Hot! Hot! Giveaway STITCH ALCHEMY, STITCH IMAGERY & GIFT! - Winner Announced!

The giveaway winner is Autumn Hathaway of http://autumnhathaway.blogspot.com/.  She'll be getting Stitch Alchemy, Stitch Imagery and a packet of handmade stitch paper to play with. Thank everyone for your delightful comments!!! Kelli

Today's my day....Hooray! Here's a little tutorial on making a stitchpaper self portrait, since I'm in the midst of my 30 day Self Portrait Challenge. This project is made with stitchpaper from the book Stitch Alchemy. All of the instructions as well as oodles and oodles of ways to embellish your own stitchpaper, plus plenty of projects are included. Interweave Press will also be giving away my DVD Stitch Imagery, which will show you how I create lovely stitched fabric art from a simple photo. You will LOVE this process! I'll be teaching it at ART CAMP FOR WOMEN in October. Finally, I'll personally send one winner a delicious packet of handmade stitchpaper so you can create your own self-portrait, gifts or greeting cards!

In order to be eligible for this giveaway, please pop over to the Art Camp for Women site and take a peek to see what's going on. Feel free to "like" ACFW--I do!  Then leave a comment below letting me know what you love about Art Camp. On August 20 I'll draw one lucky winner who will get the book, dvd and pack of wild and luscious stitchpaper! Now, on to the tutorial for today.

 Begin with a photo self-portrait that you like. Print it out on paper, sized to your finished project. You'll need a pencil, scissors and a glue stick. Find a piece of background paper that appeals to you. I'm using scrapbook paper and I've glued it to a piece of watercolor paper to make it stiffer.

 Outline the major elements of the portrait with a pencil so that you can cut them out. Focus on the places that are different areas of color, including shadows, plus obvious elements like facial features.

Begin the dismemberment! Without cutting any of yourself in half, snip around the parts to cut them into shapes. You'll use these shapes to cut pieces of stitchpaper or decorated paper and reassemble yourself.

Use the parts as templates to recreate yourself in living color. If one piece will be covered by another, leave a little bit of a margin so that the background is not showing. In this example I'm using my head and shoulders as the base layer and topping it with my blouse and hair, so I've added a little to the main head piece.

Cut out the rest of yourself and lay the pieces down to test placement. Use a glue stick to tack them down. If you don't have a piece of stitchpaper or decorated paper that matches the color you want, consider making one or using a neutral piece, then painting it after it's attached!

When you've got yourself reassembled, hop on over to the sewing machine for a little outline free-motion stitching with black thread. go around the pieces and parts, then add extra lines as if you were sketching.  Use stitching to add a border to your piece and even text if you dare!

Now, there are no rules, so grab some more art supplies and let's get busy. Use watercolor or acrylic paints to bump up the color or make changes to your self portrait collage. You can adjust skin tone, emphasize shadows or add color. Use a marker to fix any stitch lines that meandered a little too far from the mark.

Here's my finished self portrait. I enjoyed the process, but you'll note that there is something distinctly "off" about my glasses. The truth is that my eyes blew away when I was working and I couldn't find them! I suspect the cat may have run away with them. So I just cut my glasses out freehand and I ended up with a different shape than my actual glasses. There is nothing wrong with altering any part of your self-portrait. That's the creative process!

Simply visit each blog on the appointed day and leave a comment for chances to win in this hottest of summer giveaways! ARTSPARKS' HOT! HOT! HOT! Summer Giveaway!!! This drawing is concluded...THANKS everyone! K

Wed August 10 Carla Sonhiem
Thurs August 11 Diana Trout
Fri August 12 Gloria Hansen
Sat August 13 Tracie Lyn Huskamp
Sun August 14 Jane LaFazio
Mon August 15 Jill Berry
Tues August 16 Judy Coates Perez
Wed August 17 Kelli Nina Perkins
Thurs August 18 Lyric Kinard
Fri August 19 Melanie Testa

Winter Tulips

I worked on these fun pieces in the fall, but since they were entered into a contest, I couldn't post them in their final glory. They're formed from stitchpaper collage pieces which were cut and thread sketched, then adhered to a canvas panel. From there I went a little crazy with paints, embossing and alterations until I was happy with them. A tribute to Spring in the dead of winter! I had to walk away from them for a long while, but now when I look at them they make me feel cheery.

Maybe I "Heart" You

Maybe I do. I whipped up these stitchpaper heart bookmarks to bring to the quilt show for tradesies or just because I "heart" you. Oh, I found my favorite one and you can't have that one, but the others are for sharing!

Trinket Journal

I learned how to make a book out of a single sheet of paper and applied it to a single sheet of stitchpaper. The result is this Trinket Journal with journal pockets inside, a raggedy spine and trinkety goodness tied to

the spine with waxed linen floss. I am experimenting with the idea of journals/sketchbooks made up of pages you take with you and work on, then insert into a master book. That way you don't have to carry a big book with you, just a sheet or two of nice paper (I'm using watercolor paper) to work on.

eBook Cover-UP Uncovered!

Instead of purchasing the fancy schmancy expensive covers for Nook (although I am undeniably drawn to the hot pink/orange one), I made my own from stitchpaper scraps. I opted for the Industriell cover because it has little clips to hold the device in place, rather than elastic bands. So essentially you've got a hard book cover that you can REcover simply. I just made an uber simple folded cover that slips over the ends and topstitched it (same as the journal cover in Stitch Alchemy). I did line the inside so as not to scratch the Nook.

Cartoon Pins

Been working on these cartoon-like wearable pins. What do you think? They're a proposed mini workshop at CPS Make It U this spring. Do you think they'll make the cut? It's always so hard to know if what floats my boat will be interesting to other creatives.

Thank You Gifts for Stitchpaper Peeps

Finally got around to making thank-you gifts as promised to those who signed up for the Yahoo book study, posted a photo of work and sent me an email with their name and address, as per my post back in October. Here's what will be going out to them--small stitchpaper notebooks lined with dyed interfacing.

Bookmark Swap Final

I'm posting a sampling of the bookmarks I'll be sending out next week in our MMArtFriends swap. There is at least one representative sample from each participant. You can see the wonderful range of ideas and techniques employed by this group. These are truly exceptional small works of art and I am so appreciative for each person who created them for this swap. Enjoy!

Bookmark Swap

Most of the entries are in for the book study bookmark swap--here's just a teaser of what you've missed if you were not involved!

Stitchpaper Bookmarks

This makes all the work worthwhile...to be able to create freely with the sheets of stitchpaper you've been making. These are super simple rectangular cutouts. Normally I back them with felt, but I tried something different since one of our swap partners used lutradur on her backs. I picked up some inexpensive interfacing--tried to find the stiffest that was not too thick. I dyed sheets of it with alcohol inks.

My method was to soak the interfacing in alcohol, then crumple it up and drip with alcohol inks and rub it together in a ball to distribute the ink. I used a few colors and crumpled until I was satisfied. Then I rinsed them to get the alcohol out, sprinkled them with a little bit of Schminke gold powder and dried them , then ironed them. I added a little spray starch to the final ironing. They came out beautifully. I stitched them to the backs of the bookmarks. I didn't take photos of the backing, but may make some more because they were so gorgeous. I cut it into strips for the top of the bookmarks as well. I stitched the word "read" on the front, then I added a paper bead for fun!

I'll give one of them away. Leave a comment here and I'll draw a winner on 1/30/10 and mail you a stitchpaper bookmark (if you're already in the Yahoo book study bookmark swap, you automatically get one, so feel free to comment but opt out of the drawing). I'll announce it here and on Twitter and email you if there is a link.

More Stitchpaper Excess

More single sheets of stitchpaper from the book study.

Stitch Alchemy Fun

Yes, I am alive and creating. Here are some of the finished papers from the Stitch Alchemy group on Yahoo Mixed Media Art Friends. We finished up the book study and are stitching up projects like love dolls, good fortune birds and bookmarks. These papers were done with the basic techniques from the book--cloth base, glue and paper, then finished with a variety of coloring, stamping, embossing, journaling and stitching. It's always hard for me to cut them up for projects because they're so beautiful!

Stitchpaper Ornaments

I've been doing a lot of crafting for Christmas, which is a nice change of pace. Several ornaments were created, including some stitchpaper doughnuts and stars for library staff and friends. I like to make different shapes and stuff them--it keeps me amused.