Celebrating I met all my goals on time this month!!

This has been a very busy few weeks, I didn't have time to post 

because I had several deadlines to meet.  

I made two polymer clay heirloom bags for my friend Jen.  

The babies are her adorable twin boys; John and Andrew.
The purses are gifts for her mother and mother-in-law this month.  

I took photos for a tutorilal on my polymer clay page 

that show all the steps to completion I used in making these bags.
I will let you know when I get that posted.

The making of the bags is quite time consuming but definitely worth the effort.  

She gave me the photo which I then printed on fabric.
I strip the fabric off these purses and paint glue onto the carboard base.
Then I glue the picture and cover both sides with textured clay, mica powders for the sheen... 

I add favorite flowers for each mother, Chrysanthemums and Tulips.  

I chose red to compliment the Santa hats.
The purse is assembled in stages and baked several times.
I leave the back side plain. 

The other deadline was my local guild's quilt show.
The Desert Quilter's of Nevada have a huge quilt show every year.  

I turned in my quilts and garment on time. 

 I finished a garment I began in 2007 in a class with Rachel Clark;
a wonderful quilt designer who makes primarily garments, gorgeous coats, vests.....
do go see for yourself. 

I am so thrilled to have finally finished it. 

We learned how to fit our pattern to ourselves,
an extremely valuable skill
and how to alter patterns: one example- add a flare. 

She also shared lots of tips and tricks for different piecing techniques
like these curved flying geese.  

We learned how to draft them and then paper piece them. 

I loved that technique so I used it to flatter my figure with the curves on the sides of the vest.  

I love batiks so I used batik fabric as a foundation and applied all my piecework to that-
an excellent choice since this has been handled and stored for 5 years.
Batik does not fray and holds it's shape better than other cotton fabrics.

The piecing was assembled and then free motion stitched to the Batik base.  

There is no batting involved so that I can wear it more often.
 (remember I live in the Desert) 

I took Rachel's advice as she helped me to choose my colors 

and she was so right about limiting my favorite color, which is the turquoise blues.  

They really pop against all those warm honey, brown and red tones. 

That advice also helped me to not go overboard with the beaded embellishments as well.
 I was thrilled to find out this weekend at the Show
that I took First Place in the garment category!

I have two quilts that were entered into two different art quilt categories. 

 "The Angel Gabriel at the Lake of Compassion"
This one has a Third Place Ribbon in the Art Quilt- Original Design Category!

and 

"The Door to My Imagination".
has First Place in the Art Quilts- Framed Category. 

Both of these quilts were quilted and then enhanced with paints and permanent markers. 

I used Shiva Oil Paint Sticks to paint after I free motion stitched my designs on muslin. 

I love this technique, just need to have good weather in order to avoid breathing the fumes. 

I sketched the doors on parchment paper, pinned it to a muslin quilt sandwich (mmm) LOL

 and outlined the important details.

 Then I spent a very, very, very ( did I say Very?)
 long time filling in all the sections with very small quilting patterns.

The wood on the doors is the tiniest free motion stitching I have ever done.  

I overdid it on purpose so that the doors would be stiff and stand up. 

  I also participated in my favorite part of the Quilt Show- The Fashion Show this year.
I will share more about that next week.  I need to take pictures of the items I wore.
It was great fun and I hope to do it again.
I was so proud of my fellow art quilters who also got ribbons in the show.
Our fearless Circle leader Deb had a first place in the photo transfer category,
we talked another member of our group, Jean, into entering
the wonderful musical wedding quilt she made for her son (a musician) and his wife
into the show and she got a First Place Ribbon too!!
My good friend Ricky got a Second Place Ribbon for her fabulous thread painted Raven.
Sandy and Mary, my fabulous doll making pals took several ribbons in the doll categories.
So many talented and fun friends- I am truly grateful to have them in my life.
I am going to see if I can get their permission so you can see their work too.
If you don't have creative friends like this check your local library for groups in your area.
When I moved to Las Vegas, someplace I never ever dreamed I would live,
I knew no one. I found a pamphlet at the local library for this quilt guild and
noticed there was an Art Qult Circle.
From the very first meeting I attended I felt like I had finally found people like me.
People who had an insatiable craving to create beauty.
The unique thing about our circle is that we not only have quilters,
but many other types of artists,
polymer clay, fine silver jewelers,
painters, people who knit and crochet, doll artists....
we welcome them all as it is so inspiring to see each other's work.
I hope you have or will find a home such as this too!
Have a wonderful week.
Heather

Its TAX TIME!! Need I say more...

How come TAX is not a 4 letter word!  

Can't tell you how many hours I have put in on that job. 

I didn't want to keep track - just GET-R-DONE.

 I am almost there, appointment monday morning to make sure I do GET_R DONE.  

Yesterday my sweet lady friends took me to lunch 

at the Oyster Bar in the Orleans 

and then we went to see Joyful Noise. Great movie!! 

Yes, it is a feel good chick flick. 

We all broke out the tissues several times and again at the end. 

I am so fortunate to have friends like this, 

I am counting my blessings this morning. 

A little humorous aside: 

Because we all had ice tea or water with our meal

a trip to the restroom was in order before the movie started.  

Teresa and I entered the nearest one on the way to our movie location.

It is a little dark in the halls of the movie theater so

wearing my prescription sunglasses doesn't work well. 

Semi blind and babbling away we went right into the stalls. 

I was remarking how nice it was to go to a week day matinee 

because I could actually get a toilet that had just been cleaned, 

the seat still up. 

When I came out of the stall, 

Teresa had that "shocked look" 

like the E trade commercials baby!.

I looked from her face to the wall with all the urinals lined up.

and said:

"OMG we are in the Men's room!" 

Barbara and Gert were outside and hadn't noticed either.

We came out laughing so hard. 

There were two men

waiting out there to go in. 

Thank God I talk too much. 

They must have heard me babbling and identified my gender.  

If they hadn't heard my voice they probably would have come in 

and wow- how awkward that would have been. 

I had the best Giggle Fit I have had in a long, long time.

We even had to stop walking because we were laughing so hard it hurt!

You kind of needed to be there. 

The Birthday party -"awesome"-

This event "PRICELESS"!!  

Today is my birthday- # 57 so of course I am 39 again.

  My daughter is taking me out for lunch and shopping for my gift.  

I actually don't know what I want right now.  

I am going to walk my dog and think about it. 

 Have a great week-end. 

Heather

Does Anyone Know where this month went?

WHAT it's Saturday?

Oh my, January is over and I barely even knew it was here.  

Whew!!

Life just moves too fast for me sometimes.

I didn't post last week, well 

because I didn't get to take any pictures due to "crappy weather" 

and 

I just didn't feel like posting without pictures. 

Today I took a wonderful silk painting class through my quilt guild: The Desert Quilters of Nevada 

with a wonderful teacher-

 Linda Schmidt who makes fabulous art quilts and wearables. 

 It was fun and the colors are so vibrant!! 

But when I got home it was already dark so - - -

no pictures...  

I will hopefully get some taken this week. 

What I need to accomplish that - Will the whole world please 

S - - - L - - - O - - - W    D - - - O - -  -W - - - N ! ! ! ? ? ?

(Close your eyes and imagine my voice two octaves lower recorded in very slow motion)

I am working on the dreaded taxes for my Aquariart Business.  

Queen of procrastination 

I have the whole entire year to catch up on- 

I bought Quickbooks in July but even with phone help for 2 months 

it is so darned (I will not share my potty mouth version) complex 

I decided not to use it for last year, 

hopefully I will learn it and use it for 2012. 

I had a job interview friday and may be going back to work full time within the next 2 weeks- YIKES!!!

I don't even have good clothes to wear to work anymore. 

I am both excited and scared to death!! 

More about that later.

My oldest daughter's birthday is Monday and her gift has been back ordered- Grrrrrr!

My birthday is Saturday and then there is the Super Bowl 

with our fabulous Patriot's attending on Sunday!! 

I haven't done a challenge for Art Beads in 3 months, 

I haven't uploaded pictures to Flickr since October! 

I haven't read all my favorite blogs 

and have missed two posts this month 

BUT

I have been completing work for our annual Quilt Show here in Vegas which happens in March. 

Again, I will hopefully find time to take some pictures.  

So, this is my lengthy apology for no luscious pictures you can drool over this week.  

Hope you all are having a little easier time with time management and weather. 

Fingerless Glove Winner!

Thank you to all the readers who entered my 

Two Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

I put your names on little sticky notes- 

folded them shut and put them in this container 

with the cover on, 

shook them up and 

had my husband do the honors.

The backgrounds in these two pictures are some of the new tiles he brought home for me to photograph on.  Don't you just love the river rock.  I am so inspired by that I am planning a mixed media mosaic project to use them in.  

He chose a little orange sticky with Cyndi L's name on it!!  

Congratulations Cyndi!! 

Cyndi L is the creator of SEVEN BLOGS, 

• Mixed Media Artist
• Beading Arts
• 2012 Bead Journal Project
• 08BJP
• Real Food Fast!
• BLOG # 1 Bead Journal Project 2011
• Bead Journal Project 3

wow,

 I have no idea how she can keep up with all that. 

My favorites are 

the Mixed Media Artist and Beading Arts. 

Be sure to check them out. 

She has lots of interviews, technique tutotials, great inspirational material, 

contests, giveaways, reviews ... in her blogs. 

Cyndi will now have the warmest hands while she taps her keyboard 

madly creating these wonderful sites wearing my luxurious wine red fingerless gloves. 

This week I put my foot down and chose not to participate in the 5th Bead Soup Blog Hop because my local quilt guild- Desert Quilters of Nevada 

(we have a new website!!)

is having their annual show in March and 

the entry deadline is January 27th. 

I am determined to finish a UFO from 2007. 

(I didn't get to photograph the pieces in time, dead battery, 

so I will put up pictures of this work in progress next week)

This is a pieced vest I started in a class with Rachel Clarke that year.  

It was a wonderful class where we not only learned lots of piecing techniques 

like the curved flying geese 

but also how to custom fit and alter our pattern. 

 I am not sure this vest will still fit me 

but my goal is to finish it and lose the extra pounds that don't fit in it by March 

so I can model it in the Quilt Show Fashion Show.  

 I have 8 weeks- Yikes!! 

I also need to finish up several art quilts I will enter.  

This is my most recent piece, yet to have a name.

 

My Art Quilts ect Circle has a monthly challenge.  January was "Feathers".

My mind became obsessed with wings and so an angel was born, 

hovering over a lake with her tears (swarovsky crystals) causing ripples.

I free motion stitched the angel then thread painted on her hair and wings

before I added the background pieces.

 I have found that doing so with stabilizer and no backing fabric works best on my machine.

So the back of the quilt does not show the mess that the thread painting makes 

and the quilt top doesn't shrink and pucker either. 

The base fabrics for the angel were two shades of monochromatic marbled fabrics.

I added paint to make the left wing come forward- pearl white and silver 

and mixed pearl white and black to get several shades of grey 

and black sharpie to make the right wing receed. 

The trees were a very happy mistake- 

they puffed a lot as I was quilting over them so I purposefully stopped.

That puffiness and the different shades of green in the batik fabric 

are what makes them look so three dimensional. 

It is amazing what a little paint on multicolored batiks can do 

to create depth and the shimmer that water has. 

It is amazing what a little paint on multicolored batiks can do 

to create depth and the shimmer that water has. 

 Next time I will take before and after (the painting) pictures so you can see what a difference

purposefully applied paint and marker can make in a landscape. 

I had to change the sky so that the brightest part was around my focal point. 

The fabric I used for the sunset sky was wonderful but had random bright spots 

that pulled a little too strongly away from the focal point. 

 Next time I will take before and after (the painting) pictures so you can see what a difference

purposefully applied paint and marker can make in a landscape. 

I had to change the sky so that the brightest part was around my focal point. 

Here is a shot of the back where the water is, allowing you to see the free motion stitches.

I want this art quilt to induce a calming effect on the viewer so I think I am finished.

No more embellishing pizazz or glitz on this one. 

Hope you all have an artfully productive week too, that is my plan. 

Heather

My second publication!!

Got some publication Mojo again!!

It is very exciting and rewarding 

to have your work appreciated and published. 

My "Ophelia Cuff" is pictured on page 39 

of the January/February Issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine.  

I was one of 5 finalists 

in the Mixed Media Jewelry Category 

of the Artisan 2012 Contest!

Yes this makes me 

"Do a Little Dance"! 

I was not told which piece was chosen for the publication 

which added a little surprise for me when I received it in the mail. 

You can read more about the making of my Cuff  HERE  + HERE.

I took a little breather from everything 

except my family during the holidays, 

it just felt like a good time to pause, rest and regroup.

Now I feel rejuvenated and ready to press on.

My goal for this year is to send in more submissions 

and keep creating in all the medias I love. 

I have been thinking about trying out different venues 

for selling my work.  

I would love input from any of you, 

willing to share your experiences with other sites. 

Email me if you don't want to comment (outloud) below. 

January 10th will be  

"My Muse's" 2nd year anniversary.

The journey began on Jan 10th 2010 

when I dared to reach out into cyber space 

and share my life and art with 

"I didn't know who"

 to 

having 115 fabulous followers and friends today.

Because of this blog 

I have connected with so many talented and generous artists 

and 

have found many great opportunities and sources of inspiration

like the Art Bead Scene Blog Challenges, 

The Bead Soup Hops, Bead Table Wednesday, Creative Everyday, Flicker, Picnik, Pinterest, Etsy.... 

I could go on and on but I will spare you.

I am so grateful that I am having a 

"2012 Celebration Giveaway"

You could become the proud owner of 

this lovely pair of knitted fingerless gloves. 

Grape Lacy Knitted Fingerless Gloves by Aquariart

I assure you they are stretchy, stylish, soft and luxurious

made with Berroco Lustra 

a 50% peruvian wool/ 50%Tencel (Rayon) blend yarn. 

All you need to do is 

1- comment below 

and 

2- tell one friend about this giveaway. 

and

3- have that friend comment here too. 

I will randomly choose a winner on Saturday Jan 14th 

so come on back to see if you won!!  

Happy New Year to Everyone !!

Heather

One of many pairs....

It has been wonderful to have a model for my wearable fiber items.

Have to say everything looks better on a person. 

I am so fortunate to have found Riana, 

a bubbly young woman who enjoys being photographed 

and playing dress up with all my creations.

Here is one more design and I have a brand new one I will add later. 

I am waiting for the sun to come up so I can photograph my new

Crocodile Stitch Fingerless Gloves.  

This Purple and Green Variegated Pair is made with 

Soy yarn, very soft to the touch. 

I am completely baffled by the problem I had last week 

uploading pictures and the error message from google.  

Seems like everything is back to normal today.  

Perhaps my little fairy, Nadine has been playing with my Blog at night?@!

I was so focused on my Artist's Boutique that Christmas has snuck up on me again this year. 

 I think I missed the deadline for shipping things in time for the holiday

BUT

I am going to keep listing new items as I edit my photos.

Do you have a friend who loves handmade items 

but you are not sure what to choose for them?

Let them choose their own gift!

I am having a special on Gift Certificates in my etsy shops this week. 

Buy a $10 gift certificate for a gift and get $5 off any item you purchase.

Buy a $25 gift certificate and get $10 off any item you purchase. 

Buy a $50 gift certificate and get $20 off any item you purchase. 

OR

you can convo me with special orders and choose your favorite colors. 

I have lots of gloves I haven't photographed yet- ask me about those- 

hopefully they will get done tomorrow morning.  

The elves had to watch the Patriots Game today!! 

Yay Pats! 

Have a wonderful week - Heather

To Blog or not to Blog....

The Good news-

First of all I chose a winner- 

Beth from EB Metalworks shared her inspiration thoughts 

and won the crochet cuff in my Giveaway last week.  

Congrats to Beth!! 

The Bad News-

Now I have fiddled all morning with Google conversations 

trying to figure out why I suddenly got a message 

saying I have reached my storage limit 

and can no longer upload pictures.  

This is very frustrating and really google, 

shame on you !

in this economy you decide to take advantage of your customers 

with no notice and suddenly require payment for extra storage.  Especially right now during the holiday season-

 Bah Humbug!! 

If anyone has more info about how to rectify this situation 

please get in touch with me.  

For now I have to leave you with a pictureless post.  

I have officially nicknamed 

Google -

 "The Grinch"!!