We had a few days of sunshine and warmer weather last week, just enough for my spring fever to kick into gear. Since it will be months before I can poke around in the garden, I’ll have to be content to poke around my studio and play with flowers indoors. When it comes to flowers, […]
Archives for February 2011
Paintstiks, Stencils & Suede: A Gorgeous Combination!
In the middle of December, I holed up in my studio for a weekend and started playing with the suede I got from Bella Nonna Design Studio. Jayme and Megan have a new line of leather and suede, and Megan came to see me at the Houston Quilt Market to see if our Shiva Paintstiks would work with the leather.
I found that the finished leathers were not terribly interesting — it’s difficult for the paint to adhere to the smooth finish. But the suede — oh my goodness — it’s nothing short of fabulous! You really have to give this a try. It’s beyond fun and the possibilities for the finished suede are endless.
New Website Spotlight: The Learning Center
We’re getting a bit of a thaw here in Minnesota this week. The sun is shining and it looks great outside, but we are far from “outdoor weather” just yet. On the bright side, winter days motivate me to hibernate in my studio with a warm cup of tea and experiment with something new. Unfortunately, […]
New Website Spotlight: Shelly’s Blog and the Search Tool
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know it is my personal playground for posting ideas, answering questions, and occasionally ruminating about life in general. I started posting articles about 3 years ago, and over that time I’ve posted a treasure trove of information. When the blog was new, it was easy […]
Design Magic: What is a Design Pack?
With all the activity here on the new website and online store, I’ve been hearing a lot of questions, some more than others. I thought I would take some time to answer one that has come up a number of times related to my latest book, Design Magic for Paintstiks on Fabric. For those of […]
Bernina Likes Shelly’s Magic Mats!
I just got a lovely note from a friend to tell me that Bernina is featuring my Magic Mats in Issue 4 of Through the Needle, a free online publication. I knew the article was coming, but it’s always a thrill to see one of my projects in print. Happy me! Because we have so many new people in our community, I want to share the Magic Mats tutorial that I posted last summer. Enjoy!
Here’s a great little project for our DesignMagic stencils – or one of your own designs! My Magic Mats pattern is the simplest way to make a placemat that I can think of. All you need is two pieces of fabric, some interfacing, one paintstik, one brush, and one pair of DesignMagic stencils. It’s easy!
