pamgarrison

i should be getting ready to leave town

but I'm not.  Instead I'm sewing paper.  I don't know why, but making these collages is a very fun way to procrastinate right now. At this rate, I may be selling some of these at Artfest or artFiberfest since I've yet to make anything for my vendor booth and I seem to be on a role here.  They're a bit addicting.  Sewing paper feels so rebellious (oh crazy me).

For these two, I started with a piece of music paper backing and sewed scraps on the front.  This was much easier than the one on the previous post where I just sewed paper scraps together planning to sew or glue on a back later. If you ever try making something like this, learn from my mistake; use a backing to sew onto!

I am always so curious about the people in the photos. Why were they abandoned by their families? How did they get  separated from those that loved them? It feels good to give them a moment, some acknowledgment, a new purpose, maybe even a future. I'm sure there will be more of these to come, for now, packing (or at least thinking about it) is in my future.

for deb

A little birthday greeting for my friend Debbie.  Can't wait until you move back home!  Happy 4-0!  Love and miss you.xox p

a paper collage using vintage wallpaper, crepe paper, old photo of two sweet friends, paper from a bird watching book,music paper, accounting paper, cigarette trading card, seam binding, a glitter star, mother-of-pearl button, tattered pom-pom trim, millinery flowers and a label.  The whole thing was sewn and a few bits waxed.

corners of my home

Playing along with soulemama's Corners of My Home Thursday.  I may even try to figure out how to post to the flicker group (i.e. call my brother and ask him).

This is a corner in my son's room.  It's decorated in a sort of vintage theme.  Since he was a baby he has loved airplanes, so there are a few of them buzzing around in the air. My favorite thing is the antique picture of old fashioned kids playing...it's hard to see, but it's really old and very sweet.  I'll probably have to remove it when he gets a bit older, that'll be a bummer.  The old wooden horse holds the key to the french door behind the rocker (yes, it's a rocking chair). I also love the charming little coat hanger.  I bought it for a song (I think $10.00) at an antique mall. Looking at this picture makes me realize that I need to move it back over to it's original location by his door, so it will get more use, and so this corner won't be so cluttered.

a playful exchange

 You must not ever stop being whimsical. - Mary Oliver

These are photos of a journal I made for a fun exchange with a friend (Teesha).  We each made our own book without discussing the format.  Once they were done we set about sending them back and forth with new journal entries.  At times we have been on a roll and exchanged weekly, at others times, many months go by. It has been a fun experiment in play.

To make my book I used an old record album called "Inspiration"...I thought that was fitting. I gutted the book and was left with just the covers and spine. To cover it I sewed scraps of fabric together, embellished it, and attached with brads in the 4 corners. I sewed a length of velvet on the front and back to tie the book closed.  On the front cover piece I sewed on a pocket from an old apron and gave it a flap with a button closure that says "come in" with words from an old childrens' primer. Inside the pocket I made two little paper dolls using photos of us. On the inside cover I sewed a crepe paper edge to music paper which I then glued down. I sewed on a pocket that holds the "dance card" which is what we used to sign in each time we worked in the book.

The dance card and an old picture from a how to dance manual are attached with an old rhinestone earing. Although I loved this book when I made it, and am still fond of it, it turned out to be less than ideal for a journal exchange through the mail. It seemed fragile and awkward to work in.  So, after many months it has been retired, replaced by a book whose contruction is much more pleasant to play in. I'll post photos of that one another day.

 

Front cover:

Back cover:

Inside cover:

Paper dolls:

a little sewing is better than no sewing

After spending all that money getting my sewing machine fixed, I had to do some sewing to justify it.  Not much to show, but I did do a little sewing.  I sewed my first quilt ever back in 1997.  I had no idea what I was doing, I was just obsessed with making a blanket for my daughter to grow up with.  I went to the quilt store (nothing new there, I've always loved fabric) and bought some material and a packet with those thick plastic squares, a rolling cutter and a cutting mat.  I cut out lots of the 4x4 squares and started playing around with the pieces.  Of course I wonder now, what was I thinking with some of the fabric, but I liked it then.  My favorite was white Matelasse' from an old coverlet that was falling apart.  I had no idea how to make a quilt, but I knew enough to sew the squares together with the same amount of seam.  Thankfully, one of my neighbors is a major quilter and when all was said and done with the front she guided me on how to put the back on.  She also taught me how to hand quilt which I quickly abandoned.  All these years later, after many washings, the Matelasse' is giving out...mending the quilt, one of those nagging to do projects that is always on my list.  Nothing like a little guilt to make one tend to a long neglected chore! So tend and mend I did. It went so much better with the machine fixed, you will see some very poor handstitching that was my attempt without the machine.  Below are a couple of the patches I sewed on.  I added vintage  fabric from some feed bags, some new fabric, (I really wanted to incorporate some amybutlerdesign.com fabric), and some bits from my daughter's clothes.  I decided to be very obvious about the patches.  I also tried to cover up some of the fabric that I have come to be less than thrilled by. You real quilters might be appalled...think of it as a home made blanket, that's really what it is.  The patches are my favorite part now...very handmade, rustic, unstructured...as if that was my plan from the beginning.  The Roots and Wings and date and poem stitched on are from the first go round.  I actually look forward to it needing some more love in a couple years, it will give the quilt even more personality.  I have started thinking I need to begin another, having 2 children now, it'd be nice to have made one for each.  That will have to wait for another day, I'm not feeling that guilty today.

 

$150-some dollars later...

So, my sewing machine needed repair.  It is an Elnita that I bought 15 years ago.  It is not fancy at all, but served it's purpose (mostly curtains, odd clothing repairs, and random crafts) very well.   I left my oldie-but-goodie Elnita out at the ready in my art room and used and abused it one too many times.  I was sewing through heavy card stock and it dropped all it's insides right on the desk...so off to get it repaired...they said they could do it rather quickly, that I should kill time close by.  I remembered that Kelly (thanks alot Kel) said T.J.Max had cute vintage/Wendy Addison type tags and such and low and behold, what was within the same center as the vacuum/sewing repair shop??...you got it.  So...

$150 some odd dollars later I had this to show for it. I had the best of intentions, so sure that I was only there for the paper items, I didn't even get a cart. I didn't need anything, right? Ok, I really did need new oven mitts, and these are so cute and vintage yet contemporary looking...and I really do use the candles in many places around the house.  They will get used.  And the hangers, I really really really did need them for me.  The pillow I'm not so sure about it...it reminds me of the flocked wallpaper that I love so much...but it's maybe a bit much, think I may have fallen for the cheap price. (I think this is where I started to lose it.) Then there are the sheets. I love bedding. I have loved this Ralph Lauren print for a long time.  I started with just a pillowcase to use in some future project...but the sheets were "additional mark down" and who can't use new sheets?  I mean, really.  The Nicol Sayre Easter egg...well, for $12.00...I don't know...clearly, I had now lost it, stretching the definition of need. "Get out of here, run, run", I said to myself.  And I did.

At least the sewing machine repairs were included in the $150...and they were expensive, no really, they were, really.

P.S. There were no Valentine paper goods of any sort.

P.P.S. Tomorrow I'm staying home and sewing something.

today's fun

   

I am participating in a self portrait collaborative (lucky me!). We all made "books" (or boxes, or bags or more ideas that I haven't seen yet) and sent it to the next participant in the collaborative.  Each month we receive a new one to work in and then send it on. Talk about loving the mail, I am always so excited to rip into the package and see what clever creation the artist made. This month I have Claudine's book.  As soon as I saw it, I was happy.  It is a very sweet, fresh, happy book that she created for her entry. I love her artwork.  claudinehellmuth.blogspot.com  Her theme is "portraits of childhood" ...love that too.

My pages here are so different than the other self portrait collaborative entries that I have done.  I have done pages that are more similar to her "poppet" series, by putting my head on other bodies, or drawn in bodies, paper dolls, but today this is what showed up.  It seems like more of a memory page.  As I write that I realize I probably was heavily influenced by the title of her book.  My mother died when I was in my teens.  It surprises me (pleasantly so) how often she shows up in my artwork. I feel like the first photo captures my youthful innocence and wonder and the second her love for me while I (as most children do) have already moved on to something else.  The little photo on the second page is of me in a itsy bitsy blue polka dot bikini on a family vacation in Florida.  I thought this was particularly fitting since that's where Claudine lives.

Here is the fun I had in her book today:

lucky me

I love getting the mail.  Always have.  I'd never think of leaving it in the mailbox for the next day, let alone leave it for my husband to get later. It calls to me as soon as it's in it's box.  I'm not kidding, my ears are tuned to the sound of the mail truck's squeaky brakes.  I know when it slows through the rolling stop on the corner, when it passes my house on the other side of the street, coming closer, closer, closer.  It holds such promise.  Maybe a magazine waits.  Oh how I used to love these, trying to avoid (unsuccessfully) taking a peek during the day, hoping instead to wait until the night, kids asleep, when I could get pajamas on and get cozy in bed. Although, there are fewer and fewer that I find that live up to my expectations...is it me, or has the quality gone down?  I'll never forget how shocked and disappointed  I was when Martha Stewart Living went to the cheaper, thinner paper...how could she?!? She knows the value of quality.  I've cut back on my subscriptions too, a good thing because I have a stack that I still need to thoroughly go through again, pulling out, studying, remembering. If not a magazine, maybe there's an Ebay purchase.  My mailman is quite un-fond of these.  I don't know why, I usually know when something is coming and try to meet him to receive it so he doesn't have to budge from his seat, so what's the beef? Humph. Oh well. Maybe there's a letter, something hand addressed to me, something non-electronic...speaking of which, the amazing Amy at angrychicken.typepad.com is dreaming up a pretty fun mail club of sorts...crafty good mail- count me in.  But I digress...back to my love of mail...sometimes it's a wonderful creatively packaged assignment from a collaborative I'm involved in, or something I've ordered on the Internet.  There is a lot to hope for, even though it can be infrequent.  And then, there is this, the surprise.  When you get something that you had no idea was coming, at a time when surely nothing should.  My friend Susan sent me these little treats for my December birthday.  Fun to open the box, even more fun to see the pretty packages wrapped so classically/cool, which is so Susan.  And of course, then there's the actual gifts, an assortment of bath/body/home products by Archipelago. Lucky me. Thank you Susan, I love them and you. xox

intention

learning as i go...a gentle reminder/refocusing of perspective...words from a new acquaintance...then opening an old journal to this page done last summer. my intention is to come from love. not always the easiest thing to do, but seems the most rewarding for all involved.  love   tara's photo of my families feet. tarawhitney.typepad.com

birdie love

not all birds can fly.  what separates the flyers from the walkers is the ability to take off.-carl sagan

I, like many these days, have birdie fever.  I love all things bird, egg, nest etc. For me, birds bring to mind mamas, babies and nurturing, eggs and birth, nests and home, nesting, singing and flying, and friendship-birds of a feather flocking together and all that. 

Above and below are a few of my  journal pages with birds on parade:

the last one is my absolute favorite.  I asked my 6 year old son to draw something in my journal...precious.

and some ornaments I made as party favor give-aways last Christmas:

If you feel impervious to birdie love, go see Amy's really cool encaustics at amyruppel.com and Alicia's  adorable cages at  rosylittlethings.typepad.com and see if you too don't catch a fever...just don't blame me if you end up with more "I want-one-of-those"  treats on your list!

happy birthday!

 

  Have you ever had a friend that inspires and encourages you to be more than you thought you were at the moment?  I have one such friend, and today is her birthday.  She is so very talented and prolific and I am constantly struck by her willingness and desire to help others grow and shine.  She has pushed me to do more, believe in myself and my dreams, and given me countless opportunities to stretch my wings.  I am so very grateful, and I know there are many many many other artists that she blesses in this way.  I know many will join me in wishing Teesha Moore a happy birthday. You can see her amazing talent at her website teeshamoore.com   You can also see the special events she organizes, artfest and artfiberfest. The banner above is one that I am teaching in June at  artfiberfest.  Last year was the first year and I found it to be a very warm, welcoming inspiring and intimate weekend of creativity.  There were many  classes I wished I could take, and my students were wonderful.  We had fun. You should come sometime.  Being with so many creative souls for days is dreamy. Happy days to all our friends that join us and encourage us on this creative journey!

Here are some close-ups of the banner:

better late than never

I finished these stockings for my two new baby nieces in the week after Christmas.  Luckily, the twins and their parents were very graceful about the delay.  I had started them pre-holidays, but then, you know how that goes.  I was determined not to put them away before finishing them.  Hopefully the gift cards that were purchased to go in them will show up soon.
   They are pretty self-explanatory...wool felt from Martha By Mail's old stocking kit,silver glitter glue, vintage and new sequins. I do love the bells that were Rachel Ashwell's from Target this year; they are glass and actually ring a little. I went back after Christmas wishing I had bought more than one pack, but of course, none left. Oh well, easy come, easy go. Just thought I'd share before putting them away for the year.

bits of happy

There are some great crafting bloggers out there that really inspire me to make something that I had no plans on making until I saw what they did.  I love that. That energizes me. I love their writing, their sharing, their constant inventiveness. The way that their posts allow me to see through their eyes. 

On many of these blogs people are showing "corners of their home"...and I thought that I could at least figure out how to do that on my blog...any participation beyond that-sending the photos to a larger group etc.  is again, beyond me at this point.  But hey, I was able to get a couple pictures up by myself.  "I bet you didn't think I'd learn so quickly did ya Dave?"  I say, knowing my brother will not read my blog as my crafting does nothing for him :).

...so some little bits of happy as I see it in my home...

The photo at the top of this post is a little ex-voto (I think that's what they're called).  The initials PGR stand for "pray for grace received"-which I love in itself, but is made even better by the fact that that is the monogram for my husband and I...although proper etiquette probably would have his first initial (R)before mine (P), I don't know... not sure of the proper etiquette for monograms. I found it in a little shop and it hangs on a cabinet in the livingroom.

The first photo above is a corner of the dining room...a cheap candle sconce found long ago at a thrift store that I painted white.  I love the striped cream and green candles and wish I would have bought more wherever I found them.  Hanging from the middle is a little paper doll ornament made by Nicol Sayre that I bought from her at a folk art boutique (I love her and her creations)...I hung it there one Christmas and it has lived there since. At Christmas time I add some antique mercury glass balls to the other arms of the sconce.  The oil is nothing special, just pretty to me...it was inexpensive because it has a tear, which doesn't bother me in the least, and I love that it is unframed.

The bottom photo is what I see each morning when I wake up.  I love our bedroom ceiling.  There is something so humble and honest about it, and bright, and happy. 

The 2nd photo is of a sconce, one of a pair that hangs above our bedroom fireplace.  I bought these over a year ago, with much hesitation.  They were at an antique mall-type shop and were inexpensive enough to make me think about getting them even though I didn't love love love them...what I did love about them was the mercury glass and that screw thing at the bottom that the crystal chain hangs from, love that too, the crystal drop.  The two different paper sleeves one white, one cream, seem charming to me.  What I don't really care for is the glass hook thingy that is at the top, but I think it disappears...maybe it is for some purpose?  I did decide to buy them, and after finally getting them hung, I find that I'm glad I did.  I added some beaded little lightbulb covers that are sold at Anthropologie as napkin rings...the wattage is so low that even if they're not the same beads as the other lightbulb covers out there, there is no melting.

The 3rd  photo is of a corner in my "art room" - the drawer unit was once in someone's garage as tool storage.  I scrubbed it and added some old crystal knobs where the original handles were missing. I consider this good fortune, because I doubt I would have ever thought about switching what was already there.  I have labeled the drawers with paper labels (are you obsessed with vintage paper labels like I am?  aahhhh, love em...these are not vintage though, just new in a package), stating contents like: metal found objects, glass paper weights, keys, brads and fasteners, doll parts etc. I love drawers and storage unit things- again, I'm sure you do too. Three (or 6?) drawers were missing at the bottom, and with such luck (!) the reproduction wire locker baskets that are out there right now fit perfectly and house my seam binding rolls. Sitting on top are two big baskets holding wrapping paper/wallpaper etc.

So that's it, some visuals in my house that bring a bit of joy when my eyes meet them.

I'm off today to Target (which I have now been informed is not target, but "the red dot boutique") to return a couple things and buy some new pillows to lie our heads on at night...did you see that disgusting segment on the Today Show?  It freaked. me. out!   All the gross bugs- the gist of it is change your pillows every few years...I think I've fallen behind on that here, yuk.  And then, laundry, laundry, laundry.  I can wash it no problem, it's the folding and putting away. Ugh.  Hope to get into my art room at some point, but truth be told, that's really hard when the family is home...most weekends it goes unentered.  Hope you, the reader that doesn't exist yet, is finding time to create/play, and hope you have new pillows and no laundry, and at the very least remember some of your "bits of happy" around your house today.

roses in january

If you came to my door today, this is how you would be greeted.  It is a little dark because we are having a bit of rain today, unusual (and welcome) for sunny so cal. But, look at those roses, cut from the garden just now.  There aren't really too many more in bloom right now, as I have not fed or cut the bushes back this year.  When we first moved in I hated roses, I found the flowers to be so typical, the bushes so ugly.  But then I learned to see the beauty...they grow like weeds (i.e. easy), they smell divine, and they are wonderful in arrangements.  My favorites are the David Austin old fashioned roses- the more petals the better.  I went rose-bush crazy for awhile there many years back.  I would anxiously await the new catalog from Hortus (a magical garden center in Pasadena, although I don't know if they are in existance anymore), researching the roses by color, form, type and, deciding whether I had to have it, and where I could squeeze it in.  I placed an order for the bare-root plants and patiently waited.  There were a few springs that our garden was spectacular, I was into it, spending most of the day out there while my daughter played in the yard, a toddler quite content to toddle.  But then the gophers got aggressive, eating the entire root system of over 40 plants (I told you I was obsessed, squeezing them in everywhere!), and my daughter grew and wanted to play out front, on the street, with friends, and I got pregnant again.  That all seemed to be the end of that phase for awhile.  Reminiscing about it makes me long for gardening again, but there is only so much time in a day.  Maybe this spring, now that my son is in school all day for the first time.
   The roses on my door are tucked into an old bottle that is wired to a scrap piece of wood.  Vintage wallpapaer is glued on top, as is a bit of old accounting paper.  A wood stain was rubbed over the whole thing.  A glittered bird is peeking through, old seambinding tied on here and there with an old rhinestone button and shoebuckle attached. A Wendy Addison glittered heart hangs from some old tinsel ribbon, and an old tag that now states "love lives here" (because most of the time it does). Velvet ribbon is tied so it hangs from a drawer pull (Anthropologie) that I screwed in the door.  Unfortunately, if you came to the door today, I'd try to visit with you outside because the house is a MESS!  Off to try to get it under control.

New Beginnings

Hello, and welcome to my blog. It seems I'm going to give it a go...the to blog/not to blog question still remains, but I guess one can't know without really trying, so I shall.  Let me just say, it's a bit trickier than I thought, so please be patient with me as I've nowhere to go but up on the how to blog/photo etc. with style scale. Ever so thankful to my graphic designer brother for all the help already given.
   Blogs have been so creatively inspiring for me, and  such a  comfort knowing that there are others like me out there, those that  need to create, and like to share.  I have a few friends locally, that love to make things like I do, but we don't live close enough (and that whole motherhood/wife/life thing gets in the way) to share regularly other than over the phone, and well, you know, describing arts and crafts over the phone is just not the same as a photo or in person. So you see, the amazing community of craft/bloggers out there has been a real find, and I hope this is the start of a positive new journey in which I have something worthy to contribute.
   Since it is still the  beginning of  the new year, it seems a good time to start, thus the cards pictured.  Please think of it as a New Year's greeting from our home to yours.  It is actually what we sent out for Christmas this year. You'll see my family as seen through the eyes of the oh-so-talented miss tara whitney, and the three different versions that I made for the cover.  I sewed vintage flocked wallpaper on (flea-market find) with a contrasting thread so that I could use the stitches to make a roof outline across the top.  I cut slits for windows/doors inspired by the old advent calendars I loved as a child.  Lastly I added a little bird and nest diecut (Paper Source).  I made 100, and although I was a bit worried that I might regret what I had gotten myself into after commiting to the idea by way of making copies of the photo sheet (Kinko's), it was actually enjoyable  and not an overwhelming mistake.  One can only hope the same for the blog.  Here's to new beginnings!