paperWERXings...

moving on...

ok blog stalkers... time to update your links!

i've just finished setting up my new wordpress blog and now you won't ever have to leave our main website again for your blog fix. here is the new link:

http://lazarstudiowerx.com/blog/

the switch was brought about by a desire for larger images in the posts, better navigation and just the ability to be able to code the thing myself. yeah, i'm a bit of a geek that way lol!

first new post is up, so check it out. let me know what you think about it... thanks!

ideas for your textile anthology artworks...

there are so many possibilities for these wonderful textile anthology fabric projects... here are a few examples for your consideration:

1. using large grommets and your crop-o-dile punch, create binding holes along the left edge of your fabric page so that it can be included in a traditional binder album like a maya road chipboard binder. this is a great addition to any paper based scrapbook album since it infuses unique textures and tactile qualities of fabric into your memory project.
2. use grommets and fasten multiple textile anthology pages together with binder rings to create a 100% fabric book. yummy!
3. add grommets to both sides of your main page and add additional fabric pages to the sides to create an accordion album! so cool and infinitely touchable.
4. make two fabric panels that are the same size, then create two narrow sides panels and a bottom panel that when stitched or fastetned together make a 'soft' box! this is so great for holding collectibles and memorabilia in a baby's room or as a gift for grandparents...

more ideas and photos will be coming soon!

i'm all jazzed up about making more of these touchable, lovable and huggable fabric projects. i just can't stop touching all my fabrics and embellishments... it's a bit of an addiction lol!

i'm off to the quilting store again this afternoon to pick up more lovely fabrics and then this weekend will be spent stitching new projects and sifting through my embellishments so that i can put together the most wonderful textile anthology kits. ahhhh... nothing like a little enabling huh?

more textile anthology...

since the first etsy kits are nearly sold out [wow! that was fast...] i thought i would add a few more to the mix in different colour palettes.

each kit will come with the same basics [see the etsy listing for complete details] and the embellishments will be adjusted to coordinate with the colour palette of the foundation fabrics. here are the new kit colour ways:

just a reminder...

these kits do not come with the image transferring transparencies, fluid medium or transfer fabric. the textile anthology kits are made up of the patterned fabric seen here plus coordinating embellishments including thread, beads, ribbon, buttons, silk flowers, batting, image transferred graphics and interfacing.

tomorrow, i'll post some additional images and ideas about how to use these wonderful, textured and tactile fabric pages... in the meantime, happy stitching!

p.s.: i have amy butler fabric arriving in about 2 weeks from her new spring collections. these will be posted in my etsy store shortly after they arrive. thanks!

corporal cuddling... you've been warned!

textile anthology kit no. 1

since i was restless last night...

i thought i would put together the first textile anthology kit for my etsy shop.

this new kit is based on the adjacent project and uses the yummiest fabric - it looks like scrapbook paper! the fabric features silhouettes of botanicals and butterflies in a palette of burgandy, light green, olive, black and white. accompanying this fabric is a soft green patterned square for the back of the piece.

the complete kit contains the following:

• 2 - 9"x9" squares of patterned fabric
• 1 - 9"x9" muslin square
• 1 - 8"x8" quilt batting
• 1 - small bags of loose quilt batting
• 4 large pre-transferred graphic images on linen fabric
• 3 - 9" strips of ribbon including grosgrain, velvet rickrack and pierced velvet
• velvet brads
• embroidery floss
• glazed button brads
• vintage mother of pearl buttons
• glass beads
• large color coordinated silk floral

the listing is now on etsy... there are 6 Kits available.

additional kits in different colour palettes will be listed in the coming days, so if this one doesn't do it for you... give it a few days and i'm sure there will be something that does very soon.

if you are interested in having your personal images transferred onto the same linen used in the transferred word and tag graphics, please let me know. for a small fee i will size, print and transfer your images onto linen, then you can be assured that they will be perfectly transferred for your project.

so what do you all think? if you are interested, please click here to jump to the etsy textile anthology listing

attention INSPIRED people...

ok gang...

i have a plethora of fabric, embellishments, flowers, batting, etc... and was wondering if anyone would be interested in textile anthology based kits for scrapbooking projects?

in the kits you would be provided with pre-printed images transferred to fabric, colour coordinated fabric and embellishments, threads and everything you would need to create a fabric scrapbook page. for a small fee, you could also send me your photos and i could transfer them onto fabric for you - ensuring a perfect photo transfer for your projects! sound interesting? if so, please let me know and i'll start putting together the kits this weekend. they will be listed in my etsy shop.

textile anthology 8x8 page kits would retail for between $25-30 depending on the extra embellishments, with an additional fee of $1.75 per photo transfer of your 4x6 image onto linen.

instructions are included with the kit.

new digital goodies... a sneak peek

a few weeks ago, i was approached by the creative director of pclayers - the digital arm of provocraft - about coming on as a new digital designer with their product team. without hesitation i accepted.

i love creating digital artwork and this invitation by pclayers presented a new opportunity to share my digital artwork with a wider audience, how could i say no? i'm happy to say that tomorrow my first collection will be debuting on pclayers and i'm super excited about it!

the collection is comprised of digital papers, cardstock, tags, design elements, digital brushes and more with a pretty, sophisticated spring color palette.

drop by pclayers tomorrow to check it out. i think you're going to love this new collection... i certainly do!

enjoy the sneak peek...

tired... but so INSPIRED!

wow. 18 hours of teaching in 2 days at donna downey's inspired event.
amazing...
exhausting...
an experience to remember - for all the right reasons.

as i posted earlier, the event was so well organized you would never know that this was donna's first workshop retreat. both donna and her husband bill made it look so easy. trust me, i KNOW it isn't from personal experience and those two rocked it....

when you look beyond the event organization, i think the thing that really made this event so amazing was the mix of instructors and students. creative energy was everywhere with a diverse group of instructors and students open to trying new things. it was really wonderful and totally in keeping with my belief that people gravitate to what they are comfortable with. sometimes, unless you put people into a position where they are pushed out of their self-imposed creative boxes, they will never grow or try anything new. inspired perfectly illustrated this concept and 200 women embraced the idea of trying something new and stepping outside their "creative comfort zone".

over the two days of classes, a number of my students expressed that they felt "out of their element" when it came to sewing and fabric. but, after giving me a chance and embracing the idea of something new, those same students came back to tell me that the class was either one of their favorites, or felt that they had really grown with the experience. it was wonderful to hear that i could help someone onto a new creative path... one that they never would have considered without the inspired event push. how awesome is that?

it was fun having some scrap-celebrities and fellow artists like ali e, wendy smedley, renee pearson and cathy z in the classes at inspired. a little intimidating for sure, but super fun to see them take to the on projects with excitement and enthusiasm. ali's travelling bud paolo and her sister were there too... hanging out with her, taking the classes and sharing her creative energy. i have to confess that i was a little disappointed that cathy z missed my class, but i understand that she was feeling a little overwhelmed. no prob cathy, maybe next time? renee p and i bonded over image transfer and the idea of digital/hybrid scrapping with fabric... an exciting new tandem class could be in our future. wouldn't that be cool? yup. i certainly think so!

i did manage to take a few pics while my students settled into the stitching part of the class. while they hunkered down and focussed on their needlework, i quietly snapped a few photos and have uploaded them to my flickr site. to see them, please click here.

i enjoyed meeting the other instructors... it was so great hanging out with my dear friend claudine. getting to know fellow canadian kal was fun and i was so glad that i was able to help her out a bit at the airport [even if it was only to lend some moral support, my cell phone and give her a hug when everything seemed to be going sideways]. tena and i bonded over a common problem with headaches [botox rules!]. but, unfortunately due to the busy event schedule i wasn't able to do more than meet jennifer stewart [darn! we'll have to fix that. another time, another place] and didn't even get to meet stephanie mcatee.

it was fun connecting with vancouver/bc girls at the event too... for heather main i will always think of sookwang tape as 'smells like daddy' and to my table of bc girls we 'kick ass' and yeah, 'f*ckin eh!'

i'm tired.
my brain is a bit like mush.
but i am totally and completely thrilled to have been a small part of this very creative and inspiring event.

great creative energy!

first day teaching at inspired today. it was an early day but the vibe with all the students was great. super fun and a really laid back crowd. this vancouver girl LOVES that! everyone has been so open to the idea of stretching their creative boundaries and trying something new. it's been awesome.

i'm also having a great time hanging with claudine for a few days. we don't get to do this kind of thing [conferences and teaching] together, so sharing a room and hanging out has been really special and loads of fun! lots of laughs and fun stories to remember and reminisce over. love that =)

donna d has outdone herself with this event. so organized... great take home goodies, scheduled and coordinated to the hilt. you go girl! have a few pics to share on my return home Monday, so will catch up with you then =)

wow... it's finally here!

the time has finally come. i've got to pack my suitcase, my art gear, my camera 'gwen' and my passport and tomorrow at 4:30am my quick 'jaunt' over to north carolina for inspired.

it's been a flurry of activity around my house this week between me getting ready to fly fly away from the hubby and kitties for a few days of girl power [yeeeeeeha!] and visiting with mixed media instructor/friend michael de meng. we [michael and i] had a meeting earlier this week and a nice, but brief afternoon on granville island. this evening he is swinging by our house to check out t's star wars collection [collection is a mild description of the amazing volume of plastic men that now live in my house!]. michael says he wants to see what a hard-core collector of SW looks like... especially what an owner of 'yakface' looks like [don't ask LOL!].

tonight, i finish packing, get 'gwennie' all ready for our first big trip and 'try' to hit the sack for some zzzz's before i pry myself outta bed at 4:30am to get to the airport.

my day will be spent flying almost diagonally across north america from vancouver bc to charlotte north carolina to teach at inspired. i'm so ready to do this! i'm stoked, nervous and excited all at the same time. it's making for some interesting tummy rumbles and flip-flops... but it's all good!

so to those that i see in a little over 24hrs... hi! be gentle with me =)

to those who'll miss my rambly, nonsensical blogging... i'll be back to post a full-on recap on monday or tuesday. with pictures and interesting anecdotes. until then... be good and i'll catch you next week!