No, we’re not going to run and jump into puddles, but we are definitely going to play with water — and a few really cool water-based products. Technique #3 from Rubbing Plate Roundup is actually 3 techniques tucked into one section. I call the section Water Color Rubbings and it’s a ton of fun!

When I asked for ideas on using rubbing plates last summer, I got some surprising answers. Several of you wrote in about using water based coloring agents, like Neocolor II wax pastels and Inktense blocks. And somewhere in the (mountainous) piles of paper on my desk, I found a project sheet from a magazine that called for making rubbings with inkpads. I visited my local shop for stamps and sent off an order for the other supplies and got ready for a fun day in the studio.

Most of you know that I spend most of my time playing with my Shiva Paintstiks, which are an oil and wax-based product. So water-based colors were definitely a new experience for me, and I’m happy to say I really like them! Some of the products create a soft, watery look and others produce a nice crisp image. They dry quickly, don’t stiffen the fabric, and may be permanent.

Before you go on, let’s go back to the last sentence and read it again… some of the water-based products MAY be permanent. Got it?

The key with the water-based products is to test, test, test before you use them on a project that’s going to be washed. Visit the blogs of people who use them, scour the pages of Quilting Arts magazine, dig up whatever instructions you can to learn if there are ways to make the pigments permanent. (Most of these products are made for use on paper or canvas, so we are using them in a way that the manufacturer may not have tested…)

I don’t mean to throw a damp rag on your enthusiasm by giving you the warning about permanence. But I do want you to think about it and make sure you choose the right coloring agent for a project. It always comes down to using the right tool for the right job.

What has all this got to do with stamp, squish and spritz? You’ll find the answers — and all the instructions for inkpad rubbings, Inktense Rubbings, and Neocolor II rubbings start on page 16 of Rubbing Plate Roundup. If you don’t already have your copy, order it today and we’ll get it shipped off to you right away!

Collaborator Corner: Meet Nancy Bryant

In the past month, I’ve introduced several of my co-conspirators in Rubbing Plate Roundup, including potter Jeanine Center and fiber artist Angela Grasse. Today, I want to introduce Nancy Bryant, a talented fiber artist from Corvallis, Oregon. Nancy taught me about water soluble wax pastels and how they can be used with our Cedar Canyon Rubbing Plates.

Here is a quilt from the gallery section of Rubbing Plate Roundup. Nancy used a rubbing plate and water soluble pastels to create the background fabrics for the quilt, then appliquéd the tree over the top. It’s lovely!

Nancy has this to say about the inspiration for her magnificent work.

“Inspired to sew by my grandmother, a dressmaker, I made my first dress at age 9. Sewing has been a passion of mine ever since.I find great joy in beginning with a piece of fabric and creating something lovely and intricate that speaks to the viewer.Since 2004 I have been creating fiber art in my studio in Corvallis, Oregon. My studio time is spent pursuing three arenas: art quilts, accessories, and apparel.

“I have experimented with a wide variety of media and techniques. These include curved piecing, dyeing, stenciling, stamping, silk screening, felting, bleaching, and other processes to alter the fabric. Some quilts are embellished with yarns, ribbons, beads or buttons. I love to work with bright colors and strong value contrasts.”

I spent some time wandering around Nancy’s website at AltaVista Studio and I was blown away by the amazing garments, the yummy scarves and the beautiful quilts. I was really glad that my charge card was nowhere in sight. I think I could ring up quite a bill shopping with Nancy! (It would certainly be an upgrade to my closet!) Here are a few of my favorite images.

As you can see, Nancy’s taste runs from incredibly elegant to delightfully whimsical. It’s a real pleasure to meet such an adventurous soul. I’m so glad she shared her knowledge about the water soluble pastels with me — and with you!

If you haven’t already clicked through to Nancy’s website, take a moment right now to take a quick tour. You simply have to see her work. It really is amazing.

Congratulations (and a huge hug) to Rosalyn in Stow, MA! Rosalyn is the lucky winner of the Cedar Canyon / Sue Pelland Giveaway.

Rosalyn won a copy of Sue Pelland’s Eve’s Garden quilt pattern, one of Sue’s cool curvy rulers, a bunch of paintstik colors and a brush — almost everything she needs to make a lovely quilt!

Keep your eyes open for our next very cool giveaway. You may be our next winner!

When I asked for submissions for my Rubbing Plate Roundup book, Angela Grasse came through in a very big way. She taught me about using transfer crayons with rubbing plates to make beautiful images on fabric. Are you ready to be transported back to kindergarten? You should be — this is really fun!

I’ll be honest. I wasn’t always enthusiastic about using crayons on fabric. When I read about people using crayons on fabric for quilting projects a few years back, I thought “oh, that’s kid stuff” and went back to my “grown up” paints and dyes. Well, silly me. After getting some coaching from Angela on the transfer crayon process, I was hooked! I had great fun working with some lovely sheer fabric — and I discovered that the images can be transferred to paper and card stock as well.

The basic process is quite simple. You make a rubbing on paper with the crayons, then transfer the image to fabric or paper with a hot iron. There are definitely a few more details that will help you get good results, but as I said, this is one very simple, very cool way to play with crayons! Are you ready to give this a try?

There are two big things to remember. First, you need to find transfer crayons, which are also called Fabric Crayons. Angela recommended the Crayola brand, and I had better luck with those than another set that I purchased. I have yet to find a big box of transfer crayons (you know, the 64 color box…) but I’ve had good luck blending the colors.

The second key is to use synthetic fabric. I’m not sure what the chemical process is that allows the crayon to bond with synthetic fabric but not natural fabric, but I’m all for following instructions. (Before you ask… no, you don’t need to find synthetic paper. Any old paper will do as long as you’re not planning to toss it in the wash!)

I hope you’re nodding and telling yourself “oh yeah, this looks like tons of fun!” It’s the perfect way to transport yourself back to the sheer delight of playing with crayons. And while you’re at it, share the joy with your friends, your kids, or your grandkids. It’s a delightful way to spend a day! You can get all the details on using transfer crayons and rubbing plates starting on page 12 of Rubbing Plate Roundup. Have fun!

Collaborator Corner: Meet Angela Grasse

Angela Grasse, from Kitchener, Ontario (Canada) was a huge help as I worked on Rubbing Plate Roundup. She submitted her idea for the book (transfer crayons) and then graciously proceeded to teach me everything I needed to know about how to use them. And she went the extra mile by sending one of her art journals so I could take photos of several of her pieces for the Gallery section of the book. (See what happens when you ask for help?)

Angela is absolutely passionate about art and teaching. she has spent most of her life learning, teaching, exploring and creating. she delights in process. Her joy for learning is readily shared with her students. According to Angela, having fun and creating beauty is what art is all about.

You can learn more about Anglea and her art by clicking over to her blog at princessbubblescreates.blogspot.com. (By the way, don’t you just have to love a woman with the confidence to call herself Princess Bubbles? Can’t you just see the princess shine through in her photo?)

Before we go, I want to share a tip from Angela. During our conversations, she suggested saving the transfer paper you create and using it for another project. On the journal page in the photo, you can see how Angela re-used a piece transfer paper in a mixed-media collage. I think it’s great — I love the idea of turning the left-over transfer paper into art!

Shading with Shiva Paintstiks Makes Eve’s Garden Glow!

by Sue Pelland

I made Eve’s Garden as a challenge quilt for my quilt guild. The theme was “Gardens” and I had always wanted to do this “Garden of Eden” quilt. I had it in my head, and this was the perfect chance to get it out in fabric! I love to dye my own fabrics, so I went to my hand dyed stash, and came out with nine shades of green, plus these other bright beautiful colors. The artist who inspired this quilt made a similar illustration using stencils on black paper. Where the stencil was not completely filled with color, the black paper showed through. I wanted the same effect, but with the fabrics the black couldn’t show through. Instead, I used a black shiva paint stick and a ½” stencil brush to shade the edges of the fused patches so that they faded into the black background fabric. The result was a quilt that glowed!

Instructions: Using Shiva Paintstiks for Shading Appliqué

(©2011, Sue Pelland Designs)
Shiva black paint sticks are the perfect paint for shading the Eve’s Garden pattern. They are oil based sticks, so they never dry out. Just peel off the protective layer that forms on the end of the stick, and they are ready to use. Scribble with the paint stick on a scrap of freezer paper or other non-porous surface. Load your stencil brush by rubbing over the scribbled paint in a circular motion. This will load your brush with paint. Now brush off the excess paint onto a scrap of fabric. Use a circular motion, both clockwise and counterclockwise to work the paint into the bristles, and to wipe off excess paint. This gives you the right amount of paint for the dry brush technique explained in the pattern. Heat set the paint after shading. When finished, clean your brush with a little shampoo or dishwashing soap. Keep your paint stick and your brush in a zip top bag and they will be ready for your next quilt!

Spice Up YOUR Appliqué Today!

As you can see, the subtle shading Sue did with the black paintstik color is absolutely fabulous. Her Garden quilt would not be nearly as interesting without the shading. If it hasn’t already hit you over the head, you should be saying to yourself “Wow! I can do that too!” Yes, you really can! Sue’s dry-brush method is one of the easiest things you can do with paintstik colors to add dimension and beautiful shading to your quilts.

Now I can already hear you thinking “well, I don’t want to put my quilt on a black background…” No problem. I’ve got 13 beautiful deep, dark paintstik colors for you that are most definitely not black. Now that you know exactly how you will use them, you can order the entire set of DARK Paintstik Colors at a very special price, or you can pick out your favorites from our Online Store.

Here are the 13 dark colors:

Alazarin Crimson is a deep ruby red that leans a bit toward purple. This is the darkest red in the Matte Color line.

Grape is a red-violet. It is more on the transparent side of the spectrum.

Dioxazine Purple is a beautiful deep purple. It’s quite dark, but very rich.

Phthalo Blue is a deep blue with a slight purple undertone.

Prussian Blue is a deep blue with a slight green undertone.

Teal Blue is best described as a deep turquoise. Definitely blue, but has a lot of green in it.

Phthalo Green is a dark green with a definite blue undertone.

Old Sap Green is a great deep middle-of-the-road green. It leans just a bit more to the blue side than Sap Green.

Sap Green is a middle-of-the-road green. Some teachers like this green because they can mix with yellow or with blue to get the shade of green they want. It has just a touch more yellow than Old Sap Green.

Asphaltum is a fabulous golden caramel color. It’s quite transparent, but much more interesting than the name implies.

Burnt Sienna is a reddish brown and very opaque.

Burnt Umber has a definite green undertone. It semi-opaque.

Chocolate is a transparent, middle of the road brown. Think Hershey bars.

A Quick Note About Brushes…

When you use Sue’s dry-brush technique to add shading to a project (appliqué or something else), be sure to use our long-handled, standard stencil brushes rather than our paintstik brushes. Here’s a photo of the correct brushes.

The standard stencil brushes have longer, softer bristles and are much less likely to leave brush marks as you add shading to your project.

Is is that important? You bet. Always use the right tool for the right job!

Order Your Deep Dark Paintstik Colors Today!

After viewing these absolutely yummy dark colors, I know that your mind must be racing with all the possibilities for adding shading to your quilts and fabric art projects. (And if you’re NOT thinking about the possibilities… you should be!) At any rate, I have a very special offer just for you.

I’ve gathered up all 13 of the gorgeous deep dark paintstik colors and bundled them up at a fabulous price. Purchased separately, the colors sell for $97.75. For a few short days, you can add all 13 colors to your paintstik collection for just $65.00. That’s a whopping savings of 33% off the retail price. This offer will disappear from our Online Store after one short week, or when we run short of any of the 13 colors. (And no, we don’t stock tons of single, matte colors — so this could disappear before you know it!)

If you order by midnight on Friday, January 14, I’ll give you an extra bonus! I’ll have the crew in shipping add the Ivory Black paintstik that Sue used on her Eve’s Garden quilt absolutely free. Don’t delay — get your fabulous Deep Dark Paintstik Colors today by clicking on this link.

Enter Our Garden Quilt Giveaway!

Are you ready to try your hand at a Garden Quilt? Do you have a friend who would just love to do this project? Here’s your chance to win almost everything you need to make this stunning quilt.

Sue has generously offered a copy of her Eve’s Garden Pattern and one of her amazing Leaves Galore Rulers for this drawing. I’m adding 7 paintstik colors (4 dark colors and 3 metallic colors) and the stencil brush that you need to do the shading.

YOU have the opportunity to win this marvelous prize — and I hope you will pass the message along to your friends as well!

To enter the drawing, click on the link below. Enter your name and e-mail address in the form. On the form, you also have the opportunity to sign up for the Cedar Canyon Community and Sue Pelland’s newsletter. (If you already get my newsletter — no worries. You’re already subscribed and we won’t send you duplicates.)

Click on this link to enter:

https://cedarcanyon.infusionsoft.com/app/form/cct_and_suepelland_giveaway

You must enter by midnight on Friday, January 20. One entry per person, please. After the deadline, I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winner. Good luck!

I love working on book projects, but I rarely have all the ideas I need to do the best possible job. I’ve learned to ask for help — and I’m always amazed at the results! My most recent book is a perfect example of the wonderful things that happen when I ask for help. Five of the 12 techniques showcased in Rubbing Plate Roundup were submitted by Cedar Canyon community members after I posted a call for sumbissions.

Jeanine Center, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, sent beautiful photos to show how she uses rubbing plates to add dimensional texture to her functional pottery pieces. I knew that potters were using the rubbing plates, and I was thrilled to find someone willing to share their knowledge with me and my readers. Here’s a little more about Jeanine.

Jeanine’s art adventures began with making jewelry. She started working in clay in order to make her own beads and pendants. She found herself totally hooked on clay and expanded her work to include functional pottery. Her jewelry work has been published in numerous magazines, including Bead Trends, Creative Jewelry, Easy Wire Jewelry and Stringing. She lives in Ann Arbor with her husband John, who generously puts up with art flowering all over the house.

Just a few days ago, Jeanine sent this photo of her latest plate created with a rubbing plate. She used one of the new Doodles Rubbing Plates to add the design to the plate, then dipped the plate into several different glazes to show off the various parts of the design. Well done, Jeanine!

Want to know more? Get all the details for adding texture to pottery — AND 11 ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES — when you order your copy of Rubbing Plate Roundup today.

Another Special Thank You…

While I’m on the topic of pottery, I want to give a special thanks to Mimi Seykora of Alexandria MN. Mimi generously opened her pottery studio one evening to help me with the how-to photos to go with Jeanine’s instructions.

Mimi is an accomplished potter who is truly a kindred spirit. I was totally blown away as I looked around her studio — it was filled with amazing textured objects! Mimi has been using all kinds of found objects to add dimensional texture to her pottery for years and we had a lively discussion about our obsession with textures. My visit with Mimi was a perfect example of help arriving in exactly the right form. I asked my friends for referrals to potters, and one of them sent me to exactly the right person. I could not have asked for more!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful time during the year-end holidays and that you are ready to start the new year with a bang. I know I am! One of the big things I learned in the past year is that my mindset is far more important than I ever imagined. When I set a goal with firm intentions and ask for help, amazing things happen. I’ll share two examples from the past year.

If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that I just completed and published my new Rubbing Plate Roundup book. When I started work on the book, I knew that I did not have all the best ideas out there. So I asked you, as a Cedar Canyon Community Member to help me out by submitting your ideas for using rubbing plates in your art. I asked, and you came through in a big way! Out of the 12 techniques in my book, 5 came from you — and your contributions made all the difference in the world. Thank you so much for collaborating with me to create a better book!

Another great example of having the correct mindset showed up just a few weeks ago. One of my big (huge) goals for my business is to move every possible activity and every bit of data that runs through my company into a single system. As you know, changing the way you do anything is difficult, let along changing a bunch of important things. Then a golden opportunity dropped into my lap, and I knew I just had to say yes! My key software company (Infusionsoft) offered a 2-day implementation blitz to a small number of customers. They gave me a personal project manager and gave each team complete access to their entire development staff to get things done in two short days. It was unbelievable!

I’ve also learned that positive thinking, by itself, is totally useless. If I set a goal, but don’t take action, well… nothing happens! You have to take action to make the goals happen. In my case, I had to say YES to the opportunity that came my way with my software company. That meant making a big investment on very short notice, canceling my week off, spending two days in airports and shuttles and working two 13-hour days during the event. It was exhausting and exhilarating — and totally worth the time (and money) I invested. I got more done in two days than I could accomplish on my own in a year. My big, huge goal is now within reach instead of feeling like a pipe dream.

As you start the new year, consider your mindset. Are you really serious about accomplishing a goal? Write it down, declare your intentions — to yourself and to the universe — and then take action. Whether your goal is finishing a quilt, painting a piece of fabric, writing a book or starting a business, it’s a lot easier if you ask for help — and say YES when the help arrives. It’s not always convenient, but it’s out there if you’re open to seeing it.

Do you have a big goal? Have you asked for help? Leave a comment — I’d love to hear about it!