Monday, June 3, 2013

Twirly Swirly Dresses and Lacy Girly Pages

I had a very artful weekend, which is always a good thing, but especially when here in NYC it went from sweater weather to 90+ overnight.  Yuck!  Not that I need one, but it was a great excuse to stay indoors and get messy.

On Saturday I went downtown to Michele's studio for yet another great class with Sue Pelletier.  Spending time with my artsy friends, creating a special canvas......priceless!  We altered little dresses.  They were gessoed, painted, embellished, and stiffened.  And then they were attached to canvases we covered with dress pattern paper, tissue paper, and assorted other items.  I used a wide gallery wrap canvas, which allows for more decorating opportunities on the sides, and best of all, it's ready to hang when you get the piece home.

I didn't take a photo of the dress I chose before altering, but I think it was a light blue with tiny dark blue polka dots.  I also used the back of the dress as the front, because I liked the opening.  Well, enough blah blah blah, here it is:



 




 
Me and my peeps, and our swirly twirly masterpieces:
 

 
Is that fun, or what?  And yes, that is a pink bow in Pat's hair.  In case you were wondering.
 
And that's not all I did.  I received two art journals last week, both from the Kindred Souls round robin.  Carol and Gloria both requested a vintage look, with Carol also asking for an inspirational quote.  So I had two opportunities to bring together fabric and paper and sweet embellishments.  First up, Carol's page.
 
 
Carol supplied grungeboard pages, and I covered mine front and back with kraft paper that first received a faux leather technique.  I originally saw that last year on Anita Houston's blog.  Click here for all the details.
 
Over that went some torn strips of printed fabric, and then the focal image, which was printed on cotton and has some batting underneath.  It is attached to fabric cut with the Sizzix Doily Frame die, and surrounded by a bunch of little Prima flowers. 
 
 
 
I made some stick pins and added them.  If you look above the pins you can see the word "timeless."  I actually used metal letters for writing on leather.  I figured, hey, leather, faux leather....let's see what happens.  It worked!
 


 
 
And the quote:
 
 
 
The back:
 
 
 
Gloria requested vintage shabby chic.  I treated my focal image just as I did for Carol:  printed on cotton and backed with some batting for added poof.
 
 
 
The background paper is by Prima (the Melody collection), and it was enhanced with a lot of sparkle, thanks to my Sakura clear stardust pen.  I outlined just about everything. 
 
 
The butterflies were cut from scraps from the same Prima pack, using my Sizzix Embosslits Beautiful Wings die.  I covered them with Glossy Accents for a different texture.
 
 
 
Two more handmade stickpins.
 
 
And a few more Prima flowers, sprayed with some Perfect Pearls Mists.
 
The back:
 
 
 










More Prima paper, more butterflies, and more doodling with the Sakura pen.
 
All in all, in spite of really sucky weather, a pretty great weekend.


13 comments:

Bearcrazyman said...

Amazing works as always.

Unknown said...

Those dresses are adorable! I have to say, I never thought I'd see you working on a dress, but it looks good "on" you!

Patzee said...

Wow! You really got your twirly girly on this weekend. Love the pages for Carol and Gloria! You have really developed your fabric skills with stunning results.

Elena said...

OMG!!! Eileen!!! Even for YOU you have totally outdone yourself!!! ALL of this is absolutely spectacular!!!

Sue Young said...

Glorious pages Eileen!

Carol said...

Love my page, lots of lovely details and the quote is fabulous!

Gloria said...

I LOVE them both!!!
Thank you sooooo much!!!

Mary-Beth said...

Wow Eileen! What a wonderfully creative weekend you had! Love it all!! lol

Jennifer R.D. said...

Your muse was working overtime the past few days girl!
I love the dress canvas! The journal pages are
wonderful as well!
I miss you!
Jen oxox

Unknown said...

wow what awesome journal pages and I would never have thought to do that with the little dresses. What a fun idea!

Lori said...

Wowzers, all fantastic! Pat is so cut! Lol...your pages for the round robin swap are absolutely gorgeous. Gorgeous, I tell you!

paddy said...

What fun you all must of had making those fabulous journals - Sure wish they did things like that around here - gabriele

Anonymous said...

Eileen, I know you don't know me but, I have been looking for a video or something telling how to do this. I love all of Sue Pelletier Art work. I have brought everything I think I need to make something like this. I guess I am scared. I don't really know how to do it. What did you use to make the little dress to stiff?
I haven't found a dress yet. But, I brought some plaster gauze to try a form a dress out of that. Love your dress it is so beautiful....so adorable. Hope to hear from you. Thanks, Pam