Spring Fling with Sizzix

Welcome to the Sizzix Spring Fling blog hop!  I love my Sizzix die cutters:  I own the Big Shot Pro and the Fabi.  The Big Shot allows me to use the really BIG dies and, while it works for all the dies, the Fabi is more portable and I use it when I travel to teach.  "Mr. Big", as I call mine, stays home for those trips!
For this project I used quite a few different dies.  You don't really need to do that, but I guess I used dies like I cook:  if I have it, I might as well add some.
The main dies used are these:

The Sizzix Bigz Pro Die:  Flower

and these:  (L) Flowers and Leaves Die #658480, and (R) 3D Wrapped Flowers #657116.

I also used these:

Big Shot Pro Circle and the "D" piece from the Double Wedding Ring die!

I was interested in creating appliqué pieces from felt that would subsequently be used to adorn a throw pillow.

Here are a few wool blend sheet of felt I am considering...

as well as this crazy piece of woven end-pieces off a loom that I previously dry-felted.

They are all going to make a trip through the Sizzix machines!

First, using the large flower die, I cut the woven piece.

I love it!

Then I cut small sections of the wool felt to go through the other machine.

Here are a few of the results!  They are so gorgeous!

I wanted a larger leaf shape so I opted for this portion of the Double Wedding Ring die.  It works!

I love the blanket stitch (mirror image reversed) by my Bernina 750 QE.

I overlaid the die-cut weaving on the gray felt.

I love the way these beautiful die-cut leaves look over the weaving.

To create a dimensional look I stitched the edges slightly raised from the surface.

The combination of the 3-D flower and these open-cuts:  awesome!

So much yumminess.

I "modified" the base of my too-long zipper by cutting it, then applying some embroidery thread on the base.

Love the way my Bernina handles the uneven levels of the zipper to pillow.

Hand embroidery on the edges makes this even more special.

For the pillow background I selected these pieces.  Note that the open flower shape

on the left is actually cut from the leftover gray of the flower base.

Note my green "leaf petal" that is folded with the black leaves on top?  

There are many uses for each shape in a Sizzix die.  Think outside the box!

Pinned, then straight-stitched to the surface of a piece of yarn-dyed Kaufman Essex.

Then the main appliqué is stitched onto the surface.

The zipper installed....

And the finished pillow!  

I really love these spectacular Sizzix dies.  

They are just so darn much fun to play with.  I hope you try them!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Be sure to visit all the artists participating in this hop:

Mon, April 6 - Jamie Fingal

Wed, April 8 -YOU ARE HERE!

Thurs, April 9 - Cindy Cooksey

Fri, April 10 - Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Sat, April 11 - Sue Bleiweiss

Sun, April 12 - Jessee Maloney

Mon, April 13 -Karin Jordan

Cas Holmes Workshop in San Diego

Lucky me!  I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego to participate in a workshop with the amazing Cas Holmes.  Cas is the author of "The Found Object", among others, and is an artist I have admired and respected for years.  I jumped at th chance to study with her.  The other wonderful part was I spent time with my dear friend Jeannie Palmer Moore!
The workshop was held in a wonderful space in Liberty Station.  I was so impressed with the way this decommissioned Naval base was transformed into a vibrant area that has spaces for art-related nonprofits, restaurants and grocers, bars, condos, and I even spotted North Sails, which are the brand of sails I used to have on my former boat.  That was fun to see.
Here are a few images from the workshop:

After a collaborative drawing experience each student was tasked with isolating an area from the 

drawing(s) and simplifying the lines in order to create a stamp.

Stamp-in-progress

Stamp on paper using watered-down acrylic paint

Cas demonstrating a collage technique

Workshop participants look at one of Cas' lovely samples.

A beautifully stitched, embroidered piece made of cloth and paper bits.

A dilute mixture of Methyl Cellulose is used as a temporary way to adhere components in place.

Some elements....

Cas wasn't really put in the stocks.  But she did like her sign!

Here is the hand-embroidered piece I created for Cas' installation called

Tea-Flora Tales. 

Here is another link to see more samples.

I intend to create more and send them to her.  Please join me!

Here are some other samples of donated pieces for Tea Flora Tales.

Here are two of my compositions, not-quite-finished.

So happy to have had the opportunity to study with Cas!

Mary Ruth Smith Workshop

Mary Ruth Smith is a master of fiber, particularly embroidery.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend her day-long workshop at the Texas Federation of Fiber Artists' Conference in Kerrville TX.
The day was so inspirational, and brought me back to hand stitchery, something I have not been engaged with in recent years.
Mary Ruth gave permission to share images of her work, as long as we didn't show her face!  I am thrilled to share these beautiful works of art with you:

Peggy McCaskill Forrester admires the dimension of Mary Ruth's embroidered piece,

mounted on a frame

This piece was created with french knots.

Mary Ruth stated that each inch took approximately 2 hours to complete.

detail of another piece

Mary Ruth demonstrated how she stretches muslin over a frame.

This serves as her work surface.

She works intuitively after first making some sort of grid over the surface, something as simple as dividing the work area into quarters.

Susie Monday holds one of Mary Ruth's "sampler" pieces.

Susie has another great post about Mary Ruth's workshop, so don't 

miss visiting her blog!

Paper yarn on a spool.  Source:  Darn Good Yarn.

You can bet I have already ordered some of this!

The beginning of my embroidered piece, using black embroidery floss

over free cut pieces of hand-dyed silk organza and cheesecloth.

details of the progression of my piece.....

the rusted crepe de chine was created (and purchased from) Adrian Highsmith.

My muslin-stretched frame is 12x14 inches.

No idea where this is going, but I'm sure having a grand time!