Sue Bleiweiss

Etsy shop update

added some new journals to the shop:

silk tri fold

 

Cork paper and chalk cloth

painted canvas

 

painted silk

 

cotton fabric

recycled jeans...

I haven't been blogging much lately because Terri and I have been so busy with book stuff and earlier this week I got bit by the fall cleaning bug.  Usually around this time of year I take a few days and go through all the closets and drawers and sort everything into piles: things to keep, things to donate and things to toss or turn into rags.   I had thrown in some old worn out jeans into the things to toss pile and just as I was stuffing them into a bag I had a flash of inspiration...

and since the jeans had two pockets I used one on the inside too...

 

I don't think I'll ever look at a old worn out pair of jeans the same way again!

Two Creative Studio's announcement!

Terri and I have some very exciting changes about how we will be conducting online classes at Two Creative Studios.

Effective immediately all of the Two Creative Studios' online classes are now ongoing, instant access classes! This means that as soon as you register for a class you have access to all of the lessons. No more waiting for a new class to post each week!  You can open and save all the lessons to your computer and work through them at your own pace.

But that's not all...

We'll now be using a Ning group instead of Yahoo groups for the class forums!  You'll find the brand new Two Creative Studios' Ning group here.  When you register for a class you'll have access to your class group where you can interact with the instructor for your class, other students, post photos and ask questions. You can, of course, join this Ning group at any time, but you will not have access to any student-only groups until you have registered for a class.  If you have taken one of our online classes in the past and wish to join the current class group please contact either Terri or Sue to let them know.

Why have we switched from running scheduled, online classes to ongoing, instant access ones?  Well, we know how busy everyone is and how sometimes even with the best of intentions and planning some of our students are registered for a class, get distracted and are unable to complete all the lessons before the class ends.  With an ongoing class you can come back to your lessons in 3 months, 6 months, or even a year from now and still get the support you need.  You'll also have the benefit of being able to interact with all of the other students who have become a member of the student group, no matter when they signed up for the class.  We also recognize that every student works at their own pace and that some work faster than others.  With an ongoing class you'll have access to all the lessons at once so if you're a fast worker you can advance to the next lesson without waiting for the instructor to post it.

To learn more about how our online classes work please click here.

To see a complete listing of all of our online classes and to register for them click here.

Kitchen foil box a book update!

Every time I put the roll of kitchen foil away I think of something else I want to make with it so for now we're doing without a roll of foil in the kitchen.  I decided that since it worked so well for books why not try it with my next favorite thing to make...

 
This box measures 5 1/2"x7"x 2 1/2" and is foil inside and out.  I lined the bottom with some black ultrasuede.  The hinges and the keyhole you see on the box are grungeboard pieces.  Gosh I do love that stuff!

In Terri's blog post yesterday she showed a couple of the books that will be in our new book "Creative Ways with Books & Journals" which should be available in November so I thought I'd show you one of mine too:

Yup, that's kitchen foil.  All my techniques for making kitchen foil books will be in the new book. 

postcards, presents and a new book...

The other day when I went to the mailbox look what I found inside:

 

This gorgeous marbled silk scarf made by my good friend Sandy.  I absolutely love it! 

and more kitchen foil stuff, this time in the form of postcards instead of books:

 

 

 

and lastly I decided it was time for a new sketchbook:

 

I made this using lokta leather paper and an 8" text block from the Paper Studio.  I love working with this paper, it's really more like a piece of fabric and it has the nicest suede feel to it.  

And speaking of bookmaking... my new online Creative Book Making class starts next week!

still playing with kitchen foil...

Can't seem to stop playing with kitchen foil...

 

and

and

 

all of these books are 9"x2"x6". 

and if you've been wanting to try your hand at gradation dyeing Terri added a new free project to the Two Creative Studios website that you're gonna love!

kitchen foil books...

I finally got these two coptic stitch books finished which took me longer than anticipated because I had to work out the best way to seal these surfaces to keep the ink from being scrubbed off.

 

These are 8 1/2" x 6"x1" and the one with the circles is in the shop here.  I think I'm keeping the one with the squares for myself :)

I also made these three using the same foil technique:

I used an layer of copper ink under the black on this one and it looks very cool in person:

 

 

 

These three are in the shop here.

another book review...

experimental textiles
A journey through design, interpretation and inspiration
by Kim Thittichai
ISBN 978-1906388478

Let me begin this review by telling you what this book isn't: it is not a book of how to techniques. There are no step by step directions on how to create any of the gorgeous pieces in this book. What it is though, is a guide to how you can develop your own textile art. It begins with a section on exploring where ideas come from and then how to create and develop your designs and ideas based on your own sketches, photographs and other collected ephemera. There is a brief discussion about color in textiles and the color wheel that is straightforward and easy to understand. The second part of this book guides you through finding a focus for your work beginning with choosing a subject, interpreting it into a body of work, working in the three-dimension and the challenges associated with creating structure with textiles followed by a discussion regarding scale and things to consider when working with large 3d pieces. The book closes with a discussion about inspiration focusing on the work of 8 artists and where they find theirs and showcases the work of Ruth Issett, Cylde Olliver, Judy Martin, Myriam Tripet, Angie Hughes, Lee Brown, Bobby Britnell, and Gwen Hedley. This is a beautiful book that's very well written and filled with stunning photographs that are impossible not to be inspired by.

Book review & painted canvas

The Creative Edge

exercises to celebrate your creative self

by Mary Todd Beam

ISBN 978-1600611117

As you all know I am not a painter but  I found that all of the exercises and techniques in this book are easily adaptable to working on cloth instead of wrapped canvas.  I haven't put this book down since I got it and it's really pushing me to do more experimenting with different types of mediums and tools for applying color to cloth.  It's a spiral bound book so it lays flat when opened and it's filled with page after page of beautiful photos of the processes and the finished works.  If you're looking for a way to jump start your creative muse buy this book, you won't be dissapointed.   As a matter of fact the other day I went and grabbed some canvas fabric, all my Goldens fluid acrylic paints and painted up a few surfaces to work with.

 

All of these are painted with the Golden's Fluid Acrylics.  The first two above are just as I've painted them but these next two I wasn't entirely thrilled with because the colors were a bit too much.  So I left them to dry and then I threw them in the washer and dryer hoping to wash out some of the color. 

 

There wasn't as much color loss at all which actually surprised me since I was working with an acrylic paint and I didn't bother to do any type of heat setting to it before I washed them.  Now that I know this I'll be less hesitant to use these paints on a fabric that I know I will wash because the paints didn't effect the hand of the cloth at all and I think that if I had let the fabric cure for several days first and then applied some heat I may not have had even as much as I did.  Of course I've only washed these once so it will be interesting to see what happens the next time they go through the wash/dry cycle. 

The next step for these fabrics is to apply some imagery with either silkscreens or some other method...

happy birthday to me!

Yesterday the UPS man carried a big box up the driveway and inside was a birthday present for me from my hubby:

 

a nice new Kutrimmer 1038 for cutting book board!  I spent some time cutting bookboard with it today and it cuts so nice and accurately with very little effort on my part.  I love it!   I wish that it had arrived one day earlier though because the day before it arrived I spent a good amount of time cutting book board to make a box for a special someone...

9"x10"x3 and inside:

and I couldn't resist making a coordinating sketchbook:

 

I hope she likes it!