I'm Featured in an Etsy Treasury

View my scarf

I've been featured in my first Treasury!!

Riskybeads chose to add me to her Etsy Treasury, thank you Lori!! If you get a moment, check out her Etsy shop, she has some really nice pieces!!

(I have to admit, the scarf she chose of mine, is one of my favorites that I've recently made.)

Ornaments for the Holidays or for Whenever

I always enjoy making these!!

They're both approximately 8 1/2" long by 3.5" to 4" wide. They're both made of hand dyed bamboo poplin (of course) & hand dyed cheesecloth.

The blue ornament below, has been machine stitched & hand stamped with squiggles. Angelina Fibers (the iridescence that you can see) were then fused between the bamboo poplin & hand dyed cheesecloth. If you're curious about Angelina Fibers make sure you check out Embellishment Village's vodcast on Beginning Angelina Basics. It's an excellent 10 minute video on how to use Angelina Fibers.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

For sale in my Etsy shop

The red ornament (yes the color is that vibrant), also from hand dyed bamboo, has layers of machine stitching, fused cheesecloth (the white misty fuse gives it a nice little bit of added glitz), more machine stitching & hand beading.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

For sale in my Etsy Shop

The nice thing about these is that with the colors & designs I use, they can be used all year around. They'd hang nicely on a Christmas tree or wrapped gift or hang in your studio or office. It would be nice if you could hang them from your rear view mirror, but the direct sun light would fade the dyed fabric.

I have ornaments in different stages, waiting to be finished, in my studio in colors of purple, possibly turquoise & of course my signature neon green. I'm also working on some embossed hand dyed velvet. I'll post them here when I finished. (Am hoping with this 4 day holiday weekend, I'll have a lot to post here next week!!)

I have a new label.................

I've been called many different things (think nicely, here) :)

I've been called an artist, a Fiber artist, a quilter, a surface person, a dyer (I've never really considered myself a mixed media artist) but now I have a new title to add to my list..............."cross-over person."


I'm so lucky, my quilting store & bead store moved in together so now I can visit one store to get fabric & beads.


I went in to get thread for this...........

This is going to be a cover for a new journal. It's molding paste, stitched, painted & beaded. The color in person is so much brighter, think peacock feather & you've nailed the colors.

And beads for this............

This is hand dyed bamboo poplin that I've free motion stitched. Plans are to bead it & create holiday ornaments or gift tie-ons.

I'll post pics of both once they're finished & yes, they'll both be in my Etsy store!!

Back to my new title...................as I was checking out & visiting with one of the ladies that works there, she asked what I did. As I showed her these two pieces, she said, "oh, you're one of those cross-over people, you know, that do beading & quilting." And I said, yes, I guess I am. So, now I have a new title to add to my list. Are you a cross-over person?

By the way, I've created some blank note cards for my Etsy store. You'll find a closeup of Green Apple Martini & a blue woven bamboo strip squiggled pc there.

What Green Color Are You?

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

This fits me to a "T"!! (Whenever my DH describes me to someone, normal is never used in the sentence .) Why be normal, anyone can do that? Being different, now that takes work :)

What color of green are you?

Yummy Journals............

© 2008 Tracy Borders

Remember the burgundy journal a couple of posts back for a custom order? Here's the other one that goes along with it. I never grow tired of the green & turquoise :) This is made from hand dyed bamboo poplin, black misty fuse, Angelina Fibers & green & turquoise eyelash yarn. I've posted a closeup of the threads & the fabulous button I found for the closure, below. Love how the button works with the piece.

For the signatures, I used turquoise & green Lohkta paper. I love that handmade paper look. Something I discovered with this paper, I couldn't tear it to keep that nice uneven edge. It was as if some of the fibers in the paper were plastic & it wouldn't budge on tearing.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

Please click on the photos (if you can) to see the detail better. (I'm slowly getting better with my free hand machine stitched squiggles.)

The journal below is a belated birthday present for a very dear friend of mine. This is the journal that I've been giving you peaks of over the last couple of weeks.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

I just love, love, love this!! :) Normally, it would not take me as long to create a journal, however, I was using materials that I had never used before, so there was a huge learning curve AND I'm very proud of myself in sticking with it & not giving up.

The base material for the journal is cotton fabric, I then added modeling paste, scribed into the paste while it was still wet & placed the metal squiggles into it as well. After the paste dried, I lifted the metal squiggles & machine stitched over the dried paste. After the stitching, I then applied Prussian Blue acrylic paint & replaced the metal squiggles & waited for it to dry. To seal the paint & help adhere the squiggles to the journal, I then applied a polymer medium, which gave it that glossy appearance. The journal, has a really nice hand to it. One would think with the modeling paste & the polymer medium it would be very stiff, however, it's not, a friend of mine said it reminded her of eel skin.

Love that button!!!


© 2008 Tracy Borders

Inside, for the signatures, I used hand made paper instead of the normal bright white I normally use. I hope my friend is better at using this than if it were me. I received a beautiful leather journal with hand made paper for a birthday gift, back in September & I still haven't been able to bring myself to sketching in it yet.

I have plans to make more of these for my Etsy shop. (There are actually 3 in progress right now sitting on my studio table.)

BFF Award

Scrappy Cat awarded me the Blogging Friends Forever Award & Fannie also awarded this to me as well, not that long ago !!! Make sure you check out both of their blogs as they're creating some wonderful art!!

Now I'm supposed to pick 4 dedicated followers & one new one from another part of the world..............

1. Sherry
2. Michelle
3. Michele
4. kiwi Carole
5. Tracy Mc

I did get the blue molding paste journal finished last night & it turned out great (if I do say so myself). Sorry no pics yet, by the time it was finished, it was too dark outside to photograph. I will get it photographed this weekend along with another journal that I just finished & post it hopefully on Monday!!

Before & After..............

I wasn't sure about posting these, since the metallic paints in the samples really don't appear in the photos very well & I feel that the metallic "shine" is what really makes the pieces!! (In each of these samples, you'll see the before & after they were painted. You may have to click on the photos to see detail better.)

© 2008 Tracy Borders

The piece above, was created by weaving cheesecloth layered fiber strips & plain strips & fabric. The second photo shows how the piece turned out after it was painted with several layers of colors. I LOVE the colors in this piece!!



© 2008 Tracy Borders

I had little hope for the photo with the couched threads (I thought it was pretty ugly.) After I painted this piece (on the right), I really ended up loving the it. It has quite a few layers of neon green acrylic paint & Payne's Gray acrylic. After the paint dried, I applied pewter Treasure Gold to all of the rasied surfaces, which I think really helped make the piece "pop". (Wished the photo was just a little bit better for you to see, it's not as muddy as it may appear.)

© 2008 Tracy Borders

This sample piece was done on a 5"x7" canvas. The metal squiggles & cheesecloth were laid on top of the molding paste while it was still wet.

I'm still not sure about the success of this sample. Layers of Payne's Gray was painted over the cheesecloth & burnt orange on the right & then a metallice green & silver over the entire piece. I think I might have to live with this one for awhile before I can decide if I like it or not.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

Remember the molding paste journal I've been teasing you about? Here's a closeup. This piece has really been a learning & challenging piece for me & has taught me a lot of patience as well. Just as things seem to be going well & I think that I can move forward on to the next step, a bump in the road appears & it has to be tackled before I can move on. But, I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself, I haven't given up & tossed the piece aside & moved on to something completely new, I've stuck with it & I think I'm going to be really pleased with how this journey ends!!

Angelina & Eyelash

© 2008 Tracy Borders

This journal was a custom order for a friend of mine's mom for Christmas. (I hope she likes it!) Wished this first photograph turned out just a little better. Those Angelina Fibers really play havoc with the camera flash.

This hand dyed bamboo was a color I've never really worked in before (had to dye it twice to get the color that my friend wanted.) It's hard to tell from the photographs, but it's a very deep burgundy that was overlaid with black misty fuse, Angelina Fibers & burgundy eye lash yarn.

© 2008 Tracy Borders

I have to keep this journal locked away until I can deliver it to my friend, something about the fuzzy eyelash yarn tends to attract both of my cats :).

Remember the modeling paste samples a couple of posts back from my Textures Class? I'm in the process of creating a journal cover for a special friend of mine. I had planned to have this done for her last week, but as I'm still learning the process of the modeling paste, painting it & sealing it, it's taken me longer than I had planned. Each process seems to take about a day, with applying & letting each step dry & cure. But that's ok, this is my first time at using this technique in a finished product, so there's bound to be a learning curve. (I'll post it here, once it's finished.)