Vickie's Blog

New blog

2011-12-12T14:23:00.002-07:00

I've changed to a new blog so please note the new address:

http://vickiemorgan.weebly.com/blog.html

Please come visit me in my new home.

Summer Dreams

2011-05-05T07:57:00.003-06:00

It has taken me awhile to get going on BJP this year. But finally I have January's piece. I've chosen a 3.5x2.5 size this year and my goal is to use up some of my bead stash and not buy new beads for this year's journal. As I thought of January this year the cold and short days had me longing for summer. Colors: turquoise, gold, and bronze, the flower center is a glass pebble, all stitched onto a piece of stiff pellon.

The revealing of BJP 2010

2011-01-15T08:58:00.004-07:00

Well at last here it is. All the pieces together. I am pleased with the way this came together. It has been a fun year creating this beadwork and I've learned a lot. Now to get it framed so I can hang it in a special place.
Thanks to all of my fellow beaders for the inspirations and encouragements. What a great project it was. I look forward to the new year of beading. I've already started and will share when it's ready.

BJP 2010 --Almost Finished!

2010-12-20T10:41:00.004-07:00

Here are the last two pieces of this years Bead Journal Project.

November photo is rather blah looking, kind of like Nov. around here.
This piece is called " Plentiful Abounds", done in coppers and warm browns.

Here the December piece of the puzzle, "Visions of Sugarplums"

I have so enjoyed this journey. All I have to do is mount them on a canvas and the puzzle will be ready to hang. I'll be sure to post when it's finished.

BJP OCTOBER Falling Leaves

2010-10-31T09:45:00.002-06:00

We have had a beautiful and long fall this year. The beautiful leaves just keep hanging around. First the aspens, and now the cottonwoods. I even saw a beautiful red oak tree in town yesterday. October's Bead Journal piece is in honor of the beautiful fall leaves and berries.

BJP SEPTEMBER Garden Fairy

2010-10-31T09:28:00.003-06:00

Summer is coming to an end and the garden fairy is ready to fly to warmer places. This is my September piece of the Bead Journal Puzzle.

BJP August "Tiptoe thru my flower garden"

2010-10-06T09:18:00.002-06:00

I'm a bit behind like many but here is my August piece. The puzzle is taking shape. I can hardly wait to unveil it after December's piece is done.

This month was inspired by the flower beads I happened across at a garage sale and all the beautiful flowers this summer.

July BJP

2010-08-01T08:52:00.002-06:00

Here's the July piece "Celebration" in honor of the 4th of July.

June BJP Butterfly garden

2010-06-25T09:54:00.002-06:00

Here's my June BJP puzzle piece: Butterfly Garden. The colors are pink, lavendar, and black on a pale lavendar fabric. Mostly 11's and 6's with a few bugle beads and of course, a butterfly bead.

BJP May - Get in Gear (for summer)

2010-06-08T09:14:00.003-06:00

Finally finished May, piece no. 5 of the BJP puzzle. It took off in it's own direction finally, after floundering for awhile. I chose yellows and oranges to represent wildflowers blooming here.

Little Hummer

2010-05-04T07:01:00.002-06:00

Here's my April BJP. I call it little hummer in honor of the hummingbirds returning after a long winter. They are a welcome sight!

March BJP

2010-03-11T08:18:00.001-07:00

Here is my March project :"Spring Fever", the next piece of the puzzle.
A variety of beads beaded on fabric with a layer of felt between.

Beaded wall quilt - Ocean Life

2010-03-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

This is a wall quilt I designed and appliqued last summer. Finally got around to quilting it with beads and bead embroidery. It is much more sparkly than it appears. Size: approx 14x18 in.

Mountains Galore

2010-02-06T09:05:00.001-07:00

Living in the midst of the Colorado high country, this beadwork was inspired by the vistas from my window. I love living in the mountains and they are a constant source of inspiration. The beading was done on white fabric with a sandwich of felt batting. it is approximately 6 inches square. This is my first attempt at completely covering the space in beads.

February BJP

2010-02-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is my February Bead Journal Project piece, "Lovebug".

I chose red, pink, white and gold for my color theme this month and then just let the beads tell me where to put them.

January BJP page

2010-01-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

January's here and here's my first Bead Journal Entry. Blue and White on batik blue fabric. approximately 3x4.5. The picture doesn't show the sparkles. :( Guess I need to work on my photography, too.

Beadwork

2010-01-09T11:21:00.001-07:00

I am participating in the Bead Journal Project 2010. So I have been doing some experimenting with size, shape and technics. Here's one of my examples.

Recent doodles, framed and ready

2009-12-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Based on the hymn: "To God Be the Glory"

Based on the chorus: "God is So Good"

Faith : some favorite references.

I recently been doodling some hymns and words. After writing the words in creative letter styles I then doodle around and hide them in the design.

2009-12-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

I found some great vintage holiday images. Check it out at

http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/

2 hooked rugs - placemat size

2009-11-22T17:53:00.001-07:00

These are my first 2 hooked rugs, a little larger than you standard placemat, 'tho' I may use them for placemats anyway. Tried some contrasting fabrics in this one.

CAUTION: Rug hooking can become habit forming. Now I'm working on one a little bigger. This is becoming a great way to use up some of that fabric that seems to be stuck in the stash and never used.

New projects

2009-11-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Just because there hasn't been anything new posted lately doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything. It's more like procrastination because uploading takes time that I'd rather spend creating things. :)

Here's my felted bowl after adding some bead embellishments.
I learned how to hook a rug yesterday and here's my rug so far, more like a placemat.

I've also been doing some art journaling and here's the latest spread.
I'd love some feed back so please leave a comment.

Blessings,

Vickie

Handmade Journal

2009-10-10T11:14:00.001-06:00

Handmade Journal This is a handmade journal that started out as a Chex cereal box. The cover is a batik fabric with bead and button embellishments. The pages inside (signatures) were hand sewn using buttonhole thread. I'm taking an online class and our first assignment was to make our journal that we will use for future assignments.

Recent activity

2009-10-05T09:47:00.000-06:00

I've been doing a lot of drawing lately. After a long day at school it is very relaxing to veg out on the sofa and just let my imagination lead my pen around.

I took a felting class this weekend and here's my bowl--so far. I'm planning on adding some beads, sequins, etc. to give it some character.

Elaborate doodling

2009-09-14T06:39:00.000-06:00

Here's some of the "elaborate doodling" I've been doing lately. The Snail

Scottie

Push-me-pull-u

OK

2009-08-13T09:35:00.000-06:00

I know everything will be OK when I remember this phrase.

More journal pages

2009-08-12T11:14:00.000-06:00

A healthy body needs a healthy snack.

Memories from a Grand Canyon Hike down the Kaibab trail.

Crested Butte journal page

2009-08-09T09:16:00.000-06:00

Photos of a vacation tell one story, but for me a journal page tells it in a more complete personal way. So here's the rest of the story.

Never enough time

2009-08-08T09:04:00.000-06:00

The prompt was excuses. My biggest and most often used excuse is: I don't have time. So here's what I could do if I had more of it.

Crested Butte get-away

2009-08-07T09:23:00.001-06:00

We spent a couple days in Crested Butte this week. The wildflowers made blankets of color everywhere. And the views from our condo were spectacular. A camera never quite does it justice. Hiking at the ski area was interesting, as I'd never been there when there wasn't snow. Everything looks so different. But again... a blanket of wild flowers.

Swimming Pool

2009-08-07T09:19:00.000-06:00

This is a birds eye drawing of the swimming pool I frequented growing up. It brought back lots of pleasant memories of hot summer afternoons.

2009-08-03T08:49:00.000-06:00

These are a couple pages using the daily prompts from a journaling group I belong to. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blissfully_Art_Journaling/ Kelly, your style has inspired me to try it. I had fun filling in around the pictures.

Yucca drawing

2009-07-11T11:21:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to improve my drawing skills. For some reason I thought for a long time that people who could draw just could. Never thought about needing practice. Well, duh! I know most people can't just play the piano without any practice. Why should drawing be any different?

This was done from a photo taken just up the road a piece. The yucca were beautiful this year and I just had to capture that.

2009-07-11T10:17:00.000-06:00

Just thinking about all the fun things about summer.

Finally got my "Funky Journal" covered in cherry print oil cloth. It was pretty easy to work with and I just glued it down with regular Elmer's brushed on. Now it's my "Funky Cherry Journal"

Prompt: Exhaustion

2009-06-30T10:41:00.001-06:00

Count Your Blessings

2009-06-30T10:33:00.001-06:00

Feeling blessed today. "The blessings will come down as the prayers go up." Words from a childhood bible song: The Wise Man and The Foolish Man. Anyone remember that one???

ArtWalk

2009-06-30T10:29:00.001-06:00

Had another special event in town this past weekend - ArtWalk. All the galleries host receptions and artists come out of the woodwork! It's a great time to connect with the art world. Here's my "Funky" journal page for ArtWork.

More daily prompts

2009-06-26T13:40:00.000-06:00

Prompt: Routine

This one pretty much describes me: There's a certain sense of order to my day. But the pattern is ever changing

Prompt: Heat Wave

Had to wait for a hot day to get inspired for this one. It hasn't been very hot yet this summer.
When it's hot what I really like is to lay on a floatie in the pool and read or sleep. An ice cold Diet Pepsi nearby is good, too.

Chimps

2009-06-25T16:15:00.000-06:00

While watching a NOVA program about Chimps the other night I was doodling and jotting down interesting facts. Then I spent the rest of the evening adding color. This was done in my "Funky" journal.

More Blissfully Art Journeling journal prompts

2009-06-23T09:19:00.000-06:00

I worked on this page on Father's Day since I couldn't be with my Dad except by phone. I look forward to visiting this special guy in a couple weeks. He has always been my hero!

This one is pretty self explanatory.

My hands are very important to me. They do so many things that make life fun. As a pianist I used to worry about my fingers, now I am very protective of my hands not just the fingers.

The only thing certain in this world is change. But I listed a few "pretty certain" things on this page.

It was almost like being in a bubble bath while making this page. I really enjoyed the color and thinking about all the bath-related things written around the edges - don't know if your can see them or not from this picture.

These journal prompts come from a Yahoo Journaling group. Check it out if you are so inclined.

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

Have a wonderful day and thanks for taking the time to look. Your comments are most welcome.

Blessings today!

FibArk-First in Boating on the Arkansas

2009-06-21T09:24:00.001-06:00

FibArk is a 4 day festival downtown at the river. Kayak races are the main focus but there are lots of other things going on in the park, concerts, vendors, carnival rides, etc. It's the biggest thing that happens here in the summer. On Saturday there's a big parade and the kids come with their bags to collect the candy that the parade participants throw out -- almost like a Halloween haul. We have world class white water that attracts boaters from all over. This year the U.S. Kayak team is participating. My favorite part is getting to see lots of people that have come "home" for FibArk. Saturday is all about socializing for me. I also like to sit by the river and watch the slalom racing. If I'd have grown up here I'm pretty sure I would have been a kayaker. Unfortunately I didn't move here until later in life so I just watch. It takes incredible upper body strength that I don't have anymore.

Colorful Text

2009-06-14T08:18:00.000-06:00

Some have asked about how to do the colorful text. It's really very easy. I just type in my entry on the post page then highlight random words and go up to the tool bar and change text color, size, and or style to whatever feels good. Not really any method to my madness here. Just playing really. Try it for yourself. :)

Prompts: Summertime, Kiss

2009-06-12T08:11:00.001-06:00

Prompt: Climate Change

2009-06-10T12:12:00.000-06:00

Prompt from the Blissfully Art Journaling Group was Climate Change

Greeting card prints

2009-06-10T09:48:00.001-06:00

With all the cool, cloudy, rainy weather we've been having, so unusual for Colorado I haven't wanted to be outside much. So I've been making some prints for greeting cards, nice to send, nice to frame.

Wildflower inspiration

2009-06-07T12:49:00.000-06:00

I went out walking this morning with my camera to get some inspiration from the wild flowers that are starting to pop up all over. It has been an incredibly wet late spring so we should see lots of color this summer. Meanwhile, I saw someone else's blog (sorry I don't recall where I was looking) with this colorful text and decided to try it, too. It gives me something to do while the images are uploading. What do you think? If it was your idea I "borrowed" please let me know and I'll give you the credit.

Prompt: Worry

2009-06-06T09:24:00.000-06:00

This picture started with hearing the saying "Let go and let God." I used black and silver sharpies, black zig millenium .01 and dusty pink cardstock.

Tiananmen Square - 20 years this week

2009-06-02T11:24:00.000-06:00

As I'm reminded of the horror in China twenty years ago images started forming, and begging to get out. So here they are in my Bliss journal.

Journal page for Anxiety

2009-05-22T12:23:00.000-06:00

Now that school's out I'd like to spend some time each day working on my journal. A group I belong to has daily word and quote prompts. This is my page for Anxiety.

Altered picture book

2009-05-16T17:13:00.001-06:00

Here is a page from the book that I'm turning into an albume of doodles/zentangles. It was actually an old book from an encyclopedia set that I have thinned and added frames. I plan to add some journaling at some point.

Competing in The Doodle Off!

2009-05-02T12:00:00.001-06:00

I'm participating in a Doodle Off. Here's a sample.

Check out the competition at http://thedoodleoff.blogspot.com/

Tangled Greetings

2009-04-26T17:46:00.001-06:00

This weekend I did some tangling on scrapbook paper, then attached it to a greeting card. Used 2 size markers, .05mm and .01mm, able to get in some fine detail.

A "not-so-tangled" card, simple can be better, sometimes.

AB for ATC's

2009-04-19T19:57:00.000-06:00

I started with a granola box for the cover.

Then I covered the cardboard with fabric to go with the fabric pages inside. I used ultra-fusible web to adhere the fabric, adding the letters on top.
The pages are two layers of fabric zigzagged together with cardstock inside to give the pages stiffness. A yarn tie holds the pages in and more could easily be added by slipping behind the tie.

Yarn ties also hold ATC's in place. I'm not real happy with that part because I couldn't get them tight enough and the cards slip. I intend to keep working on a better way.

New FunkyJournal page

2009-04-19T19:53:00.000-06:00

Here is another page in the FunkyJournal. I drew this on a separate paper and glued it in. Then I removed the next page of the to book to reduce bulk and glued this page and the next one together for stability.

More of my funky journal

2009-04-18T09:49:00.000-06:00

Here's the newest page in my "FunkyJournal". I decorated with lots of tangling around a flower I found in a magazine.

2009-04-17T15:39:00.000-06:00

Springtime in the Rockies!

Thought you might want to see springtime in Colorado. So far we have had about 8 inches of heavy wet snow and the storm hasn't passed yet. Good moisture for us, just hope it doesn't cause a lot of problems.

2009-04-17T09:57:00.000-06:00

ATC's
Made a few ATC's this week.

2009-04-12T10:51:00.000-06:00

More fabric tangles

Here are a couple more fabric tangles to ponder.

2009-04-11T09:03:00.000-06:00

Fabric Tangles

I was looking at some books and got the idea to add some fabric to my tangles.

Here's how they look.
I attached fabric to cardstock with fusable web and then doodled around it incorporating it into the picture.

2009-04-10T10:49:00.000-06:00

More Tangles

My current Altered Journal

I've been drawing some tangles in my altered Funk & Wagnalls dictionary/journal. The paper feels so good to draw on.
I've been busy working all day and drawing all evening so I haven't posted all week.

Here's a couple more tangles for you to ponder. What do you see? I'll post some more this weekend.

Check out my website for more. http://geocities.com/valtst

2009-04-05T12:42:00.000-06:00

Last night's tangles took on a different look. I had fun filling each shape with a different pattern. I like the abstract effect. What do you see?

Here's a pyramid I started of the different designs I've thought of so far. I add to it when I think of something else. It has become a handy reference card when I need a boost.

More tangles

2009-04-04T15:25:00.000-06:00

I just keep drawing. Here are some more. Feel free to comment.

2009-04-04T09:26:00.000-06:00

I'm am addicted to zentangles! Here are a few of the latest. They are going to become the fronts of cards.

New Stuff

2009-03-29T14:03:00.000-06:00

I'm having fun making Altered Journals.

Check out my website to see more pics and other creative things I'm doing.

http://geocities.com/valtst/

Welcome

2009-03-26T16:12:00.001-06:00

Welcome to my blog.