A Little Valentine's Day Needle Work

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year I had decided to make something for my adult children to use in their homes. But, what to do? Poking around my studio for some inspiration, I came across vintage napkins with needlework borders. I had recently purchased these with the idea of further embellishing them and creating pillows. Yes! This would be the perfect project for Valentine's Day. I started out with 2 of the napkins and outlined each with an image from my Fanciful Felties book by mummysam. One is a fox which resembles Poppy, A & L's pup, and the other an English cottage for J & B who live in a cute little hillside house with a lovely view. The back sides of each pillow are graphic fabrics that coordinate with the colors in each of their homes. How about you? Did you create any Valentine's gifts this year?

Natural Ice Sculptures in Toronto

Outstanding images of natural ice sculptures on the Toronto waterfront can be seen here. Almost makes me want to hop in my car and drive on up there. Beautiful!

Felt Bird project

For Christmas my artist daughter Jess gave me the book Fanciful Felting from mummysam. I've been working on this cute little British milkman bird. Here it is with some of the main sections embroidered. It is close to being completed now and when it is, I'll post it here. What are you working on these days?

Trading Post Treasures

My friends at the Trading Post in Amherst, Louise and Gina are having a sale! I stopped in and came home with a van load of fun pieces to quench my creative thirst. Now, for a little time to get things underway..... and I think I need to build myself a spray booth. I can't say when, but eventually you'll be seeing some "Before and After" shots here on Terra Nova Design. To fuel your curiosity, here are some sneak peaks. Check back!

I'm Adoring Adore

Yes, I have discovered a new magazine to Adore! It's named just that, Adore and its from Australia. What's even better is that it's fully online, with all 126 pages of its fabulous ideas and gorgeous photography. This issue is the British issue full of all things Brit inspired. Makes me long to return to England -- hopefully this summer. My fav section of this issue though begins on pg 46 with an article called Vintage Shopping! Ooolala! I'd love to spend some time (and cash) in these shops. Check it out...what's your favorite section?

Playing with Red Blue and Yellow

It's about 8 degrees Fahrenheit out there! What better to do on this frigid day than begin Judy Perez's online Color Theory class? I ventured down to my sun-filled studio, cleared off my old slate printer's table, got a out all the supplies and jumped in. I've never worked with Setacolor paints before but they are lovely! I'm really looking forward to using them on fabric. Judy's work - hand painted fabrics - amazes me. Today, I got started by building my color chart with combinations of Red, Blue and Yellow. Such fun you can have with just these 3. I used two red, two yellow and two blues....and look at al the beautiful variations that emerged. Isn't color wonderful? After the chart was completed I had little puddles of color on my palette that couldn't go to waste. So, I painted myself a little bit of Spring. It' a hopeful garden scene for a day like today. It makes me smile.

Aluminum Leaf on Furniture!

Oh, I do think I feel a project coming on! Last week I was at Mass MoCA and saw 2 artists working on an installation. They were applying what looked like silver leaf but told me it was aluminum leaf, which is significantly less costly. Hmmm....my interest was piqued. There's just something about leafing that has always drawn me in. Then, tonight i was catching up on reading art and design blogs and followed a few links to find myself at this Little Green Notebook post that jumped out and I heard that internal voice speak, saying "You must try this!!" So, sometime soon, I imagine I will do just that. Not sure when, as the new college semester just started but, I'll post some pics when I do.