Collage Mania Challenge

Virginia Spiegel heads Fiberart For A Cause: Fundraising for the American Cancer Society. Her hard work and dedication seems unending, which can be witnessed by perusing her website: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

ALL proceeds raised through Virginia's efforts are donated to the American Cancer Society! And she has raised an incredible amount of money for ACS.

I recently submitted a collage for Virginia's review, which was accepted (pictured). I'm so very pleased to be a part of Virginia's cause. If you get a chance, please consider donating a collage for this worthy cause. Or perhaps become a buyer on May 6!

A Deadly Weave

I hope you're all having a nice, relaxing Sunday (or not so, if that's your preference)! Yesterday was jam-packed with birthday preparations for both a great-grampa and my hubster. I made a german chocolate cake and a carrot cake, eeeeeverything froim scratch. OMG, is brekkiie gonna be GOOOOOOOOD today! LOL!

artsnthemail posted a trade that, at first, I found impossible, interest-wise. The rule was that you could use one plain piece of fabric and one thread (any choice and you COULD use the metallic or holographic ones) to make a post card. I gotta say, my brain went, "HUH? Oh yeah, THAT'S gonna make for some great designs..." But it stayed in my head for quite a while and as I let go of the doubts, the ideas began to emerge. I ended up having a lot of fun making these deadly beauties and they took a LONG time to make. I rather like 'em and hope you do, too!

Burn It Up!

Today's focus is tyvek. Tyvek is an amazing art material. I just love it! You can buy it by the yard now, but I have a bunch of it from a hundred years ago. If you're not familiar with it, the Postal Service envelopes are made out of it. Not the paper ones, but the ones that feel like an extremely lightweight fabric and are impossible to rip.

The fun thing about tyvek is that it takes color very well, and you know I love color! So far, I like the Dye-Na-Flows the best, as they turn out so crisp and vivid. But I've also used acrylic paint, markers, and Neocolors all with great success.

Yeah, coloring and painting are fun, but here's the best part: tyvek hates heat. It shrivels, curls, and eventually, if you heat it long enough, it disintegrates. FABulous news for surface texturists! I've used it in a lotta different ways, and I'm sure I haven't exhausted the possibilities by any means. I'm currently in the middle of two projects that incorporate tyvek and I hope to get those posted later today. My heat gun finally bit the dust at the end of the mailbox thing, and I'm (IM!)patiently waiting for my hubby to dig up his industrial-strength one for me.

In the meantime, here are a coupla pix to show you what it can do

These above are ATCs. I colored a piece of tyvek, then stitched it to a piece of fabric, timtex and cardstock. I then blasted it with the heat gun. Below is a post card made with rectangles of heat-blasted tyvek (the same process as above, then I just cut it apart and attached to a post card). I added brads and copper wire.

Sorry for the weird photographic angles in these pix. I ripped the lightbox down, as we're shifting rooms around here, and I snapped these off quickly. They are truly sqaure, er, I mean rectangle. ;o)

I wish you a creative day full of ideas and fun!! Ciao! ~debmarie :oP

Getcha Some!

Man, oh MAN, it's chilly here today!! Yike-a-ROOnies! Well, the shrimps are on ze bus and I'm kinda scarin' myself with posting 3 days in a row.

Quote of the day: All Limitations are Self-Imposed

Now, if you follow my blog, I know you've seen this before. But have you really thought about it? It's so true. There is nothing, nothing, NOTHING you cannot do if you reeeeeally wanna!! We all have so much power within ourselves, yet we don't even begin to scratch the surface of our potential. And why is that? I firmly believe it's because we are not taught this concept from birth. We are not shown, by example, nor are we told repeatedly, that all things are possible AND that we can literally do ANYthing we want to do. I'm a prime example. Ya know what I was told? To sit down and shut up. And how many of you were told the same thing? Maybe you were brought up in a loving, safe environment, and that's great! :o) But were you taught to make things happen for yourself? No? Then we're pretty much starting on the same plane.

Those of you who know me, may find the above hard to believe. Mainly because I am very outspoken (in a fun, kind way) and I hope I give the vibe that I enjoy life. I love to make people smile - and if I make 'em laugh, then my day is great! I'm slowly learning to tap into myself and it's amazing what talents I've had locked inside me. I'm no brilliant artist, don't get me wrong. But I have been pushing myself outta my comfort zone, with pleeeeenty of doubts chanting inside my head, believe me, and am astounded at what I'm learning and creating.

I honestly believe that even with this sudden realization of my skills and abilities, that I haven't made too much of a dent in what I am truly capable of, but I'm trying. THAT'S the key: TRY. How will you know unless you give it a go? Ya WON'T! Wouldn't you rather try and fail a thousand times rather than sit safely in your comfort zone, just wishing and hoping and waiting your life away? Cuz I guaran-freakin-TEE it that if you try and fail a thousand times, you're GONNA learn something! Now go and turn your muse loose - set 'er free and see what ya come up with. Ignore the boundaries and test your inquisitiveness.

Here are some Valentine's Day cards I made for our trade on Fiber Art Traders. I wish you could see what the camera doesn't pick up. Or.... is it my photography skills?? lol! The fabric is a dark, vivid pink and has gold veins running across it. It's just gorgeous all by itself! I topped it with a splotchy purple heart, then a rectangle piece of handpainted fabric I made and sliced & diced, then a piece of transparency with LOVE printed on it. Machine stitched (freemotion) at several stages in gold. Enjoy, my friends! Enjoy today and enjoy yourSELF! Love, debmarie

You've Got Mail!

Mornin', fellow blog freaks! ;o)


I'm kinda on a roll this morning, as I'm working on some new pieces of art. I'm loving what's happening, so I thought I'd take a little break, grab a pear, and share with you a recent project. Yeah, this is a rerun for those of you who are Fiber Art Traders. So sorry, fiber fanatics!


One day my son, who's 5 11/12, came home and announced that he had to make and bring to school a box to hold the valentines he would receive from his classmates. I admit that I groaned inside because Denny is pretty particular and I just dreaded coming up with one rejected idea after another. The first thing I thought of was a mailbox. Ok, maybe this is because we've been having some mailbox problems lately. But I'll get to that later. Aaaaaanyway, Denny didn't seem too jazzed about it until I mentioned Thomas (the tank engine and friends - Denny LOOOOVES trains, especially T-man and his useful friends!). Percy is actually the engine who delivers the mail, and that's what saved me. Oooooooh, he loved the idea then! LOL!


So, we set to work on his new mailbox (which is constructed from various weights of chipboard, masking tape, red paint, velcro closure, and stickers) and we had SUCH a great time together!! It took us all day, but was so rewarding for both of us. He did make one change, and that was changing from Percy (who's green) over to James, who's red. His thinking weas that it was, after all, for love day, and love day is all about red, not green. Fine with me! The look on his face as we loomed closer and closer to completion was awesome. He was so pleased with it at the end that he could hardly sleep. He "tested" it several hundred times before going to bed. You know, just to make sure it would work. He was SO cute! The absolute BEST thing, though, was when he flung his arms around me and told me I was the BEST MAMA IN THE WHOLE WORLD! THAT'S what I live for! :o)


Here's the final product (just so ya know what makes a plain, ol' woman of the midwest turn into the BMITWW! LOL!). Make it a GREAT day!! Get those creative juices flowing!! Hugs, debmarie

Hold me back and tie me down!

This satellite internet is the best idea since, well, it's just great. I feel like someone else sitting at someone else's computer! W-O-W!

Since I'm feeling so extra spunky, I figured I'd post a couple more pieces. Ready? In our Fiber Art Traders group, we just finished up an ATC Book trade. Here is the one I made and sent off. The first pic is the cover, which is made from fabric, thread, copper sheeting, sticks, raffia, copper wire, amber seed beads and amber-dyed mother of pearl shells.

Enjoy! Make it a great day! Do something nice for YOU!! ~debmarie

Long Time, No Post

Hi, Friends!


Well, I'm back after way too long, I know. I've had a LOT of irons in the fire that needed to be put to bed. AND, it is with exTREME excitement that I announce my break-up with dial-up! WaHOOOOOOO (she screams, tossing the ripped-out phone lines over the bridge)!!


SO... today I am starting over (again!) and will try, try, TRY to be MUCH better at keeping my blog current. I can't promise a daily addition, but I am shooting for a few times a week.


At least I've been learning a lot since I last posted. I've been working with a lot of materials and techniques that are new to me, as well as some old ones I love. Here are some projects...post cards, of course!

The first one is a post card I made for the Poetic Post Cards trade I hosted on Fiber Art Traders. It was SO fun to both write the poem and to make the card!




The one below is one I made for artsnthemail's Coffee or Tea trade. Yummy for both your eyes AND tummy! ;o)

And, finally, another for artsnthemail, this time sticking with the birdhouse trade theme.