blogiversary giveaway!

I almost forgot today was my blogiversary! Woo hoo! It has been 2 years since I started my blog while getting ready for my website to open. Some days it feels like I have been doing it forever and other days it feels like I just started.

At any rate, I would like to do a give-away for my blogiversary (is that even a real word?). But what do I give away? I think I will just make up a goody box for the winner. Maybe include some stuff from the store – like ribbons, stencils, paint, pencils, etc. And maybe a book or magazine should go into the mix too. I think I will keep the exact details a mystery though, so when you get your package in the mail it will be a complete surprise and you will ooohh and aaahhh over it and be suitably impressed.

But what do you need to do to win? Here are the ways you can enter yourself to win:

• comment on this blog post telling me your favorite art book or magazine (1 entry)
• subscribe to this blog (1 entry)
• share this post on facebook (1 entry)
• share on twitter or linked in or any other social network you belong to (1 entry)
• like my page on facebook (1 entry)
• send me an ATC for the blog challenge – but hurry as there is only a week left (1 entry)

Lots of ways to get entered to win. I will select a winner on the 29th, using random.org to do so. Be sure I have a way to contact you, or check back here to see who the winner is.

Be sure to leave a comment below to be entered to win a Fabulous Mystery Gift!  I love a good giveaway, and I’m pretty sure you do too!

~Deb

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

Blue Twig Studio - 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

 

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A Mother’s Day Gift – Part 2

Guest post by Kerry Ayers Cain – Design Team Member

A Mother’s Day Gift – Part 2

The Collage

In the picture my mother is wearing her signature turquoise color.  In fact, my daughter has teased that turquoise or teal is the go to color for all women in my family – my mother, my four sisters and me.  So needless to say, I had a large number of turquoise fabrics to choose from for my collage.  Below is a picture of the fabrics I started with, supplemented by buttons and ribbons I got from Blue Twig Studio.  Included in the fabrics I have are a number of vintage type lace and handkerchief pieces that I got from my Mom and that I had previously dyed.  If you would like some pieces like this to work with and don’t have any, Deb has some pieces in stock.  Most of Deb’s vintage pieces are neutral in color, but you can easily change the color by spraying them with Radiant Rain (or you can dye them like I did). (Note from Deb – a lot of my vintage pieces are not on the website, however if you call me I can give you some descriptions of what I have available, or you can set up an appt to visit the studio).

potential fabrics to use

As with the size of the picture, as I work I often end up adjusting the size of the piece, but the first step is still to decide on the preliminary size for the wall hanging.

Next I choose a background fabric.   Sometimes I use a number of fabrics for the background, including cottons and upholstery fabrics from sample upholstery books.  In that case I draw the dimensions for the piece on muslin with permanent marker and then arrange my fabrics to cover the area.  I then use invisible thread and a zigzag stitch to catch all the edges.  I design on this patchwork background.  Below is a wall hanging of my daughter when she had pink hair that uses this type of patchwork background.

Girl with Mushroom

For my mother’s collage, I used a single piece of batik.  I then began placing fabrics on the background in a potential collage design.  I initially fold larger pieces to the desired size, as I don’t cut anything until I have determined the final arrangement.  I will normally try a number of different designs until I find my favorite.  Because I may ultimately decide I like an earlier design best, I take a digital picture of each arrangement, so I can always recreate one. As part of the design process, I will place any embellishments (such as ribbons, buttons, and beads) loosely on the arrangement.  Once I have decided on a design, I will cut my various fabric pieces to the correct size.   Below are three of the 7 or 8 potential designs I tried.  I finally decided on the third one.  Although relooking at them now, I waiver and think maybe I should have gone with 2 – has this ever happened to you?

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

I first worked on the portrait part of the collage and put it together by itself.  I layered the two fabrics and created a frame for the picture using a pleated ribbon I got from Blue Twig.  I liked it because the pleating allowed me to manipulate it to fit around and slightly under than my oval picture.  I pinned it in place and machine stitched it to the layered fabrics.

I then prepared the picture to attach it to the collage.  I decided the best way to do that on this piece was to fuse it down.  So I ironed a piece of misty fuse (very easy to use) to the back of the picture and cut it out on the oval line.  I then fused it down on top of the pleated ribbon and fabric.

Next I layered a leaf ribbon that Deb also carries on top of the pleated ribbon.  It comes in a number of colors, but not turquoise. (Note from Deb – I have quite a few colors of this ribbon, so if you are wanting a particular color that isn’t listed on the website please contact me about it.)  The closest was a pale blue.  I took it and painted it with diluted radiant rain.  Basically I took the lid off the radiant rain, poured a very small amount into another container and added a little water.  Radiant Rain out of the bottle is fairly intense and I wanted a softer color.  I then just painted it with a brush onto the leaf ribbon and ironed it after it dried.  I attached the leaves to the piece with flower sequins and beads.  The “finished” photo part of the collage then looked like this.

finished picture section

 

I then attached the two lace pieces to the background.  I machine stitched along the long cut edge and couched the turquoise cord down with a zigzag stitch.  I then hand beaded to finish holding the lace pieces in place.  I decided it would be easiest to machine quilt the background before adding the photo piece.

finished background section

When I laid the finished photo piece on the quilt to machine stitch it on, I decided something more was needed in the bottom left hand corner.  I tried a number of things such as beads and buttons, but decided I liked some velvet ribbon streamers best (Note from Deb – the velvet ribbon is not on the website right now).  So I machine stitched them on and then stitched on the photo piece.  I added paper beads in the corners and wooden flower buttons that I colored with Inka Gold in silver.  Inka Gold is a really fun product that you can use on wood, metal and paper to give something a nice bling.  It comes in both metallic shades and colors.

So the finished piece looks like this.  I hope my mother likes it.

 

finished collage

~Kerry

Thanks for a great tutorial Kerry. I know your mom will love it. ~Deb

Let Your Inner Artist Out to Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

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A Mother’s Day Gift – Part 1

Guest Post by Kerry Ayers Cain – design team member

 

A Mother’s Day Gift – Part 1

I have spent the last week thinking about what to give my mother for Mother’s Day.  As she and I get older, I really like to give a personal gift when possible.   As I was saving pictures on my computer from a recent trip out-of-state, I remembered a picture of my mother I had always liked and decided to print it to fabric and make her a small wall-hanging collage for her.   Since many people still do not realize how easy it is to print on fabric with your inkjet printer, I decided to share some ways of doing that in part one of this tutorial and then to briefly discuss the process I went through in making the collage in part two.

Printing on Fabric

In making a collage that includes a photograph, the first thing I do is to print it out on paper in the size I think I am going to want to use.  I used to print it immediately on fabric, but discovered I often change my mind about size and then have to reprint it.  Since more time and cost is involved in printing on fabric, I have learned to print first on paper.

Knowing the collage design, I can now print my picture on fabric, so it is ready for the actual collage.  I have two favorite ways to do this.  One is by printing directly on the fabric with my inkjet printer; the other is by printing on a TAP sheet with my printer and then ironing that image onto fabric.  If you aren’t familiar with it, TAP is transfer artist paper and was developed by Lesley Riley.  I think it is a vast improvement on earlier iron-on transfer systems you may be familiar with since it doesn’t change the hand of the fabric (did you ever have a t-shirt where the transferred image felt very much like vinyl?)   Also, TAP can be used to transfer images to wood, canvas, glass, metal and more, as well as fabric.  A TAP image is permanent, washable and can be ironed.  It is reversed, so you need to mirror the image to print if orientation is important, as with text.  TAP is available from Blue Twig Studio and a package contains complete, easy to follow directions for using it.

If you choose to print directly on fabric, as I did for this collage, you need to decide if you want a photograph quality image or something more muted.   Printing on fabric without any pretreatment will give a more muted picture.  As I wanted photograph quality, I pretreated my fabric with Golden’s Digital Ground White-Matte (Note from Deb – I only have a Digital Ground sampler pack at this time).  To pretreat, you brush two thin coats in opposite directions on your fabric, allowing your fabric to dry between coats.  I have used digital ground on a variety of fabrics including muslin, silk, and canvas.  This time I used white cotton muslin.  I usually treat a number of pieces of fabric at one time as the difficult part of pretreating is waiting for the digital ground to dry; that way too, I usually have a piece of fabric ready when I need it.

Picture of treated fabric

 

When the fabric is dry, I am ready to print.  At this point, the fabric is usually wrinkled and curling at the edges as in the picture above.  I just turn it over and iron it on the wrong side.  If you are concerned about your iron’s surface, you can cover it first with a paper towel.

To actually print on fabric, you just run it through your printer as you would a piece of paper.  Again there are several ways to do this.  If you have pretreated your fabric with digital ground it usually has enough body to just send it through without anything further.  Make sure the digital ground side is the side that is printed on.  

If you have not pretreated the fabric, or if you are not sure the digital ground has given it enough body to run through the printer, you need to back the fabric with paper.  One way to do this is by ironing a piece of freezer paper, the same size as your fabric, to the back of your fabric and then send it through your printer.

However, I have found that freezer paper method works about 90 percent of the time, but have had problems with it jamming the other 10 percent.  So I prefer to use card stock and tape my fabric to it with painters tape.  You place the tape along the top and the two sides as shown in the picture.   I never have problems with jamming with this method.

taped fabric with photo printed on it

The other advantage to this method is that you can print on a piece of fabric smaller than 8 ½ by 11, so that you don’t have to waste fabric if you are doing a smaller picture or have to figure out how to combine enough small pictures to use the full page.  It is particularly useful if you want to print a label for your quilt.  The one thing you need to double check before printing is that your picture or text is centered on the page in such a way that it will match the placement of the fabric on the cardstock.  In other words, if the fabric is placed an inch down on the cardstock, your text or picture should begin at least an inch down on the page.  Most printers allow you a preview of the page so you can check and adjust this if necessary.

printed label

A picture printed on digital ground will not run if it comes in contact with water, although I have never tried washing it as I use this method for wall hangings.  I use TAP for any item I plan to wash.  If you don’t pretreat the fabric, whether the picture or text will be affected by water spilled on it depends on your printer ink.  In my experience HP ink (I have Vivera) spots and smears when wet.  In contrast, the ink in my Epson printer  (DURAbright) does not seem to be affected by accidental water spills (which I do blot up), although I have not tested it by leaving water on it or by rubbing the water in.  You can print with the HP ink, you just need to be careful not to get it wet, which can include steam from your iron.  Again, if this is a concern, consider using TAP.

(Note from Deb – another option for printing on fabric is to use ready-to-go inkjet fabric sheets that are already primed and cut to fit your printer.)

Tomorrow we will discuss how I made the actual collage.

~Kerry

Thanks Kerry. I look forward to reading about the rest of your process. ~Deb

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

Creativity & Shopping – the next great duo!

I think most of us usually think of creativity and art as something quite different and separate from shopping for clothes. However, I recently did a little art project at a local dress shop and although there was a bit of skepticism to start with, in the end everyone had a lot of fun.

I teamed up with The Garment Gal, which is a women’s consignment store. She has 2 shops (one in Loveland and one here in Colorado Springs) and is always doing something fun and different to bring people into the shops. We decided to team up and do an art project one evening. We chose to do Zentangle® for several reasons.

1. Anyone can do it….really!

2. It isn’t messy like doing something with paint or glue.

3. It can be adjusted to fit the time available.

4. There isn’t any special equipment or tools needed. I brought the few supplies necessary with me to share.

I decided that since we were at a clothing store that it might be fun to do something a little bit different from the typical beginner Zentangle class that I offer. So I designed a little dress to be used as our string. I even added a little pop of red just for fun. So cute.

These are my demo tiles.

Zentangle Dress by Deb Prewitt, CZT

Zentangle Dress by Deb Prewitt, CZT

Zentangle Dress by Deb Prewitt, CZT

The women gathered to browse around the shop and mingle a bit, and we had refreshments out as well. And then we took a creative break and drew our little Zentangle dresses.  There were some art people in attendance, who completely embraced the project. There were also a few women that were absolutely positive that they were not creative and could not do this, but they were troopers and gave it a go.

And of course, they absolutely could do it! That is the wonderful thing about Zentangle…..anyone can do it. They were amazed by what they created and had a lot of fun with it, which always makes me happy. Each person interpreted the patterns in their own way to create something that was all theirs. No two are alike, which is exactly why I love Zentangle.

These are the tiles that the group made. Aren’t they adorable? (sorry the picture quality is not very good, but hopefully you get the idea of how cute they are and how unique each one is)

Zentangle Dresses at The Garment Gal

After our art break…..which everyone agreed helped relax them and calm them down after busy and hectic days at work….then they all went back to shopping and trying on clothes. Everyone was loosened up a bit, and we had a great time modeling the different clothes for each other and everyone went home with something new from The Garment Gal.

Creativity & Shopping – can it be the next great team? Like Chocolate & Peanut Butter? Like Tracy & Hepburn? Like Black & White? The Garment Gal & Blue Twig Studio?  I think so!

~Deb Prewitt, CZT

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

If you are interested in taking a Zentangle class, please leave me a message and let me know. You can find the current class schedule by clicking the events tab on the Blue Twig Studio home page.  If you are interested in hosting a Zentangle class at your business or home, I would be happy to coordinate that with you.

 

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Zentangle Adventure

I am providing a series of classes that I am calling Zentangle® Adventure. This is a 6-month set of classes, covering a variety of Zentangle inspired topics. It is a way for you to get more in-depth information about the Zentangle process, with each class offering you something new and different to explore. I know for many people, it is easy to take the beginner class and get started, but then you start to forget what you learned and stop practicing and become frustrated by it.

I want you to learn the process, but also be able to practice it and use it regularly. It is by doing it that we enjoy the benefits of Zentangle. The mindfulness, the relaxation, the focus, the destressing, etc.  By committing to a series of classes, you already are ahead of the game and will be learning so much more.

by Deb Prewitt

Lesson 1 is the basic introductory class. This is what you need to get started.

Lesson 2 is all about learning some of the more complex tangles.

Lesson 3 teaches about shading and also adds some more tangles to your repertoire.

Lesson 4 we learn about using color with Zentangle.

Lesson 5 we learn about using lettering with our tangles.

Lesson 6 we create Zendalas.

Zendala by Deb Prewitt

Each lesson we will be learning new tangles and variations, as well as practicing what we are learning along the way. By registering for the Zentangle Adventure series, you are receiving 6 classes for the price of 5. Of course, if you are interested in only some of the lessons, you are welcome to pay individually for those particular classes.

You can register for the class here.  The first class is April 16th.

by Deb Prewitt

I look forward to seeing you at the Zentangle Adventure class.

~Deb Prewitt, CZT

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

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The Arty Party and The Mohawk

Guest Blog Post by Cass Mullane – Design Team Member

The “Arty Party” and The Mohawk

by Cass Mullane

Wednesday was an interesting day… I attended my first “Arty Party” at Blue Twig Studio.  What a blast!

I arrived and I found the tables all pushed together into a giant workspace.  There were GOBS of fun baubles, trinkets, fibers, sticks, batting, fabrics, and, of course, ribbons.  I was immediately offered a glass of vino (not a bad way to start the evening!) and encouraged to find a seat.  I started snooping all the goodies and asked what we were going to be doing and was told that it was a mystery.  Great, I love mysteries!

And so it began!

An “Arty Party” is an evening of fun and joyful creativity hosted by Deb Prewitt of Blue Twig Studio.  She holds them on the fourth Wednesday of each month and selects a mystery creative project we can complete in a couple of hours.  This party turned out to be a laugh festival!

After Deb got us settled, she announced that we were going to be making Wise Woman dolls.  She showed us some samples (they were quite interesting) and then walked us through the process step by step.  We each were free to create whatever we wanted, with Deb there to guide us through any questions and challenges.

My Wise Woman started out as a bamboo skewer which was then wrapped a strip of batting, then bits of fabric and cheesecloth, and then finished off with fibers and ribbons to secure the bundle.  It sounded so easy, but my Wise Woman lost her innards (to the great amusement of my friends across the table!) and I had to start over.  Good thing Deb was there to show me that a couple of strategically placed pins would solve my problem.

Once we each figured out just how to make the whole thing stay together and actually come out looking sort of doll-ish, the real fun began!  We were finally allowed to dive into the baubles, bits, trinkets, beads yarns and ribbons to embellish our wise women.  I got so busy adding random strings of beads, trinkets and other embellishments, that I forgot to add hair to my Wise Woman.  The poor girl went home bald!

Not to worry, I promised to give her a do and now she’s sporting a lovely violet mohawk inspired by Kokopelli (another mischief maker).

So check out Deb Prewitt and Blue Twig Studio’s “Arty Party” for a creative and laughter filled evening!

P.S. One thing I found particularly interesting was that the three metal pieces that I’d randomly added had words that were perfectly suited for me as a business coach:  Listen, Breathe, Inspire.  Guess that little doll’s indeed a pretty Wise Woman!

Wise woman doll by Cass Mullane

Wise woman doll by Cass Mullane

 

PS from Deb – Love your Wise Woman Doll, Cass. There is a new class every month and it is a different project each month. And yes, there is wine and chocolate and a lot of fun and laughter. Perhaps you can join us next time!

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

Another tangling video!

Now that I have started doing these Zentangle® videos, I am becoming addicted to them. They are a lot of fun to do and I like that I can share the entire process with you, rather than just the finished project. Of course, these speeded-up versions take away the meditative process that goes into creating the Zentangle but I think you are able to enjoy it better in video format.

 

 

Thanks for watching. I would love it if you would subscribe to my you-tube channel.

If you are looking for a CZT in your area, please visit www.zentangle.com for a list of CZTs (Certified Zentangle Teacher). If you are local to me, I am a CZT and would love to share the process with you. I offer regular classes in my home studio (you can find the class schedule under the Events tab on the home page), or I can develop a class suited to your needs and your location. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about Zentangle.

You can also find official Zentangle products and books and supplies on the Blue Twig Studio website here. Please feel free to browse around the rest of the website while you are there. Lots of fun products for your creative enjoyment.

Happy Tangling!

~Deb Prewitt, CZT

Let Your Inner Artist Out to Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

Sign up for the BTS newsletter here.

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Diva Challenge #109 – Zentangle Quest

This week’s Diva Challenge #109 is a Zentangle® Quest – using parallel lines. Seemed like I could do that one. Ha Ha. I know I haven’t done any of the Diva Challenge’s for awhile now. Sometimes I just don’t get the time to do them. You can find out more about the weekly Diva Challenge here. Or by clicking on the link to the right.

This week I decided to do a video and share it with you. Hope you like it.

 

 

You can learn more about Zentangle by visiting zentangle.com. If you are interested in classes, please let me know. I am more than happy to work with you to provide you a class that suits your needs. You can purchase Zentangle products and books here.

~Deb (CZT8)~

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

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Introducing my Design Team

I want to introduce my new Design Team for Blue Twig Studio. A Design Team is a group of people who explore and create and share their interests and ideas and inspiration for a specified period of time. And I now have a Design Team! Woo hoo!

This is my first time at having a Design Team, so I am quite excited about it. I know that having the team in place will make your experiences with Blue Twig Studio better, which is very important to me. How so? you may ask.

• you get inspiration from more than one person 
• you have more tutorials and product reviews to learn from
• there is a lot more eye candy to enjoy
• you get another point of view about art and creativity and all things fun and playful
• there will be a lot more project ideas

Sounds good to me!

There are 2 people on my Design Team, and they will be busy and active here and at the store during the next 6 months (and hopefully beyond that).  I know you will enjoy them and their work. Please welcome Cass Mullane and Kerry Ayers Cain. (clap clap clap)

Cass Mullane  is a combination of a successful businesswoman and an artist. She worked in business management in Washington, DC for over 20 years, then moved back home to Colorado Springs in 2004 and founded Prosper Creatively, LLC, her business and accountability coaching practice.  She specializes in coaching right brainers and creatives who want to succeed in the left brained business world.  As a fiber artist, Cass quickly realized that experimenting with materials and techniques and making her own designs fired up her creative juices.  Cass joined the Design Team to challenge herself and to ensure she’d spend plenty time in the studio!

Cass Mullane

I look forward to seeing what Cass creates for Blue Twig Studio and I know she will be especially fun to have around. Cass is very creative and absolutely loves experimenting, so you and I both know that there will be some innovative and playful stuff coming your way from her. I can’t wait to see what she does.

Kerry Ayers Cain was recently introduced as a BTS teacher, so her bio can be found on this post here. 

Kerry Ayers Cain teaching at Blue Twig Studio

Kerry is an amazingly creative artist. She has a wonderful attention to detail and her art work is absolutely stunning! She loves playing and creating and is quite excited to learn about new products and figuring out ways to incorporate those ideas into her art work.  Teaser alert: she has a fabulous new class she is going to be teaching called Textured Play. (The new class schedule will be out next week!)

Watch for guest blog posts, project ideas, new art work, tutorials, and class offerings by the new Design Team of Cass Mullane and Kerry Ayers Cain!

Please welcome them to Blue Twig Studio.

~Deb~

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

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Tangling Again!

The first Zentangle® video was so fun that I did another one. I’m liking how they turn out and it gives me an opportunity to practice more often. Plus it lets me share my love of tangling in the hope that you will want to explore Zentangle too. You can visit zentangle.com for more information on the process, or take a class with a CZT (me ). Enjoy the video.

 

As a CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher) you can take classes with me, or purchase official Zentangle products and books. I offer beginner level classes on a fairly regular basis, as well as the occasional more advanced class. I am also available for private classes, classes in your home or office, or you can schedule a class at Blue Twig Studio for a group of friends (which is always a great time!). Leave me a message if you are interested in any of these options.

I love the Zentangle process and enjoy the results I get. I know you will too!

~Deb Prewitt, CZT

Let Your Inner Artist Out To Play

Blue Twig Studio – 5965 Whiskey River Dr – Colorado Springs, CO 80923 – USA

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