the first 3 of my 6 new collages have been posted on etsy. to see them in their entirety, please click here.

in the meantime… here is a sneak peek at them. enjoy and thanks for looking.

hey all…

getting ready this week for my next portobello west show.

i’ve got a bunch of new pieces in the works and will be showing/selling 3 LARGE pieces plus a couple of my abstract acrylic paintings in addition to my mixed media collage portraits. the 1st big one is done and i’ve just about finished the 2nd one. i love it! no. 2 is very girly with butterflies and pink, silver, cream and dark green colour palette. it’s a great 18×36″ size and looks pretty darn nice if i say so myself =) i have it hanging in my studio downstairs and will miss it dreadfully if it sells this weekend. oh well… that IS the point isn’t it?

the monthly portobello west date is this coming sunday and will be running from 11am-6pm at the rocky mountain train station in vancouver [just off terminal blvd, between main street and clark drive - behind the home depot].

so, if you live in the vancouver area, please take a trip to portobello west on sunday may 25 for a shot of inspiration and an infusion of art and fashion. you won’t be disappointed. the merchandise for sale at this monthly event is outstanding quality and showcases vancouver’s up and coming fashion designers and emerging artists.

at the request of numerous customers, i’ve put together a few fabric only packs for fabric oriented projects. in each pack you will get exactly the fabric you see in the samples below and do not include any embellishments, batting or backing fabrics. they are now available in my etsy shop.

here are the packs:

hey gang…

a number of you have ordered the calendared vinyl that kal used at inspired through us. we’ve had a slight delay and will not be shipping your orders until next week. the initial batch of product was flawed and they are sending me new product to cover the bad batch initially sent to me. i expect it in hand on monday or tuesday this coming week. so hang in there, it’s on it’s way…

also… i’ve not been able to get my other shipping out this past week as initially planned, due to a ridiculous work schedule. i normally ship on wednesday and take the 2 hours out of my day to ship orders through point roberts, washington. unfortunately i’ve been working on some major deadlines and wasn’t able to go earlier in the week as planned. then, and here’s the real kicker, my right eye has been pretty much swollen shut since thursday and i can’t drive. nice.

i have this chronic eye condition called blepharitis which affects my upper eyelids. it is extremely uncomfortable and adversely affects my vision due to major eyelid swelling. it’s caused by stress and man, have i had a lot of that in the last 7 days!  i know i know… more information than you wanted to know, but i did want you to know that if you’re waiting on an order, it’s ready to go. the main delay is that the eye condition affects my depth perception and i just can’t drive safely at the moment. once i get this flare up in my eye sorted out, i’ll be well enough for the 2 hour round trip drive into the usa.

so thanks for your patience… i appreciate it! hang in there, your orders are coming out just as soon as I can get across the border. thanks!

new stuff is listed on etsy! well, sort of new =)

i’ve just listed the next edition of my first 6 digital mixed media collages and will be listing 3 more new ones this evening. the editions of the original collages are numbers 3 of 25. the last batch sold out super fast, so if you’re interested in a higher numbered edition, don’t wait too long to purchase!

a few people who enjoy the textile anthology kits have expressed an interest in just the beads, so i’m obliging by listing them in my etsy shop. as of sunday may 4, i’ve listed 4 pairs of colour coordinated 6/0 seed beads from my textile anthology kits. there is a pink combo, green combo, turquoise combo and slick grey metal combo. check them out here!

within the last few days, i’ve also been asked, to list fabric packs of coordinated patterns/colours for textile anthology-styled projects. I’ve been listening to your requests and this weekend will be obliging you, my loyal readers, and will be listing 4 new groups of fabric and batting only kits in my etsy shop. these are amazing patterns and colours. so “on trend” and luxurious… you’re going to love them!

so that’s my good news at the moment… thanks for looking and reading

finally posted some new original artwork in my etsy shop.

i did these about 6 weeks ago for my first portobello west show of the year. truth be told, i’m happy they didn’t sell right away lol! with all the crazy weather we’ve been having, the miami beach/pool-side vibe of these pieces have been a bright light in a weird weather tunnel.

looking at them is like looking at the best part of miami… that art deco influence combined with a tropical pinks, aqua and violet color palette so bright you almost need to squint at it. yummy! and i did something different… instead of my usual black painted side panels, i painted the sides bright, light magenta. so cool looking! i’ll definitely do this again! the artwork just pops off the walls at home where they have been temporarily hung. looks so cool…

oh! one more thing… i think i have located a source for kal’s famous “calendared vinyl”. once i have confirmed the product, i’ll be listing some in our online store in case anyone is interested.

anyways… that’s it. i’m off to bed. have a great day tomorrow [or actually later today LOL]
night!

i’ve just started another print run of my book iconography, so exciting! soon there will be another lovely stack of books in my hands, ready for the website and ready for my next portobello west show in may.

it’s so hard for me to explain how wonderfully this book turned out, without it sounding fake and hollow. after all, who believes an author touting how great their book is? it sounds so false coming from the book artist doesn’t it?

well, earlier today i received a really kind email from a customer who had gotten my book this month. she was very enthusiastic about the publication and with her permission, i’m posting her critique of the book here:

“Your book is awesome. You have captured the true beauty of women, your botanical imagery …wonderful. The two combined with the use of street poetry makes this book my favorite.

Your dedication for your husband and your Dad and Mom is lovely. I like when artists include something personal in their books relating to family.

I have studied the book cover to cover a few times this week. I will go to your etsy shop soon and purchase one of your originals. Thank you so much for the book. I shall treasure it.”

~ Pamela Barnes, Ontario CANADA

thank you pam for your kind and generous review of my work. it warms my heart knowing that you will treasure this book for years to come.

if you are interested in purchasing a signed edition of iconography: a collection of mixed media beauties, please visit my website. you may also purchase directly through my book production house lulu.com by clicking here.

colour me happy!

the amazing and talented ali edwards’ latest blog post mentions me and my textile anthology class from inspired. can i just say one thing… woot!!

it’s so cool to get mention on the creative miss ali’s blog. thank you, thank you, thank you!

ali also posted about my etsy kits. there are only a few left at the moment, but never fear… more are on their way! i just have to figure out how many additional ones i can squeak out of my current fabric stash [there will be lots of the floragraphix ones very soon…] and will post them throughout the week. i also just restocked on all my seed beads - 200 vials in 8 yummy colours - so kits will be hitting etsy very soon!

thanks for looking and checking out the blog… have a great day =)

since the first etsy kits are nearly sold out [wow! that was fast…] i thought i would add a few more to the mix in different colour palettes.

each kit will come with the same basics [see the etsy listing for complete details] and the embellishments will be adjusted to coordinate with the colour palette of the foundation fabrics. here are the new kit colour ways:

just a reminder…

these kits do not come with the image transferring transparencies, fluid medium or transfer fabric. the textile anthology kits are made up of the patterned fabric seen here plus coordinating embellishments including thread, beads, ribbon, buttons, silk flowers, batting, image transferred graphics and interfacing.

tomorrow, i’ll post some additional images and ideas about how to use these wonderful, textured and tactile fabric pages… in the meantime, happy stitching!

p.s.: i have amy butler fabric arriving in about 2 weeks from her new spring collections. these will be posted in my etsy store shortly after they arrive. thanks!

since i was restless last night…

i thought i would put together the first textile anthology kit for my etsy shop.

this new kit is based on the adjacent project and uses the yummiest fabric - it looks like scrapbook paper! the fabric features silhouettes of botanicals and butterflies in a palette of burgandy, light green, olive, black and white. accompanying this fabric is a soft green patterned square for the back of the piece.

the complete kit contains the following:

• 2 - 9″x9″ squares of patterned fabric
• 1 - 9″x9″ muslin square
• 1 - 8″x8″ quilt batting
• 1 - small bags of loose quilt batting
• 4 large pre-transferred graphic images on linen fabric
• 3 - 9″ strips of ribbon including grosgrain, velvet rickrack and pierced velvet
• velvet brads
• embroidery floss
• glazed button brads
• vintage mother of pearl buttons
• glass beads
• large color coordinated silk floral

the listing is now on etsy… there are 6 Kits available.

additional kits in different colour palettes will be listed in the coming days, so if this one doesn’t do it for you… give it a few days and i’m sure there will be something that does very soon.

if you are interested in having your personal images transferred onto the same linen used in the transferred word and tag graphics, please let me know. for a small fee i will size, print and transfer your images onto linen, then you can be assured that they will be perfectly transferred for your project.

so what do you all think? if you are interested, please click here to jump to the etsy textile anthology listing