Welcome Fiber Art Traders!!! F.A.T. Girlzzzz Rock!

We were invited to participate in this Yahoo Group and their yearly online Flea Market by fiber artist, Normajean Brevik who is a writer, designer, teacher of fiber arts and "owner" of the group. In the warmer weather we are especially lucky here at Artgirlz World Headquarters to have a live and in person Flea Market a mile down the road. Since it is closed for the winter, this is a great opportunity for us to share our world with you!

If you are new to Artgirlz, we have a Rubber Stamps, Lead Free Pewter Charms, Wool Felt Shapes, Roving, Needles, Kits and Special Collections every now and then. Our charms were designed by us are made here right in Little Rhody and our wool is imported from Nepal. The Rubber Stamp collection is manufactured in California. All of our components would be perfect additions to mail, ATC, pin and doll making projects. There are lots of images on our website and in the past posts on this blog!

Since you are a Mail Art Group, I pulled together and added to some some samples and put a new piece together just for you!!!

This is an inch square colored with acrylic paints and pencils then wrapped with copper. The "A" is one of our rubber stamps. The charms and a bit of yarn for hair make up the rest of this charmer.

This is an ATC sized piece of "patchy" fabric layered and stitched together on the machine. Charms tell the metal story with red yarns for hair. The edges are finished with multi-colored beads.

On the left an orange and blue patchy ATC with a wool felt flower, beads, charms...

Another ATC with Ranger Crackle Paint on top of wool and rayon blend felt. I like the look of it with more paint rather than less. Usually needs to dry overnight. Another use of charms and yarn to create an ATC and a doll!! Good Button added too!

Layers of stitched felt, hand made paper, charms and rubber stamps combine to make up the front and back of the ATC shown above

A pelmet Vilene postcard from a Tentakulum Painter Potpouri Pack was the beginning of this piece. My sis needle felted our little wool felt 9 patch pieces and hand stitched them onto the base.

The back is a piece of painted water color paper, cut to size and attached to the back of the card with with gel medium. I used clamps to hold the edges together, and some books to flatten it out!





This is another pelmet Vilene postcard. It is embellished with a silk hankie, pewter charms, mini wool felt beads, mixed plastic and glass beads, hand made paper beads, yarn for hair and a piece of water color paper for the back.

I used the Bernina Stitch Regulator to stitch doodle on the base of the card. You could just do free motion stitching, decorative machine stitching, hand embroidery or additional beading and stamping.
Then stitched the backing paper to the card.

Artgirlz Rubber Stamps and Doodles!

Front Bead Detail

Off to have some Roasted Potatoes and Work on Section 2...Dry Felted Postcard!!
F.A.T. Members check your Mother Ship Posting Board!!!

There are so many things that I haven't covered in our ever changing world around here. It is snowing again, (it's not really that cold this morning) the house and studio are quiet. The chickens and rabbits are fed and the best news is that I was able to get up and continue my life after I fell on my butt in an instant this morning! That pesky ice was sitting right under that little layer of snow.....

Our "doll in a box" class was great! We had lots of materials and ideas flying around and of course the best part is being able to talk, share and laugh in a very safe environment! Thanks to Christy for being our Lunch Boss! We are looking forward to the next one "the many faces of you", an exploration of self portraits. We have started gathering samples and ideas together, for it is sure to be an interesting journey!! Easy sign up in the Artgirlz store!

Friday night we hosted 16 women from the Apple Valley Quilt Guild. They were here for a weekend sewing, shopping and girlz gathering in Westerly, RI. It was so great! I stood at the end of the driveway in the dark and snow with my flashlight a "Create" sign and signaled their safe arrival. We had just baked cookies and little goodie bags waiting. After a brief chat, the women made quick work of finding the treasures around the room. It seems like a good time was had by all. We sold some stuff, they went home with bags of stuff and hopefully some ideas and inspiration! What is better than that! Maybe next year...purple hair dye!


Allison has set up her new Artgirlz office in her new house in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Her new monitor died about 48hrs into the new gig, but we are trying out this new living, business model. One of the first long distance projects is to tackle a color a month. I thought of it while working on the Valentines as I gathered up all things red.


I have been taking pictures, digging through beads, buttons, ribbons etc, checking out websites about color, theories, history etc...Observing red around the house, book covers, file cabinets, dishes, pencils, the table cloth, what colors are with it...what feels good, looks good...


Adobe has a great website and dynamic color tool called Kuler. You can see color combinations that have been put together by a huge community of folks, make your own to test color mixes to share or just use as your own visual reference. Check it out. You just have to log in and get yourself yet another password, but once that is done it is a great place to loose ones self for a bit! By checking on the "Complimentary" link, you will be able to spin the dial and see opposite colors on the wheel working and changing before your eyes. Green and red are on either side of the color wheel and always make a good combination.

• enchanted learning is a site for children, but gives color names in many languages
• worqx color theory tutorials are really cool. lots of visuals to inspire and inform
• for a historical view, Pigments through the Ages has great information about the use and meaning of color in different cultures and how it has changed.
• color chart for the color blind...

• study colors by mixing paint

This book is a great study of red and green marbleized paper. It is the smallest thing that you can imagine...a gift from son Don from his visit to Venice, Italy...

Speaking of red, I want to share info about v-day and women's heart health issues..

Al is working on turquoise for the next chapter.

I had fun making this little Valentine Book...I used three layers of criss-crossed roving and the felting machine to create the cover. I used three pages of water color paper to make the pages. The edges are torn a bit bigger than the outline of the finished cover. Tim Holtz's Distress Ink was the perfect thing to add color to the edge of the torn pages. Artgirlz stamps and Ranger Archival Ink combined to add the inside message.

In addition to these supplies, the watercolor paper could be further enhanced with paint, chalk, pencils, pens, cut out shapes or words...




Staples, stitching, glue, pins, brads, grommets to hold things together! We have a great packet of papers, stamps and embellishments for you to make your own master pieces!

Change up the size...from tiny to huge love messages!
What ever you do, spread the love!!!!!!

We spent most of yesterday glued to CNN, munching on goodies and watching with large sighs of relief as the government changed hands!
So now it's back to work spreading our own joy and energy out into the world!
We felt like it was better than Christmas!!

We made the Obama Slap Bracelet Pin Cushion on the way to Quilt Market in the Fall!

Back to Valentines tomorrow!!

Well, onto the wool roving, needle felted Hearts!! I have moved a little slide show to the top right corner of your screen to get a few visuals that can guide you along your needle felting journey! The pieces shown here were made by rolling and manipulating the roving with a felting needle while working on a piece of foam. These can be downloaded from our website!

Please Read the Tips Before you Begin!
The needle is very sharp and fragile compared to a sewing needle.

To help the fibers hook together the end of the needle is barbed.

It will break if you bend it while it is in the felt.

You want the needle to go in and out in the same direction...any direction...but the same direction!

You can be a bit aggressive with your “stabbing”.

You can use the needle as a "tool" much like a sewing needle as long as the roving is still somewhat loose.

If you are a beginner you may break a needle or two before you get the hang of it!

You can make new color mixes by blending two or more roving colors.
Simply gather two or three little puffs together and pull them apart until mixed to your liking.

These tips can be applied to clothing, wool beads, felt cones, flowers, hearts...any felted wool and more!


Artgirlz Heart Felt Hearts!

Pull a 7 Inch length of roving from the bundle.

Make into a loosely rolled tube rolling from the short end.




Gently pull one end away from the tube a bit.
This will become the pointy part of the heart.




Working on a piece of foam, start working (stabbing) the needle in and out of the roving to shape the end. Don’t be shy!
Turn the roving on the foam as you go to get the shape started.





Flip the piece and begin to work on the other end of the heart.
Pull the top apart a bit.

Holding onto what will be one side of the top, begin to shape the other top curve.






Begin to make the center indentation by working the center point down.
Keep your wits about you to prevent self inflicted stab wounds!
Working on the foam will help.
Turn the piece as you work down the whole shape.

Once you can see the basic heart shape, keep working the piece by turning it
over on foam and using the needle to tangle the fibers together.






You may want to add roving to fill out little dips, or to add dimension to the top curves.

Work the whole piece by turning the heart on the foam base and punching the needle in and out.






The heart can be embellished with other roving colors:
Roll little balls of roving and felt into the heart to make polka dots, lines, little hearts!

Add charms, beads, buttons, sequins, glitter, ribbon, yarn etc!!!!!

Greetings Friends...Calling all Love Bugs! I actually had private time in the studio last week and spent time playing with Artgirlz Red Roving, recycled, felted wool sweaters and Artgirlz Love Rubber Stamps. I figured out a way to make a 3D heart with the roving. Had fun doing it and loved the way that they came out.

I made up three pin cushions. The top two pin cushions in the picture on the left are made from recycled sweaters. On the white one I used our felting machine to add roving and bits of silk and organza to the mix. The red one has a heart shape cut out of the white sweater and felted onto the red, white roving edge felted around edge of the sweater and embellished with beads, fiber and ribbon.

The bottom piece is one of our felt squares with a heart shape cut out of the middle. Placed on top of another piece of felt I used the Bernina Stitch Regulator to apply a squiggly design onto the red felt. The center heart shape was built up with layers of roving, sparkle net, and silk scraps. They are all stuffed with a bit of polyfil and the edges connected with the felting machine. All of the projects could be constructed by hand or with a regular sewing machine using straight or decorative stitching!

We have put Felted Heart Directions together. If this technique is new to you, they can be downloaded from the website to guide you through this kind of project. We have also put kits together that include roving, felting needles, a piece of foam, and embellishments.

The main thing with hand needle felting, is that you have to keep your wits about you so that you don't stab yourself. It doesn't take too many times and you will become very aware!

Check out the downloadable directions and give it a try! Try it with friends and family!

Tomorrow...Felt, Paper and Rubber Stamps!

We received a card from a friend this week with a very heart warming surprise. Kerry Cudmore has been in our lives for many years. We don't see her very much these days but know that she is still doing good work out there in the world! Kerry wrote a note and said that as part of her spiritual practice she circulates money to folks that inspire her and added that we had given her such a gift...and there was a check for $100. I was certainly surprised and very inspired by the idea and the action of the gift. The first thing that I thought about was passing on a similar surprise!! Thanks Kerry for your support and thoughtful gift!

It is New Year's Eve here in Rhode Island. Just read that it is already the new year in Australia...hope it's going well down under!! It started snowing about two hours ago. Midge and Al are in Florida pulling their new house together. Yesterday afternoon Al said "I hate to tell you that it is perfect!" Good for them enjoying the sunshine!!!
Sue and I have been sending out orders, cleaning out the factory and studio for the new year. We've been doing a bit of painting in the kitchen, and bath...just to freshen things up a bit. We are loving our pellet stove...got new glasses yesterday after loosing my long time fav's somewhere before Christmas...also let go of my so called "secret stash" and got a new camera!! Looking forward to a quiet, warm evening.

Prepping for our Class...Jan 17th...after doing a bit of organizing in the studio, I gathered materials to come up with new samples. It has been great to actually be working on something. I still have a lot of work to do, but I am looking forward to getting back to it. Also working on preparing it for an online class!

We worked on our veggie seed order for this spring and summer. Exciting and a bit overwhelming, but looking forward to it very much. Our chickens started laying eggs December 10th and have been popping them out since then !!! That is very exciting and heartwarming.

My next step is to set up a 20% Super Duper Sale on our website. It will run from Jan1 through Jan 8. I'm sure that it will be a piece of cake!

I can hardly believe that we are 5 dayz into December! We are trying to remain upright and focused!! The Foundry Show opened last night. It is always a relief to get the Artgirlz corner set up with little felt snow people and Christmas trees. It was fun to see those folks that we only see there! And we love seeing our fellow craftspeople putting their hearts and souls out into the world. I know how hard they all work to get their goods to the table. I hope all of the artisans in the world have a great season!!!

Looking forward to watering the plants, regrouping a bit here in the studio, trying to stay in the moment, and relaxing this evening with my girl. Tomorrow we have serious focusing to do for a two day business meeting that starts Sunday evening. We are up to it I'm sure!!!

Oh, we have a new addition to the Artgirlz family...Beth,one of the Alaska sisters has a new grand baby. Little Miss Ivy! This looks like an immediate landing on earth photo!


I picked up a little shirt and overalls and added a little Artgirl treatment. I stuck the shirt into some pink dye to give it a girlie color and machine embroidered her name on the bib. Allison added a few flowers with embroidery floss. Now the next step is to get it into the mail before she's too big for her hip artgirlz outfit!!!

I hope all of you are staying calm and having fun preparing for the festivities ahead...what ever they may be!

I think that I already mentioned that our new shopping cart is up and running and I am very happy that it is still going very smoothly! For your creative pleasure, we are offering two Artgirlz Special Bundles of goodies at Artgirlz.com. The first collection, The Hope Bundle, includes rubber stamps, accordion book, papers, fibers, wings and charms. Secondly, we have beautiful goodies for crown making. It is fun, easy and a great group project!!! To make it even easier, we have a page of Artgirl suggestions that can be downloaded! I mean how much fun are these girlz having!!


Speaking of fun, Midge and Al are still in sunny but I understand cool Florida. They seem to be enjoying the family, the sunshine, and their private condo getaway! Back here at World Headquarters, the troops are busy putting things together, sending out orders, making up new things, slinging ideas around, and generally moving things forward. I am very grateful to them all!!


Hope, Yes Hope!!!! Here is the Hope sign to replace the ripped off Obama sign and my always able and willing sidekick Sue. It was rather drizzly when we hiked around the fence to put it up, but it is still on the fence and that is good news!!

Whew, the new shopping cart went live last night and I am hoping that the transition is smooth!
So far, so good! It has taken many hours of tweaking photos, making new graphics, going over and over to make sure everything is hooked up properly. Time will tell! Thanks N.B. for guiding us along! So, check out the new Artgirlz look...

Midge and Al left for Florida early this morning and will be relaxing and celebrating Midge's dad's 90th B'day!!! We'll see if they return...

Sue and I are here holding down the fort with the support of our loyal workers! I can say how much I appreciate the work that everyone does around here to keep us going! Speaking of workers, we've had a new crew of pin makers come in this week and learn the ins and outs of our "Weird Sisters", "Menopausal Mavens" etc. Linda is the Boss of the Pins and she did a fine job leading everyone through the paces. It is good to have a group of lovelies helping to spread Artgirlz energy!

We seem to have an abundance of red roving, so Linda, Jo and I are trying to come up with some exciting projects for the world stay tuned! And just wanted to share this pair of snow people that were made at Quilt Market by a talented couple visiting from Europe. Love to watch folks work!


Made a new sign to put up on the fence..."HOPE". Sue thinks it will get ripped down again. I will get photos when we get it in place! Keep on keepin on!

We are all very happy around here since the election of our new president!! Will get a new sign up to replace the stolen Obama masterpiece! Still chewing around ideas for the special word...
Al and I went to Quilt Market for a couple of days to help Brewer Quilting and Sewing Supplies....They are carrying most of our Product so we were support services in the Artgirlz section. They made beautiful signs for us and gave us an A+ spot on the main isle! We saw some of our old buddies like Tina Givens ,who by the way always looks so beautifully put together as is her work(pictured on the left with Al)!

Then who walked into our area but Mr. Jay McCarroll of Project Runway fame and fortune! (See photo above with Miss Al) Jay has a new line of fabric with Westminister and the women were just wild for autographs and photo ops! His lovely sisters seemed to have the big job of being his handlers!!

We had a great "School House". It was basically and infomercial for shop owners for our goods. It was there that we met Andree (L)and Wendy (R), representing Happiness is Quilting in McKinney, Texas! We were all gleeful to meet each other and hope to head that way sometime to teach! Hi Girlz...
The weather was lovely in Houston as was the completed park right outside of the Convention Center. I missed being at Festival this year, but heard it was wonderful as usual!

We came home to the news that our first chicken became hawk food and the rest turned out to be roosters.
We now have a whole new chicken family. Check out The Green Girlz Blog for farming updates...they aren't done yet!

Holiday Ideas!

We are gearing up with samples and suggestions to inspire hands and minds as the Holiday Season approaches. Above is a garland that Linda put together for us. It has a family of snow people threaded onto mixed yarns and further embellished with yarn and ripped strips of cloth!
I put up a new slide show on this site this morning on the upper right hand side of this page. If you click on any of the slide shows in the side bar, it will take you to a page with larger images... Pictured below is one of our 3.5cm beads that has rolled onto an embossing pad and sprinkled with embossing glitter. I hit it with a heat gun to melt the glitter and added a bit of ribbon on the top. With an additional ribbon or thread, they could be hung on the tree or mantle. Smaller versions would top off a beautiful package! Have fun with them and experiment with the goodies in your own stash!!!

Midge and Al are off to sell Artgirlz goodies at a quilt show this weekend in Hartsdale, NY. If you are in the area stop by and check it out!