Can't Wait

As it draws closer to the end of this month I grow more excited to show the results of this more than month long contest to make a shawl pin/clamp. The results so far are fantastic. The artists have put this blogger to shame. What creativity!!!

 I have decided to have 3 of my artist friends do the judging as "blind judges," and to pull myself out of that role. I will just be the one to give away the prize.  If that sounds like a "cop out", I am doing it because I have blogged with some of the artists far longer than others and I don't want any feelings to get in the way. My friends will never know anything about anyone, just see the pin. Remember the criterion are creativity and wear-ability.

I have heard from many of the contestants that they have had a lot of fun with this. I have had a blast.

Love and hugs to all, and get those pictures in, right up to the last minute.
Many, many hugs, Cameron

Great Fair and New Friends

Picture by Reathel Geary

I had so much fun at the Salem Art Fair, met wonderful people and sold several of my garments. I have no real comparison for whether or not I did "well" monetarily, but I am happy with the results. I learned a lot about what I would do the same to set up my tent space and what I would change, because we are going to do this again at several stops in Oregon.

Picture by Reathel Geary

Picture by Reathel Geary

My fellow emerging artist was next door, a photographer named Reathel Geary. He took many of the photos that I will show you here on my blog. The one in the left upper corner is his, and he got this result using his iPhone. The next two are also great shots of women in my garments, one the artist on the other side of me, the curly headed one, my niece. I think that Reathel is going to make a name for himself in the world of photography, as you can see. Marcia, on the left is a painter. I now have one of her paintings, what a beauty.

Good ol' Oregon. On Sunday it started raining seriously and my tent started dripping. Even the more expensive tents were having a few issues. Instead of that open, inviting look that you want to draw people in, everything was crammed into the tent to keep in out of the rain. Then the drips got it, I mean the rain drips, there were no people drips. I didn't need to worry about having enough room as there weren't any people around anyway. This picture shows how my tent looked for most of the morning.

A woman came in with her friend and her silly brother. The brother tried on one of my capes and said that I could take his picture for my blog. As you can see he was very dramatic. I think that he is destined for Hollywood. His sister came back 3 more time and on the fourth time purchased a jackety-shawl.

Also on the last day a woman came in who turned out to be a fellow felter. We started talking and she showed me some of the great characters that she creates out of felt and other media. Her name is Claudia Knous and she can be found on a site called wildwomenartists.com. She also makes scarves that are wonderful. As we talked I found out that she had just ridden in a bicycle race that my sister in law usually rides in, and yes out of all the people who ride in the race, she knew my sister in law and my brother. She had given my sister in law, Paula, a scarf tthat  Paula had then given to me. This was the scarf that had gotten me started felting, and this was the woman who had made that scarf.dhamatic. R

How likely was it that this woman would come from a bicycle race in Portland, 45 miles away, on a rainy Sunday and visit my tent. She lives in Nevada. I can only think that "God, the universe, fate, etc." whatever you believe, has plans for all of us. I was thrilled to meet her, my inspiration, and I want to stay in touch.e

Enough for now about the fair.

I have 2 contest entries so far. I won't post anything until the end of the month. I hope that all is going well, let me know.

Thanks for all of your support. Love and hugs, Cameron

Art Fair a Few Days Away

More Tips and More Lace

I did it again, I went on line to an auction and bid on a lot of vintage lace and got it. This whole box that you see is full of vintage hand made white, off white and ecru lace trims of all widths. It is amazing. I can just picture the women who worked on these beauties. I have also taken a picture of an antique show advertisement where someone once sold some of them. 

And now for a little contest information. I have sent off all of the pin/clamps but one. That will go out tomorrow. The ones to Europe should be arriving soon if not already. Please let me know.

I made a few smaller pins today and took a picture of the whole lot. I used a new glue which seemed to work pretty well, but I haven't tried to pull the jewelry off of the pin so who knows. The glue is Loctite Super Glue.


A friend told me about another glue called E 6000 which is supposed to be very good. The problem is that it smells awful, so if you use it, use it outside or in a well ventilated garage.

                                                 

Patty, I couldn't find the glue that you recommended but I'll keep looking. That's it for now, stay in touch.

Hugs, Cameron

Contestants, Possible Helps, Possible Extension

I am so pleased with the response I have had to this contest. What fun! And now, I want to share a few tips that I learned along the way while making these pins.

At first I used a paint that is used to cover outdoor metal furniture to protect it from rust and I also primed it. I sprayed both primer and the covering black paint on the clip and ended up with a mess. I used my sanding bit to try to clean them up and gummed it all up. Then I used a touch up paint to paint in the spots that were unpainted. They still looked a mess. I then added more misery to the situation by using a glue that dries and shows .  The tube below is the first glue I tried, didn't work well for this project. Also, when using glass, I needed to rough up the glass back to get any glue to stick.

The second glue that I used didn't work either. By this time I was making the paint look better by using my rub and buff paints to add some metallic appeal. The process was frustrating but also fun experimentation as is all creativity. I also started using a better black paint. This one had better coverage and I didn't use a primer.

I hope that my sharing doesn't scare anyone away as it has been fun. I will share a few more of my pins/clamps with you.

As I have mentioned earlier this is a fun contest, designed for sharing ideas. Since most of the contestants live in Europe, I may have to extend the timeline. We will deal with that later, but be aware that I am willing if the need arises. I will be sharing more, and hope that once you get your pins you will share. I still have not found a glue that I like. If anyone out there has an idea please share.

Talk soon, Hugs, Cameron

The Contest Is On And More Are Invited

The contest is a GO!! However, if you haven't entered there is still plenty of time. The deadline for the 3 pictures is July 31, midnight. (How is that for official.)


Remember, I need your address to send you the pin/clamp. If you haven't sent  me your address on my email, I don't have it. (I would never share your address or use it for any other purpose, so please do not worry about that. I have no interest in selling anything.)


This is a strictly for fun contest to be enjoyed by all.
Many hugs, Cameron

Another Contest

I spent a lot of time looking for shawl pins that would go through my "jackety-shawls" without snagging the silk. Most of the pins were made for knitted shawls and had blunt ends. While shopping at one of the big "box stores" I got an idea for making my own shawl clips. They won't work for every application but they are the answer that I had been looking for, and now I have decided to have a contest for anyone who wants to participate.

First let me show you what I am talking about. This is one of my jacket-shawls with my clip on it. The clip allows the wearer to adjust the shawl to be worn in many different ways, as a cowl neck, gathered in front, off to the side, etc.



Now for the contest.

If you are interested, just let me know on this blog. Those of you who check in please share this as I have to have at least 6 contestants to do this.

I will then mail you the bare clip and you will decorate it. You will take 3 pictures of it and post them to me. I will only have your pictures to judge by so make them good, only 3 pictures. The most creative and most wearable clip will be the winner. That is only one winner, creative and wearable. I will try each one on my shawls, assuming I get contestants.
Please share this information.

The prize will be a jackety-shawl and 10 clips that you can play with all you want. The 10 clips part is only if you want them.

Here are a few more examples.










I love contests and I hope that you do too. Hugs.

Silk, Wool, and Vintage Lace Combine As Wearable Art

A preview of some wearable art for the Salem Art Fair.

A vintage lace and wool shawl
inlaid with silk.

A coat with wool laminated over black chiffon ,
inlaid with silk.

A silk and light weight wool scarf.

A small light weight top , silk and merino wool.

A light weight jacket made of
silk and wool and decorated with
vintage lace.

Mom and Dad

These are some pictures of my parents that were taken by a wonderful photographer named Ben. They are not my property, so I don't sell them or commercialize them, I just play with them. I have used them to apply some of Kim's wonderful textures. I also applied the poster adjustment to the  middle one. This is so much fun. If you get a chance, to take Kim's classes I would recommend it. Many hugs.

Some New Fabric and Some Leftover Pieces

Light weight for summer evening.

 While at the Clay Ball I met many wonderful people, and I met a very nice woman who asked me to make her a garment for a wedding. She gave me her card and I agreed to call her after the Ball. Since that time we have met and talked about the style of garment she would like and the colors. She has expanded her wishes to include an evening jacket of some kind also. This is wonderful because she has presented me with an opportunity to be creative and challenged at the same time. The fabric above is the first one that I made, the one right below is the second. They are, of course, very different, one heavy more for autumn, winter, the other for a summer evening. I have beautiful silks to add to both of them. The third one is much lighter again, for evenings during the summer.

I also made 2 fabrics using pieces that I had. We are meeting next week and she has invited a friend who likes  different colors than she does. I thought that it would be fun to have a variety of different things to look at. I included a couple of pictures of layout and how I put the rovings around the silk and prefelt. The picture reminds me of a tide pool at the coast. Again I am having too much fun.

Hugs for all my "blogger buddies."

Heavy nuno for autumn or winter.

Lighter weight for summer evening.

Using up pieces.

Adding the roving

Layout