MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

A blog about my interests, which include fabric landscapes and various and assorted other artsy pursuits and sometimes known to contain mumblings of a random nature.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Searching for topic today!

I was trying to come up with a topic for today (after missing a post yesterday) and was hard-pressed to think of something (heaven forbid I should have to resort to mumbling again...horrors!). Kym very nicely reminded me that I hadn't shown these yet, so you've been saved from another does of mumblings. Lucky you!

The picture (which is slightly out of focus AND off-centre because, of course, the camera needs to be recharged) is of the atc's we exchanged for our summer-themed swap with the CQTeers. The one on the bottom right is the one I made. It's funny how six people can have such radically different 'styles'!

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Windfall!

My sister-in-law gave me these this morning - dated from 1925-26, wondering if I was interested in them. Oh boy, am I ever!! Apparently she has discovered a whole bunch of them residing in the attic. The illustrations are priceless and the advertisments are a hoot.

I think maybe I can scan some of the pictures into my blog so they can be downloaded, but have to do some investigating to see how I can do that. Is anybody interested in them if I do? If there's no interest, there isn't any point in going to the effort. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Friday, July 27, 2007

Done, done and DONE!

Today I'm showing the final pictures of my 'treasure box' These pictures show the inside. The first picture shows the inside 'pages' open so you can read the text. Click to enlarge if you'd like to actually read them! The next picture shows the outside of the pages (the inside of the box...are you confused?). The remaining pictures are close-ups of the work inside. Enjoy!! I've had a blast making this, but won't be repeating the process anytime too soon. It was very labour intensive.














Thursday, July 26, 2007

OK....here it is!






















Since I'm never quite sure which order Blogger will post the pictures in, I'm going to have to guess at it.
The outside of my rust project is done! I *think* the first picture you see is the top (I hope). The ribbon is threaded through some interesting wire beads I had in my stash to form a closure of sorts. The next three pictures show the sides...the box has five sides, so hopefully you can see the details (click on pictures to enlarge). The final two pictures are of the 'stand' and the outside of the main part unfolded. When it's all complete, there will be art inside each of the five sides too, but I haven't had time to tackle that yet.
The base I used was some of the rust dyed fabric I made awhile ago. All of the embellishments were dug out of my stash so I haven't had to spend any money on this, which makes it even better. Notice the drinking straw beads?
If I had it to do over, I would use a much more solid type of interfacing inside it for more stability. I used what I had, which is ok, but it would have been better with something thicker. All in all, it's been a great project and I'm thrilled with it.
Specs: The box measures approx. 6". Pattern: pg.48-55, Quilting Arts Magazine, Issue Sixteen Winter 2004
Please tell me what you think in the comments!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Oh, the suspense!


Yep, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're just sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what on earth it is I'm creating with my rust fabric! Weeelllll....stay tuned, folks, cause I'm going to unveil part of it tomorrow.
Remember the drinking straws from yesterday? They are now beads. Simple to do too - just put a little glue along the edge of a piece of plastic drinking straw (I cut mine into approx. 1" pieces). Wrap with fabric and glue down the outside edge. Wrap with fibres and you're done! Altogether too simple, right? Tomorrow you will see what I've used them for. Just one more sleep......

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Now what do you suppose....


.....drinking straws have to do with anything? Hmmmm.......
On another topic, I guess this morning I had best do a general shovel-out of my workroom. When the actual working area dwindles to a tiny little area about ten inches square I know it's time. I am constantly promising myself that THIS time after I clean I will put things away as I'm finished with them. That resolve might last an hour! The creative muse strikes and I'm done for. I even end up with piles on the floor beside my chair, which can be dangerous when I forget and get up in a rush to get something I need right this instant. Doing a face plant on a cement floor (cushioned with a VERY thin layer of tile!!) doesn't seem to do a thing for my muse.
So....I'd better clean. Sigh.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Another installment...


Here's another 'bit' done on my rust project! Can you tell I'm somewhat obsessed with this?

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Rust project...part ???


I've forgotten what 'part' I'm at with showing you my progress on this, but here is what I've done over the past day and a half. Doesn't look like much, but then again, I haven't had much time to work at it. Being able to use things that have been in my stash forever is great!

Friday, July 20, 2007

I'm baaaaackk!

Heaven! That's pretty much what the last couple of days have been like. We were at our friends cottage near Haliburton on an absolutely beautiful, unspoiled lake. The weather was lovely the first day, but we had rain yesterday (which isn't a hardship when you're in such a nice place).

We ate FAR too much and laughed just about as much and I feel as though I've been away for days, not just overnight. Talk about the 'pause that refreshes'!

We went for a couple of long walks and saw some of the damage the hurricane that went through there last summer caused. What a mess it must have been, but no cottages were damaged, which was a miracle. We walked with a bit of trepidation though, because bears have been sighted closeby. Actually one broke into a cottage just a few places down and gorged himself quite happily from the fridge. The owners came back from a boat ride and she dashed into the cottage to the bathroom, entirely missing the fact that the bear was in the kitchen! Scary! If I didn't have to 'P' prior to that, I certainly would have when I saw the bear!!!

We went for a lovely boat ride (small pontoon boat) around their bay where we could see some of the mansions people are building and calling them cottages. Must be nice to have money. Our friends have a small cottage with two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, small kitchen, a big deck overlooking the water and a smaller closed-in porch, but it's nothing fancy in comparison with the majority of the rest around the area. Fortunately the rules state that all cottages must be built back on the property so as to leave the shoreline relatively untouched and wild. Enjoy the pictures (they're clickable to enlarge, as always).




























Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Rusty stuff...part three




This is my progress today on my project. The 'believe' section isn't completed yet, but I think you can get the general idea of where I'm going with it.
I will be leaving you 'blogless' for a couple of days because we're going away to a cottage for a couple of days with our friends. Feel free to mumble amongst yourselves and will post when I get back.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Rusty Project - Part 2




I'm working away at my rust project and trying not to give too much away about the final product until the end. Not sure that will work, but we'll see! Today I had a good time playing with beads and buttons and you can see the results here.
Yesterday we had a family reunion for DH's side. Luckily we only got a few drops of rain and for once we didn't pick the hottest day of the entire year as we've been known to do before. It's potluck or else we wouldn't be able to afford to feed about thirty people on our own. Nobody should be able to go away and say they were hungry afterwards, that's for sure!

Friday, July 13, 2007

Rust project - Part 1

Today I went to my friend Kym's for a sew day and got some work done using my rusty fabrics. The colours aren't really 'true' in this picture, but you can get the idea I think. I decided I *will* post pictures as I go along. The entire thing is being made using what's already in my stash, which is a good thing (right, Martha?)

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Rust Project Beginning!



This is the latest piece of rust dyeing and now I'm ready to start my project. This is my favourite piece so far - I love the intense colours. I left it 'cooking' for about a week, rather than just a couple of days and I like the end result much better.

I can't decide if I will show you progress on what I'm making, or wait til it's done. Hmmm....decisions, decisions.....

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

TAST - Sheaf Stitch


Here's my effort at the challenge this week for TAST - the sheaf stitch.
For more info go to: http://inaminuteago.com

Monday, July 09, 2007




I finished another tote and have to admit that I rather like this one. My camera needs to be recharged so I had to guess at the pictures, so you're getting two - one too far away and one too close! Oh well, at least you can see the details.
The recycled jeans had the beaded detail already on them so I used the main parts as is, and then restitched 'bits' elsewhere on the tote to tie it all in together.
It's extremely hot here today, so it's a good time to live in my basement and be creative!

Saturday, July 07, 2007




ORGANIZATION!
Blogger is being stubborn again today and doesn't want to let me put a title on this...so...I did my own!! Take that, blogger.
I'm happy this afternoon to be able to announce that I have managed to organize my rubber stamps and have gone from a large tote down into two (count 'em...TWO) small holders simply by removing said stamps from their wooden mounting blocks. You will note the ruler being used to show scale (somewhat) with the pile of mounts being recycled elsewhere. The two containers that now hold the bulk of the stamps are the plastic ones you receive when you order a set of stamps from Stampin' Up which measure approx. 9x6x1". The container on the left holds anything to do with words & alphabets. The other holds pretty much everything else. The little plastic container to the right holds all the teeny-tiny stamps that might get lost with the bigger ones. To make retrieval easier (AND to refresh my memory as to what I have) I have numbered the back of each stamp with a permanent marker and have a master 'book' which contains the picture of the stamp and it's corresponding number. I even treated my stamps to a bath!

Friday, July 06, 2007

Mumblings - of the Grande sort

Today I plan to mumble. Why is that, you say? Well, I have to admit that I have managed to do nothing at all creative today and have nothing to show and don't really feel like doing another book review.

Mumble #1 - One wonders why, all of a sudden, blogger is refusing to let me put a title on this post. Do they know that all I intend to do is mumble and even they are bored senseless?

Mumble#2 - Guess what I did today? I had a picnic in a cemetery.

Mumble #3 - Did you know that whilst doing flower pounding that you should lay your leaves face up and your flowers face down? I didn't either.

Mumble # 4 - Does anybody remember the song 'Standing Outside the Fire' by Garth Brooks? Do you remember the video? Did you drip tears into your cleavage every time you watched it?


ARE WE GETTING BORED YET?

Mumble  - Y'all oughta be proud of me. I went to Chapters today and didn't buy a darn thing! That has to be a first. What was even more awe-inspiring is that I didn't see a single one I even remotely wanted. How weird is that? I think I must be coming down with something....

Mumble  - Never say never because you know darn well it's gonna come back and bite you where it hurts. When I took up knitting a year or so ago I swore I would NEVER have more than one project on the go at a time because I didn't want to get overwhelmed. So - can anybody tell me why I happen to have a sock, a clog AND a prayer shawl on needles at the moment?

Mumble  - There's another one of life's mysteries I would like to have solved. Can anybody explain why, despite one's poundage staying the same, that it manages to rearrange itself and suddenly leave one with a uni-belly? Combine that with certain upper-end holders that create a uni-boob and it's downright frightening. What's next I wonder...uni-toes, uni-eyebrows, or (gasp) uni-noses? I can see me now....

Mumble - And while I'm at it - who invented menopause anyway?

Mumble  - With that, I'm done...for now. Stay tuned because there's bound to be another installment.





Thursday, July 05, 2007

TAST - Week 27


I missed doing the past couple of TAST challenges, but will catch up later. I thought rather than be behind, I'd just jump back in with the current stitch.
This didn't want to photograph particularly well, so please click on it to make it a bit larger. The stitch is bullion and is one I have used before. I can't always guarantee my results however and sometimes lose control of it, despite using the proper milliners needles. It's something that will come with practice I'm sure.
Thanks Sharon, as always, for the fun challenge! ( www.inaminuteago.com )

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Of spiders, and webs, and techniques


This afternoon, in our ongoing quest to declutter, we attacked the cold cellar. Literally. There were all sorts of live (and dead already!) critters in there. Yeeewww. We also excavated some pickles and jam made back in the 90's....double yeeewwww! I haven't 'done' pickles in over five years and have absolutely no further intentions of doing any....so....5 cases of canning jars on the way to the recycle and a huge cauldron of 'sludge' (ie. a mixture of pickles and jam) has made it's way to the compost. I won't discuss the rest of the junk we unearthed, because it's just too disgusting for words.
On another note...here's another technique. This one is courtesy of www.layersuponlayers.com and is called weathered metal. It calls for vinyl tape, but I didn't have any - used good ol' duct tape. Basically you just put tape down onto cardstock, and then paint it lightly with three different colours of paint. Oh yeah, and you sand it before and after you paint. Easy, huh? I didn't know if I was thrilled with it at first, but once I cut it into atc's it is great.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Another experiment


Guess I must be in an 'experimental mood' at the moment!
This particular one came from directions on the 'Try It Tuesdays' site (which isn't in operation at the moment) and is called the Easy Rusted Background...original technique was by Judy Scott.
Basically it involves a fairly thick coat of gesso, little pieces of aluminum foil, salt or sand, and two or three colours of paint. I used four colours of acrylic folk art paint for my sample (again using up some of my stash...some of my paints are getting pretty yucky!!). I like the end result, but would try some different colours next time. My colours are pretty old and certainly aren't 'in vogue' right now.