It came! Issue 58 and WOW!

 

Last week my first issue of Uppercase came and after spending a week immersed in it I just can't call it a magazine, it's so much more than that. Uppercase really should be called a soft cover book. It's easy to see why the subscription is high though the many of the magazines published by Stampington are similar in price.

I should have taken a picture of what the magazine looks like now that it has lots of tabs and notes in it. So much has inspired me so that I'm ready to get back to art classes and finish the directions for the sweet rabbit girl and the updated sheep girls patterns. I just need to replace the battery in my old desk top.

Here's the link to the Uppercase site in case you want to have a look, Uppercase

If you are looking for some free art classes there are I'm following at youtube. One is Junk Journal July A new video is put up every day for the month. It gives me a chance to make some art without taking the time needed for drawing and painting.The second is a month of tags 31 tags for July  I'm putting them on pages in the junk journal I made.

Crocheting Real Leaves youtube video

I got this link in an email from Amanda. I've taken some of her art classes but this is SO different. May have to try this with some dried rhododendron leaves. 

Free wish upon a star art class from Ida!

 

I've been taking classes from Ida since 2020 and always look forward to the Wish upon a Star class. Here's the link: https://mailchi.mp/idaandersenlang.com/wuas-2023-spring

Some Free Classes You May Like

 

I'm always taking free art classes but never get around to posting my results. I used to take lots of photos of whatever I was making but now I find I just don't think about it. The above painting was from an Effy Wild class. Far from perfect but it was fun. She often is part of free art classes.

This is mixed media from a class by Christa Forrest. Her work is so amazing. I usually just watch and don't make anything. She joins in various art summits and also hosts free classes. Christa has Fantastic Faces 3 on June 25 and 26. 

This one is from a Jenny Manno Tuesday youtube video. She has a lot of fun ones and a facebook group I belong to. Sadly she won't be doing free videos soon. She's going to do them just for her Patreon site.

So you say, hey what about some free links? Here they are:

All you who embroidery there's a summit going on right now. I meant to post about this last week - Embroidery Summit 2022

Yay Kalidescope 2022 is starting on the 27th. This is the taster week. The full pay-for classes begin in August. These classes last year were responsible for me really getting into art and supplies.

On June 19 Another Women Unleashed Summit is starting. There are some art classes and some spiritual ones. 

I'll try to keep up with posting interesting links when I first find them. 

May's Free Embroidery and Jingles is a bit better

 

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. First it was Jingles getting sick and now it's the new puppy the DH went to Canada for.

First I'll talk about Jings. He's on 3 meds, one is to make sure he's eating. Well he is, way too much and is now over weight. He's also having trouble using his litterbox. He goes in but instead of turning around to pee, he's peeing out the front. I have a large tray with pee towel pads down to catch the overflow. I've pushed him in and turned him around but it's just not sinking in. It may be the other drugs he's on. They make him kinda dopey. He even left a stranger pet him yesterday which is VERY unusual for him.

Now the new puppy. He's 9 weeks old and is an English cocker spaniel like Micah but black with a white spot on his chest. The DH named him Tinker. It's a name he's been wanting to use since Dillon. I wanted to call him Cory because he's colored like our first cocker that was named Cory and I like that name. The DH didn't want to 're-use' a name so he finally got his Tinker who we all know will be called Tinker Bell. More about him later since I really need to get moving on posting this freebie while I can get some time.

Here's my favorite embroidery so far. I hope you'll like it, too. Oh, by the way, since May is my birthday month all the pdfs of my patterns are on sale at my Etsy store. They will be 20 % off all month long.

If you want to do the other free embroidery design you'll find one for each month. Check passed posts.

Here are the directions for May's freebie. 

1. Cut a square of your background fabric 4 1/4" x 4 1/4". If you aren't adding borders like I did you should cut the fabric larger so it will fit in your embroidery hoop.

2. Using a permanent fine tip marker like a Pigma pen, trace the design.

3. Pin the triangle pieces of fabric to the white background fabric following pattern for placement. I used my favorite Heat n Bond by Therm-o-web to attach the triangles. Then I did a blanket stitch with 3 strands of floss (I used DMC 598).

4. Add the borders following the directions in the freebie posted in February.

5. Cut out the heart wing and the bird's chest piece. Again I used Heat n Bond by Therm-o-web to attach them. Do a blanket stitch around them with 2 strands of floss (DMC 598).

- Next comes a running stitch just inside the blanket stitch using 3 strands of floss (DMC 3810).

-Use 3 strands of floss (DMC white) to backstitch next to the running stitch on the chest and heart.

- Use the same thread to make a long straight stitch and 3 french knots in both halves of the heart.

- Stem stitch the tail using 2 strands of floss (DMC 3810).

-Use the same thread to back stitch the bird's body.

- The beak is back stitch using 2 strands of floss (DMC 725).

- The eye is made with 4 strands of black floss to make a french knot.

6. The branch is couched. I used 12 strands of floss for the thick area and 6 for the thinner branches. I used 3 strands for the couching stitches (DMC 632).

7. The flowers are lazy daisy stitches made with 3 strands of floss (DMC 603).

- Leaves are also lazy daisy (DMC 704).  Follow the pattern for where to make them or add as many flowers and leaves as you want.

- The center are french knots or beads. I'm going to use beads. They will be added after sewing the quilt together.

Right click the pattern to save it to your hard drive. You'll need to print a pattern for tracing and one for cutting out the triangles, chest piece, and the heart.

©Billie Jo Heisler 2022

All rights reserved

 Disclaimer: I drew this design by hand then used a software program to edit it.

Please consider the drawing copyrighted. You have my permission to print copies of the drawing in any size for your own use but not to share or sell. If you want to share the pattern please link to the blog pages.

The embroidery design is my own. I have not knowingly copied anyone else's work.

More drawing supplies! I admit it, I'm addicted

 I just bought another of Johanna Basford's books. This time it's 'World of Flowers'. Inky Wonderlands is under it in the photo.

I decided I needed a new sketch book for all the Angela Kennedy classes I'm going to do. They're not so much classes as examples to try. I did buy one of her classes on etsy which I want to find time for. I'm going to do some decoupage with her name and one of the drawings for the sketch book cover. I have some nice scrapbook paper for the background.

 Since I've learned so much from Tam's Kaleidoscope classes I dug out the case I keep my paints in to find my gesso and medium. Sad to say both had gone bad so I had to buy new. The medium is in the photo. I still need to get some gesso. I also found I had water color pencils, surprise to me :), so I bought a pack of water color brushes. Christa Forest used them in her class. This women is freakin' amazing!!!!!! I love watching her work. I don't have the patience to learn to draw and paint like her but it is such a pleasure to watch her.

I found a YouTube video on using color pencil on fabric and a tip was to use Loc-Tite mounting putty to erase. Well, I  never knew you could erase these pencils from fabric so I bought a package to try. Results: after smooshing a piece up I tried erasing some purple pencil from fabric. It did remove most of the pencil. Maybe if I kept at it, it all would be gone. Not so good on paper, though. It didn't work at all. I got out my Pentel Hi-Polymer eraser and it took it right off the paper. BTW, it didn't work on the fabric which was just white cotton

 The 2 spiral bound books in the background I found in my paint box. Forgot I had bought them ages ago. Just packed them away since I really wasn't doing much drawing then. They're pretty old (copyright1988). I'm always on the look out at used book sales for any craft books so I guess that's why I bought them.

I did forget to add the new 0.5 pencils, the Pentel clicky erasers and Fiskars pencil sharpener I bought. I like to use the smaller lead pencils when drawing Johanna's inky creations but I still like my old Berol Turquoise with 4H lead for Angela's girls. I bought the pencil, 2 lead refills, the sharpener needed for them, and my big set of Prisma pencils when an old stationary store went out of business. Jack and I went overboard buying up various pens, pencils, rulers, paper, and other things at 50% to 75% off. I got a 60 pencil set for under $25.

 I'm also finishing up the August free embroidery and 'The Fall Stall' pattern. I spent a few hours this afternoon sorting thru doll patterns I started then put away so I have 2 of those I really want to work on. Finally finishing the new seahorse pattern made me want to make dolls again. As always I'm juggling way too many projects but I find it keeps me from getting bored. It also helps to put something away for a while then go back to it. It gives you a fresh eye to see what you really should change. 

Don't forget to come back for the free August embroidery!

Too busy to think some days, how about you?

How busy are you? Here are some of the craft things I’m doing when I’m not doing the regular house chores, mowing grass, gardening, and helping the husband with whatever he’s working on.

I’m working on some new patterns. One is for a cloth animal that took me forever to find fabric I liked and even now I’m wishing for something else. That means it will get set aside while I move on to the other big project. It’s a new series of tatting patterns like my seasons series.

I was going thru some patterns I designed even before the original ones printed by Handy Hands. I need to see if she is still printing the book. If not it reverts back to me and I can sell it the way it was originally designed. As for this new pattern, I have to remake some of the samples simply because the threads for some are no longer being made. I’ve got 2 more to do, then comes deciding what I’ll put them on. I haven’t tatted in probably over 2 years. I moved on to other hobbies and just lost interest until I came across these old designs. If it didn’t take so long to tat I’d have even more patterns. You know I even designed a bunch of jewelry patterns but never did anything with them because I was afraid someone else may have already designed something similar. That's the problem with tatting.

When I’m not working on those items I’m working on a book with over 20 patterns. I’m not ready to reveal what they will be for since I haven’t decided whether I’ll sell it myself or try to get a contract with a publisher. It’s so hard to give up control and let a publisher take over.

Oh, and I don’t want to forget all the embroidery and quilting I’ve started (and not finished) in various containers in my sewing room. All I seem to finish are the monthly freebies I put here on my blog.

 So what’s this all about you ask? I recently added some more hobbies. I took some free weeklong art classes called Kaleidoscope 2021 free taster classes put together by Tamara Laporte. I thought some of them would help me with designing new doll faces and working with colored pencils. I enjoyed the classes so much I went out and bought water colors (which I haven’t used since I was a child) and a large box of sketching supplies. Now I’m looking for more classes. Here’s some pictures of results of 2 of the classes.

 

Of course instead of just drawing Tam’s dog and painting it, I turned it into an embroidery, too. I really liked the class of the girl with the bird on her shoulder. Angela Kennedy was the teacher. She has artwork on etsy and I just found here Facebook site called 100 days of hair, and yes I'm going to do them even when I know I'm over stressed with making stuff now. Last year it was Johanna Basford and now it’s learning how to use watercolors after drawing.

 

When I started Johanna’s free classes last year I bought a sketch book and some good erasers but after these classes I went out and spent (for me) a lot on art supplies. Now I’m stressing over whether I’ll really use them, should I return them, or should I just keep them. I mean did I have to have the large sketching kit? No, I could have bought a small one for half the price. Will I ever use the all the charcoals in it? I’m beginning to realize that I most likely won’t. It was the little case it all came in that “called” to me. I love those sorts of things. At least I did get the small watercolor case since I knew I may not use it very often.

After reading what I just wrote, it has made me realize the case will be going back and I’ll get the smaller set of just pencils and a new pack of blending  stumps. The art classes are supposed to be a calming fun hobby but if buying supplies I may not use is making me stressed it’s not working. I’m not good with spending large amounts on craft supplies any more. I have SOOOOOOOOOO much I’ve bought and never used.

 There’s all the supplies for microscope jewelry that I really wanted to make but it seemed like every time I got them out Mom would call. By the time I got off the phone I lost my muse so I’d put it all away again. Well, I can’t blame Mom anymore since she’s gone, now it’s the husband. I just know if he saw me trying to solder there’d be all kinds of “helpful” hints and he’d take over. Another hobby I used to love was making fur bears using old fur coats and new fake fur. I still have a large box (the kind Chewy deliveries come in) filled with coats, fur, eyes, silk thread for the noses, books, and lots of magazines. I got so tired of the fur sticking to me, the dogs, and getting all over the house I just gave up making bears out of fur. I need to sort everything so I can sell it all on ebay. At least I didn’t go too overboard with scrapbooking supplies. I realized early on it just wasn’t for me. Then there are all the doll size chairs and the pumpkins and the feathers and the fabric. I’m thinking I no longer want to a part of the ‘she who dies with the most craft supplies wins’. What’s the point of having so much stuff that instead of being inspired you feel overwhelmed? Guess that means I’ll be adding to the piles of sell, donate, toss. Now to make the time to take pics for ebay.

BTW, if you going to Tam’s site, willowing.org you’ll see more classes for Kaleidoscope 2021. It will be in August. Of course these you have to pay for. Tam does beautiful fantasy style artwork. Her drawings make me want to make them in cloth, not just draw them.

The next embroidery will be up soon :)