Sue Bleiweiss

What to do when you're feeling uninspired

We all have those days.  You wake up and just don't know what you feel like working on.  I was having one of those days today.  Usually the best way for me to get past that is to just start moving things around in the studio and typically something starts to happen.  This is what happened this morning:

I bought this fabric a couple of weeks ago, put it away and then Vicki's post the other day reminded me that I had it.  I thought it would work well for a journal.

The inside:

The pages have been embellished with some of the fabrics used in the cover and lining.  The center of each signature has a page from "Alice in Wonderland":

The front and back panel of the journal has a slot pocket which is a little hard to see in this photo:

And each signature cover has been embellished with fabric and silk ribbon. 

I'm working up some idea and sketches for developing another journal making class.  Not sure when it will be ready but you can be sure you'll be seeing previews of the projects here on the blog.   Here's a question for you:  What makes a good journal?  What do you look for in a journal or sketchbook?  How do you like them to close?  What extra's do you like to have?

And a quick reminder that the Mixed Media Surfaces for the Fiber Artist online class starts next week! 

Done! & some new journals

I just put the finishing touches on the Creative Mixed Media Journaling Techniques class lessons.

I am really looking forward to the start of this class, we're going to have a great time working through all the different techniques in these lessons.   I really packed each lesson with lots of techniques to experiment and play with.   My most sincerest thanks to Sandy for being my official lesson tester for this workshop!

Here they are, all 89 pages bound up nicely in a book all ready for class to start.    Visit my website here to learn more about this class and how to register for it.

I've been working on a stack of journals for the last week and I finished them all up today. 

All of these are in the shop here.   This is the last of this style journal for a while.  I've decided to retire this particular style and configuration for now while I work on some new designs.  I have several pages of notes and sketches for new journal styles that I'll be working on over the summer.   

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Somerset Studio

Well this is pretty exciting!  I got my May/June issue of Somerset Studio yesterday:

And turned to page 20 to find my 3 page article all about my Journal Fabric Sketchbooks!

I still can't believe I'm seeing my work in this magazine.   I couldn't be happier with the layout and the photos, they did a really wonderful job.  The article is about creating the journal fabric sketchbooks that are on the home page of website.

Custom Journal order

A friend of mine asked if I would make a baby journal for her to give as a gift for an upcoming baby shower.  The person had registered at Pottery Barn so we decided to coordinate the journal with the theme of the baby's room and I went and bought a pillowcase to use as the outside fabric for the journal:

The inside has 3 signatures that are sewn in using silk ribbon.  Each has some coordinating colored papers and I added photo frames to the center page of the center signature:

She can add some baby photos later using some of the photo corners that I included with the journal.  I wanted to coordinate the pockets and include a few tags so I photo copied some of the pillow case fabric onto so full sized label sheets and used them to make the pockets and tags:

And I embellished some of the pages with some baby themed things.  These little pink baby ceramic hand and foot print impressions were too cute to pass up in the store:

The same for these fun safety pins:

I hope she likes what I've done.  I think she will.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Busy weekend

I've been busy in the studio this weekend.  It was so nice outside yesterday that I set myself up out on the deck and prepped some textured surfaces for some new journals:

You'll learn how to make these surfaces in the Creative Mixed Media Journaling techniques class that starts 6/9/08.  Actually you'll also learn how to turn them into a journal too.

I wanted to do some more painting today but there's just too much wind.  So instead I ended up finishing a couple of journals I started last week:

This one has some great preprinted water color pages inside all ready for adding color to and the button embellishment on the cover is glass.  More photos in the shop here.

And when I saw this fabric at equilter.com I just had to buy some of it.

The brides journal!  More photos of the inside here.

There's been a lot more journals added to the flickr group for the Journal Making for the Fiber Artist class that's running now.  Check them out here.  The next session of this class starts 6/2/08

And a reminder that the Mixed Media Surfaces for the Fiber Artist class starts in just a few weeks!  Click here for all the details on that class.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Belle Armoire article!

I can't even tell you what a thrill it is for me to see myself in the pages of Belle Armoire!  I just got the May/June issue yesterday:

and when I turned to page 22...


The article is all about painting and writing on fabric with Stewart Gill paints.  I am so happy with the photography and the layout.  They did such a nice job with it!

Some shopping and 2 new journals

On Tuesday this week I had the pleasure of spending the day with Vicki and Summerset.  There was lots of shopping and lunching and I had the best time!   Between the fabric store, the bead store and the yarn store I ended up with a good sized bag of goodies including some  fabrics and some new ribbons:

My ribbon collection is seriously lacking a good variety to choose from.  This newly purchased batch will help a bit.  That fabric in the center is a fake leather with a basket weave pattern.  It's very textured.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it but I think it might be a good surface for painting on.

I just added a couple new journals to the shop:

The closure embellishment on this one is a door knocker and the little ring on it actually pulls up.  More photos of the inside here.

I just love the outside fabric on this one.  More photos of the inside here.

A new box & an award

One more abaca project:

Box is 4" square and can be used to hold potpourri.  Love this abaca stuff!

I was the recipient of the Arte y Pico award from Elis.

Thank you so much Elis!  I have admired Elis' work for a long time now and couldn't be more flattered that she would choose me to receive this award.  I am supposed to pick 5 more to receive this award but I think that so many more of you deserve it that I could never pick just 5! 

A new bag and signs of spring!

I'm having some fun playing with this abaca fiber:

I decided to use those postcards that I created a couple of blog posts back to embellish the front of this new abaca bag.  I've got a couple more projects in mind for this stuff and I"ll be writing about working with it in issue 4 of Fibre&Stitch.

Sandy's got some great sneak peeks from the Creative Mixed Media Journaling Techniques class on her blog.  Take a look here.

And check out the flickr group for my Journal Making for the Fiber Artist online class.  The students in my class have posted some more photo of their journals.  I think you'll agree that they're a very talented group!

What started out as a rainy gloomy day has turned into a sunny pleasant one with temperatures just a hair under 70.  I am enjoying it very much!  Once I hit the publish button on this post I'm headed back out to my lounge chair on the deck but I'll leave you with this parting shot of one of the trees in my backyard waking up after a long cold winter...

Have a great weekend!

Class photos

It's been one of those crazy weeks where every time I sit down I find that I have to get back up and go somewhere so I'm not getting any studio time in at all.    So I don't have any new projects to show you just yet but pop on over to the flickr group I set up and see just a few of the journals that the incredibly talented students in my Journal Making for the Fiber Artist class have created.   

Click here to visit the Flickr group.  Students are continuing to add photos so check back often for updates.

Back in a couple of days with some new projects from the studio!