Let's WEAVE Baby!

Inspiration comes in MANY FORMS >>> I love drawing inspiration from other artists. Everyone has their own unique way of doing things.. and more often than not when I'm perusing other artist blogs I'm inspired to try something new!!

When inspired by others I also get the chance to make it my own and mix in things I love.

I'm inspired by everyday things.. nature, architecture, product design, music and more...

and THEN there are challenges, prompts and even collaborations that I can join in on that inspire me EVEN more! 

Today I'm sharing with you one such collaboration.. the UBER talented Tina Walker puts together collaborations in all sorts of things.. this one happened to be a weaving collaboration.. WHICH i've been practicing! The blogs you can visit are : 

Martha Richardson
http://themermaidscloset.blogspot.com/2016/04/raise-your-hand-if-you-ever-made-one-of.html

Beth Soler
http://scrappingwonders.com/weaving-art-fun

Albion Gould
http://wp.me/p57foU-1zx

DeeDee Catron
http://deedeecatron.blogspot.com/2016/04/lets-weave-baby.html

Tina Walker
http://adogslife-thirteen.blogspot.com/2016/04/artist-weaving-collab.html

Laura Mooney
http://happinessequalscreation.blogspot.com/2016/04/artist-weaving-collaboration.html

Robyn Crowningshield
https://cozienookhomestead.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/weaving-artist-collaboration/

Susan M. Brown
http://sbartist.blogspot.com/2016/04/cre8time-new-beginnings-artist-weaving.html

Mitra Pratt
http://mitralee.blogspot.com/2016/04/weaving-collaborative-grandma-ireland.html

And my woven piece... :

EEK I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's been really hard to not share it!!!!!

The main body of the weave uses two SUPER delicious yarns from Michaels.. a really chunky wool that has a piece of black thread wrapped around to sort of keep it in check.. and this really beautiful sort of loopy yarn .. think pompoms but loops instead :) The warp is just a plain cotton thread.

I chose to weave in big chunky stripes.. if you've been a follower of mine for long you'll know I love two things... chevrons and stripes! (They always appear in my paper designs, too.) The loopy white yarn is about 6 rows, and the thick gray is two rows. I tied the top with a stick (Something I picked up from Tina!) 

And then I knotted the bottom.. little did I know that you could actually do tassels before pulling your weave from the loom... it's ok! I improvised. I just wrapped some caramel colored Silk around the knotted cotton warp and tied it into a knot as well. Pulling towards the bottom of the weave helped my tassels lay correctly. 

After I was finished tying I was quite pleased with how the straight silk laid against the sort of frayed cotton. I ended up gluing some UmWowStudio Star Confetti to some of the taseel pieces.

And last but not least was a focal point.. I started out with a sweet little coconut fiber nest shaped area. Then I went through my found objects and found this HUGE thick gear that my hubby found laying in the road.. I've been holding onto it for some time and was super ecstatic to use it on this weaving. I tied the gear and coconut fibers in place with some waxed linen thread.

Then I dug through my Relics & Artifacts by Sandra Evertson and Prima Marketing Inc for this adorable little face. He's had layers of Rub n Buff, Prima Bloom Spray, Golden's Fluid Acrylic in Carbon Black and a bit o' gesso.. plus lots of give n take (Doing the dance) put some on.. take some off.. put some on.. take some off. I glued him down gel medium.. and there you have it!

I also popped this baby up on my Society6 for some fun products.. please stop by :)

Supplies:
Yarn (Michaels)
Harrisville Loom

UmWowStudio Chipboard Confetti

Prima Bloom Spray | Prima Relic & Artifact
Golden Gel Medium | Golden Fluid Acrylic
Liquitex Gesso
Rub & Buff Antique Gold
Coconut Fibers, Waxed Linen Thread, Found Gear, Cotton Thread, Silk Ribbon,

Moon Beams - Day 6

Man -- I thought I made it to day 7 only to realize it's the sixth.. lol. :) I'm having a lot of fun trying to work up a new inspiring piece each night. Thanks for still being here! :) I am hopping with a big group of Halloween lovers via Smeared and Smudged to stamp for 31 (THIRTY ONE!) days. Today I'm revisiting some stamping on chipboard and texture building with this Moon Beams Wall Hanging.

Yum >>> So this project actually started out as something completely different. Who else can ever say THAT, right? haha. The base of the wall hanging which is actually that 3x4 gray card in the middle started out as a piece of Canson watercolor paper. It's been built upon with layers of gray acrylic (blick,) Liquitex glazing medium and Golden fluid acrylic in carbon black, and highlights of blick gesso. There's lots of layering paint down, heating with a heat tool (That's how you get the thick bubbly effect from the paint,) glazing, wiping, and more. 

The moon you may be familiar with --- it's the Man in the Moon chipboard piece from UmWowStudio. Today I used the same flat solid piece, but opted to stamp it with the Dictionary Page from Viva Las VegaStamps! in Archival black by Ranger Ink. Then, I layered the outline portion of the chipboard set right on top to create this really great layered frame effect. The two pieces have been glued together with a wet 2way glue by Elmer's. 

I really love (if you haven't noticed yet) using ephemera and neutrals.. so I opted to mat the piece in some super grungy old book text I have laying around. Thankfully I have a REALLY great local friend who loves old stuff just as much as me.. we tend to find great ephemera and other things, then share! Doubles our collections that way :) I also wanted a pop of color.. so chose a really great green Silk Ribbon from May Arts ribbon to hang the piece with. Moon Beams from Viva Las VegaStamps! was stamped in Archival black on white cardstock then cut apart and adhered down.

I'm always really inspired by other artists... I could seriously list about a million of them. Well just recently I fell in love with Tina Walker's loom work. I just love the whole overall feeling of it, and so I wanted to sort of replicate the fibrous nature of her weavings. I pulled out one of my favorite May Arts ribbons : the crocheted lace. I love to take a pair of scissors to it and really tatter up the edges... but leave the middle alone so that it still has a sort of "kept together" quality. It's been adhered in place between the card and background with wet glue, then adorned with little shaped pearl beads.

The End. <3 <3 Thanks for joining me again today! Let me know what you think of my wall hanging. I did a whole set of "ingredient" stamps that are very Halloweeny for VLVS! and so might do a series to hang up on the wall or in a frame for this time of year. Stay tuned!

and don't please forget about the other participants on this journey. Hop around, leave comments, and be entered to win:

Terra Black Dragon Alison Julia Lyneen Kelli Maureen Sue DominoART Lost Coast Portal To Creativity

Susan Sarah Keren Lisa F Teresa Fiona Lisa H Stampendous Stamps Shell Sarah S

Airless Chambers Susan R Dream In Darkness De Stempelwinkel Leslie Rahye Kat Rebecca Lee Suzi Sara DeeDee