Sidetracked

I took a break from my 8" x 8" canvases to do some preparation work for note cards.  I do about 1000 note cards / year, and most of them are sent to Operation Gratitude.  Many of these cards go to deployed military personnel.
First, I treated archival tissue paper with India inks:

The next picture is a close-up of the inked tissue paper:

I also color rice paper using alcohol inks.  Here's an example:

This is another strip of rice paper.  I loved seeing the sunlight hit the drying paper.  You can see some of the small bottles of alcohol inks off to the side:

Next, I cut the tissue paper and rice paper into pieces a little bigger than 4" x 6".

I glue the papers to pieces of card stock, and let them dry well:

The last step is to crop them to 4" x 6", before they're mounted on the blank note cards.
I enjoy the different patterns that evolve from the process.  Here are some of my favorite examples from this batch.  Do you see a butterfly in this one?

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I'll be back to the 8x8 canvases next week!

Week 7 - Number 17

PROJECT:  Create 88 - 8" x 8" Canvases

PARAMETERS:  Fiber Art (including textiles, fabrics, gauze, cheesecloth, yarn, thread, embroidery floss, wool roving, and paper), mounted on 8" x 8" canvases.

GOAL:  Create hardcover book, showcasing this art.

#17 - Needle Felting

#17 - Needle felted piece, waiting for the stitching.

#17 - 8" x 8" canvas

I did extensive machine stitching, to give detail to the piece, as well as hold the wool in place.  The flowers are embroidery stitches on my Pfaff sewing machine.

Note cards

These are note cards I create for Operation Gratitude.  The images are India inks on archival tissue paper.  

Till next week...

Week 6 - Numbers 15 and 16

PROJECT:  Create 88 - 8" x 8" Canvases

PARAMETERS:  Fiber Art (including textiles, fabrics, gauze, cheesecloth, yarn, thread, embroidery floss, wool roving, and paper), mounted on 8" x 8" canvases.

GOAL:  Create hardcover book, showcasing this art.

# 15 - 8" x 8" canvas

#15 - This piece is basically collaged from two silk fabrics I painted with acrylic inks.  (The sun was cut from another fabric.)  I used Wonder Under, a fusible web, to attach the fabrics to a background of stiff interfacing.  The only stitching is the blanket stitch around the outside of the piece.

# 16 - 8" x 8" canvas - unfinished

#16 - This piece is done with needle felting and machine stitching.  For the final piece (below) I couched on yarns, to add to the grasses.  Then I cropped it, adding a blanket stitch around the border.

# 16 - 8" x 8" canvas

Till next week....