Birthday Sale at Studio Jules!

Today is my husband's birthday, so I'm celebrating by giving everyone 25% off their purchase at Studio Jules on ArtFire! If you been watching an item, this is the day to get it, this is a ONE DAY SALE!

New Books to Review

Today is one of those days when I just couldn't climb the stairs and work in my Studio. Without a window to let the sunshine in, well, I just needed daylight today...the window is coming, I just don't know when.
So, I have reorganized my Blog a little bit and have added a page to my Face Book for StudioJules. I'm going to post book reviews and such out there and I hope you will sign up as a "Fan" and let me know what books you are reading and using in your art.
The two books I have in front of me now are "Clothdolls for Textile Artists" by Ray Slater and "Stitch Dissolve Distort with Machine Embroidery" by Valerie Campbell-Harding & Maggie Grey.
I am looking through "Stitch Dissolve Distort with Machine Embroidery" for some ideas to use on the Sunflower Quilts I'm working on right now. The results should be very interesting!
The "Clothdolls for Textile Artists" book is one that I have been wanting for awhile, so I bought it when Interweave was running their last sale. I can't wait to dive into making some Angel Dolls with the techniques they have in this book.
If you have used either of these books let me know what your thoughts!

Sunflower Quilts

Okay, you know I'm addicted to Sunflowers...first it was the shawl, now I'm working on developing two quilts. The pictures above are of a sunflower in my garden, I love the size and the colors in these flowers. I saw some sunflower pictures on the Internet that had water dripping from the petals, so I sprayed water on these flowers and started snapping pictures! After I uploaded the pictures I enhanced the color temp and saturation. Now it is up to me to choose the fabrics! As you know I love batiks and I love my hand painted fabrics, so one quilt will be out of batiks and one out of hand painted fabrics. I am anxious to see the difference in texture and moods these fabrics will bring to the eye, along with some mixed media. Hope you enjoy the adventure with me!

One Project Complete

I was able to finish my Image to Fabric Sheet Transfer project...then I went shopping for more art supplies! I'm fairly pleased with the way this turned out, I just wished I had ramped up the color little more so it didn't look so cloudy, but for the end project, this may be just perfect. I've added the sketch that will be the main part of an art quilt I am going to create later this year. I want to take my classes at the Houston Quilt Show first and use some of the techniques I'm going to learn. Anyway, here it is. The saying at the top says "Keys, Keys, Everywhere Keys...Marie Held a lot of Keys...But Who Really Held the Key to Marie?"...If you knew Marie, you would understand...

Technique Day!

Today is a beautiful day! A cold front moved into North Texas and it is only going to be in the 90's today!!!! What a change from our triple digit heat. Knowing that we are going to have beautiful sunshine today I really want to get out and paint fabric. My trust worthy husband and son are cleaning and sealing the concrete area for my paint station in the back yard. I am so looking forward to this!! (can you tell?) Anyway, I thought I would work on through some of the techniques that I need to catch-up on with my online group (we're using Fabric Art Workshop by Susan Stein). The first lesson I started on this morning is scanning and printing on fabric cotton and organza. When Jeff's aunt died earlier this year and we cleaned out her house, I came home with a load of keys she had from her Real Estate days. I've scanned them in and have put some of my hand painted fabric behind them for color. I just didn't like the white background, I have to have color! The first two pictures have the white background. As you can see I controlled the color temperature and saturation to make the image black and white.

These next images have the hand painted fabric behind them and I have tweeked the color temp and saturation to make the background pop and and fall flat.

It's Still HOT Outside and I'm Thinking Up Some HOT Ideas!

It's still Hot in Texas and I know there are going to be a lot more days of triple digits. But no matter what the weather is like, I wake up almost every morning saying, "Okay, what can I play with today in my studio?" Mornings are my best creative time, I wake up and the house is quiet and nothing has interfered with my clear head. The last several days I've been making notes and sketches for a series of quilts that I want to create...I'm not giving any details yet....but they will be very different from what I have done in the past and I'm really going to push myself out of my "comfort zone" to try some new techniques and materials.
This week we have company, so I won't be able to get into my studio until later in the week, so until then...

It's HOT in Texas!

You know summer is really rolling in Texas when we have triple digits for several days in a row during the first part of July, it is HOT in Texas!!!!!
Speaking of summer, my friends Sue and Terri with "Two Creative Studios" are running a "Summer Giveaway Event". To sign up for their giveaway, just sign up for their newsletter! I'll make it real easy for you, click "here" and you will link right to their page to sign up for their newsletter. Sue and Terri have a great website with online classes and projects. Sue just put a free project on how to do Soy Wax Batik. She must have been reading my mind on how to get started with this! Thanks Sue!!!!
I hope you all have a great summer, I'm going to spend the next week kissing and playing with my five month old twin granddaughter's while they are here!
Have a beautiful day!

Final Day of Free Shipping!

Today is the last day of my Grand Opening FREE SHIPPING Special in my ArtFire studio, Studio Jules. If there is an item you have been watching, today is the day to make your purchase and get FREE SHIPPING!

My next project is going to be an angel quilt. I haven't decided if it is going to be a Garden Angel or a Fiber Art Angel, ideas for both are going through my head and landing on my sketch pad. I have made a vow to myself that with each quilt I will learn a new technique and use it in the quilt. I have some pretty awesome books using different techniques, so we'll see what happens! I'll blog about the techniques as I get to them.

Until then, enjoy the rest of you weekend!

Happy Fourth of July!

I love holiday weekends, relaxing with the family and watching Fire Works! But business comes first sometimes. I am almost finished cleaning and reorganizing my studio. I'll post pictures when I'm done. I want to get finished and play with the grandgirls!
I extended my Grand Opening Free Shipping through the Holiday Weekend, my Present to you for the Nations Birthday! I have just posted more bookmarks, fabric and hankie blanks.
Okay, need to get busy and finish cleaning this room! My reorganization looks great and it is going to be so much easier to work in here now!