RedBarn Studios

a couple of weeks ago i teased you with a sneak peak at a journal i made for a friend.

nancy cook had the brilliant idea of bartering our creativity!   she would give me a pile of neutral hand dyed fabrics for my nancy crow class but, in lieu of a monetary payment, i would pay in kind.

nancy is a fiber artist who creates beautiful pieces that showcases nature through painted and stitched botanical illustrations.   from this knowledge i created a journal specially for her.

for the cover i used a piece of my hand dyed fabric that overflows with different greens, golds and bluish greens to convey her passion for nature.   i then machine quilted swirling leaves all over to represent the sometimes  lyrical botanical illustrations in her work, and painted them with a burnished gold Lumiere.

i needed to keep any embellishments simple so, after much deliberation, i decided to use an almost transparent, shimmery organza ribbon to edge the journal both front and back.

uPDate: i originally used the ribbon as a tie closure but removed it because i felt the ribbon was too thin and would not hold up over time.    instead i covered a button with some of the same hand dyed fabric and added an elastic loop that i painted with Lumiere paints to match.

the journal is chock full of 144 pages that includes 24lb text weight paper, watercolour paper, recycled brown paper and even some graph paper all contained in 4 fat signatures.   each signature is sewn individually to the cover using pearl cotton thread i hand dyed to match the cover.

i constructed an envelope, attached at the back of the journal, as a convenient place to keep slips of notes and other ephemera she might collect.

when i got it finished i wanted her to see the complete finished journal first and, now that it’s been presented to her (with a lovely squeal of pleasure from her i might add), i can show it off to you.

i’ve been working hard on creating more journals that i’ll be putting up on my now empty etsy shop (sad sad state of affairs i know) but will posting about them here first. Check my website to see all the journals I’ve made and find one just for you.

Toodles,

Tags: commissions, hand dyed, journals, paper art by k grace howes
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here’s a sneak peek at a new journal i just finished.

some background
a friend helped me out recently and i wanted to pay her for her kindness.    she told me that in lieu of a monetary payment she wanted instead payment in kind, deciding that she’d like me to make her one of my journals.

i loved this idea! a little bartering of art and each person goes away smiling.

so after i got back from the Nancy Crow workshop a couple weeks ago i started creating, keeping my friend in mind.

she has no idea what it looks like and i get to surprise her with it soon.   now you know why the sneak peek.   i’ll reveal a pic of the completed journal after i present it to her.

Tags: journals, mixed media, paper art by k grace howes
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slowly but surely my need to create is returning and about darn time i say!  as i sat a my table this morning i glimpsed out of the corner of my eye a drawing that had been on my wall seems like ages.  it always mocked me every time i looked at it…“hey Grace…what ya waiting for girly girl…miz arteest….seems really you cannot finish me…nananananana“.

i heard the relentless taunting and, for the most part, chose to ignore it every time.  just couldn’t put my finger on what the sketch needed and why it wasn’t working.  but today i tamed the mish-mosh beast.

any thoughts?

what i think is that i was trying to include too many different designs in the one piece…ugg!…..simplify girl,  so i took it down…put it back on my light box to redraw the base, reworked the design and came away with 2 new drawings. nice! and of course they are circles…you can always find them in my work.

next step is to recolour both new drawings in PSE8 altho patience will not be with me as i try this.  i’m on a Mac now and have  a much older version of CorelDraw that i got for my old PC,  but didn’t want to purchase another copy of the software…funds are tight.

I asked around on one of the lists i belong to and someone suggested these incredibly inexpensive vector based programs, Intaglio and EasyDraw, both made for Macs. mmmh….(if anyone has used either of these, let me now how you like it).  sometimes a girl just wants to colour the point and click way.

before I got my mOjo back today (oh yeh) i forced myself to go into the studio, not to do anything mind you…just spend 10 or so minutes reacquainting myself with being there.  before long, i couldn’t help myself (she says with a giggle)…..i created….i started another grunge journal.  here’s the first one I made.

inside cover….stitched from front then painted in and grunged..the best part

love this new-for-me way of attaching the spine.  as always—-filled with lots of wonderful paper to write/draw on, some really cool bits and, of course inspirational thoughts & ideas throughout to get the muse juices flowing.

i’m calling her lillibird…..my first painted photgraph

i still have some more stuff” to add and will sew in the signatures and put the finishing touches on it tonight.  as soon it’s completed i will be making a video clip showcasing both journals so you can get an up close view my step into the grunge…dun…dun…dun!

Tags: fiber art, journals, mixed media by k grace howes
1 Comment »

First, thanks to all who have left such wonderful comments about my new blog set up. I really appreciate all of you coming over to hang out with me. I think my friend Melinda described it best, it truly was a “barn warming”.

The winner of the big Give-a-Way is Kate C. She will be getting her choice of a 1/2 yd of hand dyed fabric AND one of my new notebook designs.

Alison, Liz, Mary Jo and Janice also hit the jackpot by being the next four people to comment.  Your hand dyed fat quarters await you (send snail mail addy’s please).

Thanks to all of you for making my little corner of the blog world a wonderful place to share.

Tags: community, hand dyeing, journals by k grace howes
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My friend, Delane,\’a0 had asked me to make a wedding guest book for the marriage of her son Ted to his bride Lauren.
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I really wanted to make a special gift especially for Lauren, she’s the photographer who took those wonderful pictures of my work a while back. Her favorite colours were red, orange and brown and colours of the wedding were in the Fall colour range.
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I had no idea where to go with this at first and took some time mulling over a few ideas, I remembered that she wanted me incorporate the words “our wedding, underneath the trees” in her wedding book so I started with that.
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Using a Stewart Gill stencil from their Flowers of Scotland collection, I reduced its size and cut out a new stencil out of freezer paper.
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After ironing it to a piece of white silk dupioni, I painted it with Stewart Gill Brass Gold metallic paint.
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I now needed to get Lauren’s words on the fabric. Because I don’t have access to a thermofax machine, I decided to try a new product
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I had recently bought, Photo EZ silk screen. This was way cool and easy to use.
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Photo EZ sheets are made from a silk screen mesh coated with a light sensitive water soluble polymer.
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Using a saturated black image printed on plain white paper, it only needs sunlight and plain tap water to develop. Off I went and developed 3 separate screens for the front of the guestbook.
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The silkscreen was taped down with masking tape (above) and metallic paint was squeegees through the mesh with the edge of an expired credit card.
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I added Lauren and Ted’s names to the front of the book as well. After drying, I was now ready to make the book.
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Cutting 2 boards for the front and back, I covered them both in the silk dupioni.
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For the spine of the guestbook I used two coordinating batik fabrics and staggered them on the left edges of the boards.
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Lasty, I glued a passion red bookcloth (afterall, they are newlyweds aren’t they?) on the inside for the lining.
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I cut papers for guests to sign and then decided to add some black cardstock so they can also add pictures to personalize their book. It was finally coming together.
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Using a Japanese stab stitch method, I sandwiched the papers in between the covers and stitched the book together, tying a gold ribbon at the spine edge for a touch of embellishment. I named this one “Beneath the Trees”.
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I wrapped the guestbook in my signature brown paper and tied a red ribbon around the gift.
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I was very pleased to hear that Lauren squealed with delight upon opening\’a0 the package.\’a0 Check Delane’s blog for some pics of the absolutely beautiful bride Lauren made….and Ted looked dashing too!
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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: Art, commissions, journals, paper art, surface design by k grace howes
2 Comments »

I’ve been struggling these past few weeks to really get my head around my art. I keep starting on different pieces but nothing much happens to inspire me to continue. Yes, I am definitely in a rut.

I have ideas and sketch but I when it comes to implementing it, I stall. I refuse to push it though cause I know I won’t like what I produce. So instead I wait….

Struggling with fiber art I am but I have been making more journals and have experimented with something new.

Most people use bookcloth for the spine but because I like the luxurious feel of it I use ultra suede (if I can find a matching colour).

Here’s my latest filled to the brim with 5 signatures of wrting paper.

The cover is, as usual, quilted and I’ve sewn small beads on the spine.

The closure for this one is a button I found a few months ago.

I had to do a little bartering with my daughter to to be able to use the metal charm I sewed on the front cover. It says…

The words are apropos for my situation right now don’t ya think?

I have also been experimenting with boxes. This is my first attempt. The top is covered in a beautiful chinese themed fabric and the edges and sides in a red bookcloth.

What I’ve found out is that making the inner compartments is a bit tricky but I really like how it turned out. An elastic that hops over a buton keeps it closed tight.

I will be adding the journal to my Etsy Shop this week. The box I wanna keep for a little while longer.

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: journals, mixed media, monday posts, paper art by k grace howes
6 Comments »

I am so pleased with the very successful gallery showing we had Friday night. Jean, DeLane, Christine, Judy and I had a blast!

It was the first showing for most of us and we are very proud of the work we accomplished. It was a bit strange watching people walk around looking at our work and actually discussing what caught their eye, knowing that I was part of what they had come to see. I was absolutely fascinated by the fact that people wanted to see AND actually showed up to see our art.

Thank you to everyone who came out to cheers us on and thanks also to all the well wishers who couldn’t make it, we felt your love and support from far away.

Now I suppose you want to see some pics huh? I have to tell you that I didn’t get many pics (was too busy looking around and talking) so there are only a few.

Well, as they say, on with the show….

Some of Jean’s work…..as she describes her work, it’s a twist on the traditional….

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Pieces from Delane….and her feet quilt got quite a bit of attention. It’s fantastic close up…..

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Christines work…wish I got a close-up of the piece on the right…it a great landscape with lots of depth…..

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Judy’s pieces reflect nature in it’s finest, the black and white is a large painted one….

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I rarely show pics of my family but this is the only one where you can see my work.I will head back to the gallery in a few days to take some more pics. It was hard trying to get some good ones that night cause I either forgot to click away or couldn’t get a good enough angle.

My art quilts are in the background and the journals I am way too crazy about these days are on a pedestal in front of me. And of course, you can see the outfit I finally chose to wear….everyone said it looked very “arty”. Colours were definitely me.

BTW, that’s hubby, my daughter and my youngest son in the pic. Oldest son had disappeared to somewhere else by then.

The Round Robin (RR) Challenge….this RR was a little bit different. We each cut up a 24 x 36 sheet into what ever shape we chose but only containing 5 pieces. Then the whole thing rotated and each person made a section. We did not have to put it back together the same way and you can see that DeLane (the jacket) and I (lower right corner) chose to use our sections in……let’s say, different ways. Love how each piece turned out.

Jean’s doll “Rose” from the doll challenge and a close-up of DeLane’s challenge jacket from the RR challenge….

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And some the the guest mingling around.

The show will be hanging at Lincoln Cultural Center till July 3rd so please take a moment to go and see it. If you so choose to travel from afar to see out work then by all means come on down…hee hee.

Will be posting more pics son, I’d like to show more close-ups of our work. Thanks for stopping by.

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

addendum: does anyone know how to get the pics to enlarge when you click on them…there seems to be no ryhme or reason why my pics are sometime clickable in my posts. The pics in this post are not unfortunately.

Tags: Art, FAB, fiber art, journals, mixed media, road trip, year of me by k grace howes
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Without further ado, using the handy dandy random number generator at random.org,  the winner of her own personalized fabric mini journal is comment:

~~~~~~~~~~~ Linda Robertson ~~~~~~~~~~

our friend from down under…whoopee!!!!!

Linda if you will contact me (see email in sidebar) with your fabric and colour preferences for your mini journal it’ll be whipped off to you lickety split.

Well almost, it is going half way round the world. Wow, to know that one of my handmade journals will find it’s way to Australia…how way cool is that!

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment on my “The Website is Back Up” giveaway and to for Susan Knapp for introducing me to some new friends. I love all the comments and good wishes.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: Art, community, journals, mixed media, paper art by k grace howes
2 Comments »

I have been working feverishly to figure out the glitch that occured when I tried to upload the new files and get my website back up. It was a frustrating few days but I am so very pleased to say that….

….I DID IT! Whooppee doo!!!!

So once again you can find me, my art and my patterns, including the latest one on my newly revamped website at http://redbarn-studios.com.

Yet again I am doing a happy dance. I should just call this the year of happy dances. Amazing what little things make us happy with life.

I had to reflect a lot these past few days on my words I chose for this year….intention and self discipline.  Intention to make what I want happen for my career and self-discipline to make sure I stay on track. Remembering them have helped me a lot this year.

Because I’m not a computer techno person and knowing I wanted to solve this crazy dilemma myself, I knew that more focus and less drama would get me what I needed and it worked. Now if only I could get my teenage kids to do the same…NOT!

So in order to celebrate my stunning achievement (lol) I am having a give away. I usually make  journals filled with 4 signatures, covered in beautiful batiks and/or ultra suede (check out my etsy shop for examples of fabrics).

For that one lucky person I will make a 1 signature notebook containing 36 pages of writing paper, from batik fabric, my handyed fabric  or silk dupioni in the colour of your choice.

I invite you all to leave a comment on this post so that each of you will be in the running for this “THE WEBSITE IS LIVE AGAIN” give away. On Sunday I will reveal the winner, by random number generator of course so keep the comments coming.

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft

Tags: journals, paper art, patterns, website by k grace howes
18 Comments »

You ever get to a point where you just have to make something yourself to get what you want?

Well that happened with my latest pattern. I was forever taking notes in meetings on little bits of notebook paper….then I started carrying around a notepad but that got messy cause the pages get ripping out or folded in all sorted of ways just hanging around in one of my gi-normous bags.

So one Sunday I took out the notepad, sat at my cutting table and didn’t get up till I designed a cover for it.

As those who design patterns know….it can take a lot of different prototypes till you get it right but it’s such satisfaction at the end. I asked a friend to test the pattern for me and can now let you guys see the finished product.

New Pattern

I introduce to you….the PadfOliO Notebook, a stylish way to carry around paper.

I knew I wanted to have a place to tuck notes so a slip pocket is available. Also, what’s the sense of taking notes if you have no pen to write with…so a pen holder was part of the design.

I also wanted a place to put business cards (to hand out as needed) but this pocket is also a convenient way to identify the owner of this stylish piece of artwork.

I will be adding this pattern to my website where you can conveniently pay for the pattern through Paypal.

I have to tell you that making this PadfOliO Notebook is very addictive. I’ve made 6 so far…2 have been commandeered by family (okay, truth be told….1 of them by me, it’s the blue one above) and the other four, ready to start taking notes, are listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

Let me know what you think. I really like ‘um.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: Art, artful creations, journals, mixed media, paper art, patterns by k grace howes
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