Reflections of Myself

Finished

2012-01-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

What should I do with it?

New Year, New Art

2012-01-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

Last night my Fiber Art Fusion group had a meeting and workshop. The workshop was using stitches to fill in the blank so to speak. One thing we worked on was a Elegant Feather that we made using the technique Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth shows us on her blog

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/the-magic-feather-project.html

I was greatly inspired to work and finish my little project I had started the night before. I had in my mind to use my previous work to incorporate stitches on it. I used my computer and printer to make a little piece from an iron-on sheet that I ironed onto Kona white cotton fabric. Truth: the iron-on made the work greenish but I am doing stitches on it so it surely doesnt matter, I find I like the pre-treated cotton printable sheets in the package when I print something out that I will be working on. The colors stay true to the original.

In the first picture on the top left hand side is the iron on ironed onto the cotton, next to it on the right side is the original and the bottom piece is what I have worked on.

I started with the feather, filled in the circles with the blue and pink pearle cotton running stitches then did the green dmc floss back stitches. The piece did not look remarkable and was very dull looking. So I filled in the muted black and made it darker with 4 strands of black sewing thread as I can not find my embroidery floss anywhere right now, it works very well. Now i am finishing up with gold metallic thread and I really like this piece the more I work on it. Don't know what to do with it, maybe just make it into a small piece of art, incorporate it inot a larger piece of art or a needle case? What do you think?

Embroidery Scissor case

2011-08-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80532890/scissor-case-accessories

I finished the new scissor case with it's matching fob. Black moire fabric, red silk ribbon roses hand embroidered, gold metallic thread hand stitched and beaded. White gimp hand sewn down over the edge.

New Project

2011-08-25T11:33:00.001-07:00

Here is a sneak peek on what I am working on.

Victorian style Crazy Quilt Scissor case

2011-08-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

I had a custom order for a crazy quilted scissor case with a matching fob. I crazy quilted it using fancy fabrics and did some hand embroidery and silk ribbon embroidery. Measures 4 1/2 inches x 3 inches.

Pacific Ocean

2011-07-26T06:36:00.001-07:00

What a lovely view, water crashing on the rocks and beach is a beautiful sight.

California Coastline 2011

2011-07-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

We followed 1 for a while and got dizzy from the roller coaster ride and finally got on 101.

Oh but what a ride it was! This spot has the blackest sand I have ever seen.

April

2011-07-23T00:12:00.001-07:00

Peacfull Contemplations

2011-07-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Madonna of the Magnificat

Painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1481

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=11552390

This 8" x 10" sits next to my computer tower. Every time I look upon it I am filled with peace and I think on how well my life is playing out for me.

I made this collage some years ago and thought others could find their inner peace if they also gazed on the perfect peacefull visage of utter innocence.

Coneflowers

2011-07-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

For some reason I thought these were cornflowers? Very pretty with raised centers, the bees and bugs love this flower. Has Perennial Salvia violet blue. Very hardy, we went on vacation and we thought it was dead but I separated the 3 plants around the Coneflower and they came back to life. You cant see the Salvia very well, I took pictures too late they have already bloomed and spent but they comw back regularly with new blooms.

We planted these in a old antique cow bucket, whatever that means (?), over a place where a huge old oak tree has been cut down and the area where the roots were, are sinking in. The tree was cut because my husband was afraid of it falling on the house. As the droughts and heavy thunderstorms are proving him right with lots of trees falling on peoples houses here in Georgia.

Yesterday's post.....

2011-07-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

I posted yesterday about my Hibiscus tree and the seedlings I received this year. My mother is 71 years old and she helped me plant the seedlings in my yard. We did the mother and daughter thing sharing and bonding and spent some time together with a common goal with a task to be done. Mind you these are 6"-8" wooden sticks we planted but they was well on their way becoming leafy in April.

Here is what the seedlings look like now after the incident in May. My husband put stakes down this time. I asked him to do this before we left on our vacation, as I reminded him our neighbors cut our grass for us while we are gone. Our daughter moved back home and can do this chore was his answer. One of or neighbor still felt the need to cut the lawn and proceeded to cut all the saplings down with the grass.

I'm glad to say they are alive and well, except for the 1 that perished. It was doing well just last week, but I found a wooden stump in its place the other day and wonder why it did so.

Hibiscus: Rose of Sharon

2011-07-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

About 5 years ago my mother brought me these twiggy little seedlings she dug from her garden. She didn't know the name of the flowering bush just they are purple and some are white. Therefore I didn't know the name of this bush/tree until I asked my neighbor who told me they are called the Rose of Sharon. I had an a suspicion they was hibiscus but wasn't sure myself they truly are. I did research on the internet and had found out these are indeed Hibiscus and the Rose of Sharon. The internet is a wonderous place and a unending book of information if you know how to present the wording correctly. So those long years ago only one plant lived through my brown thumb and is a majestic flowering bush/tree with beautiful blooms.

This year in January for her birthday mother came to visit me and I took her out with my daughter to eat at the Chinese buffet, as this is a tradition we have started long ago in the 1980's. I also received a bunch more of the Hibiscus twigs and this time I am determined to keep them all alive. I believe there are about 19 or 20 of them we had planted.

In April my husband and I went on vacation and while we was gone our neighbor cut all the little seedlings down, but after babying with watering and plant food they all came back to life with tiny growths of leaves and they are thriving now except 1 that did not make it.

Fuchsia

2011-07-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

I made this 8"x10" collage for the American Cancer Society as a donation and now think I want to make a larger piece of it. I have ideas and have already drafted in my mind what it will look like and what type of materials I will use. The black on this piece is real leather and is raised up and I think I will use something a little flatter.

Here is a link to read up on the fundraiser we was doing.

http://debbiesreflectionsofmyself.blogspot.com/2008/05/american-cancer-society-fundraiser.html

Cross Stitching

2011-07-17T17:36:00.001-07:00

My mother gave me a lot of stuff over the years and there was a Korean Christmas card mom sent to dad when he was in Vietnam for the war. I tried to do a cross stitch of the card by drawing freehand in the cloth. This is my attempt and it has been 10 years since I worked on it, one day I do want to finish this. I love how the mother is doing embroidery as I am cross stitching her.

If your a Etsy shop owner and love to do needlearts please join us at

http://www.etsy.com/teams/5881/etsy-needlearts-team-etsyneat

Quiltsy of Etsy Challenge

2011-07-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

My Quiltsy Team http://www.etsy.com/shop/QuiltsyTeam on Etsy had a challenge for 3 weeks in the month of June. Make as many treasury's as you can in 1 week. If you win the challenge you get a spot in every treasury made the next week. I didn't participate the 2 weeks of the challenge but I did for the 3rd and last week. Cathy of http://www.etsy.com/shop/clubaloha won the 2nd week of the challenge and made the 3rd week even sweeter by offering a special prize and the prize will be picked up from Hawaii as she was vacationing there visiting her family.

The 3rd week challenge I made 29 treasury's, here are a few of my favorites.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTAzNDU4NHwzNzY4MzM0Mzc/i-thee-wed?index=11

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTAzNDU4NHwzNTY5MTY5NzA/owl-be-your-friend?index=38

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTAzNDU4NHwzNzgwODE0OTE/crop-circles?index=9

This is what I received:

Flowers of Hawaii Year 2012 calendar

100% Hawaiian coffee

Hawaii sandal shape pot holder

2 fat quarters of batik fabric

Aloha from Hawaii notepads with pen

Aloha 'stickey kine' notes

A Hawaii Debbie name magnet

Forever Florals Passion Plumeria Lip Balm

Aloha from Hawaii Postcard

Thank you Cathy for making this last week challenge special.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/clubaloha

Venus Midnight bloom

2011-06-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

I finished remaking a wall hanging I made last year I really like what I have done with it.

My husband says "Beuatiful, this may be your best one yet".

I took the pictures outdoors and the sun really shows off the free motion stitching even tho the piece looks a little lighter than it is. I don't suppose anyone would hang it outdoors for displaying. Light in the home would not bring out the beauty of the piece as the natural lighting does.

Quilts of Valor

2011-06-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Moda ( http://modafabrics.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-one-star.html ) had a challenge to make 100 quilts in 100 days for the Quilts of Valor Program ( http://www.qovf.org/index.html ). They needed star blocks to acheive this accomplishment and put out a call to quilters all over to make and donate 1 star block.
This is the awesomeness of quilters: 12,000 star blocks was donated, enough to make 1000 quilts! The generosity quilters have in their heart is beyond anything I have seen.
The Quilts of Valor program presents quilts to our injured servicemen and women.
Now that the blocks are received Moda is asking for our help once again to help assemble and do the quilting. You can read about it here on our Etsy quiltsyteam blog, dated June 25, 2011. Titled Star Light, Star Bright.....

http://teamquiltsy.blogspot.com/2011/06/star-light-star-bright.html

My contribution of 8 star blocks

Crazy Quilted Pincushion

2011-06-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

So I was looking around through my bags and came upon a cream bridal lace and I thought perfect. Now it's all sewn on and I an in overkill mode, I am adding one more thing to this pin cushion.

Crazy Quilted Pincushion

2011-06-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

The problem was I thought the pin cushion looked too bare. My solution was adding a gold metallic trim, I use to know the name of this trim but over time I have forgotten it. I really don't know if JoAnn Fabrics even carries it anymore as I have been purchasing for over 21 years and most of what I have is no longer in circulation.

After looking for and finding the perfect addition a couple of days ago, I played with the position it would take. At first I thought around the middle but no, it was perfect surrounding the crazy quilted/silk ribbon embroidered center piece.

After looking at it a while I was still not satisfied that this creation was done.

Crazy Quilted Pincushion

2011-06-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

Something I have been working on for 2 weeks, actually more. Time seems to fly when one is busy.

The crazy quilting was made last year but the silk ribbon embroidery was done a week ago and I thought I was finished with it but something is missing.

Quilts for Japan

2011-03-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Help Japan by sending a quilt.
http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/blogs/insideqn/2011/03/18/call-for-quilts-for-japan/

Tag Your It!

2010-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

I was tagged and now it's my turn to Tag someone. Berrybluecreations http://www.etsy.com/shop/berrybluecreations?ref=seller_info

Her Gulf Coast Snugglefish

Can be purchased from her Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49747117/colorful-gulf-coast-snugglefish-free-us

FAE Exibition

2010-07-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

Check out the Fantasy Artists of Etsy Secrets of the Sea exhibition on our blog.
http://faeteam.com/exhibition.html
I have a mermaid in the exhibition.

Wonderland Doll Event

2010-07-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

http://artdollsonly.blogspot.com/2010/07/wonderland-blog-event-participants-abi.html

Started yesterday. My head seems to be unscrewed.

I finished my doll and here it is. It's made using air dry clay, glue and tissue paper.

Please leave a comment!

http://artdollsonly.blogspot.com/

ADO (Artdolls only) Challenge

2010-06-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

"Alice in Wonderland" ( http://artdollsonly.blogspot.com/ ), any character. I saw a cool picture of the Cheshire cat on the internet. here is my work in progress.

Anyone can participate, come follow us down the rabbit hole and join us, follow the link to find out how.

I used air dry clay, this is a first time for me. The top picture is a rough work and the next 2 bottom pictures show where I applied slip to the creature. (slip is a mixture of clay and water to make a thin almost sludge consistency)
Wire was used on the ears and tail, the tail is a little loose ( sewsawing back and forth) but I will probably have to glue it in place after the piece dries. I will give it 1 week for drying.
I think maybe wings on it's back would make this creature look even cooler.

Project Quilting

2010-05-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

Season 1, Challenge 1
A challenge for everyone. Kim of Kim's Crafty Apple ( http://kimscraftyapple.blogspot.com/2010/05/season-1-challenge-1.html ) has given us a challenge for quilting and its inspired by Project runway. Where we are given insturctions on what type of challenge it is, what can be used, the dimensions and how much we can spend. Anyone who sews can participate so come and win some great prizes and get critiqued on your challenge piece by professional quilters. There are 3 ways to win: win by the popular votes by the public, judges vote for best in points and leave your name and email to win a prize from the comments.

I'm looking forward to this next challenge as I was out of town for the Apple Blossom challenge.
Come join us you all!

Wedding or Prom?

2010-04-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Bling,bling! Sparkle, shine, bling!

Wow these Swarovski bracelets would look great for a wedding or the prom.

Highly bling as all Swarovski is only more so with it being aurora borealis. Swarivski crystal ab sliders matched with 4mm bicones ab with very feminine box clasp, sterling silver victorian butterfly clasp or a fold over magnetic clasp.

Wear 1, 2 or 3, mix or match to make a cuff.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DebiDesigns?section_id=5106950

Antiquing Copper

2010-04-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

The other day I went bead shopping, I picked up 4 strands of Blue Impression Jasper in varying sizes at Bead Dreams. I went to Bead by Design and got some liver of sulfur. After wire wrapping my beads I noticed a lot of scuffing on the stones and don't think I will be using the stones unless i can wire wrap without scratching them. I beleive the wire was a larger grade than the ones I have been using which makes it harder to work with in bending and wrapping.

I tried the sulfur on the copper and the color is outstounding. I am loving how it antiqued the copper. Here are the results.

Art Bird Poem

2010-04-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

we are to make a poem with these 5 words to go with our Art Birds and their Shrine:
small, bird, cozy, space,home

Art Bird Poem

Oopsy Birds came from out of time,

not much bigger than a dime.

Held together with glue and spit,
they was created with discarded pieces
and rejected tiny bits.

From Whoopsy land,
right into my hand.

Weird little creatures,
that became searchers.

To finaly find a home,
with this old crone.

They took over this cozy little space,
in this decorated aspirin bottle case.

Finished this with much sighing,
as I'm not great at ryhming.

Debbie Smith April 12, 2010

Freeform Copper Wire Wrap

2010-04-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

So 4 days ago I started on this free form wire wrapped cuff. I cut and shaped the copper to size, I seperately wire wrapped a bead and then a attched it to the frame. This is what I designed and created.

Shrine with Art Bird

2010-04-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

I have finished a home for my leetle friends.

I have to stop before I add more and make it really tacky looking. I am obsessed with wire wrapping right now so I will probably be adding it to a great many things as I work on them.

Art Bird Shrine

2010-04-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

This past week we had a technique week in our FAT (Fiber Art Traders) Yahoo group. The technique was Art Bird Shrine, Sharon taught us this one and her quote on Monday was "The word for today---in fact for all this week---is SMALL" So I took her word on this and did what she instructed and these teeny tiny Art Birds came into creation. I call them the "OOpsy Birds" as I had fun using strips of this and discards of that, I love these little ones and right now I am making their nest of yarns and shiny metallic threads intertwined. They will roost in their little aspirin bottle that I making their shrine from.
They measure, the larger of the two: 2 inches which include the copper crown and stand by 1 1/2 inches,
the smallest one measures: 1 1/2 inches by 3/4 inches not including the head crown.

(I see a little bit of Alice in Wonderland influence in them, what do you think?)

Wire Wrapping with Copper

2010-04-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

So I have been experimenting with wire wrapping, it's nothing new to me as I have wire wrapped a little bit in 2004 with the wire dolls I have made even sold one on Ebay at the time. Now I have some copper wire I aquired from my stepson and a copper tube from my husband out of his garage. I hammer the tube to flatten it, added a semi precious stone of Snakeskin Jasper and do some wire wrapping and this is what I made:

I got anew book from Hobby Lobby named Contemporary Copper Jewelry and I made this from it:

BLEH!

2010-04-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

It's no wonder I am stuck with no new followers and very fortunate I still have the ones who elected to follow it still here. I do believe i have lost some.........
Lets review: boring? maybe, nothing new in over a week
uninteresting? true I'm not the most exciting person on the planet
I will just have to think of something.

Monday, August 13, 2007

2010-03-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Love/Hate relationship with my Treadmill
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

I have a love/hate relationship with my treadmill. I love the thought of losing weight and getting on it but after 5 minutes I'm like I want to be doing something else like crafting or doing something artsy. Usually I turn on some music but not today I forgot to. After walking 25 minutes I'm thinking I want off this thing right now! so I made up a little tune I sing low key like:

I can do it, I can do it,
Yes I can, yeeeeeees I can.
I can do it, I can do it,
yes I caaaaaaan.
Lose the fat, lose the butt, lose the gut.
keep on going, keep on going,
lose the fat, lose the butt, lose the gut.
Keep on going, keep on going,
dont' stop now!
I can do it, I can do it,
yes I caaaaaan!

repeat.

I kinda like it and maybe it will help you too to sing it when your legs are aching and your out of breath.
I'm gonna put this in my blog........

Crepes

2010-03-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

So it seems it has been a long time since I last wrote on my blog, I was trying to keep the tale of our trip to California all together and now I see it will be impossible to follow through.

Saturday that just passed I made crepes for breakfast (plus the sausage and eggs with toast). This is the first time I made them and they was delicious (even tho there was flour lumps in the batter)! The recipe i used was from Cooks.com http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1813,158169-240194,00.html

minus the strawberry jam, as I made my own.

I made the cream cheese filling from this recipe

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1913,152173-242195,00.html

So this is what I have:

1 pint of fresh strawberry's and sugar

To make the crepes-

1 cup of flour

1 tbsp sugar( or more)

pinch of salt

3 eggs well beaten

1 cup of milk

melted butter (for brushing the pan with)

To make the filling-

16 oz of cream cheese (as this batter makes more crepes than the other recipe)

3/4 cup of powdered sugar

and whip cream for topping and powdered sugar for sprinkling

Wash and hull fresh strawberries, slice into 4ths and crush with pastry blender, put into pan and fill to top of strawberries with watter and 1/2 cup of sugar, boil. Stir and taste and add another 1/2 cup of sugar to taste (seems really sweet with 1 whole cup), now I dont cook my strawberrys until it thickens as I am not one of those patient people who will wait on it to. As soon as my strawberries are tender enough for my husband (whom is toothless) I will thicken it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and water, I can make this as thick as I want. Set aside.

Combine the soften cream cheese and powdered sugar and mix it good, you can leave as is or put a couple of tablespoons of the strawberry mix with it which makes it really yummy.

It is best to sift the flour into the liquids and mix with a whisk or mixer (the 2nd batch of crepes I made was not lumpy), put alittle bit of butter in the hot pan on medium heat. Pour a little bit of the batter in the pan and tip the pan to spread the batter over the bottom of the pan. Let underside brown just a little bit and turn over to brown on the other side a little bit, dont over cook as the edges will be crunchy.

Spread the cream cheese in the middle of the crepe,wrap over itself, sift powdered sugar on the wrapped crepes, spoon strawberry's over the crepes and put a dollop of whip cream on top of all.

Yummy, enjoy!

Cali saga continues....

2010-03-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

I mentioned the windmills yesterday but didnt load any picutres of them. So my vague memory tells me it started in Texas when we first saw the windmills, lines and lines of them in the background and some closer.
These are out of sequence. I still have La Vegas, Death Valley, Sierra mountains and Yosetime Park. These were taken before San Franscico and the Golden Gate Bridge.

California

2010-03-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

We took a trip out to California last year on June 2009. Driving along the coastline starting from San Fransisco up to Oregan then back home again. The first thing we noticed is the alternative energy with the huge giant windmills to harness wind power. They was everywhere! Well almost everywhere not occupied by humans or their dwellings, mostly out on the interstate or animal pastures.

I will try to give an account of our trip, as it is unbelieveable to grasp how men and women on horseback and wagon trains traveled this rocky road across the Sierra's. Driving in a vehicle on paved highways and roads is a vacation compared to the trailblazers of yesteryears.

Along the way we stopped at Hoover Dam Arizona/Nevada to snap some pictures.

Pillowcases to Help Haiti

2010-02-26T08:28:00.001-08:00

This year our Etsy Quiltsy team decided to do the 1 million pillowcase project. As a international team we wondered how to make this feasible to send to the same charitable group and it was thought we could help with pillowcases for the people of Haiti. Read here how all this came about: http://teamquiltsy.blogspot.com/

At the Etsy forums berrybluecreations ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/berrybluecreations )started a thread on this huge endeaver and trying to entice others to contribute: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6440648&page=1

We put pics up at flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1323649@N24/pool/

I plan to make more of the pillowcases for the ConKerr Cancer project http://www.conkerrcancer.org/.

You can read up on the 1 million pillowcase challenge here: http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/index.html

Here are the 8 pillowcases I made and sending off today!

FAT Pocket Exchange

2010-02-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

I did a exchange with my FiberArtTraders group at Yahoo! This is what I received, thank you ladies and thanks for all the extra goodies.

I sent these FAT pockets out, I hope they are well received and liked.

Being in the Etsy Blog

2010-02-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

How exciting to be in the Etsy Blog! I had no idea until one of my friends sent me a convo informing me it was there. The Branched choker was sold a couple of weeks ago and probably with its owner now.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/etsy-news/etsy-at-the-design-triennial-why-design-now-7049/

New Tote: Twisted Log Cabin?

2010-02-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

I used the ATC design and made a tote bag. Using a variety of different fabrics and so many color ways, these are the fabrics used: moire, taffeta, satin (both craft and brocade) tissue lame', toile, and other fabrics of no determined make, all done with a log cabin piecing with a twist. More of a crazy log cabin design no same dimensions, no same size blocks, no same look in every block but each one planned to look different, some cut apart and reassembled. Twisted log cabin? Log cabin twist? Crazy log cabin? Huh? You decide.

Bra Quilt

2010-01-31T13:32:00.000-08:00

Some members of my Quiltsy team at Etsy and I made a bra quilt that we are donating the proceeds to cancer research once the quilt sells. Each one of us made a block with a bra on it, other members donated fabric for the sashing and back and others donated their expertise on piecing and quilting, yet another took the time to finish the quilt and listing it in our shop at Etsy. We all donated a little piece of ourselves to make this quilt happen.

The sashing fabric is very appropiate for this quilt, little pink ribbons.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39661920

This is the block I made

Paper Fabric

2010-01-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

Hi I used Beryl Taylor's making fabric paper technique that was in the Quilting Arts gifts magazine, Holiday issue winter 2008 to make this paper fabric. I went a little further by using organza as my fabric choice and a blank white tissue. To get the crinkly look to this I heat set it with the heat embossing gun, in doing so I melted the organza enough for it to crinkle, this made some great looking homemade fabric with valleys and ridges. Another little thing I have done on this piece is lay wax paper on top and iron it onto the paper part and it give it a waxy sheen. I do this about 4 or 5 times and between freezer paper, parchment paper might be better as it doesn't stick to too many mediums.

New ACEO's

2010-01-26T10:50:00.001-08:00

Ok. I so liked the new look of the ACEO's I have been making, I made some and offer them to those who like to collect little works of art for their own. In my Etsy shop now, listed seperately

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DebiDesigns

Front page of Etsy

2010-01-24T22:22:00.001-08:00

My beaded branched choker was in a treasury that was on the front page and I didn't even know it until some nice soul sent me a convo informing me. I almost went my merry little way being ignorant of all the new hearts of people who favorite my shop and all the new favoriting of my choker. Thank you thatwardgirl http://www.etsy.com/shop/thatwardgirl for featuring my choker and thank you buttonznbaublez http://www.etsy.com/shop/buttonznbaublez for informing me I was on the front page.

Artist Trading Cards: Threads for Soldiers

2010-01-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

This batch has 9 cards, that make's a total of 28 trading cards for soldiers.

Background is made using a copy of my postcard fiberart on a 8" by 10" cotton sheet printed from my computer, craft ribbon is laid on then tulle with free motion stitching. The hearts are felt that I hand dyed.

contact me if you want to join us creating Art from the Heart for our wounded soldiers in our Threads for Soldiers. mom99x@aol.com

Artist Cards: Threads for Soldiers

2010-01-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

Hello! Just finished 8 more artist cards for the soldiers.

These I made using a print of one of my artworks that have been digitaly manipulated then layered with organza and tulle and free motioned stitched. The heart was made using Beryl Taylor's making fabric paper technique that was in the Quilting Arts gifts magazine, Holiday issue winter 2008. hand dyed tissue paper glued onto organza, cool huh?

Threads for Soldiers

2010-01-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

Artist Cards for our wounded soldiers. I have some others in the works and they will all be sent at one time when finished.

Threads For Soldiers:ATC's

2010-01-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

I am working on new ATC's. I made these for Threads For Soldiers : http://threadsforsoldiers.blogspot.com/

This is our way to let our wounded warriors know that people at home do care about them and for them to have a little piece of inspiration to carry with them.

Finished FAT Pockets

2010-01-15T21:08:00.000-08:00

Here are all 3 of the FAT pockets: I used blocks I made in the late 1990's. snip snip and theyr'e good to go. metallics, fancy fabrics and copies of orginal ATC's I made years ago. tulle layered on top with lots of small free motion stitching with (gulp) silver metallic thread. Even tho the silver metallic thread kept breaking I used it to finish all 3 of the FAT pockets, what I did was added invisible thread to the metallic thread and it seemed to help it not to break. These measure 5 inches by 3 inches.

FAT Pockets

2010-01-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

I am doing a trade with my FAT group at Yahoo. I'm making 3 FAT pockets for the exchange. I finsihed 1 and just had to show it off to everyone.

When I finish the other 2 I will update this post.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FiberArtTraders/

Crazy Quilt Needlecase and Pincushion

2010-01-11T12:40:00.000-08:00

Finished a custom pincushion to match a Victorian crazy quilted needlecase. Don't let the color fool you as the silk ribbon roses are varigated purple and both ar emsotely purple, green and blues. The blue on the needlecase is really a turquoise color and not the color blue that I got from editing the photos. The pincushion is mounted on a recycled mushroom jar top. Both are beautiful, elegant and so Victorian.

This set is sold. contact me if you are interested in a similar set.

Quiltsy UFO Challenge

2010-01-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

My goal is to finish this delightful little blue quilt or they might become pillow covers . I started on the blocks last year, wonder why it didn't get finished? It's not a particularly large project but I guess everything else gets in the way as in starting other projects and they're becoming UFOs to go on the pile of UFOs already piled on top of other UFOs. SIGH.

Finished Choker

2009-11-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

After making 8 rows of peyote stiches on my choker and tried it against my neck I had to take them all apart. Having a short thick neck because of my weight, a wide choker is a no-no as it makes ones neck looking shorter and looks almost no neck is there at all. I would say this choker came out looking fabulous. I had beaded a button and made a loop for the closure and it works very well.

Sale in Etsy Shop

2009-11-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

My Etsy Quiltsy team is having a sale, I have 10% off select items in my shop. The sale runs until November 20th.

To find more great sales in our team type in "quiltsysale" at www.etsy.com .

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DebiDesigns

Something I'm Working On

2009-11-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

Just creating, using different colors and beads.

I like this one the best.

Beaded Branch Fringe Chokers

2009-11-14T13:43:00.000-08:00

I have been beading chokers in a fringe branch style. I like them very much.

New Wings for my fairy

2009-10-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Oh a must see! I made new wings for my purple fairy. Hand dyed tissue paper glued onto organza and wire with lots of glitter for bling-bling!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9571478

Katherine Cooper of The Vanilla Room Design Studios

2009-10-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

My favorite vintage jewlery stylist is KatherineCooper of The Vanilla Room Design Studios located in the vibrant Shoreditch, Old Jack The Ripper East End of London haunts, which dwells in the heart of the buzzing Artist Quarter and right on the edge of the City.... To find her you can visit her
Etsy shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5105425
and her personal website
http://www.katherinecooper.co.uk/

A REPURPOSED MARIE ANTIONETTE BURLESQUE MIXED MEDIA ART JEWELRY NECKLACE AND EARRINGS - 'THE GODDESS APHRODITE'

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21903503

ARTISAN REPURPOSED NOIR VINTAGE SHABBY CHIC CHARM BRACELET - 'FADE TO GREY'

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26158147

Katherine has taken jewelry making as an artform to the next level with exquisite precision of vintage pieces tastefully assembled, you will find her jewelry pieces outstanding and above the norm.

Victorian/Vintage look Pincushion

2009-10-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

I reworked the cream color panne silk ribbon embroidered pincushion. It is avaiable for purchase in my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31292500

Being Featured......

2009-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

My pincushion is being featured on Quiltng Frenzy's blog,
http://quiltingfrenzy.blogspot.com/
silk ribbon embroidery done on silk dupioni and then afixed atop of a vintage brass candlestick.

It's Fall Ya'll Sale

2009-10-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

Georgia Etsy street team is having a fall sale lots of shops and fabulous goodies to be had come visit the thread in Etsy forums on how to find us.

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6311232

I am having a 20% section look for it in my shop

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5034584&section_id=6284522

2009-10-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

If you're online October 9-11th, you'll be in the area to visit the Georgia Etsy Street Team's Fall Sale! (search "all items" for GAetsyteam, or Itsfallyall).Among the over one million handmade artisans who call Etsy home are some 300 here in Georgia, creating wonderful products with their Southern charm! Visit the Georgia Etsy Street Team members on Etsy to find clothing, handbags, Mommy products, kids stuff, home decor, bath and body, beauty, candles, custom blended tea, pet products, Georgia team sports items, accessories, jewelry, fused glass and stained glass, fiber goods and textiles, fine art and folk art and lots of other great products that my senile mind can't remember at the moment!We have a few sales a year, but it's neat to have a whole team participate, because you just do one search and find thousands of great items from hundreds of crafters and artists! Now is a great time to begin your Christmas shopping experience! When you browse like this, you find all kinds of beautiful, irresistible goodies and oodles of practical ones too!..plus, you often find things you will find no where else on earth! See, handmade is never mass produced, so each item is special and unique! Give yourself and your friends the gift of handmade!Don't forget to visit Etsy this coming weekend and support one microcosm of handmade happiness! (I'll be there, too!)P.s. This ad backdrop with the falling leaves was lovingly painted by Rebecca Salcedo (smellyrhinostudio) and the wicked graphics were layered by Maria Allen (Kartu Graphics)

Train Demolishes Truck

2009-10-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Right off i want to say no one was hurt, no property damge was done besides the truck. Friday September 2nd 2009 my husband took the bobcat to his sons house and was on his way home. After crossing over the railroad track his 1970 Dodge shuts off going up a small incline. After calling for a tow and sitting there for a while, directing traffic around the truck, it starts to rain and he decides to let the truck roll down the incline to get it out of the way. After rolling to the tracks it stops right over the tracks and another man came to help push it down a little more, the whistle blows, the rails comes down and they take off running and the train hits the truck. The Dodge is demolished, my husband is not hurt and is alright but I am thinking he is sick about what happened as he keeps talking about the mistakes he made, what he should have done or not done. I have pictures up in my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/11504745@N06/

Monsters and Aliens

2009-09-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw Mosnters vs Aliens is out on DVD. I have been making and selling mosnters and aliens in my shop for over a year now. I call them my Rainbowdreambabies.....

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5034584&section_id=6357790

Our Anniversary

2009-09-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2009 we will be married 21 years.

I had made a couple of wedding samplers over the years that are a little bit fancy http://debbiesreflectionsofmyself.blogspot.com/2009/08/sre-wedding-announcements.html, this year i decided to have some fun and used Aunt Martha's hot iron transfer using the Hillbilly Doin's transfer. I hope my husband likes it as much as I do. I had fun making this one and it took me all of yesterday, only about 16 hours to start and finish with some breaks in between.

Looks like I'm getting a good booted kick in the caboose, doesn't it?

Crazyquilt Bag

2009-09-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Find out more here
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5034584

Crazyquilt in progress

2009-09-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a crazyquilt piece I will make into a bag. On the left side will be a swarovski crystal piece taken off a handbeaded bracelet i am recycling.

Recycled Bottlecap Pincushion

2009-09-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

I am enjoying making these soda caps pin cushions. There will be more, much more of these

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Pincushion

2009-09-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

Made this little pincushion with silk dupioni

www.debidesigns.etsy.com

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Redo

2009-09-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

I didnt like the SRE pincushion, it looks like an egg so I redone it. I took it all apart and made it totaly different but I do like it this way best.

Will redo the photos in my Etsy shop and reactivate the listing, then will probably renew the listing.

www.debidesigns.etsy.com

Silk Ribbon Embroidery

2009-09-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

Made this little pin cushion, I thought I was making a bottlecap pin cushion but it came out a bit larger than i wanted so I put it on a candlestick. Tomorrow when I take better pictures I will add it to my Etsy shop.

Mermaid Fabric Collage

2009-09-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hand painted China silk and felt. Measures 12" x 8".

I heat and bond the silk onto peltex, hand painted the silk then cut my shape out and collaged them together.

Victorian Crazy Quilt Postcard

2009-09-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

In one of my groups I hosted a postcard swap my partner received her postcard so I can post it now.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Teddy Bear

2009-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

I don't think I ever posted my silk ribbon embroidered teddy bear.

Ice Scream, U Scream

2009-09-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

A trio of Raggedy Anne friends having a hot summer afternoon treat. Oh no one lost her ice cream cone.............

The Ice Cream, U scream doll pattern is made by Maureen Mills of SweetMeadowsFarm. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.........

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5117589

IBOL

2009-09-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

HUH? You ask what is IBOL?

IBOL is Iraqi Bundles of Love.

It's a bit late but I just found out about it myself today, the last day to send out is Tuesday September 8th.

http://ibol.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/iraqi-bundles-of-love-the-intro/

It started with a soldier stationed in Iraq and you can read all about him here: http://ibol.wordpress.com/

Youhave to leave him a comment so he can get your email addy to send you an address to send the boxes to.

I have an address to send the IBOL to, email me mom99x@aol.com

Victorian CrazyQuilt Panel

2009-09-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't touched this for years but decided in my mind to do some more work on it (I will believe it when I see it, LOL!). I used lots of hand dyed laces and silk ribbons I dyed myself.

SRE Wedding Announcements

2009-08-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Silk ribbon embroidered wedding announcements, made years apart. My husband really loves them as they help him remember our anniversary.

Mama and Baby Owl Stuffie

2009-08-28T08:52:00.001-07:00

below is baby owl here he is with his mama.

Owl

2009-08-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

Made an owl pincushion from fleece and felt.

Cute Fabric

2009-08-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

I went to JoAnn's fabric Sunday morning and picked up some really cute fabric. I love the little colorful owls on the brown background. Someone said I was kawaii and I asked her what she meant? it means cute in Japanese. I think this is super kawaii!

New word learned "choo"="very"

choo kawaii = very cute

Free Prim Annie Pattern

2009-08-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

I got an email from De of http://ohsewdollin.com/ sharing a free Annie pattern with all her followers. You can get this free pattern for yourself by clicking on the link I provided. I love how cute her dolls are when they are made up.

Artist Trading Cards for Soldiers

2009-07-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Artist Trading Cards ( ATC's) for Soldiers, maybe they would like to carry around the stuff sent from home? 2 1/2 in by 3 1/3 in.

http://threadsforsoldiers.blogspot.com/

Postcards for Soldiers

2009-07-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Made some postcards with the crazy quilting batiks, vibrant, bright, beautiful colors. Made a couple more of the crosses but used a bright decorative thread for the seam treatmnets and finishing the edge. 6 in by 4 in

More Crosses for Soldiers

2009-06-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

3 more made differently than the others, these has more fabric pieces (used the same amount as the others)which I like the variety.

Crosses for Soldiers

2009-06-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

To learn more about the Crosses for Soldiers go to Gabriela's blog and scroll to the bottom.

http://threadheadsanonymous.blogspot.com/

Undersea Doll Swap Finished.

2009-06-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

I have finished the doll for the Undersea swap. I hope Eva likes her.

Wordle

2009-05-27T18:02:00.001-07:00

General Motors to File Bankruptcy?

2009-05-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

I hear very bad news today as my husband tells me General Motors will be filing bankruptcy, if so it is a bad day for us. All the years my husband paid extra to have me on his insurance is gone, we dont get any of that back, 31 years of working for them and the pension is gone. I tried my hand at selling on Etsy but I have to be realistic, no more hoping Etsy is a business for me, as 2 years and only 46 sales not the hundreds and hundreds I had hoped for. No more fun and games with no sales for me, I'll have to get serious and if Etsy is not the money maker I need then so be it.

2009-04-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Check out the preview of all the collages donated for the American Cancer Society Fundraiser. Gorgeous mini artworks can be had for a direct donation to ACS, first day minimum of $80, 2nd and 3rd day a minimum of $40.00. Don't be fooled to wait for the 2nd or 3rd day to own one fo these 8"x10" artwork, all are very highly coveted and some are planning og grabbing them the first day.

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CM2009Collages1.html

mine is on page 16 if you want to view it with others.

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CM2009Collages16.html

Funky art dolls

2009-04-23T14:43:00.001-07:00

my funky art doll pins were made using a crazy quilted body, polymer clay faces, wooden beads, glass beads, shell beads, funky yarn, and real lambs wool.

Venus Midnight Bloom 3 (finished)

2009-04-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

I might as well keep going since I am on a roll. For some reason this might be what I am destined to create, who knows? So far I have made ATC's, postcards, 4x6", 5x7'" and 8x10"s. Maybe I will venture into a larger size. The only problem I see in working in a larger size is the peltex being too stiff to do the free motion stitching I am so fond of doing on my pieces.

wild at heart art: Under The Sea Swap!!

2009-04-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

wild at heart art: Under The Sea Swap!!

Iv'e signed up to do my first blog swap! This a doll swap, can be anythign under the sea, mermaid, merman, sea monster, fishies, whatever!

Venus Midnight Bloom #3

2009-04-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

Finished a 8"x10" piece. Almost didnt think the background was Venus because of the multi color free motion stitching. Now that it's fully embellished I have to make 2 more smaller ones ot go with it. These will be a little larger than Venus #2, 5"x7". I'm really liking where my thought process is going.

More New FiberArt work

2009-04-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this new series and I think I will finish it until there is no more to be created.

This 3 piece is comprised of one 8" x 10" and two 4" x 6"

these are framed in a 11"x14" and 8"x10" frames

Venus: Midnight Bloom

2009-03-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

I find I like working in larger dimensions. I made Venus: Midnight Bloom in 8" x 10" and now finished another piece. Venus: Midnight Bloom #2, 8" x 10" I matted and framed myself in a 11in x 14in frame. Kimscraftyapple http://kimscraftyapple.blogspot.com/of my Quiltsy team suggested I step outside of the box and do some silver needlelace in the corner and I took it a bit farther and added the silver cord needlelace throughout. I did more machine stitching on this piece with the cotton pearl instead of the hand stitching and no distressing the background.

ACS Invitational Reverse Auction

2009-03-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Preview Open Today for Invitational Reverse Auction to Benefit the AmericanCancer SocietyFiberart For A Cause will hold its fifth Invitational ReverseAuction from March 24-26, 2009.

The Preview opens today:http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/ReverseAuctionArtwork2009.html

Natalya Aikens, Gerrie Congdon, Marjorie DeQuincy, RaynaGillman, Carol Larson, Linda Teddlie Minton, Susie Monday, Judy CoatesPerez, Leandra Spangler and Roxane Stoner have all donated their artwork.
All proceeds from the sales go directly to the American Cancer Society with patrons receiving an immediate electronic receipt from the ACS.All artwork will begin at a fixed minimum donation. This minimum donation is reduced by a fixed (and very generous) percentage of the original minimumdonation each day until the artwork is chosen by a generous patron.³

"Having lost my husband to cancer nine years ago, I wanted to make somesmall contribution to something that is so close to my own heart, as well asa joyful way to remember my husband and other friends and relatives who havefought this disease. Since fiber art is both my vocation and my avocation,this seemed a perfect match for me. I was honored to be asked to contributeto the Invitational Reverse Auction, and delighted to accept,² said LindaTeddlie Minton."

Fiberart For A Cause has now donated more than $165,000 to the AmericanCancer Society in the last four years and was the second highest nationalfundraiser for the 2007 American Cancer Society Cancer¹s Relay for Life.
For more information about the Invitational Reverse Auction and Fiberart ForA Cause, contact

--Virginia A. SpiegelWebsite: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/

Fiberart For A Cause, fundraising for the American Cancer Society.http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

Donation to ACS

2009-03-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

Finished the donation and submitted it now to find out if it is accepted, if not I would be happy to keep it but I created this piece for such a worthy cause. A print of one of my fiberart, organza's, tulle, free motion stitching, handmade buttons, needlelace, hand embrodiery, silk ribbon embroidery, beading and swarovski crystal roses montees.

Remember to visit Virginia's website for all the details on donating or purchaseing for the fundraiser:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageManiaCall08.html

Thanks you for visiting!