RedBarn Studios

a little while back….

a good friend of mine, who knows i do commissioned journals, came to me and said she needed a gift for a friend.

no problem.

she wanted it ready to take with her …

no problem.

and btw…

she was leaving in 2 days!

huh?

can I still make it, she asks,

then adds innocently and sweetly “…because you love me”.

so what’s a friend to do but get crackin…

and I did…

that same night.

AND

i absolutely loved how it turned out!

her friend’s initial graces the front cover.

it’s a thickers chipboard letter

that I first distressed with a few colours of distress ink

then smothered it in bright blue then yellow stickles to get that beautiful emerald green hue.

LoVe that!

a cool tuck spot for journaling or ephemera…

i placed a few of these tuck spots throughout the journal

an insert page…

in the center you can see

that each signature is individually stitched to the spine

with coloured waxed linen thread

a fan view of the book…

showcasing the 2 handmade insert pockets

I used 3 different coloured strips of my own hand dyed fabric

plaited them,

making it long enough to wrap around the journal

a couple of times for the closure

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tHe keLLy jouRnal

her friend love it!

thought she was magical!!

all because of me….Ha!

toodles,

G

Tags: Art, commissions, journals, Paper by grace
4 Comments »

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 grace
2 Comments »

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 »

On Saturday I delivered my quilt “It Takes A Village”  to Remi for the Deltas of Charlotte’s Silent Auction.

I met Remi in Borders bookstore and handed over the quilt…..sad to see it go but wonderful that I could participate in this event.

In the end I decided to quilt very little on it because I wanted to let the simple shapes of the people take center stage.

I quilted in the ditch around the people, stitched grass like reeds at the bottom and swirls in the sky above the mountains.

I also decided to include my signature on the front of the quilt. I was told that we quilt artists should treat our work just like the fine art you find in galleries and signing the front of our work adds to this concept.

I had thought to mount the piece on a slightly undersized canvas but instead decided to put a sleeve on it. I also included a slat board and directions for caring for the quilt as well. This was my first official “commissioned” piece and it’s amazing the things that one has to consider before handing one over.

The auction takes place May 30th and I hope to attend.

See ya next time “Int the Hayloft”,

Tags: Art, commissions, community, fiber art by k grace howes
1 Comment »