Altered Book: June

Altered book round robin, moving on to book 5.

This book is an instructional kid's art book, and therefore the inspiration is literally written on each page. I found these pages on texture and weaving, and I ran with it.

The first page turned out a bit wonky because the diagonal weave stretched a bit, but live and learn. Page 2 was definitely more successful.

Happy Saturday

Last Saturday was wonderful. I started the morning with farmer's market, brunch, and fabric shopping with one college friend and ended an afternoon of music and beer at the Ankeny Unplugged concert series with another. 

My friend Hillary is a sewing fiend. I've tried sewing myself bags and purses before, but they are generally 2 squares of fabric with a strap stitched on at the end. But Hillary makes these gorgeous, structured bags with fancy things like pockets and magnetic closures. She also has great taste in fabric. She took me to a local fabric shop, and although I don't own a sewing machine, I still came home with fabric. . . chalk fabric!

Another friend of mine is in the process of moving into a new home, and I wanted to use the chalk fabric to make her a fun framed chalkboard as a house warming gift.

You have to "cure" the chalk surface first by covering it entirely with chalk, wiping it down, and doing it again. This apparently helps the chalk surface stay eraseable and prevent permanent chalk marks.

I didn't take any more pictures of the process, but it was quick and simple. I just sewed a few colored buttons to the fabric and then placed it in an empty frame. I think it turned out pretty well.

Good things do come from reality TV

I'll unashamedly admit that I love trashy reality television. Maybe watching women compete to be prettier than Bret Michaels or anything about The Situation makes me feel better about my own life. Or maybe I just need a brain break. However, I'm not usually a big fan of the talent shows. I have only ever watched one full episode of American Idol, and that was one too many.

But then, I got sucked into The Voice. I started watching because I love Cee Lo Green and my guilty pleasure is Christina Aguilera's album Back to Basics. (I don't care that she did "Dirty" or that those high-waisted short shorts were an incredibly poor wardrobe choice on the episode last night, that girl can sing.) I did not used to be a fan of Adam Levine. At one point in the show, he says that he sounds like a girl when he sings, and he's right. But he's growing on me. I'd make a comment about Blake Shelton, but I'd never heard of him before I started watching this show. Very neutral about country.

Anyhow, I certainly never expected to hear something I'd ever want to hear again. But then I did.

Dia Frampton covered Kanye's "Heartless", and I loved it.



After a cursory YouTube search, I found that she's part of a group, Meg & Dia, a little more rock, and also not bad so far.