Musing Crow Designs

I always have an inner struggle between quilting and working with mixed media, but now that I am house bound for a time, I have less guilt about it. I cannot get to my sewing machine and fabrics right now so it's easy to allow my mixed media brain to run rampant. I began working on this small angel shrine as a thank you to my adopted sister and friend, Lauren. She always keeps my chin up and goes through extraordinary efforts to do things with me - like taking me to the doctors recently. Sometimes it's difficult to say "thank-you".
These wonderful shrines, as well as many other shrine and doll variations can be found in the "Altered Art Supplies" section on RetroArt Cafe. For making this shrine I used a sheet of watercolor paper that I had painted and fitted to the cutout sizes. I used, my favorite Daniel Smith watercolors, F&W iridescent acrylic ink, heartfelt words, a wee brass bracket, Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer, beads and wire, feathers and charms. …

Yesterday's mail brought me a copy (inscribed!) of Lesley Riley's latest book from C&T Publishing, 'Creative Image Transfer'. The most exciting part of receiving this copy is that I am truly honored and humbled to be included among some of the most well known mixed media talents out there - and I am on the cover no less! I don't think that I ever imagined what an amazing job C&T Publishing would do with the submitted works. It was eerie seeing my bag displayed so beautifully, and I never imagined that the directions that I wrote would look so good either. 
Lesley Riley was an angel with her support and I will be forever grateful to her for giving me this wonderful opportunity. Although I normally find tooting my own horn a difficult thing to do - this time I just want to share my delight!  This book is really fun. The projects are all really unique and I am blushing with pride to have been included! 
This Buddha image has a lot of meaning for me on many le…

First of all, let me apologize for the poor image quality. Since getting around right now is a bit of a challenge I neglected to take the sun and the shadows into consideration as I snapped these images.

As I have mentioned in the past, I think that Search Press offers some of the best craft books out there, and I have been a big fan for many years. I was offered the opportunity to have a look at these new Search Press titles. What a treat!

Please note that you should be able to double click on these images to see a larger version.
 Since I have been doing a lot of hand sewing these days - especially embroidery, thee books popped up at a particularly perfect moment. Both of these volumes offer a wealth of design ideas coupled with beautiful photographs and clear, well written instructions.
If you have a young or new machine sewer in your life then  "A Beginner's Guide To Machine Sewing" by Clementine Collinet is the perfect gift. It will also be a great addition to your…

I had a bit of a revelation today. I had been working on something that is similar to the image above. Yesterday, despite repeated attempts to "make it work" I was unhappy with of the results. I decided to "sleep on it, but this morning I was no happier. I tried, once again, to somehow make it better. Ultimately, I resented the wasted time and energy!
I thought about sanding the surface in order to save the background, after all I spent money for it, no matter the modest cost!  As my mind clicked along I came up with another idea, and started to work on it instead. Finally,  I decided to simply toss the "bad" piece. I felt that in some odd way, my worrying about the small amount of money that I had spent on it, and the 'failure' of the design to make me happy, was holding me back.
As soon as I tossed the sticky mess into the trash I felt much better and I was able to easily move along with the new project. I just felt that 'click' that happens…

Paper glues. Who thinks too much about them? As a matter of I do, because, as the consummate gadget girl, I have to know what works best for me!
Since I am none-to-mobile at the moment I am spending some time appreciating the small things that I am able to do. Thankfully, my mixed media art table is in the living room, which is one of two rooms that I can access. I am grateful to be able to stitch, knit and play with my mixed media art supplies! I thought that, since I can't use a sewing machine right now, I might do a series of posts about some of my favorite products. This will be the first.
I had thought that I had already found my favorite glue for paper (and it is still a favorite.See the bottom of this post) until Kimberly Baxter Packwood introduced me to the wonders of a pretty little tin of Coccoina potato starch glue from Italy. 
Coccoina glue is a revelation to me. This glue is so smooth and silky smooth that it brushes on flawlessly. Adhesion is excellent! They even in…