Squigglechick Designs: August 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

ATC's in the mail............

...........have started arriving from the Surface Design "show a technique" & they're all absolutely wonderful!!!

This first ATC is from Annette in the UK. Annette recycled Crisp bags (what Americans call potato chip bags) which she wove for the background & the beautiful flower, made from recycled sheers, was created by using a metal stencil in which she burned out the flower shape. You can visit Annette's blog here where you can see all of ATC's that she made & also gives a better description of her process. Love the colors & the spiral is just fabulous!! Thanks, Annette!!

This ATC was made by Michelle. I would have never thought of pairing salmon with turquoise but the colors really worked well together. She layered bit & pieces of scrap material on top of cheesecloth & then a layer of silky solvy, to hold it together while she free motion quilted it. After the silky solvy was washed away, she applied gesso, then a layer of emulsion house paint. After all was dried, she then applied color with Golden Acrylics. You can see her process here & view more of her finished cards here. Thanks Michelle, I always love trading with you!!

This beautiful ATC is from Dotti. The black with the copper really makes this card pop!! That rusty brown color strip down the middle was actually created by rust dyeing, which I've always wanted to try but have never had the time (too many ideas in my head & not enough time to try all of them). The copper metal "laugh" plate on this card, reminded me of a book I just bought, "The Art of Stitching on Metal" by Ann Parr. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to sit down & actually read the book as of yet, but at a glance, it appears to be a terrific book!!

Thanks, Dotti for the beautiful ATC!!

Another great swap from a bunch of fabulous artists, thanks ladies!!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Double-sided ATC's ??

These look SO much better in person! Apparently, I'm very good at creating work that just doesn't seem to photograph very well.

These ATC's are for a swap in Surface Design. We were to "show a technique." They were made using 8 different layers. This wasn't my intentions, but since my first idea didn't work, I ended up using if for the backing.

My intentions were to use layers of black felt, hand stamped with lumiere paint, painted bond a web, Angelina Fibers & black tulle. I then stitched all four layers together. I had hoped that when I hit it with a heat gun that it would melt through the many layers, creating interesting surfaces. I didn't give it much of a chance.......as soon as it melted through the tulle & turned the Angelina Fibers brown, I stopped. I had hoped that the Angelina Fibers would retain their initial color. I then flipped the piece over & started melting through the felt. The stitching worked well & prevented the piece from shrinking or curling very much. The problem I faced as I melted through the black felt was that I could see the purple painted bond a web, but no Angelina Fibers (they were on the other side of the painted bond a web). I then realized that I needed to start over & have the Angelina Fibers facing the black felt, so when I melted through the felt, you would see the colorful Angelina. This seemed to work.

After everything had cool, I then applied color using Shiva sticks, (which I've never been a fan of & after this project STILL not) & Golden Fluid Acrylics. I then used metallic thread & free motion stitched over the entire piece.

I've enclosed closeups so you can hopefully get a better idea of what is happening within the ATC's.

Remember the fumbled first try at these? I ended up using it for my backing fabric which ended up giving me the opportunity to make double-sided ATC's :)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Nacho Average Wallet

Ok I apologize, that was terrible.

I thought I'd post a couple more for you to see & also for my DH's co-workers. Sounds as if they're a little concerned about why he's going through the trash at work. He then pointed them to my blog, now they're not as worried anymore, lol!!

The Frito's were a custom order for Kelly of Happy Shack Designs. One of her daughters liked my Cheetoh's Wallet & the other liked Frito's, since I wasn't sure which she preferred, I made one from Frito's Scoops & the other from the Original Frito's. She picked the original, so I added the other two to my Etsy shop.

© 2009 Tracy Borders (front)

I like the corn pocket.

I'd love to make some from chocolate bar wrappers but since I'm not a chocolate lover, it may take me awhile to get enough wrappers.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Potato Chip Quilt Block to Mini Wallets

Remember the Croatin potato Crisp (chip) bag quilt block? I wanted to try to create a clutch purse with the remaining chip bags that I had but wasn't sure how to protect those "bags" after they were sewn together for durability. Some artist friends suggested using clear vinyl for the "outside" of the clutch.

Over the weekend, I started playing with the vinyl & look what happened!! I figured I'd start small & work up to the clutch.

A friend of mine had commented on how she had such a hard time finding a mini wallet, so I made one for her. After I put my biz card in the clear pocket, I realized, "hey, why not a clear sleeve for your ID?"

This wallet was made from some fabric that I had left over from another project (LOVE that color) :) This time, I added the clear sleeve for the ID & an extra sleeve behind it for credit cards/cash, etc. The fabric is hand dyed bamboo, hand stamped with Lumiere, Angelina Fibers, Misty Fuse, machine stitching & hand dyed cheesecloth.

By then, I felt comfortable sewing with the vinyl so I ventured on with some scraps left over from the chip bags (I really liked how it turned out)!!

Since I liked how well this turned out, I tried the one below. I brought it in to show co-workers & sold it in 10 minutes!!

If you'd like to see the others that I made with Dr Pepper bottle labels, other cheetoh wrappers & hand dyed fabrics, they're posted in my Etsy Shop. (I haven't gotten around to making the clutch yet since I'm having so much fun making the mini wallets!!)

I try really hard to not be a pack rat, but now, since I've discovered these mini wallets, I'm saving chip bags, soda bottle labels, beer labels, etc. I hate the idea of collecting trash, but look what wonderful things can be done with something that you'd just normally throw away. I've asked my friends to start saving me their trash, otherwise, I've informed my DH that we're going to have to start eating more junk food (just for the wrappers) & we really don't want to do that :)

(think of me the next time you throw away that empty Dorito's bag) :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

A Beautiful ATC

I received this beautiful ATC from Kath Loden in England, in a private trade. Isn't it wonderful?!! LOVE the colors (& the squiggles)!! AND she sent it in this wonderful little envelope that she created for the card. Wished I could remember to do things like that, I get so caught up finishing up the ATC & making sure it gets in the mail quickly, I never seem to think about, "what else could I do?"

Thanks for a fabulous trade, Kath!!
(you can see the card I made for her here)