Woven Note Cards

I love making these little notecards and thought I might do a short explanation as to how I make them.

First I cut plain white heavy card stock to the size I want to use for the card. An 8.5" by 11" piece cut in half to 8.5"x 5.5" is what I usually use as a base.  This is the card in which the person will write their message. Fold in half to create a 4.25" x 5.5" card.

For the woven part, I cut another piece of card 4" x 5.25 inches.  This leaves a 1/8" margin all the way around the woven part. This card can be decorated in any way you like. I used spray inks and stencils on the top design, and spray inks, stencils and heat embossed stamped images on the second one.  You can just leave it white if you like, or ... whatever makes you happy!

Once the weaving base is decorated, I use my Tim Holtz centering ruler to poke holes for the warp. 

My holes are 1/4" apart. I line up the edge of the ruler with the top or bottom of the card and use a paper piercer to poke the holes. If you don't have that sort of ruler, you could just mark the spacing with a pen and punch the holes with an awl, paper piercer or large needle. Your holes need to be big enough to put your warp thread through, but not so big they will tear. If you find your cardstock is too thin, you can add a piece of heavy packing tape to the back side where your holes will go so the card doesn't tear. I don't usually have that problem because I use heavy cardstock.

Once you have your holes punched, you are ready to add warp. This is the up and down thread upon which the weaving is built. This needs to be something fairly stout. I use actual cotton warp, but you can use any type of smooth yarn that won't shred under pressure. I think you could use DMC floss, or nylon crochet thread. 

Start by measuring off a piece long enough to go through all the holes and cut it. To measure, start with about a 6" tail, then pull off enough to work through from under the front (leave enough to tie it off) and go from top to bottom all the way across.  You will need enough to go between the holes on the back side from side to side, and between the holes on the front side from top to bottom. Thread your warp into a needle. Start in one upper corner from the underside. Pull your warp almost all the way through, leaving about 3 inches so you can tie it off. 

Hold that little tail while you go down to the back again through the corresponding hole at the bottom corner and pull it all the way through until your warp is all on the back. Move over to the next hole and come back up to the top. You will use the least amount of warp and make your card lighter if you just have the long threads on the front side, but do whatever works best for you. Once you reach that second top hole, turn the card face down and tie the loose end to the warp at the hole next to it. I just use a square knot.

 Continue going up, down, over, up, down, over, until you have something that looks like this.

Tie off the last piece of warp on the back, and trim any excess warp thread. If you find you don't have enough thread, you can either tie another piece onto the back or start it again like you did at first. You may have accidently taken the warp from top to bottom on the back, which would mean you wouldn't have enough thread. Make sure the warp threads are fairly tight and not floppy.  Your weave will depend on a sturdy surface to look even.

Turn your card over face up, and glue it to the front of the note card. This gives the weaving surface extra strength. You are now ready to add your weaving!  Select your fibers, ribbons, yarns, etc. to match your card front, or just use whatever makes you happy.  The cards above have 8 - 10 different fibers. It depends on how many rows you create of each yarn as to how many you need. These are great for using up short ends of yarn because each row only takes about 3 inches of yarn.

Ends are tucked underneath, so leave an inch or two before you start weaving.

I use different textures as I go up from the bottom to top. Use a large eye tapestry or weaving needle  to make weaving easy. Start on one side and leave a short piece to tuck under. Go over, under, over, under all the way across. Then when you reach the end, go back the other direction with the opposite weave. If the first row ended on top, go under that first warp on the second row so that your weave is opposite the first row. If you ended on the bottom, go over the first warp on the second row. Do however many rows you want, then start another piece of something different. Tuck under your ends as you go, or wait until you have the weaving all done.  I find it easy to do as I go, but I know some prefer the other way. 

Use a plastic fork to push down the weft as you finish each row, and be sure you don't pull too tight or your weave will not look straight along the edges. If the sides start to pull in toward the middle, you are pulling the weave too tight.

Once you have all the space filled up, your ends tucked in and all adjusted to look how you want it, you are ready to use the card! 

The weaving goes pretty fast, and I have even taught my 9 year old granddaughter how to make these so they aren't as complicated as I am sure this has made them sound! 

It's Been Awhile!

I can't believe it's been over a year since I wrote a blog post! In fact it's been long enough that I sort of forgot how to use blogger. Rather than try to catch up on all the things I've missed, I'll just jump right in to where things are today.

It's HOT! and apparently hotter than our air conditioning unit was prepared to handle, so it gave up the ghost a week or so ago.  It was a hot couple of days, but we were able to get a temporary unit installed and we are cool enough for now.  We are getting a whole new system installed August 3-4, and meanwhile we have been filling out forms and scheduling estimates and an energy audit to qualify for energy rebates.  The new system will certainly be an upgrade from the builder's model, with 66 stages of energy use (WHY??), a programmable WiFi thermostat, and special booster registers that will force the air down from the vaulted ceilings in the hall, living room, kitchen and master. They will expand the size of our current return air vents and the new filter change will be done once a year (YAY!) and at the unit itself up in the attic, as opposed to having to climb to the top of a ladder, balance on toes and change the filter in the house. The duct work in the attic is actually separated in a few places, pouring our "bought air" right into the attic.  No wonder the unit decided it was working too hard!  So, they will repair all that, seal up the duct work and then eventually we will get new insulation.

This weekend Ornery discovered that the automatic sprinkler system had sprung a leak, and it's beyond his skill set as a plumber.  So we have someone coming to look at and fix that today or tomorrow as well.  I balked at using the system, and it has been a rather pesky ongoing expense with repairs and such, but the yard looks fantastic this year, so I suppose it is worth it, especially since I am no longer physically able to get out there to water by hand.

As for what I have been doing, this weekend I finished a painting I started around the first of June.  It has had many incarnations over the almost-two-month period, but I finally decided I liked this one enough to move on to another project.  It's 18 x 24" on canvas board.

I also got a new computer, hence the renewed interest in blogging.  My old laptop still had Vista OS on it, and most firms are no longer providing updates, so not only was it slow, prone to overheating and unable to update, it was becoming a security issue as well.  So, here is the shiny new hp on its first day out of the box.

It took me quite awhile to figure it all out, and longer to get it all set up.  Good grief!  Someone on my Instagram post commented about what a time suck new technology is, and they were right!  However, I am delighted with it, and hope for another long stint of writing before this one is outdated!  Technology, and Google in particular, has sure made things easier to access, for better or worse.  I was able to download the photos in this post from my phone!  It may have been like that for some time, but as I mentioned above, it has been over a year since I wrote a blog post...

I am still writing letters to several pen pals, all of them in the US these days, and post most of my artwork on my Instagram account (which is probably why I haven't felt the need to write blog posts).  I am also active on Swap-Bot, but not as much as I was four years ago when I first started. I am also in a small group of artists on Instagram that does frequent group swaps, the latest being pages for a junk/mail-art journal and a tag book that goes around to each person in the group to have an altered tag added.  Here are a couple that I made for other people's booklets.

A couple of weeks ago, Ornery moved the sauna out of our room into the guest room.  I don't think I have posted pictures of that room since we repainted and built the bed. The bed has a second mattress under the frame which saves space but still allows two guests to share the room. (Art on the floor is by Elizabeth when she was in high school, art above the bed is mine. :)

I also reworked the artwork on the walls in my studio to display a number of ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) and other art people have sent to me in swaps.  There are a few of my own pieces in the mix as well.  I really like how it turned out, and it inspires me to look at all the beautiful artwork on display.

Another thing I have been up to is sewing, something Ornery thought I would never do again!  Ha! Gotta keep the man guessing, I say!  Anyway, this is a little envelope bag I made from scraps leftover from the Christmas stockings I made last year.  The inside is lined with part of an old pair of Elizabeth's jeans.

I added a little pocket inside the flap. 

This is the back side

This is the front.  I added the crocheted flowers, buttons and bow to dress it up. 

I also made a LOT of doll clothes for my granddaughter, Makayla.  Here is a photo of the last dress I made, which matches a skirt for Makayla from the same fabric.

A couple more fun doll dresses and a skirt for Makayla to match.

While I was in the sewing mode, I also made a new window treatment for my studio window.

So, that is what is happening in my life right now.  I hope to get back to working on my memoir and a novel I started back in 2009, and I have a few craft projects in mind as well.  Despite being homebound and mostly immobile, I feel like my life is pretty full, and I am grateful for all the things I am still able to do.

Upgrading the Walls

We have the newly painted canvases hung in the kitchen.  The first photo shows a few things in front of them, but I still would like to add more to the orange, and contrasting pieces in front of the other three as well.  I am pleased with the overall effect.  It's always nice when a vision comes to fruition!

You can barely see the edge of one arm of the mobile in the photo below, but the colors are very close to those that are on the canvases, and from the dining room looking into the kitchen, it is a very colorful fun look.

Here is the finished 'hood in the dining room.  I am so in love with this little grouping!  I had Ornery cut a few more wooden shapes for me, and I hope to eventually fill more of the wall with additions. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

And, since we painted the guest room and there is absolutely NOTHING to break up the very lilac color on the walls,

I decided to make a foray into painting flowers. Here is my first one, it is on a 12x20 canvas done in acrylic.

The accent colors in the room are to be limey green and icy blue. The guest bed will be a trundle type affair built by none other than Ornery himself.  We designed it, purchased two XL Twin mattresses and now we just have to build it.  Stay tuned for updates. :)

More decorating

A few little artsy projects going on around here.

This mobile was in my other house when the walls were orange, and it had different colors and designs on the little flags. But after looking at it for almost five years here, I decided to give it a facelift.  I used alcohol ink on yupo paper, and glued the shapes into the old ones. Then I painted the arms copper and we moved it from out in the open area at the end of the hall where no one saw it, to this spot above the half wall between the kitchen and dining room.

You can see the walls are still beige in the kitchen, and there is a lot showing above the cabinets. So I decided to paint some canvases with similar colors found in the mobile.

I only have three finished so far, but I'm hoping to get them done and hung by the end if the weekend. Eventually we plan to paint the cabinets to match the off-white trim and doors, but in the between time, this should add some visual interest.  They are meant to be backgrounds for assorted glass and copper treasures as I find them.

Meanwhile, I've made all these little houses, a d reworked an old canvas and now these are on the dining room wall above the puzzle case Ornery built for me a few years ago.

The blank space to the left if the canvas is for another project in the works, that will showcase my collection of house themed Artist Trading Cards. There are a few other houses that I need to think about for awhile longer to decide on how to hang them. But I am delighted with the 'hood as it is so far.

We've gone to the birds!

I've been busy in the studio lately, and the last couple of weeks have been bird related.

A couple of graduation cards...

And a series of five 6" x 6" canvases featuring Jodi Ohl style birds. 

Today I made one more six by six for a friend, then I will be starting on the 24" square canvases for my kitchen.I dont have a clue what I am doing, but I'm having lots of fun!

Exciting Propositions

I am discovering that the more upbeat and positive my attitude becomes the more opportunities, ideas and options are available to me. Last Friday I received a call from Dr. Richards of Impact Ministries with my first assignment of editing. I had heard from his office a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in working again on transcribing/editing/ghostwriting his old sermon series to prepare them for eBooks. I had done work similarly (sans ghostwriting) about five years ago on a volunteer basis. I am going to be paid for it this time around, and the work is a bit more extensive and will be more challenging.

He gave me some wonderful compliments that really boosted my self-esteem.

Yesterday I sent off a number of card fronts for printing to see if I can sell them in my Etsy shop. I figure even if I don't sell them, it will be fun to give them as gifts and write pen-pal letters in them.  The cards I used to make all had purchased papers and embellishments on them, so I couldn't say fully they were MY art  work, but these are fresh from my colorful mind, and all my own creations. Here are a couple of photos of  designs...

Others are on my phone, so I don't have access right now to the photos, but they are certainly new and different from my old style of cutting up scrapbook paper and adding flowers and a strip of ribbon! :)

Since I haven't been blogging, most of my art is not here, but I do frequently post on Instagram, (link on sidebar) if you would like to take a peek.

In other news, our next door neighbors appear to have finally gotten rid of the barking dogs.  A couple of weeks ago there was much hammering and yelling, and the next thing we knew, there were lots of construction vehicles and people coming and going.  They ripped out every single bit of the overgrown, weedy landscaping in the front and back, and all the garbage they had in the back yard, then piled it all in a heap in the front yard. Nice.

They got a new roof and have spent the last two weeks working on finishing out the covered patio they had poured a few months ago. The patio fills up at least 1/2 of the back yard, and the area that is left is apparently going to be a water feature of some sort according to Ornery who peeked over the fence to see what all the hoopla was about. Since they are investing so much time, money and energy on upgrading the place I am going to assume the dogs being gone is a permanent thing. Thank you Lord!!

Yesterday when he was home from lunch, one of the workers chased Ornery down and asked for the name of the paint color on our house as they intend to paint the same color. Once that is done, I am ever so hopeful that they will put in some nice landscaping.  Since we have lived here it has been a trashy mess, so even just the removal of the old is somewhat of an improvement.

Meanwhile, since we were unaware that the dogs were going away, we ordered new thermal windows for the whole house.  They should be delivered and installed somewhere around the first of May.  In addition to making the place much quieter (the house on the other side still has two little full-time-yappers!) the windows should help with the climate inside, especially on mild days when I can open ALL the windows if I want.  Even the picture window on the front and our frosted bathroom window over the tub are being replaced with double hung windows with full screens to be able to create a nice cross draft. This was one feature I have really missed since moving into this house as our other house had those windows and they were so nice and easy to clean. Because I am such a window washer.... not. :-D

Oh, and my flower beds are blooming amazing!!! Wanna see?

This is just off the back patio.  There are forget-me-nots on the lawn side of the box, which migrated from the patio side where they came up last year, they are next to the Columbine-on-steriods--the biggest one I have ever seen--and the dianthus.  At the far end of the bed (out of the photo) is another columbine that has variegated leaves and it is just now blooming as well, but not like the big guy!

This is the south end of the front bed Ornery built a couple of summers ago. It has filled in so nicely! It's a little weedy in the photo, so ignore that, but these give you some ideas of how it looks.

This is the north end of  the bed. LOVE those creeping phlox!! There are two peonies coming up that you can't really see in the pictures, and the stick bushes are crape myrtles that bloom all summer. In fact, the bed is pretty colorful from the end of February through October or the first hard freeze. It has always been a dream of mine to have a bed like that, with those creepers coming over the wall to greet passersby.

Well, I think there are other things happening, but that's probably enough excitement for one post. Hey, look at that, two posts in a week! :)