Judy Streger The Mixed-Up Media Artist

The Big Studio Reveal

2011-12-07T20:27:00.034-05:00

After waiting patiently nine months (not) for my studio to be carved out of the gigantic basement in our new home, I'm thrilled that it is finally finished. This is what the basement looked like the day before we moved in when it was turned it into a huge storage space for 170 boxes of my precious junque.
After the movers left, the basement looked like this. Yikes!
The contractor finished up last week and since then Howie and I have been setting up the cabinets and worktables. Thank goodness for IKEA.
This is the same view as the first picture. The French doors at the end of the hall lead to the studio. The door that you see on the left leads to Howie's "Man Cave."

The "Welcome" banner was a special gift from my good friend Kathy McElroy. Kathy sent this to me just after we moved in and I've been waiting to put it up until the studio was finished. Today was the day! I felt as if I was christening a ship with a bottle of champagne when I tacked it up. It's now official. The studio is open and welcomes all kindred spirits who wish to come and "art" with me.

As you enter the studio, on the left is a wall of doors. What's behind the doors?

Lots and lots of glorious shelf space soon to filled with what's been residing in the 170 boxes. Of course, I know it all won't fit in the space I have so I will have to be creative and find some good hiding spaces for the overflow. The picture above is the left wall of the studio as you enter. Look how clean and neat it is! It won't be for long. I'm going to use this area for sewing and paper crafts since most of the supplies for that will be housed in the big closet. The table in the middle of the room (with the blue tablecloth) will be a great place to sit and create when then there is more than one person working in the studio.
This is a view of the far wall with another workspace. I'm planning on using this area for my polymer clay and jewelry projects. Moving around to the right is another surface soon to be cluttered up. This is where my computer is going.
And last but not least, this is the area to the right of the door when you enter the room. Yes, it's already filled with boxes of junque waiting to be unpacked. When this area is unpacked, Howie is going to put in cabinets, a counter top and a sink. No more running back and forth to the kitchen or bathroom to wash out brushes.

You'll notice that I chose Daffodil Yellow for the walls of the studio. I had a hard time trying to pick a color that worked for me. For some reason, I kept gravitating towards yellow. Thank goodness that you can now audition a color by buying a small sample from the paint store because the first yellow I tried looked horrific. When I tried this one, it was love at first sight. It was only after the room was painted and I looked around that I realized that this was the same color as my mother's kitchen when I was growing up. My mother's kitchen was always a happy place for me, and I guess that subconsciously when I was choosing a color this yellow made me the happiest.

I'd love to have you come and join me in the studio. So when are you coming?

We've moved!

2011-03-08T16:04:00.018-05:00

If "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words," I guess this blog is worth 8,000 words. Here are 8 pictures of our new house.

I know the house looks small, but it actually is very big.

The main level has a Living Room-Dining Room which I am hoping to convert into one large Dining Room. Since we have a Family Room, I don't think we need a formal Living Room but I do love having a Dining Room where everyone isn't cramped around the table. The challenge is that there is a ceiling beam separating the LR from the DR and we need to disguise the fact that the room was intended to be two separate areas.

In addition, there is a large Kitchen with eating area. The cabinets are so tall that even Howie can't reach the top shelves! You can see the LR/DR through the door.

Here's a view from the Family Room looking into the Sun Room. I love the Sun Room! It makes the house look so bright and cheerful on a sunny day. Too bad we haven't had too many of those lately.

There is also a Master Bedroom and Bath on the main level as well as smaller bedroom and guest bath.

We had two criteria when we decided to look for a new home. One was to be closer to our grandchildren and the second was that the house had to have a basement so that Howie and I could have space for our hobbies. We used to live an hour from our son's house and now we're 15 minutes away so we accomplished that goal. However, finding a home in an over 55-adult community with a basement was a challenge. Most people want to downsize when they get to this point of their lives. Obviously we didn't downsize at all since we bought a house that had a huge, and I mean huge, basement. It's the same size as the main level. Here's a picture of the finished section of the basement. It's 60 feet (that's not a typo) by 16 feet!!! I'm going to have a wall built at the far end to make that area into the studio. It's the area with the largest windows.

This is the area where the studio will be located.

Speaking of studios, here's a horrifying picture of what the boxes look like all lined up waiting to be unpacked when the studio is finished. It looks like a warehouse. There are 4 rows of boxes and each row is 3 boxes high. The rows are about 20 feet long. That's 80 feet of junk (translation: valuable art supplies.)

In addition to the large finished area, there is an partially finished area which Howie is going to have split into two rooms. One will be his man-cave/office and the other will be his workshop. Here's what it looks like currently.

We're not done yet. There is also another large guest bedroom and bath in the basement. It has large windows so it doesn't feel like a basement.

We have our work cut out for us, but we're up for the challenge. LOL

Fabulous opportunity to learn Photoshop

2009-12-18T22:12:00.013-05:00

Have you ever wished you could take an ordinary photograph and turn it into an extraordinary and artistic photograph? I know I have.

I've always wished I could use Photoshop to enhance my art projects but I didn't have a clue how to go about learning it. I bought Photoshop Elements hoping to learn how to use it on my own. Let's just say that I failed dismally.

Now my prayers have been answered. In case you haven't heard, DJ Pettitt has developed her own online class

Memories and Manipulations
Online Image Editing Workshop with a bit of mixed media tossed in

This class starts January 4th and runs through February 1st.

Interested? Please visit DJ's website for information:

http://www.djpettitt.com/online.html

I'm psyched.

I hope to see you in class!

PS. If you're not familiar with DJ, let me just say that not only is she is one of the most talented and versatile artists I know, she is also one of the sweetest. Please visit her blog for a visual treat http://djpettitt.blogspot.com/

Bead Swap

2009-12-16T16:44:00.009-05:00

Several months ago, I joined a Bead Swap with my some of my online Diva pals. The intent was for each person to make a bead between 1/2 inch and 1 1/4 inches. After the beads were exchanged, we were to connect them to a chain.

Each person was to make a bead that represented themselves so that when we looked at our collection of beads, we would be reminded of the artist who made the bead.

I never realized how hard it would be to represent myself as a bead. I am not exactly sure this bead epitomizes me since I'm not round and sparkly, nor am I golden, but this is what my muse dictated that I create.I crocheted my beads using several strands of gold embroidery thread. When the bead was almost completed, I stuffed it with batting and then finished off the bottom of the bead. The hardest part was getting the wire through the batting in order to make the wire wraps on each end. Then I glued seed beads on to the surface.

I tried sewing on the beads, but it was very tedious. I found that gluing the beads on with Diamond Glaze worked perfectly and was much faster.

This afternoon, I strung the beads on a chain. It makes a lovely necklace, but probably unwearable due to the weight of the beads.

Therefore, I decided to leave my chain long and to hang it between the windows in my studio. Now whenever I'm working on my computer or working on a project, all I have to do is look up and I'll be reminded of some of the nicest people I know.

One of the nicest things about this location for the chain is that it is the first thing I see when I walk into my studio.

Altered Keys, Altered Birdhouse and other ramblings

2009-11-10T20:38:00.030-05:00

Where has the last six weeks gone since the last time I posted? I've been busy visiting with my very good friend, Kathy, altering keys, altering a birdhouse and celebrating my hubby's VBB (Very Big Birthday). Oh, and of course, going to garage and rummage sales. Once the kids go back to school in September, there is a deluge of these sales here in NJ. Everyone is rushing to get things sold before the cold weather arrives.
Kathy hails from Tennessee and is a world traveler. However, she had never been to NYC until last month. As part of her birthday celebration, Kathy came to visit and we had a total blast. One day, we visited The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
It was an awesome day and we had fun researching Kathy's ancestors to see if they came through Ellis Island.
Kathy gifted me with the most fabulous fabric book that she made. Pictures just can't do this book justice. As you can see from the above picture, the spine is decorated with vintage buttons and charms and the cover is embellished with a photo printed on fabric, lace and a button flower.
The inside pages are made of fabric, vintage papers, and some of Kathy's beautifully painted pages. This book is breathtaking and I know just what I'm going to do with it. However, you'll have to wait to find out.

On another day, we visited the Garment District in NYC. We had a wonderful day exploring my favorite stores which you can read about here.

Of course, the Garment District isn't the only place to acquire really amazing embellishments and art supplies. NJ garage sales offer a wealth of possibilities as witnessed by the picture below. Yes, all of this came from one sale!

Are you wondering what I do with all this junque?
During one of the days that Kathy was here, another friend, Santa, joined us and we decided to alter keys. Making altered keys has got to be one of the most fun projects I've done in a long time. Using old keys and pieces from my odd assortment of junque jewelry, we had a laugh-filled day eating, talking, sharing and arting. If you'd like to read the article that inspired me to make these keys, go here. I plan on using my keys as pendants.
On Kathy's last day here in NJ, I altered a birdhouse. I had seen a picture of a birdhouse that Kathy had altered and was dying to try it. With her encouragement, I went ahead and had a go at it. If you'd like to see my inspiration for altering birdhouses, visit Kathy's blog here. As you can see, Kathy's gorgeous birdhouse is vintagey. I was aiming for vintagey but somehow my muse had other ideas. It seems she was in a glitzy mood that day hence the lace, sequins and ribbons.
One last thing, in addition to the beautiful fabric book Kathy made for me, just look at this fantastic wire mannequin she squeezed into her suitcase. I had been looking for something just like this to display charms that I have gotten in various swaps and it seems that a little birdie told this to Kathy.

On a family note, last month Howie celebrated his 65th birthday! It's hard to believe that young guy I married 42 years ago is now an official senior citizen. Here's a picture of him opening one of the gifts I gave him. Yes, it's Hostess Cup Cakes. I was trying to help him re-live his childhood.
I couldn't find an appropriate birthday card, so I made one. Here's the front of the card....
and here's the inside of the card.

Eye Candy

2009-09-23T13:56:00.022-04:00

Don't you just love these Art Dolls?

And what about these Fabric Pocket Dolls?

Is there a clay goddess in your future?

Or perhaps you need a crown for your coronation?

All these lovelies and many, many more may be found at Joanne Thieme Huffman's recently re-stocked website JTH Art

Please check out Joanne's web site. The eye candy is fabulous and I guarantee it's not fattening.

How to make fabric beads from scraps

2009-08-23T12:47:00.016-04:00

I'm still obsessed with fabric beads. This is very odd since I usually spend a few days working on something and then go on to another project. Perhaps it's because I was presented with a challenge that I couldn't resist. There is nothing I like more than a challenge.

The other day, one of my online friends, Shauna, mentioned that she had tried making fabric beads following directions she had read on the Internet. She was quite frustrated since her results were less than stellar.

The technique involved taking scraps of material, fibers, threads, etc. and washing the collection in the washing machine or by hand and then drying everything in the dryer where the material/fibers would get tangled. The instructions then said to take a small amount of the tangled material, roll into a small, tight ball, pin in place to hold everything together, and then stitch the material until a tight bead was formed. Once this was done, the bead could be embellished with seed beads.

After following the directions, Shauna lamented, "My material didn't clump up. It just made a mess in the washer." I felt badly for her, and since I was stuck in the house while Hurricane Bill deluged northern NJ with rain, I decided to try my hand at this technique.

Here is my simplified version of how to make beads from scraps of fabric and thread. I like "simple" don't you? I also like to recycle. It makes me feel patriotic and noble. I'm not adding to the landfill. I'm not increasing my carbon footprint. I'm creating something from nothing. Oh what a good girl am I!

I decided to bypass the washing and drying steps. First of all, it saved time. Second of all, it saved water and electricity. I'm getting greener and greener by the moment. The goal of the washing and drying step was to get a tangled mess of frayed fabric.

I accomplished this by cutting some odds and ends of fancy fibers into 12 inch pieces.
I then ripped some scraps of fabric into very, very thin strips. The goal was to have lots of threads hanging off the fabric. To be honest, when I was all done making the bead, I could hardly see the frayed edges because I had sewn the bead so tightly. The trick is to have the material in very thin strips (as close to 1/4" as possible.)
Next step was to intersperse the fibers and fabric .....
and then roll the whole thing up into a ball.
Next, cut off a small amount from the fabric/fiber ball.
Rather than pinning the fabric/fiber into a bead shape, I used a temporary adhesive spray (used by quilters to hold paper pattern pieces to fabric) which did a lovely job of holding the fabric pieces together while I formed the ball. Note: It didn't make the fabric sticky as I had feared.
Knowing that I would need to attach my bead to a chain using a jump ring, I inserted a wire through the material before I stitched the bead. Once the bead was tightly sewn together, it would have been impossible to get the wire through the bead. I am so proud of myself for having figured this out before I made my bead.
Working my way around the bead, I used colored thread to stitch the strips of material tightly together. This way if my stitches showed, I could claim it was part of the design.

After the bead was stitched tightly, I had fun embellishing the bead. I used metallic threads of various colors which I wrapped around and stitched through the bead. I finished up by sewing small beads all around the bead. I have to admit, it was a labor-intensive project and took a couple of hours, but the results were worth it.

And I have the satisfaction of having met the challenge.

I Am In Love With Fabric Beads

2009-08-14T23:55:00.017-04:00

What fun I had today! I felt like a 5-year old because I had a play date with a good friend.

I belong to a Yahoo Group called "The Altered Art Divas." We are a small group and many of us have belonged to this group for over 5 years. Needless to say, we have become very close friends even though we may have never met in person. On Monday, I met one of the Divas, Bev, and we shopped in the Garment District of NYC (see previous post.)

Today, another Diva friend, Santa came over so that we could experiment making fabric beads together. This is something I have always wanted to do but I never got around to it. Knowing how much "stuff" we'd need to work on this project, I dragged a bunch of supplies down to the dining room so we'd have plenty of room to spread out.

Here are a couple of pictures of what was strewn all over the room.

Everything looked very neat to start with, but you should see what the room looks like now! We don't have earthquakes here in NJ but it looks as if one just shook the house.

It was great to bat ideas around with Santa and we explored and experimented the day away. Here's Santa busily gluing her bead.

A few months ago, I bought Fabulous Fabric Beads by Kristal Wick. I am a bookaholic as are many artists. However, I usually buy a book, look at it, promise myself that I'll make every project in the book, buy everything I need to make every project in the book, and then never get to it.

However, this book was exceptional. It kept calling to me and I could not ignore its siren song. The song kept getting louder and louder until I listened and I'm glad I did.
I suggest if you have any interest at all in making fabric beads, you purchase the book. I know Amazon has the book. If I've done everything correctly, you should be able to follow this link to see the book at Amazon. Once there, you'll be able to click on the cover of the book and see some of the inside pages.

http://www.amazon.com/Fabulous-Fabric-Beads-Create-Jewelry/dp/1596680776

The photography in the book is superior. I wish I could say the same about my photos, but unfortunately I found it extremely hard to get good photos of the beads even though I was using my brand new light box. I think it was because the beads are shiny. So this is the best picture I was able to get. If you click on it, you should be able to see more detail of the beads.
All in all, it was a great day. As an aside, since I have everything out, I am planning on making more beads in the days to come. I'll be sure to post pictures of any new beads I make.

Eye Candy That Will Make Your Heart Go Pitter Pat

2009-08-10T21:16:00.030-04:00

What a lovely adventure I had today! I hopped on a bus near my home and I was in NYC in less than 45 minutes. It's hard to believe that I live so close to the City and yet I rarely go there. I guess that it is so readily available to me that I take it for granted. Yes, I know that those of you who live far away will probably find this hard to believe. I am embarrassed to admit this and am hanging my head in shame.

But today was different. Bev, one of my online art friends from Modesto, CA was visiting NY along with her friend, Cindy, from Miami. We had arranged to meet today so we could wander through the famous Garment District and shop in the wonderful stores in the area.

The Garment District has been the center of our country's fashion design and manufacturing since the early 20th Century. New immigrants to this country, who entered via Ellis Island, usually wound up settling in one of the five boroughs of NYC and many of those from Eastern Europe wound up working in the garment district's factories (sometimes called sweat shops).

Coincidentally, my first job was working for Modern Bride Magazine and I had to walk through the garment district every day on my way to work. Forty plus years ago, it was a bustling, noisy, smelly place with double-parked delivery trucks blocking the streets and messengers pushing clothing racks on the sidewalk with the latest fashions being transported from the factory to the showroom. For about two years in the late 60's, I walked through the Garment District every day and never paid any attention to all the store fronts displaying fabrics, beads, buttons and baubles. I was busy trying not to get run over by the craziness going on around me.

A lot has changed during these 40 years. The original wave if Eastern European immigrant workers has been replaced by some of our country's newest immigrants who are mostly from Asian countries. Almost all of the manufacturing of garments has been out sourced to foreign countries so you no longer see the fashions being whisked past you as you walk on the sidewalk.

Perhaps most important, I now covet every single accessory, frilly piece of lace, sequined fabric and feather which is displayed in the stores. Manufacturing may be a thing of the past in the Garment District, but the fashion designers still work and shop right in that one square mile of NYC between Fifth and Ninth Avenue and 34th to 42nd Street.

And so, today, Bev, Cindy and I walked our feet off exploring many of the famous, and not so famous, shops in the area. As an aside, today was the hottest day we've had so far this year. The temperature coupled with the humidity made it feel like it was 104 degrees. But we were undaunted, and had a wonderful time exploring to our heart's content.

Our first stop was M & J Trimming. Now I know how Dorothy felt when she landed in OZ. This store is definitely in technicolor.

Ribbons, silk flowers, buttons and lace were displayed from floor to ceiling.
There were walls lined with ribbons all beautifully displayed by color and type of fabric.

There were amazing buttons on display everywhere you looked.
Just when I thought I was finished seeing everything, I discovered there was another room filled with even more buttons and trim.

It was hard not to buy everything in sight. One thing that was nice was that the buttons were sold individually and not on cards. This way, you only had to buy exactly what you would need for a project. That is if you had a specific project in mind. I had nothing special in mind, so I bought a few buttons just to hold and look at and drool over after I got home.

Our next stop was MOOD. Does that name sound familiar to you?
If so, it's because that is one of the places that Project Runway (TV show) contestants go to purchase material for their creations.
If you are a fan of Project Runway and ever wondered if MOOD was as wonderful in person as it is on the show, the answer is a resounding Yes!
MOOD covers three floors of a building on West 37th Street. One floor is entirely devoted to woolen fabrics of every type and color. Cashmere, Alpaca, Flannel. You name it, they have it in an amazing variety of colors and weights. I kept thinking that this place would be a feast for moths. I wonder how they keep them from attacking the fabric. Another floor was devoted to upholstery and drapery material.
But the third floor was the place to be. Rows and rows containing bolts of every type of fabric you could imagine from mundane polyester knits to brocades and silks fits for royalty. In northern NJ where I live, there is only one store left that sells fabrics and it is Joannes. I had always wondered where the serious home sewer went to get fabric. Now I know. I wasn't in the market for fabric, but I did look at prices and they didn't seem extraordinarily high to me for what you were buying. Polyester knits were about $6 to $8 dollars.
Of course, there were some very pricey fabrics on display. But, if you're royalty, I guess you can afford the prices. In addition, to fabric, MOOD also has a variety of trims, but certainly not as much as M & J.
However, they had some very unique buttons.
They even had buttons the size of plates that were about 6 inches in diameter. I'm wondering how they will be used.
You may have heard of Tinsel Trading. I know Martha has mentioned that store on her show many times. We stopped in there for a brief visit. By this time, I was running out of steam, and I forgot to take pictures. I'm blaming my forgetfulness on the heat and not old age. Tinsel Trading is a sight for sore eyes. Everywhere I looked, I saw something amazing. Lots of gorgeous, large silk flowers that you could wear in your hair and pretend you were a starlet of the 40's. There was an amazing assortment of vintage buttons, unusual ribbons, and other assorted doodads. Their displays change constantly with the season, so you never know what treasures will be found at Tinsel Trading.

Needless to say, there are over one hundred stores, if not more, located within the Garment District. Most of them are tiny, dirty and disorganized, but if you're adventurous and visiting the area, stop in and explore a few of them. You can never tell what you'll find.

I'm planning to return to the Garment Center in early October when another friend, Kathy, comes for a visit. I'll be sure to post more information and pictures of that shopping spree so keep your eyes open for further postings.

The Ultimate Act of Creativity

2009-06-21T23:40:00.003-04:00

We had the most wonderful Father's Day that anyone could ever have. Today Howie and I became grandparents for the second time.

Our son Matt and his wife Karla gave birth to a 6 lb 9 oz beautiful baby boy this morning. Jackson Kyle Streger made his appearance in time to be the ultimate Father's Day gift. Howie said it's the best Father's Day gift he ever got. It's going to be hard to top this next year.

Here's the little guy sweetly sleeping off the exhaustion of his long journey. His little hands are covered, but he has the most exquisite long fingers I've ever seen on a baby.

And here's Jackson's leading lady, our dear DIL Karla. I can just hear Karla thinking, "I can't believe this was inside me just a few minutes ago!"

Big Brother Michael's first glimpse of his little brother. I can just hear Michael thinking, "Oh, boy, the two of us can get into a lot of trouble together." Michael is 8 1/2 and when Jackson is 8 1/2, Michael will have just gotten his driver's license. Oh, yes, I see lots of adventures, or should I say misadventures, in the future for these two guys. Daddy Matt is looking on with pure joy on his face. Yes, life doesn't get better than this.
Gramps, AKA Howie, is absolutely glowing with happiness.
Here I am holding Jackson for the first time. No, Howie and I did not coordinate the color of our shirts when we got dressed this morning. In fact, we were in such a rush to get out of the house when we got the call at 6 AM that the baby was about to be born, that we barely spoke to each other as we rushed around getting dressed.
This is Karla's mother, Marty, beaming with joy. Speaking of rushing, she and Karla's sister, Teresa, had a 6 hour drive in the middle of the night as they flew across Pennsylvania to be at the hospital in New Brunswick, NJ when Jackson made his grand entrance.
And here is Aunt Teresa who is Karla's younger sister. Yes, Teresa, it's payback time. Now it's your turn to babysit for Jackson since Karla babysat for you when you were a baby. Look at that big grin on Teresa's face.
Here is a picture of three generations of Streger men which is sure to become a family treasure in the future. Henceforth, they shall be known as the "Tool Boys." Howie has always been a great Do It Yourselfer and Matt has followed in his Dad's footsteps. There's nothing that the two of them can't fix, build, or refurbish. Michael is quite the willing apprentice and has been getting a lot of on-the-job training. In fact, he has his own toolbox and tools. Jackson, you have great role models in your life. You're a very lucky little boy.

Global Warming?

2009-06-15T17:03:00.009-04:00

I thought today was June 15th. In fact, I just checked both my calendar and the front page of the newspaper to make sure I was correct. Yes, it is definitely June 15th.

So why is my deck covered with hail making it look like January 15th?We were in the middle of a very heavy thunderstorm this afternoon when suddenly it sounded as if the hammers of Hell were beating on our roof. Imagine my surprise when I looked out the window and saw everything covered with what looked like snow but was actually hail. The street in front of my house looked like a river.

Wow, what wacky weird weather. How's that for alliteration?
The pieces of hail were huge. Too bad these aren't diamonds!

I'm wondering if NJ is going to be visited by the other 9 plagues this summer.

Amazingly, the weather has cleared up and the birds are back in their trees chirping away so all is well with the world except for the fact that the flowers on the deck may have been destroyed.

While I have your attention, in case you haven't heard, there is an auction currently taking place online. During the past year, over 100 artists collaborated in the making of an art doll which is almost life sized. By buying tickets for a chance to win this doll, you are supporting research for Ovarian Cancer. There is a button on the right side of this blog. When you click it, you'll be taken to the Ties That Bind website where you can learn about this project and how to purchase tickets. This is one small way that we can all make a difference!

How to Recycle, Refashion, Upcycle or Repurpose a Man's Shirt

2009-05-27T11:31:00.001-04:00

The other day, my DH brought me a shirt and told me he couldn't wear it anymore because it had "shrunk." Yeah, right, my clothes keep shrinking, too, which is why I have a closet loaded with three different sizes of clothing. But, I didn't want to make him feel badly, so I smiled sweetly and took the shirt to add to the pile of clothing going to the rummage sale.

I looked at the shirt and no longer did I see a man's shirt. No, I saw a summer purse. Just how or why this shift in reality occurred, I cannot imagine. But I felt compelled to turn that shirt into something else. I think my brain is going Green, or maybe it's just getting moldy. Who knows?

I have a stash of lovely, new fabric. Why did I feel the need to upcycle or recycle this shirt? Maybe it was the challenge of turning something unusable into something useful. Maybe it's because everywhere I turn, people are talking about being Green. Whatever the reason, I was now obsessed with this idea.

I didn't have a clue how to do this so I Googled "recycle man's shirt into a purse." There were many instructions for turning a tee shirt into an assortment of items, but there were very few articles on recycling a man's dress shirt. Most of these had to do with turning a man's shirt into a child's dress or an apron. I couldn't find any suggestions on how to make a purse. I tried using the words "refashioning", "upcycling", and "repurposing" and got the same results. Nothing. As a parenthetical thought (I just love parenthetical thoughts), can anyone tell me what the difference is between upcycling, recycling, refashioning and repurposing? Lately, I've seen all those terms used and can't figure out if they are referring to the same activity or if there are subtle differences between them.

I decided it couldn't be that hard and set about to figure it out for myself. To be honest, it wasn't all that challenging. Should you find yourself with this same compulsion, I've written a simple tutorial. I hope it saves you some time.

Pin button placket together. Cut along the right and left side of the shirt to just below the collar.

Cut along the bottom and the top of the shirt to form a rectangle.

(Note: You can click on any picture to enlarge it)

Take both left and right piece from the front and stitch the button placket together to make one piece.

Iron a piece of heavy fusible craft webbing (I used Pellon) to the wrong side of what was the front of the shirt. I wanted to use the shirt's front pocket for my cell phone so I wanted the pocket to wind up inside the purse. By ironing the webbing to the wrong side of the front, I felt the pocket would have more strength and stability.

Place the right sides of the front and back together and stitch around three sides. Leave the fourth (small side) open so you can turn the fabric right side out.

Turn the fabric right side out. Press to even out the corners and seams. I wanted my purse to have a flap, so folded my fabric roughly in thirds to allow for the overlap. If you don't want a flap, fold the fabric in half. Iron. Stitch both sides of the purse together being sure to reinforce the top and bottom of the seam by going back and forth a couple of times.

In the picture above, you'll notice a dowel to the left of the folded piece of fabric. I decided that I needed to add a dowel to give the bottom of the purse stability. I didn't want it to scrunch up after I filled it with all my junk. Cut the dowel a couple of inches shorter than the bottom to allow for the side seams. I used my zipper foot (for the first time) and sewed as close to the dowel as I could. I then evened out the open edge (top of purse) in preparation of sewing it shut. Fold the raw edges to the inside and press.

I made a shoulder strap by braiding some thin rope I had in the house and sewing it to the back of the purse. I was being Green and using up things I already had. Hint: When sewing on the strap, be sure to reinforce at the bottom and top of the purse so that it doesn't rip when you fill your purse. Before closing the open, top edge, decide what type of clasp or closure you want. If you want to use a magnetic snap, now is the time to attach it so you can hide the prongs inside. I wanted to use a piece of elastic and a button, so I pinned my elastic in place when I was pinning the opening. Stitch closed. Add trim and button.

Voila. The finished purse. I added the trim to cover my less then stellar sewing. To the right is a picture of the inside of the purse where the shirt's pocket now holds my cell phone. That sure does tickle my fancy

All in all, I'm quite pleased with how this project turned out. I used the purse today for the first time and was amazed that I got two compliments at the dentist's office. They were quite impressed that I made it, but what really amazed them was that I made it from an old shirt. Maybe they'll think I'm poor and stop charging me those ridiculous fees. LOL

Here is what I learned from this experience:

It's was much harder to write clear instructions (anyway I hope they're clear) than to actually make the purse.

It's fun the get an idea and run with it.

No matter what Kermit the Frog says, it isn't all that hard being Green.

Thank You Cloth Paper Scissors

2009-01-25T14:00:00.009-05:00

Here's a tidbit about me that you may not know. I love to buy magazines. When I get home, I flip through them, get all fired up, plan what I'm going to make after being inspired by an article, and then put the magazine down and promptly forget about my intentions. Can you relate to this?

The November/December 2008 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors had a wonderful cover article about decorating small jars to look like snowmen. I have been dying to try to make some myself but didn't have time until this past weekend. I couldn't get this project out of my mind. Maybe it's because I had 15 perfect jars (bought from a garage sale, of course) just sitting here calling out to me.

I'm part of a group of local artists who meet at my house about once a month. It's a very informal, non-structured group. In fact we don't even have an official name so we're known as the No-Name Art Group. Someone will get an idea and suggest it for our next get together. Then everyone else breaths a sigh of relief knowing that they're off the hook and don't have to come up with a project.

I love having the meetings at my house. I know you must be saying to yourself, "Why that Judy must be crazy. Why would she want to have everyone over? First she has to make sure the house is clean and neat (at least a little bit), then she has to gather the materials needed for the day's project."

To be honest, that's one of the best parts of getting together. I get to share my valuable Junque with people who understand my passion for acquiring. If I were a gourmet cook, I'd have elaborate dinner parties so I could share my cooking skills with friends. So what better way for an inveterate garage sale shopper to spread her joy than by sharing her "stuff."

Howie loves when everyone is here. Deep down in the bottom of his heart I know he's thinking, "Maybe we can get rid of some of this stuff." I'm thinking, "Maybe I can get rid of some of this stuff and make room for some new stuff." After all, garage sale season is rapidly approaching. Also, one more thing, if I had to take "stuff" to a meeting being held somewhere else, I'd need an 18-wheeler!

Saturday's project was to decorate bottles to our hearts content. I was worried that we wouldn't have enough jars for all of us and that we'd run out before the afternoon was over. I kept emailing everyone to bring jars since I had only 15 and we were sure to go through those quickly.

What was I thinking? We each were barely able to finish one bottle in the four hours that we were together. Gosh, it looked and sounded so easy in the magazine article. But we did have a lot of fun.

Here's the finished results. Aren't they fab? (Double left click on picture to enlarge)
Projects from left to right: Elizabeth, Roberta, Judy, Doreen, Jan

So, here's a great big thank you to Cloth Paper Scissors for publishing such an inspiring article that even I was compelled stop procrastinating and start creating.

Today's lessons learned:
1. A play date with friends is always fun whether you're 6 or 60
2. You can never have enough Junque
3. Even the bad habit of "some day I"ll get around to it" can be overcome with the proper inspiration.
4. Just because the magazine article highlighted snowmen jars, it doesn't mean that you, too, have to make snowmen jars. We were all sick of Winter and didn't want to think about snow so we let our muse take us wherever she wanted.
5. Since all the "stuff" is still spread out all over the house, I might as well go and decorate some more bottles.

Post Script: In the middle of writing this, I stopped to eat lunch. We had left-over Chinese food from last night (after all, tomorrow is the Chinese New Year.) We had one fortune cookie left so we shared it (this means that Howie got to open it and I got to eat it.) Guess what it said?
"Begin...the rest is easy." Do you think the Universe is sending me a message?

One World-Heart Giveaway

2009-01-23T10:34:00.019-05:00

And the winner is .........
Drum roll please.......
Doda from Doda's Creative Wanderings

Congratulations, Doda, as soon as I hear from you I'll mail off your prize.

As a relatively new blogger, I was amazed to discover Lisa Swifka's international event-ONE WORLD-ONE HEART. Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, I just signed up to be a participant.

If you are not aware of One World-One Heart, please click on the logo on the sidebar for information on how to participate. Basically, the purpose of One World-One Heart is to make it easy to meet new friends, visit new blogs, and expand your horizons. Oh, and as an added bonus, you have the chance to win something wonderful.

Here's what I'm giving away. This 7-inch ornament can be worn as a pendant or a pin. Or it can be hung on the wall to bring a smile to your face.

In case you are wondering what you have to do to win, the rules are quite simple.

1. Please leave a comment on this post, and this post only, before midnight Eastern Standard Time on February 11, 2009. The drawing will be held on February 12, 2009.

2. You must make sure that there is a way for me to contact you. Please do not leave an anonymous comment with no way for me to contact you.

3. You do not need to have a blog to enter and you can live anywhere in the world. I can't wait to see where all the entrants live.

This isn't a rule, but it's a great idea. Click on the logo above or on the sidebar and you'll find a list of blogs to visit and see what is being given away by the other participants. I'll bet you find blogs that you'll want to revisit again and again.

Happy surfing!

The Continuing Saga of the Intrepid Curtain Embellisher

2009-01-07T22:46:00.008-05:00

Allow me to continue to amuse and amaze you with my adventures embellishing the plain white curtain (see blog post dated January 6, 2009 ).

But, before I do this, I would like to go on record as having developed a new art craze.
I am sure you are quite familiar with the world of mixed-media and altered art. One month, everyone is altering cigar boxes and everywhere you turn, there are articles and posts showcasing these charming, altered boxes. Three months later, we're all decorating corsets. You can't turn around without being hit in the head with a corset (perish the thought). And so it goes, from altered books to embellished sneakers.

But, have you ever seen anyone alter a curtain? I'll bet not. I know I'm on the cutting edge of a new trend. Remember, you saw it first here. Before long, I'm sure there will be articles in Somerset and Cloth, Paper, Scissors on how to alter plain white curtains. Workshops will be held at various venues on how to embellish the plain white curtain. Before you know it, many people will claim to have created this art form. But I will have the satisfaction of knowing that it all started with me. LOL

I digress. Back to the saga of the now blue sun printed curtain. As I mentioned, I was still not particularly thrilled with the results of my day's labor of love (or maybe that should read my day's frustration).

I proceeded to spend the next day, working on the curtain. You may have heard the saying, "less is more." Well, my saying is "more is never enough." With this in mind, I set about to try to salvage my project.

The first thing I did was to try to add texture and depth to the curtain by using fabric inkpads and a brayer wrapped with rubber bands.

I was totally unimpressed with this step. Next, I tried using rubber stamps. After using both bold stamps and alphabet stamps, I began to like my results.

Feeling encouraged, I decided to make some fabric birds and butterflies to add to the curtain.

I found some interesting fibers and attached them to the curtain hoping they looked like branches. Then I pinned the birds and butterflies to the curtain. Here's a close up of the top half of the curtain.

But, standing back, I think that the bottom half of the curtain still looks a little sparse. What do you think? I'm thinking maybe some flowers would be a nice addition.

One of these days, I'll get to it.

However, I'm still very pleased with the way this altered curtain has turned out so far. (Now don't forget that you first read about altered curtains here.)

The Dolls of 2008

2009-01-07T16:55:00.056-05:00

A year ago, after an amazingly successful Twelve Days of Christmas swap in which I participated, I jokingly said, "Next time, why don't we have an Eight Days of Chanukah swap?" I, of course, promptly forgot about this idea until August when I was gently reminded about my suggestion. Hence, the first ever (that I know of) Eight Days of Chanukah Swap was launched. What a fun swap!

I decided to make a doll for each of the seven participants.

The first doll I finished was a mermaid for Joanne Thieme Huffman. Being a fan of Joanne's blog (see side bar for a link to her blog), I know she frequently uses mermaid images in her art. I decided to crochet her doll and then embellish her with some doo dads. Originally her hair was a mustard-green colored fringe, but I sprayed it with Color Mists which I had gotten from Aileen (Outside the Margins), and got just the perfect blue/green/gold color I wanted.

When last seen, Ms. Mermaid was swimming in Lake Michigan.

Next up was Connie William's doll. Connie happened to mention that her favorite colors were black, white, and red. Immediately I thought of making her a Pierrot doll. Amazingly, I had the perfect head and arms to use for this project. More amazing was that I knew where I had put them! I used a wonderful product called Apoxie Sculpt to attach the head to the base. I first fell in love with this two-part, putty-like product in Linda and Opie O'Brien's "Who's Your DaDa" class at Art and Soul '08. (More about Art and Soul in another post.) I used antique white buttons for the hair and a small piece of window shade for the collar.

Being a Chanukah swap, I decided to make Jewish Grandmother dolls for Sandee Hyde, Fran Saperstein, and Kara Klein.

Here they are waiting at Newark Airport for their planes to leave so that they can spend Chanukah with their families. Being good Jewish grandmothers, their shopping bags are filled with food and, of course, they are bringing lots of presents. These are the first stuffed, cloth dolls I've ever made. I must admit, I think I have a new addiction.

I bought a copy of Knitted Babes because I liked the whimsical knit dolls on the cover. When making a doll for Joyce Vance, I immediately went to this book for inspiration and knitting directions since Joyce is the queen of knitting. This doll took on an identity of her own and became a ballerina. Joyce's daughter, Ellie, is a ballerina. I guess my subconscious was at work here.

I could have spent the next month, knitting clothes for this doll. I think my inner child was just screaming to get out.

Last, but certainly not least, was the doll I made for Amber Dawn. I know Amber makes wonderful jewelry. When thinking about jewelry and gems, I thought about gypsies. I don't want to be accused of being politically incorrect, but Gypsy Girl had a velvet bag with her that was filled with jewels of an unknown origin. She arrived at Amber's home hoping to trade the jewels for a place to stay. The biggest challenge I had when making Gypsy Girl was her clothing. Not having any patterns for doll clothing, I had to remake the dress several times until I figured out how to get the top of the dress to fit her.

What a great swap. I had fun making the gifts I sent out, and I certainly loved the gifts that I received.

What's Behind the Curtain?

2009-01-05T21:09:00.072-05:00

No, it isn't the Wizard of Oz. Guess again.

Hiding behind this boring white curtain is part of my every-growing fabric stash.

Let me explain. Years ago, this was my son's bedroom, and he used these shelves to store his games, books, record albums etc. Now it's the room my grandson sleeps in when he visits. Not one to let a nice set of empty shelves go uncluttered, I began storing fabric on them. At first, it was just a few pieces. Then I added a few more pieces. The next thing I knew, those shelves were overflowing with fabric. I just can't imagine how that happened!

Howie, who is usually not a neat freak, began muttering about the "room looking a mess (not the word he actually used)." I, on the other hand, thought the stacked fabrics looked colorful and inspiring. So we went back and forth about it. (Let me add, it was a rather loud and emotional type of back and forth.) Having been married for over 40 years, we've learned how to pull each others strings as well as how to rewind the string ever so nicely.

In the interest of marital peace, I decided to make a simple curtain to cover the shelves. That was easy. But I really didn't like the way the stark white curtain looked.

I wondered what could I do about this plain, white curtain. It occurred to me that I could dye that big, plain piece of white fabric. I had everything I needed and set about mixing the dye and letting the fabric soak. But then tragedy struck. Drum roll please. As I pulled my rubber gloves off, I noticed my right hand had turned blue.

How could this have happened? I had checked the gloves to make sure there were no holes in them before I started. You know what they say, "Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue."

Here's how the curtain look after it was dyed a lovely shade of blue.

I really liked the way fabric looked. But I'm not one "to leave well enough alone" as the saying goes. So I decided to try out the Setacolor Soleil sun printing fabric that I had in the house for a few years. This was back in August, and it was a beautiful, sunny, windless day. Perfect for sun printing.

This is a picture of some of the items I placed on the curtain after I had applied the Setacolor Soleil paint.

I was hoping to get some interesting shadowy images. . As with many of my artistic experiments, I was sorely disappointed. Here you can see how it turned out.

Here are the three things that I learned while doing this project. Perhaps this information will save you from screwing up like I did.

First of all, never try to sun print a huge piece of fabric. It was very unwieldy and I kept kneeling on my painted sections as I tried to reach the unpainted areas.

Second, the sun moves. Yup, one minute I was working in a nice, sunny spot and the next minute, the fabric was in the shade and I had to move the fabric which was a pain in the neck. I know this is basic science and I probably learned it in third grade, but for some reason I forgot to anticipate this phenomenon.

Third, trying to be clever, I had cut out cardboard birds and scattered them over the fabric anticipating I'd get some nice bird shadows and outlines. Well, this did not work out at all. I realized that my birds should have been much bigger. Can you see them? No. Neither could I.

Well, to be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the final results of my sun-dying project. But I'm not one to give up.

To be continued......

True Confession

2009-01-03T21:25:00.002-05:00

In an effort to maintain my reputation as an honest and ethical blogger (even if I live in NJ--the land of political corruption and personal mayhem), the following two posts actually appeared in another blog I started several months ago but abandoned. So, if they look familiar, you're not losing your mind.

One person's junk is another person's Junque

2009-01-03T15:29:00.003-05:00

I am sure that anyone who lives in NJ will agree with me that living in NJ has its drawbacks. High taxes, massive traffic jams, toxic air, organized crime (think The Sorpanos), disorganized crime, and, of course, ever-present corrupt politics.

However, NJ has two things going for it which makes living here worthwhile. First, we have fabulous pizza. Second, we have great garage sales. Not every garage sale is a winner, but at least twice a season I hit the mother load of junque. It's like finding the mixed-media artist's Holy Grail.

Many people who live in my area have lived here for 50 plus years and have certainly accumulated their fare share of stuff. Now they're moving on to retirement communities or moving up (hopefully) to their final resting place. So what does their family do with their accumulated stuff? Why have a garage sale.

Last Fall, I saw an ad for a garage sale which advertised that they were selling the contents of a dressmaker's estate. You can imagine how my heart skipped a beat just thinking about the potential for finding buttons, fabric, notions and who knows what else.

I could barely contain my excitement. I was up bright and early the day of the sale and set out with the same feeling of anticipation that children have on the morning of their birthday.

I'm fairly selective since I have quite a large stash of fabric and sewing notions. No polyester for me! Even so, I was mentally calculating that I had amassed about $75 worth of Junque. Imagine my delight when the woman running the sale asked for $30. I think that many times the family running the garage sale just want to get rid of everything. This was obviously the case in this instance.

Now aren't you just dying to see what I got for my $30?

OK, let's see, we have buttons, tape measures, crochet thread, a display box, rick rack, and some great picture hooks.

Kitschy 1950's magnets, key chains (does anyone know any postal workers?) yellow fringe and lapel pins.

Tiny appliqued flower, buttons to cover with fabric and beads.

Four afghans and a beautiful hand quilted quilt. More about why I'm buying afghans on another day.

Fabric galore.

Even more fabric.

I hope you'll agree that this is quite a haul for $30. Now who wants to move to NJ? I know of a few beautiful houses in my neighborhood which are for sale.

Succumbing to Peer Pressure

2009-01-03T14:50:00.001-05:00

I can't believe that I've succumbed to peer pressure and have started a blog! I tried to be strong and resist the urge to blog, but, alas, I've failed.
I've been trying to figure out why I feel the need to have my own blog. The only answer that I can come up with is that this is the best way to keep in touch with all the wonderful art friends I've made during the past few years. As an added bonus, perhaps I'll even make some new friends. Since I discovered Google Reader, I find that I can easily keep up with everyone's blogs. It is much more efficient to go to just one site to get my daily fix of blog news rather than to go to each blog individually to see if it has been updated. If you haven't signed up for Google Reader or another similar service, I strongly recommend that you do so. In fact, it's been so easy to read blogs, that I've explored literally hundreds of blogs over the past few months. I know you're thinking that I must be exaggerating, but, unfortunately, I'm not. I'm one of those undisciplined people who can sit down at the computer at 9 AM and the next thing I know I've spent three hours aimlessly wandering in cyberspace.
My goal is to write a humorous and informative blog that will amuse and inspire everyone who visits here.