Didn't Make it into Quilt National

This is the first year I've entered a piece into Quilt National. I went in thinking that it probably wouldn't get accepted, since this is the first time I've submitted to this show, but a teeny part of me was SO hoping that it would.

Remember Green Apple Martini?

(also known amongst an inner circle of artist friends as GAM) Well, she was rejected.

She's been entered into a couple of different shows & rejected at both. I think someone's trying to tell me she needs to be put into my Etsy store (which I REALLY hope to have open by the end of October.) I know it's only been two shows & that you probably get more rejections than you do acceptions, but that's ok, on to my next piece.

One great thing, I submitted GAM to Betty at Embellishment Village & she said that she would love to post GAM on their website!! So all was not lost.

(For those that have never seen Green Apple Martini before, she was made from hand dyed bamboo poplin & cheesecloth, thread painted, Angelina Fibers, metal squiggle clips & those bright neon triangles were created from toilet tissue paper casts from rubber stamps.)

Creative Slump

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, sometimes it seems that life just tends to just take over, or at least that's the excuse I'm going to use.

I really haven't created much physical art since the journals. Not sure if the brain just needed a rest or the fact that my in-laws are coming this week, so we been rushing like made to finish our paved garden in the back yard (that we've been working on for over 2 years) .

My DH & I poured every single one of those 75 concrete pavers. (Kind of reminds me of a patchwork quilt). I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.


While mom & dad were finishing up in the back yard, our little 16 pound boy, Matisse (below) was kicking back and enjoying the day :)

You wouldn't think it would be comfortable sitting like this, but he seems to do this quite often.



I would have shared some pictures of my DH & another good friend of ours trying on some kilts at a store called, Utilikilts, in Seattle, but he made me promise to not post ANY pics of him in a "skirt", so all I can do is post a picture of the front of the store :)

And the winners are...................

Lynda-aka Purple Missus & Morning Dove

I'll be contacting you today to verify mailing addresses.

Thank you all for visiting my blog & posting such kind words. I now have a new set of blogs in my favorites that I will be visting often :)

Please come back & visit often (amongst other ideas, I have about 4 journal ideas, made from funky materials, screaming to be created.)

Thank you & I look forward to meeting up with you again in cyberspace!!

100th Post & 2 giveaways!!!

This is my 100th post (& also my birthday), so I will be hosting 2 giveaways!! :)

All you need to do, to be entered, is post a comment to this post & make sure I have a way of contacting you, should you win.


Through blogging, I have met some wonderful artists that create beautiful work, which often inspire me & as an extra bonus, I have made some wonderful friends along the way!!! Thank you to all of you!!

I wanted to share with you what a couple of very kind "blogging" friends sent me for my birthday. The first photo was a gift from Fannie.

Fannie contacted Michelle at EyEmbellishments & asked her to create something for me because she knew I loved the work that Michelle created. The funny thing, is that Fannie, didn't know that I have been in contact with Michelle, a few times, to have her make me some "squiggle" buttons for some of my journals that I have plans to create. Fannie, I just love it, the squiggles & the green color, they're fabulous, thank you, thank you!!

The next wonderful gift was from Michelle (the same artist). How cool can that be?!! The pieces are absolutely fabulous & the "squiggles", I just love, love, love them!! Thank you Michelle, for thinking of me on my birthday & your generosity!!

Now for the giveaways!!

I took this Starbucks bag, below..........

And made this!!!!

© 2008 Tracy Borders

© 2008 Tracy Borders

I painted it a nice sea green color & then I used a robin's egg blue stamp pad over the top of that. I tried out a new clasp idea for the journal & I'm pretty happy with it.

This journal, I can happily say is made 98% from recycled items. The journal, a Starbucks hand bag, the signatures inside are actually the bottom of fax confirmation sheets from where I work & the light blue cord was actually given to me from a left over knitting project from a friend. The interesting thing about the cording.....................it's made from corn. Yes corn!!! I tried to dye it a deep turquoise, which didn't take, but I think the color worked perfectly for this project. The light blue paper was the only thing that I had to go out & purchase. The beads are mood beads that change in color & the dragonfly button (that I just love) came from one of my hoarding stashes.

The next journal, I may have a little bit of a hard time parting with. I hand dyed bamboo poplin, rubber stamped & layered it with hand dyed cheesecloth, more rubber stamping & metal spiral clips.

I'm pretty excited about this journal! I tried out a new closure on this one as well & I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. The leather strapping I had to paint, I just couldn't believe that I couldn't find a store that carried orange leather :) The signatures inside are also from the bottom of fax confirmation pages. (I just can't see wasting perfectly good paper!!)

© 2008 Tracy Borders

© 2008 Tracy Borders

I had a wonderful time making these knowing that they would go to wonderful homes!! Thank you to all of you that have visited my posts through the past year & for leaving wonderful & often times helpful comments!!

I will draw two names from the comments left on this post Sunday night & announce the winners on Monday morning!! Thank you!!!

(for those of you that were wondering, I can happily say that I'm not 40 yet, I just turned 39!!)

This & that...................

I would first like to say I had a wonderful weekend of completions. I finished 3 pieces for swaps with other fiber artists, started dyeing scarves for my store (which I really hope to open soon), put the finishing touches on one journal & started working on creating 3 new journals. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than completing a piece!!


Remember my bamboo pc (previous post)? I'd like to share with you the beautiful pc's I received in return. We were to create a pc using anything bamboo.


This Bamboo Fusion Goddess is from Dotti. Her body is made from dyed bamboo batting. Isn't she wonderful?!!

As always, another fabulous pc from Fannie!! She hand dyed & painted bamboo yarn with silk paints & Neocolor II Watersoluble Wax Pastels & sandwiched silk roving between Angelina Fibers. And of course some wonderful thread painting. Check out her wonderful blog (I'm a HUGE fan)!!

Francoise sent me this wonderful pc all the way from Belgium!! The background is hand dyed bamboo fabric & the bamboo stalks are created from bamboo paper & then stitched with bamboo thread. What a GREAT idea!!

This pc was sent all the way from The Netherlands from Hetty (sorry could not locate a blog for her). What a beautiful piece!! She thread painted a bamboo cane, added some hand-spun bamboo yarn onto & attached them to this beautiful china silk. It will be stored in a plastic pc sleeve. It's so crisp & white, I don't want to put any "smoodges" on it!

All of these pc's are absolutely wonderful & I love how each of them are totally different from each other. Thanks for trading, ladies!!!!

I can now post the one I made for Fannie (she was my guinea pig for this experiment). I have always wanted to create a woven PC or ATC, but I always got hung up on how to finish the edges. I jumped in with both feet on this one & this is how it turned out. I think I'm pretty happy with it. (Thanks Fannie for sending me a photo of it, since I forgot to take one before I sent it out.)

I almost forgot!!! My next post will be my 100th post!!! And, next week is my birthday, so I am planning on celebrating that I NOT 40 years old YET & my 100th post on the same day by doing a giveaway!! (This will give me some time to hopefully create a couple of pieces to giveaway!!) So check back on 9/4 to enter. Hope to hear from you then!!

Bamboo PC finally finished!!

I'm not sure why I struggled so hard to create & complete a piece before. We were to create a bamboo pc for a swap in Surface Design. I have used hand dyed bamboo poplin in a lot of my work, so I'm not sure why this pc was such a struggle. But here they are......................

I have discovered that the flash just doesn't like to pick up the shiny Angelina fibers in these pieces which is really too bad, because I don't think these photos really do the pc's justice. The background is a hand dyed bamboo poplin (burnt orange), hand dyed cheesecloth layered over machine stitching & Angelia fibers & the triangles are from my tp tissue casting & metal "squiggles".

There is a little story behind these pc's. These are actually cut from a bigger quilt (Tequila Sunrise) that I was working on a couple of months ago, to enter into a show. I had the wall piece finished up until the quilting stage & that is where it all seemed to fall apart. I wasn't happy with how the quilting was going & I was not comfortable with the size I was working in. It was roughly 24" by 36" & I'm not used to working in bigger sizes anymore. I much more prefer working with sizes 11" by 17" & smaller. The show I was entering, had a size requirement of no smaller than 24" by 24". After that frustration, I decided it was best to put it away for awhile & come back to it at a later date in hopes that I could save it.......................... four pc's later & the possibilty of 2 smaller wall pieces from the original piece??

I had never cut into any of my pieces before to make them over into other pieces, so it was hard to make that first cut. But I have to say, I'm happy with how these turned out & looking forward to using the "left over" scraps for a couple of more "smaller" pieces.

sorry for not posting for a litte while............

Sorry I haven't posted for a little while. My blog was one of those that Blogger thought was spam so they locked me out of posting & I had to submit a request asking them for a human review to see that I wasn't a spam blog.

After Blogger unlocked me, I had problems with Site Meter. Every time you went to my site, it gave an Internet Explorer Abort error & the front page of my blog was blank.

And now my DH is planning a party for this weekend with over 26 people coming from his work. I hope the weather stays good because I'm not sure where we could fit 20 adults & 6 children. Children? We don't have children, so we really don't have things to keep children entertained or a room where we can shut the door & let them watch movies. (Man I hope I make it through this.)

And that is the reason why no new art has been posted for awhile. We've been so busy planning this party & you know how you put off projects, then use the party as an excuse to try to get them finished? And, the house needs to remain somewhat clean & I can't create art & be clean at the same time, are you kidding me?!!

Sunday, I'll be recouping & working on a bamboo pc for a Surface Design swap. It's due next Friday & I haven't started it yet. I dye bamboo fabric all of the time, but I just seem at a loss for a pc idea. Hopefully, I'll come up with an idea soon!!

Update: I think I've come up with an idea...............I vowed to never do it again because it was so tedious, but I'm thinking thread painting. If I can transfer the idea from my brain (successfully) to the fabric, I think it should work out quite nicely!!