chocogarden

most of you know that i've never met a chocolate i didn't like......my hips, on the other hand, have cast their vote for "no-likey-like" because the more i eat, the bigger they get. so just when i thought i was going to have to drastically curb my choco-appetite, in steps mother nature and gives us chocolate mint for the garden! it's minty, and has a nice chocolate undertone to it.....without the extra calories......and tastes great in a nice tall glass of lemonade! and now that my hips are happier (not smaller, just happier), my chocolate love affair continues on.....

be you

if God had wanted me otherwise,

He would have created me otherwise.

johann von goethe

this doodle quiltie is listed in my etsy shop here!

you have wings

this is the project that i was working on the other day, and needed to go hunting at the fabric store for the perfect "wing fabric" (and now i have lots of other new fabrics in my stash thanks to that trip for just one fabric!). this is a modified version of a doodle i did in my journal a while back......i've changed up the colors a bit......

and added lots of pink, white, blue and black beads....

and since i did everything by hand, there's a little reminder on the back!

i've listed this little art quiltie in my etsy shop.....you can read more about it here!

inspiration monday

today i'm taking inspiration from a sweet little hummingbird named phoebe. she's a non-migratory channel island allens species and lives in orange county, california. for the past week, i've been watching her (via live webcam on ustream) build this gorgeous nest using lichen, plant materials and spider webs......and while phoebe has been working on this strictly for function, my artist eye sees the yummy texture and gorgeous colors that she's instinctively used to finish her masterpiece. and speaking of masterpiece.....what about phoebe herself?! only God could paint such an absolute beauty!

and now that phoebe has finished the nest, here are her true treasures.....two precious little eggs.....sized somewhere between a jelly bean and a tic-tac!! and don't you know that when they hatch they'll be absolutely adorable!!!

you can watch phoebe on the live webcam over at ustream here.

but be careful.....if you're like me, you'll be hooked in no time....

and believe me, you can spend hours watching her!!

a hunting i will go

isn't it frustrating when you've got an idea for a project, you get out the supplies that you need, and then you realize that you don't have that "perfect" piece of fabric in your stash? how can that be possible that there's not one piece of fabric in these piles that will work? all i need is a little snippet......and it's not in there. believe me, i've pawed through this over and over again, hoping that it would jump out at me......and it hasn't. so, i'm off to hunt at the fabric store this morning in the hopes that the perfect piece of fabric is in their stash......and it looks like i'd better get some bigger bins while i'm at it!

thank you, charming gardeners

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,

they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

sweet molly

my sweet bloggy friend renee troy is an artist and animal lover, and she's combined these two passions and come up with a fabulous idea for a fundraiser to benefit "a place to bark", the loving and generous animal shelter that's founded and run by bernie berlin. renee has asked various artists to participate by creating a page featuring a special pet in their life.....and when everyone has completed their project, she'll bind it in a book and then it goes up for auction, with all of the proceeds going directly to benefit the bark shelter!

this is a page that i created for our sweet molly......an extremely precious, funny, and affectionate bearded collie! i kept the layout fairly simple because molly herself is pretty uncomplicated.....her needs are few, but what she gives back is enormous! she makes me happy, she makes me laugh, and she has definitely left her little pawprints all over my heart!!

thank you, renee for all of your worthwhile efforts in bringing joy to so many sweet animals! and thank you for inviting me to include my own sweet little molly in such a special project!

click on image for a better view of the text.....

inspiration monday

when i first read becky shander's dryer sheet article that was published in the premier issue of art quilting studio magazine (july, 2009), i was thrilled to see such an ordinary around-the-house-product being used in such creative ways! so thrilled, in fact, that i immediately salvaged the pile of dryer sheets that had been accumulating in my laundry room and started playing (you can see the fun here!)!

and i think that becky must have planted a tiny seed of dryer-sheet-inspiration that day, because when i started thinking about creating the little "child of art" quiltlet in yesterday's post, those dryer sheets were the first thing that i wanted to start playing with again! they're fun to use in their original white, but it's amazing at how well they absorb color, too.....just a little acrylic paint (and lots of paper towels to catch the mess!) and before you know it, you've got a stack of dryer-sheet-rainbow-happiness just waiting to be included in your next project!

thank you SO much, becky, for sprinkling your sweet little seeds of creativity throughout blogland......you will always be a beautiful inspiration to me!!!

child of art quilt

i have had an absolute blast the past few days just playing......with some fabric, ribbons, threads, beads, and batting. if there ever was a piece of art that totally describes my creative comfort zone, i think it's this one. and while most of these materials were familiar to me......

i used inspiration from my sweet friend becky shander and tried something new.....i painted some dryer sheets and created these sweet little flowers (SO much fun!!).....

but you know with me, it always starts with the lettering......that will forever be at the center of this child of art's heART!

in working on this, i've learned that thinking outside the creative box is important, but taking some time to revisit my comfort zone has given me a new energy that i desperately needed. here's to being back in the zone!!

fabric play

i've been itchin' to do some stitchin', so i've cleared off my work table to make room for my sewing supplies. i love working with paper, but recently my creative path has been veering towards the softer side of art......so i'm going to spend a couple of days playing and experimenting with some fabrics, threads, ribbons, maybe a few beads.....and dryer sheets....

i hope your creative path is leading you to some fun places today!

creative path

sometimes i feel like if i were able to see an arial view of my creative path, this is what it would look like.....a jumbled mess that seems to include a lot of going-around-in-circles, and leads to who knows where. anything goes here at elvie studio......this is the place where one day you can find me using micron pens and doodlin' up a storm, and the next day painting paste paper, or maybe even carving stamps or playing with an electric wax melter. and just to give you the heads up, recently i've had the urge to revisit my fabric stash to see what kind of trouble i can get into.....

so consider yourself warned! :))

journal page finished with micron pens and watercolor pencils

tuesday bliss

it's tuesday.

let's celebrate with something really ooooey and gooey.....

and chocolately......

something really stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth-divine!

enjoy your day!

inspiration monday

last week i created this little book by lettering a quote onto paste paper......some of the pages looked like they needed something, but i didn't know what, so instead of forcing the issue (which is what i usually do so i can call it finished), i put it away for a few days. and when i pulled it out again, it was like seeing it for the first time! i realized that it needed a little more color on a couple of the pages, and then i added a little shadowing to some of the lettering......and proved to myself that when a touch of patience is thrown into the mix, inspiration can definitely strike twice on the same project!

put on your flip-flops and grab your sand buckets.....we're headed to the ocean!

click on image for larger view

for a peek inside, view photos here (click on "slideshow" for large format)

you can also watch a video in large format here at you tube

artful treasures

i am in constant awe of the incredible talent that exists here in blogland. what a magnificent community of fabulous artists......filled with kindred spirits willing to share their artwork and inspire every person who is lucky enough to discover it. and while nuggets of creativity float through cyberspace via blog posts, there are times when the blessing goes one step further and such treasures will also show up in your mailbox.....like this colorful and gorgeously painted, collaged and stitched card (plus envelope!!) that i recently received from blog sweetie gina lee kim.......

and this beauty that jane at painted heart studio sent to me (and as exquisitely painted as the card is, the envelope is just as fantastic!)......

and this stunning purse charm that crystal at bead happily ever after sent after my name was pulled out of the lucky giveaway hat......and it's so magnificent that now i'm considering asking my little dutch sweetie for a new purse to go with it!!

and then just yesterday, this beautifully painted and collaged little gem arrived all the way from slovenia, where my sweet bloggy friend kitty at slovonske technobe lives. we did a post card exchange.....

and this is the one that i sent to her (neither one of us knew what the other was doing, and we both chose to use birdies in our design.....how fabulous is that?!!).

each and every one of these jewels go in my artful treasure chest......right next to all of the heartfelt comments and bloggy hugs that you leave for me here on my blog every day.....

thank you SO much for your warm feedback and encouragement!

i cherish you more than you'll ever know! xox

the reality of dreams

sharing stitches was recently announced on amazon for pre-order......and while it won't be released for several more months, we're all jumping up and down like giddy school girls over seeing the cover! congratulations chrissie on seeing this dream become a reality.....and thank you from the top, middle and bottom of my heart for inviting me to be a part of it!!! xox

for more details about this book, click here!

part of my flower project is on the cover.....click here!!!

wax experiments

i spent a little bit of time with my new waxmelter yesterday.....ooooh, it's fun, and really easy to use! i decided to do a little experimenting using different types of paper. this heart doodle was "drawn" onto white cardstock using the waxmelter.....i used beeswax and it hardens on the paper fairly quickly. just as with batik, i painted in the open areas with watercolor, let it dry, and then placed paper towels over the paper and put a hot iron on top to melt the wax. the paper towels absorb the melted wax, while some of it bleeds out into the paper......

then i used a white uniball signo pen to do a little doodling.

this was drawn using the waxmelter and beeswax onto fabriano medioevalis paper and painted with watercolor and diluted acrylic paints......

and then i used a 4B pencil and a paper stump to shade the white areas.

this was drawn using the waxmelter and beeswax onto a piece of light orange paste paper that i had in my paper stash, and then painted using watercolors. the wax really bled out into the arches textwove paper when i melted it, making the paper darker in some areas.....

then i used my uniball signo pen and an orange pencil to do some highlighting and doodling.

of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg......i'd love to see the results using different types of wax (you can melt crayons in the waxmelter, too!) and different types of dyes.

ooooh, and then try all of this using fabric instead of paper......i've got a few ideas for some small art quilts.....

does anyone have any extra time i can borrow.....?!!

click on any image to enlarge

inspiration monday

meet the waxmelter.

at first glance, the design might remind you of a re-worked woodburning tool that your brother may have created in his high school shop class....and the delightfully charming retro-just-pulled-it-out-of-a-1974-time-capsule-packaging helps to keep the concept of melting wax onto fabric and paper nice and simple.....and these days, i'm really into simple. i've tried using these tjanting tools in the past, but my lack of patience with all of the dripping wax left me frustrated and disappointed in the results, not to mention a few burned fingers. so, in the spirit of always-willing-to-try-something-new (and after watching this video), i'm happy to have this new toy in my toolbox......now i just need to find some time to play!

for more info about the waxmelter, click here and here

Easter joy

joy is yours today......just take it!

i hope you have a beautiful Easter filled with

abundant blessings.....and lots of joy!!!

xox