Debby's 4 x 4

This is the very last 4x4 I'm making for our exchange on the closed OhMyGothic group. The idea was that we make one 4x4" sized piece of art for another artist in the group every month and also receive one ourselves. It's rather fitting that the last one I'm making is for Debby as it was she who set up this exchange, where we started by swapping gothic arches, then continued to little houses, Skinny pages and finally the 4x4s. The group is carrying on but I'm really too busy to continue and I don't want to end up resenting having to make art under such pressure. I'm also sure that wouldn't lead to my best efforts which would be unfair to everyone else. So although I will be sad to say goodbye I know it's the best move for me at the moment.

The background for this piece is a fabric-paper collage in which I used a paper napkin with cutlery imagery on it. To that I added the transparency girl (from Divas d'Este) and the butterfly which is 3D although you can't tell this from the scan. The vintage text says With forks and hope.

I finished the edges with my usual satin stitching and beading.

Connie's 4 x 4

I'm almost done with the 4 x 4 exchange. Only one more to go after this one. In this project which has taken over a year to complete a group of artists exchange a 4x4" sized page which we can all put together into a book if we so wish. This month I'm making mine for Connie who had set as her theme: Mainly White with one other colour, and she also listed under her list of favourites that she likes vintage children. I must be honest and admit that they're not what rocks my boat but I managed to find a lovely image of one on a collage sheet by Alpha Stamps

The background of this piece was put together on a square piece of Fast2Fuse onto which white fabrics, laces and silks were ironed on and then stitched. As the additional colour I choose aqua to go with the colour in the fabric image. That too was stitched onto the background as well as the text (from a ribbon): Laugh often. After a dental visit today I was not really in the mood for that either!

Another fabric was ironed on to the back of the Fast2Fuse and the edges were first stitched together, then a transparent ribbon was added as well as beading with aqua size 11 seed beads.

Brenda's 4 x 4

The project where every month a group of artists make 4 x 4 pieces for each other is almost coming to an end. After this one there is only 2 more to go.

For this month I had to make my 4" square piece for Brenda who had chosen as her theme Butterfly Garden.

I used a piece of fabric-paper collage as my background and stitched this onto green felt. To this were added three transparencies of butterfly wings (Artchixstudio) which were stitched on and then surrounded by size 11 seed beads in a mix of colours. The transparency text (also from Artchixstudio) says: On wings of music.

The back (decorative paper) was added to the piece and the layers were then stitched together using a satin stitch and green thread.

Trinka's 4 x 4

Another month, another 4 x 4. This time for Trinka, who didn't really specify a theme but among other things she likes maps. So a piece of a fabric - paper collage with a map of Paris included, made some considerable time ago, seemed to fit the bill. I added the vintage fabric lady (from a postcard in my own collection) as well as a rubbed off butterfly and the text (from an Alpha Stamps collage sheet).

Lisa's 4 x 4

It's high time to show the 4 x 4 for this month, which I'm making for Lisa. Although she didn't give us a specific theme, I know that she shares my taste for graveyards and grave monuments so I followed that inclination which suited me (as well as her) well.

I used a fabric - paper collaged background with a lavender theme colourwise. Purple is per tradition a mourning colour so it also went very well with the photograph I added. It's from the Temple graveyard we visited earlier this summer. The gothic arches you can see in the background are part of a vintage image which was incorporated into the original fabric-paper collage. I used rub-ons to add the clock, the arrow as well as the words Past, Present and Future. The text (O, beauty, conqueror of all) is from a vintage book. The collage was layered with felt and paper and then zig-zag sewing and seed 11 purple seed beads were added along all the edges.

Linda's 4 x 4

Every month I make a small collage (4 x 4") for another artist in the (closed!) OhMyGothic Yahoo group and in return I receive one from someone too (my theme is flowers). We have worked our way through Gothic Arches (hence the name of the group), houses as well as skinny pages and I for one am quite content with the 4 x 4 size.

For October I made the 4 x 4 for Linda who had set a theme of joy for her 4 x 4s. I started with a piece of the required size of a fabric paper collage in pink and green colours. The text on it reads: When the heart speaks, you must stop and listen. I then added a Victorian scrap lady to this as well as the word JOY. I stitched the letters with red thread and also used that to outline the two large heart images which were part of the original collage. One of the hearts was also beaded with size 11 gold seed beads. I layered the collage with felt and decorative paper and stitched around the edges with a green satin stitch, using my sewing machine. Finally I added the layered paper flowers in the bottom left corner.

Leslie's 4 x 4

I'm a member of a group (OhMyGothic Yahoo Group) which started up some years ago to exchange Gothic Arches with other artists (hence the name). We continued with house shapes and followed that with Skinny Pages. For this round we swap 4 x 4" pieces, so make one for another artist ourself each month as well as receive one ourself. The group is closed as we're in the middle of a long swap (it will go on well into next year) so no new members are being accepted at present.

This month it was my turn to make 4 x 4 for Leslie and she had set as her theme Wings. She also stated that she likes birds, and chickens are birds, right?! I made a fabric paper collage and used a paper napkin featuring chickens as part of the collage. The text (don't chicken out now) was added by Dymo writer. Further circular embellishments were added as well as black German scrap which reminded me of a fence. Finally the piece was mounted onto felt and watercolour paper, sewn together around the edges and beaded with green size 11 seed beads.

Lenna's 4 x 4 and Lenna's giveaway

Every month I swap a small mixed media art piece (4 x 4") with a fellow artist within the OhMyGothic Yahoo group. Our name refers back to the fact that we started by swapping Gothic Arches but this year it is the 4 x 4 pieces. This month was an easy one for me since the piece I made was for my friend Lenna and as by now I know her really well, I also know what she likes. Her theme for the 4 x 4s was Quotations and as you can see I used a quotation about love since both Lenna and I are inveterate romantics.

I started with a white cotton fabric that was painted, stencilled, sprayed, splodged and stamped and then layered up with wadding (batting in US), and machine stitched. I stamped the quotation onto calico (US muslin), layered gold netting underneath and a transparent flower ribbon on top and stitched it down as shown. A romantic pair was added (from Enchanted Mercantile) as well as a heart. I layered the piece with 4 x 4 watercolour paper, followed by a leaf fabric (a gift from Lenna herself!), which you can just see peeking out from behind, and stitched around the piece followed by beading with size 11 seed beads.

The quotation reads: Love. The Soul of Life. A reason for Happiness. And the shortest distance between Hearts (Hero Arts).

As some of you know I love swapping with Lenna and she has her very own swap site which you can find here, and there is also a button in the sidebar! She posted her 1000th post there and is celebrating by giving everyone a chance to win one of her glorious ATCs or a package of collage items from her own stash. So give yourself a chance and follow the instructions on her site there to be in with a chance. I shouldn't really be telling you this as I would LOVE to win something myself. Fingers crossed!

Karen's 4 x 4 and more roses

I rediscovered the 4 x 4 I made for Karen as part of our exchange on a group we're both members of. Started with a hand-dyed background which was stamped with the quotation as shown as well as a collection of little stamps (so-called Tapestry Stamps). The bird was cut out of a Michael Miller fabric and stithed on with gold thread and I then added the layered flowers (Alpha Stamps). After adding beads I finised up zig-zag stitching it to a 4 x 4 watercolour paper background. I wasn't quite sure it was finished and put it away. Somehow a book was put on top and I was about to make her a new one when yesterday I suddenly found it again. Looking at it with fresh eyes I decided it was done after all. Very simply but sometimes that's what's needed in a piece.

This is a detail of the Queen Elizabeth rose (also my blip for today). I was going to blip the garden centre picture below but I made a sort of promise to myself that I would always blip what I think is the most beautiful photograph I took on the day and the above was definitely it, even though the garden centre came a close second due to the gorgeous colour mix.

We visited Dobbies Garden Centre near Dalkeith today to buy some hydrangea (2 for £20) as I had been lusting after photographs of them. We tried planting them here at Macbiehill twice before but lost them during the winter. This time they are going into large pots so that they can be moved into the potting shed when it's freezing. Sadly they didn't have any Clematis Montana in stock at the moment so we will have to pay a return visit one of those days. Never a chore as they also sell craft supplies!

To finish another detail of the Queen Elizabeth rose, this time the one that didn't make it into a blip even though I had a very difficult time deciding which of the two detailed pictures I liked best. Even the rain can't destroy this beauty. St. Swithin's Day did end up wet and today was definitely very wet accompanied by thunderstorms. Sure hope this won't last for the next 40 days!

4 x 4 for Heather

This is the first 4 x 4" piece I've made for a new project on the (closed) OhMyGothic Yahoo Group. We started several years by making Gothic Arches for each other, then moved to Houses and graduated to Skinny Pages. Now we are engaged in simple square pieces of art and this time we're just working on one side. This really suits me as I tend to spend all my energies on the first side and loose interest for the back. So to be able to just put my name on the back is a relief.

Heather had as her theme Magical Gardens and I used a piece of fabric-paper collage as the background, further embellished it with rub-offs, a green inchie and a fabric image (Alpha Stamps). My Xyron design runner was used to add text to vellum and that was stitched on as shown. The inchie was adorned with a self-adhesive Time piece and then the edges were satin stitched and beaded.