Memorial Day Weekend Catch Up!

My studio windows are wide open this morning as I begin pulling things together to finish the videos for Creating Personal Imagery 101.  This has been a much longer process than I ever thought it would take, but soon it will be up and ready!

I am so excited because I just received word that the digital download version of my new workshop DVD, Digital Design for Screen Printing: Creating Mini Canvas Screens for Surface Design, that I just taped with Quilting Arts/Interweave will be available June 15th!!!  Talk about a fast turnaround.  The film crew must have been working wonders cutting up and pasting video with so many starts and stops!  I can't wait to see how it came out!

This week was challenging as I was away from my studio in Newport, RI for my department's global team meeting.  Last one was four years ago so it is always good to see everyone, welcome new members and say goodbye and thanks to others who are moving on.  Working globally is truly a challenge due to time zones (Japan, China, India, Germany, France, UK, US).  Everyone does their best to stay flexible but we can't spend all of our time working.  We were in meetings every day and in the afternoons we got to visit and tour The Breakers (Vanderbilt mansion), go on a schooner tour of the harbor and then go to dinner at night.  We were so lucky that the sky cleared just before our schooner ride and we couldn't have wished for bluer skies.

I can't remember all the statistics, but the mansion itself sits on a footprint of an entire acre!  One of my favorite pictures was of the front gate.  Just gorgeous!  We were not allowed to take pictures inside of the mansion so I purchased a couple of postcards to remind me of the amazing details inside.

Last night, I took my time coming home from work and stopped at Joann Fabrics for some inspiration.  I came home with a number of new patterns (even though I have not made any clothes for quite a while and my closet is full with patterns I have not yet used LOL).  I wanted to share this one because of the simple design lines and huge potential for art-to-wear!  I'm thinking screen-printed fabrics, of course!  Checkout Butterick BB5503 and I bet you start coming up with a few ideas of your own.  I'm really liking View A.

I also wanted to tell you about this adorable self-published book that I purchased from Blurb titled "Stitchworks" by Jacqueline Bowcutt (2010).  It is a luscious bite of eye candy with up close photos of her stitch work that dimensionally jumps off the pages at you.  I was surprised at its size, just about 7" x 7", but the content is fabulous!  I love seeing other artists' work up close and this little book delivered!  You can go to the Stitchworks blog and click on the link to purchase the book.  Nice job, Jackie!!!

I'm going to take advantage of this huge block of peaceful time to really get things done here in the studio.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and that you get a chance to be creative as well as enjoy the fantastic weather!  Check back for Studio Sunday!

Margaret