SHEEP WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOOL PENNY BLANKET

BAA, BAA, White sheep have you any wool?  Yes sir, Yes sir, 4 blanks of wool.  Penny, Penny how colorful you are, making my blanket so beautiful and full.  These beautiful ewes are free standing and are weighted to stand up right.  The ears and tails are made from velveteen, they have button eyes and carry a velvet heart that says,"I love ewe".

7 WAYS TO HOW TEXTURE CAN ADD DEPTH AND INTEREST TO YOUR NEEDLE PUNCH PROJECT

1. The beginning technique for texture is the wool applique.  The angel body, sheep, and tree trunks are all wool applique.
2. The second technique is the use of the dark wool on the trees to frame the angel and sheep and the use of dark blue to make them seem lost in the woods.  The dark colors make the angel and sheep reseed behind the trees.
3. The third technique is the needle punch.  The wings have 2 different lengths punched to create depth.  The back of the wings are punched at Level #1 and the feathers are punched at Level #2.  The leaves are punched at level 2 to make them stand out more.  The background is punched at level 1 to make the sky reseed. 
4. The forth technique is the use of varigated thread in the background that is punched in a circular pattern to help create the effect of motion.
5. The fifth technique is the multi media painted board that the piece is mounted on.  It has many layers of paint and paper to create texture.  
6. The sixth technique is a braid around the needle work to separate the piece from the board.
7. The seventh technique is the metal piece on top to give it style.

The pattern for this piece is in the Needle Punch and Primitive Stitch magazine.  

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR WOOL PROJECTS

WOOL IS SUCH A WONDERFUL FABRIC TO WORK WITH BECAUSE it doesn't ravel if it has been felted, it has body to it that enables it to except all kinds of torture from the needle allowing you to embellish it to your hearts content, and when you applique it on top of lets say cotton it stands out as a picture of it's own.

The idea for this piece came from the scriptures that talk about the lamb of God.  Capturing the image of Christ praying and looking toward the sky is why the rams head is stretched upward and his body stands stretched upward.  To give added color and interest to the piece there are wool pennies surrounding the ram.  To give depth to the piece and to finish out the piece there is a antique red needle punch frame surrounding the wool applique.  The piece really looks nice framed on a wood plate that came from Hawaii.

This is the finished appliqued ram.  It looks great with the pennies surrounding the ram.  They give color and interest to the ram.  To add a little more interest and to frame out the image, the ram has been sew down to weavers cloth for needle punching.

Turn the piece to the back of the weavers cloth.  This will be the guide line for where to punch needle close to the wool piece. Measure out 1/2 inch from these lines all the way around.  That will be your frame measurements.

This picture is the first round of needle punch outlining the wool appliqued ram.  From here I have marked 1/2 inch out from the red line to punch out the frame.

HOW TO USE TEXTURE TO IMPROVE YOUR ART

 The angel body and flag are appliqued with wool,

Texture can positively improve almost any work of art, by giving it movement, interest, and depth.  With this angel the first step to give the art interest was to applique the angels body and flag with wool which helped to creat the effect that the body and flag were folded within the wings.  This step was effective because the wool was a thinner material which had a shorter depth than what the wings had.

punched the background in circular motion

The next effect used was to punch needle the wings in two different lengths.  The inner side of the wings are punched with level #1 (using the ultra punch needle) the feathers on the wings are done with #2 depth which is a longer pile giving the effect that they are way out in front of the flag. Having 2 different depths within the wings helped to give depth to the wings and helped to give the effect that the wings are wrapped around the flag.  The background is punched next using level #1 with a verigated thread in a circular pattern to create movement and a feeling that the angel was floating and not grounded to the earth. Using the level #1 makes the background appear to be behind the angel and brings the wings further forward.

I decided to frame the needle punch on a board with multimedia artwork

The multi media board was a fun project that added even more texture.  It has about 5 layers of paper and paint on it.  There were several days of painting, applying layers of papers  and auditioning the needle punch before an ideal design really highlighted the effect that really brought the art work together. Using texture really brings the creative juices to the foreground. 

a good up close of the layers

After attaching the angel piece to the board, there seemed to be something missing still that would pop the angel out more and make her center stage. There needed to be something that divide her from the frame.

added a braid around the  needle punch

A braid that had the colors in the needle punch and some gold thread was added around the piece to pull it forward off the board, another level of depth was added to the piece.  This added depth made the needle punch piece look framed better upon the frame itself.  Texture just makes a piece really pop.

HOW TO FINISH OUT A NEEDLE PUNCH

THIS IS THE FINISHED PIECE READY TO BE MOUNTED ON A FINISHING PIECE OF CHOICE.

Your needle punch piece will eventually be mounted onto a finished project of your choice.  Some examples would be a wood board, pillow top, chip board the size of a frame, etc. So the finished punched piece needs to finished out in a way that would protect the punched stitches and that could easily be attached to it's chosen mounted format.

FIRST YOU CUT A BOARDER AROUND THE PIECE.

The first step would be to cut a boarder around your finished piece. I prefer to use a 1 inch boarder.

STEAM PRESS THE EDGES IN TOWARDS THE IMAGE.

Next step is to steam press the edges toward the inside of the project.

I PRESS PELLON APPAREL INTERFACING ON THE BACK

Next cut the shape out of interfacing ( I use apparel Interfacing - Specialty SF101 shape-Flex Fusible.  It feels like regular cotton fabric with fusible capabilities) and iron it to the back of the project.  The interfacing holds the shape of the project plus it protects the threads and helps to keep them stable.  The interfacing holds down all the turned in edges and makes a nice neater and stable edge that enables you to easily attach it to what ever medium you choose to frame your piece.  It's a much nicer finish to be able to glue the project down to a surface and it gives a barrier that helps to protect the threads from the glue product.  Since the edges are now in a fixed position it's a lot easier to sew to a surface because you don't have to constantly struggle to hold the edges down. This interfacing is pliable and it doesn't make the project stiff.

HAVE YOU EVER FELT YOUR LIFE WAS TRAVELING AROUND IN A CIRCLE

Have you ever had days, weeks or years that no matter how hard you tried to move forward toward a dream or a goal it seems like you couldn't accomplish a thing?  That on Monday you started out with goals and plans for the week, only to end up on Friday saying, " what happened, I can't tell I did a thing".  I have had a few years that no matter how hard I try to move forward I end up staying in this cycle of doing the same dull routine and never moving forward toward my goals.  The act of continually traveling in the same circle and never stepping out is so hard to break.  You keep telling yourself that someday there will be one new thing you can try that will actually break the cycle of going round and round in a circle and that every new adventure or effort will teaching you something important when all you feel is this never ending feeling of your time is running out. 

This painting is expressing the emotion of being trapped in a paralyzing monotony circle of life.  It features smaller circles in the background floating around that symbolizes  the many efforts of trying to break free  in life, but has larger circles emphasizing that the dreaded circle continues on and on.

On the creative side, the painting was a lesson on accomplishing the task of gluing down various sizes of circles and then painting a focal spot and accomplish being able to create depth within the circles.  The girl is brought into the forefront with the exception of allowing a couple of circles float in the front on the right side of her head. The larger circles are the next layer close up to the girl and then the smaller circles are floating in different depths behind them.

WOOL APPLIQUE DOOR HANGERS

Here are a few elegantly primitive wool  door hangers that would   be beautiful for you to hang on a door in your home.  The bags and the applique are all wool. The handles and the fringe are crochet lace.  These bags are rag stuffed to keep with the primitive theme and to add weight to them.  Back in the primitive times they didn't have stuffing like we now have.  Mostly they would cut up old worn out clothes or other cloth to use for stuffing  I had a big learning curve on how to use the fabric for stuffing.  The trick is to cut the pieces very small and to make sure if you are cutting several layers together that you fluff the fabric up before stuffing it in or else the fabric layers will stick together and cause a big wadded up lump in the bag.  I really like the feel of the bags stuffed with the fabric.  When you squeeze the bag between your fingers it has a harder surface instead of the marshmellow feel of our stuffing has today.  The fabric is heavier so it hangs better on a knob.  Plus you will have the added feeling that you are using up all your high price scrap fabric and don't throw any away.  Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!

NEVER CHANGE YOUR IDEAS ON YOUR ART FOR SOMEONE ELSE

MULTI MEDIA GIRL

This was a girl I painted that I was fairly pleased with.  Her name was Charity.   I looked up the definition of charity and placed its meaning in and on the picture. My mistake began when I had a client that said she loved the painting but didn't like the saying. I can't tell you why I named her charity, but I knew that was going to be her name throughout the whole painting process.  It dictated every feeling and artistic movement I made.  Irregardless, no matter how I felt about it  I brought the painting home and reworked the background and I put a new saying on it that I felt would have a positive impact.  Guess what,  the client didn't come back to buy the painting.  Now although I love the saying because I only put sayings that talk to me on my work, I have a painting that I'm not excited about because I allowed a client to say what I should do on a painting.  I will never do that again.  It was not only hard to transform her, but it represents to me that someone else dictated my art. When I do my art I put heart and soul into my art no matter what it is and someone else changing it takes me away from my art

FAITH, HOPE, AND TRANSFORMATION

I work with cancer patients everyday, and I have seen some amazing things happen in their lives that can only be explained through faith and the never ending feeling of Hope.  There are so many stories of Transformation that will be forever in my heart and that make my faith stronger everyday.

I painted this picture with the memory of one transformation story that touched my heart so strong. I wish I could tell her story, but alas it is not my story to tell. What I can tell you is that she was a woman who not only stayed strong through her battle with cancer, but also stayed strong to win her battle to be a better person. In this picture  I wanted to remember her in the transformed beautiful lady I saw after her battle was done. I sat and thought about what I felt was her identifying characteristics that made her who she was.  What I would remember about her was that she really loved hats, bold stand out jewelry and anything lace.  She wore some of the wildest outfits to the clinic, but one day she came in wearing this really neat black hat with gorgeous dangling earrings. She had a blue dress on with a black lacy jacket. I always looked forward to her coming in so that I could see what she would be wearing.  I have never been much of a painter, but knowing her brought out something beautiful inside me that I think transformed me into a halfway decent multimedia painter.  I am very proud of this picture and I smile every time I look at it and I think of her.

This picture sits on my desk at work and there have been many other cancer patients that have looked at her and said that's a beautiful picture, I think it's because they see a beautiful lady.

ANGELS PROTECT AMERICA

 

This is my new design I'm working on.  I can see from the picture that I'm going to have to change the color on her mouth, but over all I'm really happy with it.  The flag and the angel are appliqued with wool and then the wings, hair and halo are needle punched.  Now I've got to decide what background color will bring out the angel and flag.

By the way do you know what the colors, stars and stripe stand for in our flag?
The white signifies purity and innocence that exist in the country.
Red signifies hardiness and valor that was used to get the US to where it is.
The Blue is the color of the chief, represents the vigilance, perseverance and justice that the US offers to its citizens.

While I sit and watch the Olympics this week and hear our national anthem, I have the picture of wartime when the anthem words were written and I wonder "What would they be thinking of our country right now during this crazy election time"?  Would they be proud of our country?   Picturing Angels flying in to protect America seems comforting to me!

YE SHALL REAP IN LIFE THE SEEDS YE HAVE SOWN

NEEDLE PUNCH ART

Day one of my blog, please be kind!

I have done some kind of stitchery all my life.  It seems as though I can never get enough of it.  I keep researching on the internet to find some kind of new form of stitching that has come out on the market. Along the way I have found that texture is what really pops my interest and really has pushed me into designing.  I discovered wool fabric a few years back and found that it is beautiful to applique with.  It is sometimes challenging to put marks on for detail work like a face, hair or words, but that just makes me work harder to accomplish what I'm trying to accomplish in my final product. In the last few months I have been designing pieces that combine my love for wool fabric, embroidery, and needle punch.  What better way to bring texture into my work of art.  I have a dream to be able to have a business in which I create designs for sell and I teach people how to bring a piece of artwork to life.  I have a passion for needle work and I want to share it. I love the thought of bringing women together to become friends and to get away from the everyday grind we must endure, but also to discover how piece of work can evolve into a something beautiful.

This first piece I have pictured here is my first drawn piece and only my second punched piece.  I discovered with it that I need to be able to learn to move my punch needle in a way that would give motion to the piece.  I discovered that doing lettering is more difficult than I thought in needle punch. The red lettering passing through the brown tree trunk disappeared and the lettering through the leaves are too busy looking and get lost.  If the saying is important enough to say, it needs to be standing out to be noticed.  This needle piece just had drawn ideas that I like, but didn't have good placement for the ideas. Sometimes these lessons aren't learned until after we punch them and see the results.

In this blog I intend to show steps that I pain stakingly take to create pieces of art.  I intend to learn how to combine several art forms of stitchery together to bring a piece alive.