Happy New Year Funky Monkey!

A Happy Heartfelt New Year to all my Friends!

This Funky Monkey and his book about monkeys jumping on the bed is a present for my sweet grand neice, Madelyn! I finally completed it last night and will be delivering it to her tomorrow!

This is also a little peak at my sewing area! But I can still produce art in amongst all the clutter!
I've made a few challenges for the new year:
1. Susan Sorrell's monthly challenge to try a new technique each month
2. Complete 2 projects for juried shows, coming up soon
3. Do my blog every week, none of this catch up stuff!
4. Work on writing articles for magazines
5. Have fun at my stitching guilds and continue with my volunteer work
6. Complete a few UFOs and prepare for gallery sales ahead of time
7. Take a few classes during the year, to get stimulated with art
8. Start a new sketchbook for 2010
9. Meet with my group Material Girls as often as possible and play all day
10. Spend time with Oatie, every day

That's it friends, Happy New Year! Best Wishes to Maggi in the UK! My most loyal follower! Hugs from afar!

Another Sale!

Walk this Way!

I have a small show at a local chiropractor's office in Milton. Another African like fibre art piece, called 'Walk This Way', sold just before Christmas. This one is based on Diane S. Hire's piecing techniques. It is pieced, appliqued, machine quilted, embroidered and beaded. The lady who bought it, is giving it to her daughter and son-in -law. Whooohooo, its been a very good year!

A Belated Merry Christmas!

Our little Christmas Tree with mostly handmade ornaments.

Matthew and Oatie

Oatie with his new toy! Raffi!

Me with my Tim's coffee!

Jamie, happy with his present!

Christmas came late to our house this year. The flu came just before! I must admit I look pretty good after two days sick in bed. We spent our very first Christmas at home, away from family. I was just glad to be feeling better! Only hubby avoided the dreaded flu!

My Little Fat Bluebird and bad puppy!

This is one of my new stitcheries inspired by Quilting Arts magazine! Marker lines, painted areas and embroidery.

Yarn spread throughout the living room!!!




The bad puppy trying to ignore me!

A small landscape for the AM Gallery.

These are six more bookmarks I made for the gallery and my friend and fellow artist, Sandra Spagnuolo. The chicken one is just for her. We traded art and now I own one of her little house collages. I love trading with other artists!

A Big Sale!

A Taste of Africa Quilt

Just before Christmas, I had great news! My quilt was in the Oshawa Show and had enticed a purchaser and all I had to do was decide on a price and did I want to sell it! After speaking to the vice president of a Scarborough company, I realized this was the perfect person to have my quilt. It was to be a gift to the President of the company who is involved and dedicated to doing charitable work in Africa, such as providing clean drinking water. The price negotiated was secured and a courier delivered a cheque and off my quilt went to a new home!

Close up of A Taste of Africa


Another Close up

These are the last photos I took of my quilt, in case I want to make a second similar quilt. This Christmas I decided to part with some of my more traditional quilts as gifts to appreciative relatives. I don't know what I have been waiting for by storing my works in a big chest! Time to share my art!

More Art at the AM Gallery

Bookmarks for the Gallery

A new show opened at the Arts Milton gallery for December. This time we have 20 artists showing and selling their art! It is so exciting because we are actually selling our art. Some of the purchases are small but it is a start. The show is colourful and varied from oil paintings to photography, pottery, wood turning, mixed media from nature, paper art, fibre art, acrylics and watercolours.

My bookmarks, which are reasonably priced are selling out and I am hoping customers will come back for more expensive items. Above is my Doddle Dog edition, fibre collage.

My other popular theme is the environment for book marks. I love these and they are a lot of fun to make recycling my own scraps. My fish and bird in a nest are also sold out. I love meeting the other artists in the show and supervising the gallery and meeting the public. We have updated the gallery with a debit machine and gift bags, next a real cash register!

This sweet little needlecase sold to a lovely lady from Mexico living in Milton. It is going to make its way to Mexico as a gift for a needleworker.

Finally, I have been making frameable cards from a Jane Wild technique in a Stitch UK magazine using brown paper, stitch, lace, paint and shiva stick sewn onto my own handmade paper.

Its been a busy time of year, teaching at Chris Hadfield school and sewing for the gallery. I have been enriching the kids at school showing them how to make Zentangles. Such fun! www.zentangle.com

Until next week, I hope you are not stressing about the holiday season.

Fibre Art Shows!

Since September, I have been going show crazy! It started in September with the World of Threads Festival. I was in 4 different galleries! Then along came a great opportunity to take part in the AM Gallery at our local mall with Fine Arts Society of Milton. (www.fasm.ca) It has been a fabulous adventure! I love sitting at the gallery with other artists and meeting the public and I have also sold some of my fibre art!

Opening Reception Night!

A table of my Fibre Art!

My Art at the gallery!

The next show to prepare for was the Oshawa Fibre Art Show. It was my 4Th year in the show and showcased most of my fibre art over the last few years. It was very successful in terms of visitors and sales.

My Fortune Felt Jewellery and greeting card made for the Oshawa Fibre Art Show. Every felt bead contains a cookie fortune.

My silent auction piece for Osteoporosis Society of Toronto, called Pods and Seeds. This is a second piece I stitched on lutradur for my Organic embroidery class with Susan Sorrell.

Next month, another show at the Milton Mall, opening reception: next Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00. Hope to see you there!

A Two Month Break

The last of summer at Lakeside Park in Oakville. I discovered this little gem of a park, while delivering a piece of art to the Oakville Museum for the Festival of the World of Threads. I took my little buddy along and we had a delightful time at the park. I love the Lakeshore in Oakville!

Lake Ontario shore line.

View from the park

A Grand Tree in the Park!!!! Yes, those are artists and their easels.

Oatie enjoying the surroundings.

Nesting is a new theme challenge for the new year of the Oakville Stitchery Guild. My little ATC is going to be in a book cover pocket, for my completed Sketchbook, another OSG challenge. This ATC is hand felted.

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Among the many shows I have been participating in, this was one of them, The St. Clair Artwalk in Toronto at Penny Milton's gorgeous home and studio.

My art work hanging on the wall at Penny's.

My one stitch challenge for the OSG, president's Challenge. I used a piece of painted and stamped fabric, a straight stitch and some silk applique for the poppies. I is embroidered only with straight stitch and beaded. It is also the correct size for the Ontario Network of Needle workers Challenge for next May! I am ahead of the game!!!! More to come very soon on the other shows, I have had and I am getting ready for! My apologies to my followers that thought sometime had happened to me. I love you for asking why I wasn't blogging. And congratulations to my young mixed media artist friend, Sandra Spagnuolo who has just started her blog. I should have a link very soon,

Keep stitching, Donna

Exquisite Corpse Photos

My exquisite Corpse is home minus some arms! last year I took part in an Exquisite Corpse Round Robin organized by Arlee Barr. It was a lot of fun adding a body part to someone else's EC. We could not see what was above our block except for 1/2". Each participant started with a head of their choice. My blocks are in reverse in this blog.



Legs and feet from Nancy.



Shorts from Kate.




Corset from Emmy.

Torso from Debby.

My corpse head.

My friend, Anne Marie told me about Arlee's EC project. Here we are with our finished corpses.

I think I will add some arms and hands to my corpse, sorry Debby! I will add my efforts on the other corpses to my next blog, you'll see how they kind of go with my corpse head!

Organic Embroidery Class Finished!

Lesson 4 ' Bubble Wrap' a microscopic photo with fabric appliques on painted fabric

This is the first on line class I have completed! That is every lesson. I highly recommend classes with Susan Sorrell of Creative Chick. I love the simplicity of the lessons and the portability! I got many new ideas of how to create my own embroideries. Thank you Susan!




Bubble Wrap




Lesson 5 'Buff and White Tails' aerial photo, stitched on paper and lutradur





Buff and White Tails

Lesson 6 'Iapetus' Saturn's Moon surface, stitched on painted fabric.

Iapetus

Now, to go back and finish a couple of on line classes. I have learned something new with every class finished or not! I hope you enjoy looking at my embroideries!

Fibre Art Studios

The members of the Fibre Art Studios held a meeting last Sunday at Janet's to gather art for our show at the Abozzo Gallery in Oakville for the World of Threads Festival from Sept. 18th to October 4th. There are many venues and a lot of fibre art from 6 different fibre guilds. It will be a grand affair! I am taking part in 4 galleries and artist's receptions! www.worldofthreadsfestival.com
www.fibreartstudios.com
Back row: Penny Milton, B.J. Reid and Janet Rhind
First row: Deb Milton, Danielle T, Anne Marie Desaulnier, Me and Gordana Brelih. (Photo by Marda McLean)



Selection of work from Danielle, and Gordana.




A selection of work from, Anne Marie, Deb , Janet and myself.




Discussing our work! Gordana, Deb, Anne Marie, Danielle, B.J. and Penny.





Janet, Deb and Anne Marie.

Anne Marie, Danielle, B.J. and Penny.

Our meetings are always productive and we love to share techniques and new work or learnings!

Come see our 'Expressions' show at the Abozzo Gallery, 179 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville, September 18th to October the 4th. Reception: September 19th from 2 -4 pm.