I took yesterday off from the studio, caught up on blog reading, napping, emails, napping, Facebook, napping, Twitter, napping and started on my cards for the last few weeks I’ve missed doing for 52 Questions.

I bought myself an external hard drive on Sunday and spent some time make folders on my computer where I can transfer things from all my CDs, and then put them onto the external hard drive.  I have hated having to go through all the CDs for one photo I know I took a year or so ago.

I have “Photographing the leftover bookmarks” I made for the exhibit on my TO DO list for this week.  Finishing the beading & hand stitching on “Wildflowers” is also on my list…..I stopped working on it when I couldn’t get onto Blogger anyway, so couldn’t have posted to the Textile Abstractions blog.  Yesterday, I could finally get the Blogger dashboard to open – for the past month or 3 weeks, all it would do was go to white screen and have that symbol that it was taking its time.  Don’t have a clue why it wouldn’t as all other sites were fine, since the last Firefox update.

On Sunday I, also, bought myself a brand new box of Crayola 64 crayons – the box with the sharpener on it.  I used to have pail of crayons for when we get little kids here, but dumped it a couple months ago…..I wanted a brand new box for ME!   I went through some of my sister’s magazines & pulled some colourful images to use as inspiration for my Colour Journal that I have started – inspired by Alisa Burke’s HERE.  As I work more into it, I will photograph and show you what I’m doing in it.

I was looking through an old Outdoor Canada book I picked up for 50 cents at the local thrift store…..WILDFLOWERS shouted out to me!

With these Textile Abstractions challenges I wanted to challenge myself to try something OUT OF MY regular box!

So, I just went with it…..I used all Jacquard paints – Textile Color,  Dye-Na-Flow, Lumiere, & Neopaque.  I wet the fabric (Its prepared for dyeing fabric) then starting laying down the colours.  DH & I like watching Yarnell School of Fine Art shows on SCN. On Yarnell’s show, he showed how to make grass with the flick of a brush….did that with Lumiere green & gold.

I LIKE…..no I LOVE IT!!!  DH likes it also.

Now, I will let it totally dry, heat set it and then start quilting it.  Reveal day is August 1st…..

Today, I was working on different sizes of the centre of a sunflower as this might be the “Flora” I use for my Textile Abstractions challenge piece, due August 1st.

I have another flower that may make the cut instead, we will see…

I have printed this image onto a TAP sheet  (Transfer Artist Paper)…..scratched the edges and am thinking of ironing it onto a chiffon or organza layer.  Still thinking this one through.

If I go with the sunflower image, I will be using some of my stash of  yellow hand-dyed fabrics. Sorted them all & folded into one of these wire baskets from IKEA (I bought the units last year, still working on finding space for them in my upstairs studio).  Decided one basket is NOT ENOUGH hand-dyed fabrics so on my TO DO list this week is more fabric dyeing.  Don’t need purples, but really need light blues (skies) and greens.

This week’s TO DO list also includes painted fabrics, fusible web, Lutradur and we’ll see what else comes to mind when I have the paints out.

While I work away on projects this week, I’ll post some of the pages I have had in the “I’m a Scavenger” sketchbook.

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More Gnarled tree postcards, wanted to use up some gold fabrics……so it kinda looks like fields of wheat or some type of crop.

I am working on more black stitched line drawing postcards……here is my first, a Tiger Lily that I feel needs help.  I know my mistakes and am working on ones right now that have been corrected.  All 3 postcards are in black frames and will be delivered to the Morse Cafe tomorrow.

I have been having a hard time sleeping lately, brain is working overtime with all kinds of new ideas, sketchbook on my night table is getting a workout for sure.  Plus, when I am sewing more ideas are coming – so have stop, take notes and then get back to sewing.  I am grateful that I will never have to worry about being blocked…..but sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the ideas and where to stop or start!

Working on sketches for the Flora theme for Textiles Abstractions blog - deadline is August 1st….I have 4 sketches already, so now need to pick one and get busy!  Also, working on some pieces for The Art of the Matter exhibition.

Here are a couple close ups.

This fabric was hand-dyed by my Manitoba friend, Tami….I don’t think she liked it.  I LOVE it!!!  Anyway, its been sitting in my tote with all the other hand-dyed fabrics for awhile & lately screaming at me to use it.

For this challenge blog, I wanted to CHALLENGE myself each theme….try something that I haven’t ever done before and see where it goes.

I have been wanting to try writing all over a fabric for awhile…..next piece will be more ornate and the words closer together.  This is not for people to stop & read, its a surface design but you can tell I wanted TIME to stand out….though once you see the end result of the whole piece, you might not even notice the writing.

So, I’ve been making notes…….

I don’t recall learning that there are 24 time zones in the world – Each time zone is about 15 degrees of longitude in width (15 x 24 = 360).  Canada has 5 alone!!!

Time is always changing. Time never stands still.

Time is an observed phenomenon, by means of which human beings sense and record changes in the environment and in the universe. A literal definition is elusive.

Time has been called an illusion, a dimension, a smooth-flowing continuum, and an expression of separation among events that occur in the same physical location.

LOTS to think about……

Here is a sneak peeks.

I make Weekly TO DO lists – then each day pick which one on that TO DO list is the most important that day.

This week:

Finish “Music” challenge piece for the April 1 st deadline on Textile Abstractions. blog. Made good progress yesterday.

Finish a Manly quilted project for another deadline. Sample for a technique on this is DONE!

Finish a small piece for replacement of the one sold at the Morse Cafe.

Mail Birthday cards.DONE

Snow dyeing (before the snow is all gone) – only the drift in the bushes are left. Fabric is soaking in the Soda Ash.

Today is to finish a small piece for the Morse Cafe and work more on the MUSIC challenge piece.

Here is photo of a magazine ad, that is inspiring me today…..sketchin g while listening to Ford’s World Women’s Curling.

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Working on Melanie Testa‘s Mark Making class projects and finding this little (5 “X 8″) booklet makes me giddy!!!

Trying to work out a design idea for the next challenge over at Textile Abstractions - MUSIC.    Its very visual in my head, so going to try a tester today – to see if it will work or not.  I gave myself & DH a test yesterday……when you hear “O Canada” what colour do you see?  We both said RED.

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