What Do Phoebes Feel Lucky For?

 

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, we gathered together for the March meeting and mainly considered how lucky we are to be Phoebes. Over the years we have shared laughs and tears and were always there to support each other. We are lucky to be surrounded by creative people who believe in goodness and kindness as a way of life and who are always there for inspiration and sharing new artistic ideas. In fact, Sue shared the above photo of the Leprechaun doll she created! Fabulous!

Calendar

April 12th meeting. We will be meeting at Marcella's. Drop-in social get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Bring a lunch. Also bring some crinkle materials for Geri's enrichment. More information will be forthcoming. And don't forget to make the "slow stitched" fabric and paper card in the kit Betts handed out at the meeting. 

Show and Tell

 Our March meeting was basically comprised of a short meeting, a lunch break, show and tell, and a wonderful session with Betts, who discussed her favorite craft tools and materials, as well as her favorite techniques. Thank you, Betts, for sharing your knowledge and samples of your work. And a special thanks for your Challenge questionnaires regarding our favorite things. We are looking forward to viewing the book you will be putting together, and which will help us learn even more about our Phoebe sisters!

Suzanne R brought samples of the doll clothes and accessories that the ladies who meet at The Cotton Patch in Lafayette have been making and also receiving from other ladies around the world. Their sewing is impeccable, and each outfit is a work of art. They will be dispersed to girls in hospitals. Suzanne has been focused on making the color coordinated beaded bracelets that are shown in the plastic bin. She has made many hundreds of them over the past few years. 

Daisy has been busy making owls for the upcoming yearly Girl Scout Jamboree.  

She did a fantastic job on these two and still has more to make.

Barbara has been using red cabbage to dye her silk ribbon, laces and fabrics. She calls it a "phantom dye" and loves the pale pink tint, as well as the lovely blue green one that appears on other fabrics. 

This example is beautiful! As is the one below!

Bonnie brought a "blast of the past" that she made for an old Phoebe challenge to dress a wooden doll.

 Sue displayed the "cute people" get-well card Marcella made and sent to her. 

I think it was Bonnie who shared these lovely book pages featuring punched shapes and forms.

And she used paints to stamp designs. What a great idea to use puzzle pieces. 

Betts showed us a dress in a box, made from 2 napkins and a Goat Hill pattern.  

And these next three are also mixed medium paper and fabric embellishments.

 

Combinations of gluing and sewing.  

Geri displayed samples of some of her favorite die cut designs that she uses on book pages and greeting cards. 

 Some are shapes and some are edgings. All are exquisite!

Sally completed this accordion style fold out book with a Collage Soup graphic on the cover and tags with her original art on the inside pages. 

She loves to often make her own very detailed graphics. 

They are priceless, and perfect for a greeting card or book pages like the ones below, which are displayed in a brown paper bag book. 

Suzanne R created this beautiful card on 3D paper and added tinted pastel dragon flies on the front and on the raised greeting on the inside. She sent it to Sue on her birthday. So lovely!

Colleen has been busy seriously painting abstract shapes and forms on large pieces of paper with several layers of paint and clear coats. Wonderful! Can't wait to see more!

Caroline made her own pattern for this velveteen peacock, and she did a wonderful job!

 
 

What is Washi tape?????

Calendar

March 8th Meeting. We will be meeting at Marcella's. Drop-in social get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Bring a lunch.

 

The Highlight of the February meeting featured Bonnie and Sally lecturing all about Washi Tape.  

We learned that washi tape originated in Japan many years ago. It is a removable tape that can be used over and over to hold down pieces and parts of a design. The modern washi tapes have their own colorful printed designs and can be used as permanent adornments and trims if glue is added to the back. Sally and Bonnie also covered the tips, tricks and techniques for usage on many kinds of artistic creations and brought examples. We are hoping to have a make it and take it session where we can utilize those techniques.

This is one of Bonnie's samples that incorporated washi tape embellishments.  

If you return to previous posts, you will see many books and pages where Sally has used washi tape. It is one of her favorite go-to things! This sample includes watercolors, inks, and washi tape on watercolor paper. 

She handed out copies of this print of even more ideas.  

Our March enrichment session will be led by Geri and will be all about making vintage cards trimmed with silk or other types of edgings. This book she made displays pages of cards she decorated with vintage graphics and trims. 

Show and Tell 

The recent challenge from Betts was to make and decorate a house representing "Home is where your heart is."

Colleen painted these whimsical, happy and colorful houses. 

Suzanne D., our avid quilter, displayed a placemat she decorated with a house and tree.

Marcella glued various papers together to construct this 3d house. 

Caroline spent many hours constructing her fabric house pin cushion, using a pattern she has collected. It was labor intensive but well worth the effort.

Sue is a whiz at using Photo Shop and used it to embellish a photo she took of the house her daughter just purchased. It includes some upgrades and improvements they plan to make.

Sally's birdcage house is so cute...a combination of paint and sketched ink, it's a happy home for these four birds.

Donna hasn't finished her "home" challenge yet, but was reminded of a fabulous 3d house booklet Sharon gave her for Halloween some years ago.

It is amazing!

It reminded Donna of a Phoebe altered book class that was taught by a local artist some time ago. 

She taught us to glue pages together, remove pages, and use tiny match boxes to put movable drawers in the book.

Several months ago, Sally taught us another technique to make a book and how to bind and decorate it. This is the one Donna completed.

And she just added some ink outlines and graphics to the cover of a booklet from Jennifer's book binding enrichment last year. 

Donna also made these two wall hangers, each created from two antique book covers. They are great for holding mail (or bills to be paid). 

Ann brought a sample of the adorable angels she made as a toy designer...

and, a flying pig. So cute and happy! Daisy will be leading enrichment in November, and we will be making flying pigs. Ann is ahead of us all!

Suzanne R completed her doll from the Christy Silacci enrichment. Cute cat! Thank you for sharing. 

Bonnie brought a blast from the past. These are some of the first Flying Phoebe name tags, dating back to 1987 I believe. Bonnie and the late elinor peace bailey were the founders of the Phoebes, and elinor was the designer of the Flying Phoebe doll and logo. We are all so thankful that they created this wonderful group!

Geri has been putting together a little house booklet. She is filling the pages with memories of various parts of her life. She now has 8 separate parts.

Shawn displayed some of the interesting items she has been collecting and recycling. This wearable collection is perfect to bring some happiness to people who are in need of a little cheer.