...

while the daisy transfer was used in the creation of a recycled garden journal cover...

And for those whose curiosity has been piqued...garden journals and artist smocks with my unique photographic collages will be available at my booth at the Vintage Market at Swan Trail's Farm, March 28, outside of Snohomish, WA...get all the details here...



And speaking of one thing leading to another...

I haven't forgotten about my blog...it's just that I've become very enamored of Instagram...so visual, so inspiring, so quick and easy to share photos...it has become consuming...but in a good way...check it out...you'll see...

Visiting an old friend

Just before christmas, I visited an old friend...of the metal persuasion...
my mint green cast iron Singer sewing machine...

I really hadn't seriously sewn in quite a while...part of the reason due to the fact that my sewing table was piled high with stuff...unfinished projects, garage sale finds, leftover materials, etc, etc, etc...
I had a few projects in mind...so after spending a couple of days of clearing off the table completely, I was ready to go...

I love to sew...I have sewn since I was a young girl...my mother was a seamstress and my grandfather a tailor...there is a certain calmness that I feel from the rhythm of the stitching, the hiss of the steam iron, the satisfaction of creating a functional item...

So it probably comes as no surprise that sewing paraphernalia is one of the things I collect...













The past week I participated in a monthly "contest" on Instagram called 7vignettes...sponsored by Jen of Interior Addicts, it is a daily photo prompt that occurs the first seven days of each month, with the objective to photograph whatever your interpretation of the word prompt is for that day.

I had dabbled in past month's competitions but really hadn't given it my all...this time I thought I would commit to all seven days...and with sewing on the brain, I thought I would give a creative thread to all of my vignettes centered around sewing...the quest for items began...and I was quite surprised by some of the treasures that I unearthed...

Day 1 - the theme was sparkle
nothing more sparkly than rhinestone buttons, 
coupled with the sheen of metal and the shimmer of pearl...

Day 2 - the theme was yellow
I had no shortage of yellow measuring tapes on hand...

Day 3  - the theme was blue
the gigantic scissors that the Southern Man's daughter brought back for me when she was in Turkey was an instantaneous choice for blue...along with my vintage mattress ticking that I am hording...

Day 4 - the theme was green
colored dressmaker's pins on white linen...simple but classic

Day 5 - the theme was pink
I adore silk thread...especially when its wound around old wooden spools...
I was quite surprised that I had so many spools of pink thread since its not a color I use...

Day 6 - the theme was rainbow
there's something very nostalgic about rickrack...had to supplement with seam binding for the orange and the violet...but the mnemonic of ROY G BIV stuck in my head all day...

Day 7 - the theme was black and white
digging deep into one of my metal storage baskets I found a treasure trove of notions I had totally forgotten...
this compilation features many of them...which I will keep out so I can incorporate them into a future project...

Having now cleared a space and become reacquainted with my old friend, we will be back together creating...

linking up with kim klassen's Friday Finds...where my find is what was hiding in my own studio...
I just had to re-discover it for myself...

and by the way...I'm having way too much creative fun on Instagram...you should join in...
and follow me...find me as fourcornersdesign...

Unconventional gift wrapping, part 2

I had two conditions for holiday decorating this year...to spend no additional funds on anything needed and to keep it simple...these gift wrap ideas satisfy both conditions!

It started in the fall...I had a lovely bouquet from farmer's market that dried beautifully...yarrow, rose hips, stattice I think...I didn't want it to go to waste...clippings from the yard...lavender, birch twigs, dried poppy heads were added in...

A snip here, a wrap of wire there, a bit of salvaged ribbon...
I ended up with about 12 arrangements...

I knew that I wanted some for gift wrapping...but the rest I stuck among the branches of the christmas tree...

Onto wrapping...I had this roll of paper I bought over a year ago at the Habitat for Humanity store in Yakima (one of my favorites places to shop when I am visiting my sister)...the texture and the lines drew me in...and there seemed to a sheen to it that was appealing...

It was $10 for the roll (a splurge for me) but with 500 square feet, it seemed worth it...and I loved the label...

Next up was gathering something to tie up the presents...can't beat a big cone of string...and a roll of japanese knitting ribbon that my friend Sue gave to me (a freebie she picked up at a yard sale)












Keeping it simple...wrapped present with paper, wound around 3-4 lengths of the knitting ribbon...
tied on one of the dried arrangements...

I love the texture of the ribbon with the subtle stripes of the paper...



















Next gift...wrapped with paper...used stickers instead of tape...so much prettier...

the tag is a remnant of torn muslin...the image of my noel bird composition was added with a bit of iron-on transfer paper...just print out your image with a ink jet printer onto the paper and iron it on...its that simple...























Last gift...I constructed an "envelope"...since the paper was heavy duty, I knew that it would hold up to the sewing machine...

oh look...someone is getting a copy of Inspirational Quotes Illustrated!

After sewing the sides, I used my pinking shears to add a decorative edge...

To secure the flap of the envelope, I punched a hole in the body of the envelope (with a cutting board in between so I wouldn't punch through the back of the envelope) with my awl and then inserted a paper fastener...






















Likewise, I punched a hole in the edge of the flap, threaded a length of string and then secured the flap by wrapping the string around the paper fastener...a quartet of french postage stamps in holiday reds and greens add the final flourish...

Festive gifts...a treat for the eyes before opening...
Linking up with Funky Junk Interiors Party Junk...its not too late to be inspired for the holidays...