...creative diversion...

I love to sew.  I have since i was in junior high school.  Made clothes, "smock tops", pillows, fun stuff.  My very first sewing machine was a Sears Kenmore i got as a wedding gift, and i still have it.  Just can't find the foot pedal!  When my daughter was born i was up to my elbows in piles of fabric making the nursery ensemble and little girly dresses.  Well, having 4 kids in three years pushed my sewing machine farther and farther back in closet. 

Fast forward 20 years and i had been thinking about sewing again, pricing machines and doing research.  Thank heaven for Bernina at Create in Irvine earlier this month!   I was drawn to the classrooms with the rows of Bernina sewing machines..........be still my sewing heart!  Long story short, i was lucky enough to come home with one.  And i must say, there is quite a "Bernina groupie" following out there!  I was so encouraged by other passionate quilters and seamstresses who said again and again, "YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT"!!  They were correct. I. LOVE. THIS. MACHINE.!

While i am constantly learning and seeking new creative experiences, i have never done any quilting.  However, i love the discipline and the artistic potential of it.  Free motion stitching and mixed media fabric wall art hold such an appeal for me.  In addition to learning about the machine, i've decided to take the plunge into quilting and free motion sewing.  

I've been practicing with piles of fabric samples i have from a collection i designed for Springs Creative last year.  Lots of messy free motion stitching!  In my mind it is "perfectly imperfect"!  Even going all out on the mixed media thing, and sewing some paper onto the fabric scrap.

 My new machine has 85 decorative stitches!  That will be fun.

 More messy, "perfectly imperfect", free motion practice on my fabric samples.  

 Got brave with some simple white muslin/batting "fabric sandwiches", drawing and doodling with thread and quilting!  Trying new threads, stitches, the possibilities are absolutely endless in this craft.  My first attempts...

But i have to say, adding painted color to the fabric, then stitching has to be my favorite thing of the moment.  

There is such gratification in experimenting and trying new things.

...my practice hearts painted with watercolor then free motion stitched...

 Thanks for visiting!  I'll keep you all posted on my sewing and quilting adventures.  Create with all your heart....

…it's almost COLOR LOVIN' time!….

….and there's still time to register!  

Join us for some summer color lovin' fun at my new online class, 

COLOR LOVE 101: WHIMSICAL ART JOURNALS.  

It's the he perfect tonic for your creative summer days and vacation bliss.

 Like all me classes, this will take place in real time, but then is open forever for you to come and go as you please.  Join us now or later, either way you're going to be lovin' some color! 

Sign up below and we'll see you soon! 

...a new artful adventure???  

I'm happy to invite you to my new online class…

"COLOR LOVE 101: 

Whimsical Art Journaling"

with joanne sharpe

Here's the perfect "lazy days of summer" class to embrace and capture bold, bright palettes in a color saturated art journal.  

This class is all about big, bodacious, vivid COLOR techniques using watercolors, inktense and colored pencils, pan pastels, markers and inks.  With 25 dynamic video lessons and pdfs, you'll paint, letter, doodle, draw, blend, spritz and sketch to create 25 color saturated journal pages.
It's summer color lovin'!   
Class samples in this video:

"COLOR LOVE 101": 

Whimsical Art Journaling

Create 25 journal pages in 15 LESSONS

25 VIDEOS with 25 PDF PAGES

***forever access and networking***

5 WEEKS LIVE!

June 11, 2012-July 12, 2012 

(lessons post Mon/Wed/Fri each week)

****REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!***

$35

***Within 24 hours of Paypal receipt you'll receive a welcome letter with supply list and access information.  

Class will launch Monday, June 11, 2012.

See you there in bright bold color!

…oh, Create!!

… you were MAHVELOUS!!!  

Getting ready and experiencing the Create retreat is like a wedding.  

You think and plan and plan and pack and make memories for the cherished event. 

 And then, in the blink of an eye, it's over, it's done! 

That's exactly what it's like teaching at Create, and other art retreats.

 It was such an honor to have the most wonderful students sharing at another Create, this one in Irvine, CA.  I was energized by their kindness and curious enthusiasm for trying new things and making amazing art.

 …my classrooms are always a color FULL mess!...

 …stretching out of our comfort zones...

 …playing, thinking, letting go….

 …sharing, laughing, creating...

 …making those special connections with new "forever art friends"….

 …exploring new techniques and experiencing new art materials…..

 …making beautiful "frame worthy" art work!...

 …Anne here was in THREE of my classes…..and she was a ball of creative wild fire! 

 After her busy artful week, "calm and quiet" was her lettering class theme….

 ...

…concentrating, being in the moment, happy, joyful...

…loving some of the dozens and dozens of pens
 i brought for classroom play learning...

…trying new food at lunch with my friend Susie…while in California, 

i had to have my first ever fish taco!

 

…even had a little time for shopping and laughing with the stylin' Pam Carriker...  

…at my most favorite store on the planet, 

"Fresh Produce" Sportswear in Laguna Beach. 

(Pam thought i was taking her there to buy apples and bananas!)

Create..it was perfect.

…See you next year in Irvine!  

Create will be back at the Hyatt Regency in 2013 

making art and making friends and making memories...

…California here i come!!

…off to Create in Irvine, CA! All packed, shipped and ready to teach my brand new classes and meet some new "forever art friends". I love California, just plop me next to the ocean and i'm in my element.

This is the first trip of five art events where i am teaching from coast to coast. Very excited about my classes, and my new favorite is the colorful "Magical Marker Mystery Tour". The student learning journal is pictured above. We're going to have such fun, using several brands of my favorite markers in mixed media and art journaling. Needless to say, i am bringing have over 500 markers and pens with me to share with my students. 

Coloring. What a great way to spend 3 hours in a class!

I'll also be teaching these classes at Create in New Jersey in July and Chicago in August. Classes are filling quickly and there's still time to register. Hope to see some of you in my travels this summer!

Oh, i haven't forgotten, i will post BIG NEWS #3 this week! Thanks for dropping in.

….BIG NEWS #2….

The release of my 

Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop 

"ARTFUL LETTERING" DVD 

IS JUST WEEKS AWAY!!  

I'm soooo excited to announce that my "Artful Lettering" DVD will soon be released and available for download purchase on the Cloth Paper Scissors website.  And shortly after that, the hard copy will be available for purchase on June 20, 2012.  That's just weeks away!

More fun, more lettering, more new projects playing with fancy fonts, pens and inks and all kinds of good things to add to your mixed media lettering tool box.

My Cloth Paper Scissors WORKSHOP DVD includes many of my favorite creative lettering techniques that some of you are familiar with, and so much more.  You'll experience my" artful lettering basics" along with several new and never seen exclusive projects designed specifically for this workshop.  

Oh the places you will go with MORE lettering magic!

It was such fun being at the Interweave headquarters this past December

 in Loveland, Colorado and on the set with CPS editor, Jenn Mason.

 Here's a look at how i roll, with a behind the scenes shot, literally BEHIND the table where they were filming my demos!  It was pretty quick paced, taping one technique after the other.  So i  tossed  placed the items on the floor behind me to enthusiastically get to the next project.  You won't see this on the DVD!!

 This is the showcase of the projects and lettering samplers and some ideas you will find in the DVD. It's chuck full of many fun ideas and techniques to guide you in discovering your own signature lettering style.  Whether you purchase The DVD, or download it on to your computer, it will be a great addition to your creativity library a resource you'll own forever!

So be on the lookout for announcements from Cloth, Paper, Scissors and i'll be back in a few weeks with a Artful Lettering DVD Giveaway.  Stay tuned!

…another HOP!

I'm happy to have another opportunity in this BLOG HOP to preview a fun Crafter's Workshop stencil designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  

Again, the design of the 12"x 12" LEAF GRID stencil was screaming to me to become ANOTHER mini-journal!!  This time an accordion book. 

I love books!  And i tend to "think outside the box" when making my little inspirational lettering journals and books.  Using the square leaf edged boxes of the stencil made for perfect lettering space.

This is a great example of the colorful pages we'll be making in my 

new online class 

COLOR LOVE 101: WHIMSICAL ART JOURNALS 

starting June 11th.  Bright, bold, vibrant, delicious color and art.

To make this mini accordion journal, I started with some sheets of smooth bristol paper and my spray inks, making assorted color combinations with the stencil.

 

For the panels and pages, i cut 5 strips out of the stencil design keeping the leaf pattern on all four sides of the panels….

...then glued them together so the accordion is double sided.  When glued, i free form cut around the leaf patterns on one side, and "winged it" hoping the pattern repeated on the other side.  It pretty much did match, and looked great, in my favorite style, "perfectly imperfect'!

Bold white lettering on the cover and inside pages was created with a correction pen.  I also cut out one of the "leaf sprigs" and glued it on the left edge adding a 3-D element.

 The fine white lettering was done with the Uniball Signo UM-153, my favorite. 

 After all the lettering is done, i folded each one of the leaf squares back and forth, in an accordion pattern.  The stenciled squares became the pages!  

Have fun with your stencils and thinking "outside the art box"!

Oh!  And come back to my blog tomorrow for BIG NEWS #2.

HOP ON OVER to see what my other art friends have created with this stencil:

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2012/05/stencil-hop-leaf-grid.html

Wilna Furstenberg
http://www.wilnaf.com/

Tammy Tutterow
http://tammytutterow.typepad.com/

Dion Dior
http://diondior.blogspot.com/