Shari is retiring from blogland so this will be her last post with us. Make sure to check out her blog Ain’t That Artsy Fartsy were she inspires with her talent and her humour. It’s been a pleasure to have Shari share her projects with us over the last several months. We wish her all the best –Raya
This Throw Back Thursday takes us back two years ago to January 2015…
I’ve been looking forward to this one because I’m getting to use some of Tim’s wonderful fabrics again, from his Eclectic Elements line. It’s CC3 #19-Frayed Fabrics, found on page 66 of Tim’s creative tome.
I was sooo inspired by CC3 Creative Crew member Cheryl Grigsby’s creation, that I pretty much copied her, right down to using one of my new Yvonne Blair Inky Art Journals!! This is one of the Inky Art Journals that I actually won from Yvonne when she first shared her news of this product being released last year 🙂
As CC3 #19 is a technique based challenge, I can’t show you all of the details that went into making this journal cover. But, I can show you some of the pre-assembly prep and sewing that I did to make this all come together.
I’m using my 6″x8″ Inky Art Journal to take measurements for the pieces of Eclectic Elements fabric that I’ll need to sew together to cover this journal. I have 6″x6″ & 12″x12″ EE fabric scrap packs to choose my fabrics from, so this is going to be fun!!
Now, I’m no sewer and an even worse fabric cutter! Even with the most precise cutting tools and doodads available, I will still cut a crooked line! Thank goodness for one of my fav Tim mottos – “Embrace Imperfection”!! Oh, this journal cover will be a celebration of imperfection!! These are the sections for the front and I added two more shorter pieces at each end for the inside flaps. I roughly machine stitched all of the panels together.
I created a patchwork square out of 25-1.25″ squares which were roughly machine stitched together for what will become the patchwork heart on the front of my art journal.
I made my heart pattern from a chipboard heart that I photo-copied at 150%, pinned to the back of my patchwork square, then machine stitched around the perimeter of the heart.
Here is the front side of the patchwork square showing that first line of stitching. I went over it several more times to enhance that imperfect stitch line and when I was finished, I ripped away the paper pattern from the back.
I stamped the word ‘artist’ with Jet Black Stazon onto a piece of muslin and then stitched it to another little scrap of EE fabric, then stitched it into place to the top center of the front panel.
The word ‘journal’ was treated the same and stitched into place to the bottom center of the front panel.
The heart was stitched into place as my main focal point, right in the center of the entire front panel. I love it!!
I left all of the metal embellishments on this journal ‘naked’ if you will–I liked them with their natural finish, plus I think the silver of the metals look great with all of the mixed fabrics.
As a homage to Yvonne Blair, I included a butterfly as one of my embellies–Yvonne always includes a butterfly (or many butterflies) in her creations and as I won this journal from her, I wanted a reminder of the promise I made to her, to create in her art journals this year!!
As a reminder to myself, I included these 3 Chit Chat stickers to keep me motivated and inspired. Just as I did with the making of this fabric cover, I imagined what I wanted, I created what I had imagined and discovered–I Can Do This!! 🙂
OK–now remember that ’embrace imperfection’ motto? Do you notice anything WRONG with this picture? Ummm, yeah, well, things started in the right direction!! Yes, this is the back side of my journal cover, and it is in fact, sewn upside down!! LOL!! It is what it is and like I admitted earlier–I am definitely no sewer!! Imperfection Embraced!! 🙂 🙂
The front and back flaps are very simple and serve their purpose of holding this journal cover in place–and yes, the inside front flap is also upside down!!
And here is the beginning of my very 1st art journal. I’m really looking forward to creating on the inside of this journal. I think I’ll probably end up sharing a few pages here and there as 2015 progresses!! Stay tuned 🙂
Alrighty then–I’m headed off to Studio L3 now to get this Frayed Fabric creation entered into Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #19!! It’s open until this coming Friday the 16th @ 11:55mst, so if you’ve got Tim’s CC3, come on over and join in on the fun!!
Thanks so much for stopping by today!! Until next time–Stay Artsy Fartsy!!
SUPPLIES I USED:
- Eclectic Elements Fabrics (Tim Holtz/Coates); Muslin; Cotton Batting
- Stamps: Classics #1 (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)
- Distress Inks & Marker (Tim Holtz/Ranger); StazOn Ink (Tsukineko)
- Sewing Machine (Kenmore); Self-Healing Cutting Mat; Hand-Held Rotary Cutter (Fiskars);
- Chit Chat Stickers, Nature Adornments, Pen Nib & Mini Corners (Tim Holtz/Idea-ology)
- Matte Gel (Liquitex); Hot Glue Gun; Ink Blending Tools (Tim Holtz/Ranger); Craft Scratcher (Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios)
I hope today’s card brings a smile! It features my ‘happy’ colors, which I am always drawn to! If you are in one of the many areas of BC that are affected by forest fires and evacuations right now, you are on my mind! Many of my family and friends are in the middle of this crisis and my heart is hurting for you… praying you are all safe with your loved ones!
