pamgarrison

longing for inspiration?

Then come join the fun at Donna Downey's "inspired artist workshop 2010".

I would love to meet you there- registration begins September 1;info here. 

It's sure to be creatively inspiring!

a few "jump start journals"

I finally finished some journals for my etsy shop. The bottom four are stitched together and waiting to be painted on, written on, or otherwise embellished by you. The four vintage ledgers have all been "jump started" by me for those of you that are intimidated by the blank page or overwhelmed at the beginning when faced with so many pages to play on. They all have different amounts of pages, and all have pages that are plain too. So basically, the finished journal will be a collaborative effort between me and whoever buys it. Here's an example of heavy collaging by me:

And some pages are done with a lot lighter hand:

You can go see more details at pamg.etsy.com . I have no idea of this concept will be of interest, but no worries, I can always use some more journals myself. {And yes, for those of you interested, wallpaper 1/2 rolls still to be listed soon...}

a little birthday lunch for a friend

Today I attended a birthday lunch for Amy. The blurry but still cute photo above shows Jenny and Amy in full swing. Love their jewelry; they are well connected to the goods :).

 Isn't it fun to wrap gifts for friends when you know they'll appreciate it? I couldn't resist using the embroidered button with a letter A, the floppy flower or her favorite number on a rhinestone pin: 3. I chose this paper to use as a cover for a little journal I made her because it makes me think we'll be like this sooner than later if these b'days keep coming at their relentless pace: two old ladies discussing some art project intently.

I'm looking forward to it.   Happy belated birthday Am!

more inspiration from flickr

1. fiber collage, 2. Ayala Bar Again, 3. ..., 4. Untitled, 5. custom blue, 6. making stuff, 7. teacup chandelier, 8. winged jewel, 9. Play!, 10. eggs4, 11. Leo Hillier: Mushrooms, 12. Orla Kiely stem print (multicolor), 13. Swingers, 14. dec cubes2, 15. my love for bokeh, 16. my favorite, 17. B L O S S O M II, 18. DSC_0044, 19. Balance&Disappear_ Diane Wiencke, 20. I love this old car, 21. Summer memories, 22. Shattered icon, 23. Traveling, Detail, 24. The Book Collection, 25. ***************************, 26. a different sort of mushroom cloud, 27. Blooming, 28. i promise, 29. a canoe on the deschutes, 30. Mini Latte Bowls, 31. Acid Green, 32. Untitled, 33. Untitled, 34. ARRIBA, 35. The future lying ahead is more prolonged than the past. Even our sun is less than halfway through its life, 36. white & pink

one thing leads to another

Here's my new dishtowel above. It was directly inspired by the stitching I've been doing lately. You know, the stitching on this piece here :

As I have been working on it, I found myself wishing it was washable so that I could use it as a dishtowel when done. It's definitely not made to withstand any real use, many of the fabrics fall to pieces as I stitch them on even. So as I kept obsessing about the dishtowel, I decided to go and make one already, using the concept. I grabbed a favorite dishtowel that I bought at a flea market in Paris. It was the perfect piece because it had holes in it. Even with the holes, I hadn't been able to bring myself to throw it away, and now I'm so glad I never did. I used new fabric and vintage pillowcase pieces and stitched them on by hand, tucking under the rough edges. I added a few pieces where it looked like holes might develop too, and after a few washings, if it's working out well, I'll add more when needed. Something about mended things makes them so appealing. They are so honest and hardworking. And loved. Tended to.

And as I took a picture to show you the current state of my recent piece, I thought, this would be a cute backing to a chair, no? Can't you see it pulled taught with two ties where the chair back meets the seat? If I did it, I'd have to do it on one chair, like, for my desk say, because any more would be too much going on for my eye. I like my furniture pretty plain actually. But it's another example of how while doing one thing, your eyes can be opened to so many others. Always new ideas to pursue right around the corner. Oh, how I love creativity and making stuff!

this morning in my playroom

       

        

 

 

 

                             

     

 

monday morning crafting regroup

Stitched bits in progress on the back of the couch



continued stitching on the latest sampler

                    

more doodling and painting layers in progress

 

 

rounding up painting supplies

 

 

stacking up the new beginnings

 

 

and cutting wallpaper rolls in half to list on etsy 

...and it's already 1pm! Must.finish up. something!!! Wait, I can procrastinate a bit more...maybe the kids and I will run away to the beach for the day instead.... there's always time during my son's football practice and my daughter's cross country running to return to my messes in progress. Ya, that sounds less overwhelming, right Scarlett? After all, there's always tomorrow.

why can't i ever do what i'm supposed to be doing?

So, since I'm supposed to be stitching away to list little stitched bits as promised, I suddenly have a huge desire to play with paints. My crafting schizophrenia is getting really annoying! Here is my family room floor right now, covered in different pieces I'm dabbling on.  My poor family; I placed them right by the door so I could see them in the light, which is also the door to the outside. Kindly, they haven't said a word (yet!). Up at the top you can see one I'm making just for me. I call it 'Wanna Be Jennifer Mercede'. I recently saw her artwork in Tumbleweed in Portland (such a cute shop!) and fell head over heels for it. You can see more of Jennifer Mercede here, and I loved watching this fun video of her working.

At least I've been creating which is waaayyy better than the other "should be doing"s like laundry, cleaning, groceries etc. Ok. I'm going to stop painting here and let these percolate in my brain a little. I'm  going to finish up some stitching now, now that I got that out of my system. Here's my favorite thing from this morning:

 

That's what I really want to do most of the time anyway, and obviously, it doesn't matter much what it is. Just have to be making something!

fabric journals too

I'll be listing some fabric journals for sale soon. Still working on the little stitched bits too. Going wherever inspiration takes me, which includes my recent infatuation with vintage sheets and pillowcases. Packaging up some strips of those for sale too. Hopefully this weekend sometime...

recent flickr favorites

1. white & pink, 2. Pom-pom garland, 3. simples, 4. Pink Roses in Vintage Cup, 5. slightly squished but still good, 6. Untitled, 7. Defects of Existing Early Varieties, 8. orange blossom brooch, 9. Untitled, 10. milano è un'installazione., 11. Color Me Pretty, 12. Living in a bubble!, 13. portland church, 14. a rose by any other name, 15. SWEETSHORN VINTAGE, 16. summerbeach, 17. blue pink drops, 18. number the tea cups, 19. felt flower, 20. Untitled, 21. Untitled, 22. July No.8, 23. Hottie cover detail, 24. Untitled, 25. Fiona The Bunny, 26. Bagged Roses, 27. Sadaharu AOKI, 28. secret message of the day, 29. Gratitude, 30. what in carnation?, 31. Sweet Treats Circus Cookie, 32. Fiesta en la plaza, 33. Untitled, 34. Untitled, 35. Horse Show Prize Ribbons, 36. Untitled

I know, the links aren't working. I should be able to do this, as I was able to last time, but I'm giving up for now. Instead you can go to  my flicker favorites to see the correct links to the photos. sorry!

of course i'm still at it

Sneaking it in wherever I can. This is the family room floor  this morning. Exactly where I left it late last night. I was waiting up for my daughter to return home (hard to get used to her having her license and freedom!) so, happily pulled my tray out from it's hiding place. I tend to sit on the floor and stitch, not sure why, maybe so I can spread out all my supplies. When I am working on something I like, I find myself laying it out so that I can take it all in. I like to look at it and think about it and find favorite spots. Do you do this too? Obviously, just before heading to bed last night I stood up and enjoyed one last look. Off to put it away now, after today's company we are going on a quick trip to San Diego. Maybe I'll stitch a bit in the car...
Also, going to put a little collection of stitched bits in my etsy shop next week. Like these:

Something affordable in these troubling economic times. And other goodies too...just gonna keep filling bit by bit. Have a great weekend!