What's happening

Hi!  I've been blogging since February 2009 and I realized that 1) I let my 10 year anniversary go uncelebrated and 2) I am in danger this month of not posting for the first month ever.

I started a scrapbook layout video and then had to set it aside for another project. So that will be coming along one of these days.   I have been doing some crafty things mixed in with some fun travel, some family obligations that were less fun and home maintenance which is never fun but turned out well.

So here are things I've completed in the last few weeks.

This is the first cowl I've ever knitted.  Honestly, I didn't really get why anyone would want to knit a cowl probably because I still remember cowl necks from the 70's or 80's and was hoping to not wear that trend again.  Yet knitting shawls is the most popular choice of my knitting group.  While I like making them, I don't like wearing them.  I find it difficult to place my work so that the right side shows the way it should and for it to stay put as I wear it.  If they cover my entire shoulder area, they aren't flattering on me either.  Broad shoulders, round face, it just doesn't work.

But I do like making them and using that pretty fingerling yarn without having to buy so much for a project.  So I bought one hank of Baah La Jolla in the March colorway and gave the Naranj pattern a go. I couldn't get gauge so I had to adjust the design just a bit adding two more stitches to each repeat and redoing the math. I'm incapable of leaving a pattern alone.  I added some beads I had to the bottom section.  I enjoyed making it and I love wearing it!  I plan to wear it more this fall with my denim jacket.

My big finish was this quilt I started last summer.  And it is big.  Maybe a bit too big.  The photo is taken on a double bed but it is even a little large for our queen.  I wanted to make something large enough in case we changed to a king mattress.  That may happen as another thing I've been doing is trying mail order mattresses without success.  Ugh, that is a whole other story.

This is the largest project where I did free motion quilting.  I did the quilt in sections and used the joining methods in Marti Michell's wonderful class on Bluprint called Machine Quilting in Sections to help me.  I took a few months off in the fall but I'd say I worked on it as a primary sewing project for about 7 months.

Also I recently was invited to do a demonstration of mixed media techniques for boxes.  I started a set of nested boxes in the demo, brought them home and added a few embellishments.  They were gifted. I'll post those on Instagram soon.

I have a baby quilt done and fabric for another.  I just haven't taken any photos.  So I guess I have been busy lately just not in making videos.  I do hope to get back to those when life settles a bit.

You can always find me on Instagram with projects I have completed, flowers and goodies from the kitchen at https://www.instagram.com/lisaecherd/
Thanks for your patience and I hope you have a very crafty summer.

Quick page using a Gelli Print, Supplies from stash

It's getting warmer here in N.C.  Fingers crossed, we have covered the plum tree for the last time to protect it from late frosts.  With warmer weather comes the opportunity to visit our NC Mountains for days out.  That is still a month or more away as their season hasn't started yet.  For this page, I remembered a trip last summer where I spent a lovely day by myself walking, reading, shopping and enjoying the cool mountain air.

One of the background papers is from a gelli print video I did awhile back. I said in the video that it is linked with the little "i" symbol in the right corner. Apparently YouTube has done away with that feature, too so it is linked in the description.

This page full of typed journaling came together quickly in this video:



Thanks for watching!

Art in Bloom and Card

We love flowers.  The NC Museum of Art in Raleigh has a special exhibition in the spring of floral arrangements.  Each floral designer takes inspiration from a piece of art and interprets the piece through their floral design.  Some were small table top arrangements, others large floor to ceiling depictions.  Here are just a couple of photos.  More on my Instagram feet @lisaecherd

A depiction in white flowers of the marble statue in the background.

One of the more stunning displays evokes the theme of the painting 'Eruption of Mount Vesuvius' 

I used this concept in creating a card for my Mother's birthday.  We had attended the exhibition as part of an outing to celebrate her.  The print on my card is downloaded from the National Gallery of Art's open source collection.  It is called Young Girl Reading by Jean Honore Fragonard.  I took my colors and arrangement for the Silhouette cut flowers from the painting.  I die cut most of the flowers out of cardstock or 6x6 papers and added a little Distress Oxide ink for shading.  The sheer fabric on the bottom is to pick up the rouched collar the girl is wearing. The entire card is mounted on a dark green cardstock like the background of the painting.

This was fun to do.  My mother is an avid gardener and she can create beautiful floral arrangements and interesting combinations in the pots in her gardens.  She enjoyed the exhibit very much.  If Raleigh were closer we would go every year.

When I can narrow down my choices, I'll print some of the photos and do a layout. We have several good photos of mother from that day.

Thanks for visiting today!

Combining two different color schemes

My Mother and I are very different in many ways.  One is color. She likes neutrals and does amazing things with her neutral wardrobe.  For me it is all about color.

This photo exemplifies that.  I also talk about our similarities and differences in the hidden journaling.

To marry the two color schemes, I used some watercolors on the background and added a variety of embellishments.  The background starts with a layer of gel paste to get a relief effect.

Hope you enjoy the video:


Thanks for watching!

Winter Poncho - just in time for Spring

I've been joking with my knitting group that I would finish this poncho just in time for warm weather.  If I hadn't knitted about 4 hours on Saturday and 2 more hours on Sunday to get it blocked so I could wear it this week, I might have missed the cold weather.  I've worn it twice already and I really love the warmth and the design.

This is not only the first poncho I've ever made but the first one I've owned.  Never thought I would like one but I do and it won't be my last.

The pattern is Camybe which you can find here on Ravelry.com.  I almost always alter patterns sometimes a lot but this time the only change I made was to substitute a simpler cable for the two side ones in the main design.  I wanted something I didn't have to constantly look at the chart for and I got it.  Once I got one repeat, I hardly looked at the pattern again.  It is just one big rectangle, folded in half and sewn up the shoulder.  I like how she designed the cabling so that the shoulder looks like one cable when it is two come together.

Used Berroco Vintage yarn in color Aubergine.

So now that spring is right around the corner, I'm staring a 3/4 length sleeve sweater which will probably be done in late May.  You guessed it, when it is too hot here to wear it!

Close up of shoulder.  Two different cable edges sewn together in the middle.

Thanks for visiting!

Mixed Media Layout for larger photo

This page was inspired by an art journal page.  I had not done any art journaling for over 6 months.  One day I just took a notion to play and created a page using paint, deli paper and mists that I liked.  So I used those same techniques on this layout just in different colors.

Most of my pages tell a story. This one is meant to convey a feeling.

Also on the page is some stitching using the free motion quilting foot on my sewing machine. I've been working on a quilt so I gave it a try on paper.  I only changed out the needle to an older one I didn't care to dull.  Paper dulls needles just as it does scissors.

It was a fun page to do and I love the effects with pearl paint, mists and the crinkled paper.  Here's the video:



So looking forward to when I can walk on this beach again.  Thanks for visiting with me today!

Using bold paper with photos

I love doing pages with children's photos. I get to use bright colors and fun embellishments.

For these three photos I have used a bright collection called Go Now Go from Shimelle Lane For American Crafts.  Using my old Creative Memories circle cutters I trimmed down one of the photos to allow a little more space for embellishments and journaling.  One of the journaling cards created a space for the title.

Here is the video:


Thanks for watching today!

Gelli Printing with 3x5 Plate

When I first got into gelli printing, a fellow crafter told me her favorite size plate was the 3x5.  This didn't make sense to me, why use a small plate when you could cover so much more ground with a large one.  After I bought the smaller size I got it. It's really versatile and I love the prints I get whether I'm doing something small or large.

I just had a notion to play the other day with little in mind of what to do with the prints.  After a few prints, I remembered that I needed some purple paper for an upcoming page.  Purple is a difficult color to find in scrapbooking but I had plenty of paint so I just made my own.

Here's the video



Thanks for watching!