Melitastitches4fun's Blog

Today I did add the chimney, stitched some pieces in place, and painted cheesecloth for clouds which I unconventionally placed under the light weight Lutradur because it just looks messy on top (not how Laura would do it but she said she understands my issue – very kind woman).

My big leaves for in front of the house will come from the top painted (by Laura and in her Class Chest) but not heated piece of Tyvek. That’s why the yellow building is incomplete. The bottom painted Lutradur is a contribution from my classmate and may be used too (although Laura thinks it’s too dark).

I also played with Tyvek and an embossing mini heat gun. I could have tried 100 more times and never gotten the little heart (which could be cut out, painted, and used on something). Can you find it?

This is certainly a challenging process. Laura is a very good teacher and encouraging. Learning and using about Lutradur and fluid medium were the top take aways for me.

No more classes for awhile because I’ve got enough to work on for a long time!

From my starting point in the morning using paper to preview, I decided the arch was too wide and my vase/urn was too small. But, I decided on the background fabric to go underneath the painted Lutradur. Which would you choose?

I went with pink. And, I narrowed the arch and enlarged the urn. Laura had raffia that might work for the trees except I want a brown. That’s a tree on the right using window screen in green on top of a brown that would then get stitched.

So, I got this far with yesterday’s design in the morning. Before proceeding, I feel the need to work out the size and shape.

I regrouped at lunch knowing I still had 1 and 1/2 days of class. So, I pulled up another image, Flower Garden and Bungalow in Bermuda by Winslow Homer, a wedding gift from Ann D.

Back to painting Lutradur and then pulling fabric got me here by the end of the day. There is a lovely print under the painted green area adding subtle coloration. I utilized the fluid medium to prevent fraying of the fabric used for the white roof and yellow building. But, I see now my roof isn’t long enough.

Only the roof needed to be recut because the building will be covered by foliage. I kept extra and redid it before the closing banquet (held the night before the last day).

I keep reminding myself that mixed media is not my normal area and it’s not likely to be fantastic. But, I look at my classmates progress and honestly feel like I’m not getting it! Bill is very encouraging and I doubt that I can find a counted canvas class willing to adopt me for a day!

It’s been a couple of years since I attended an EGA Seminar. But, the 3-day class with Laura Smith Going Places: Hands-On Design and Color was something I didn’t want to miss.

Here’s our kit with lots of unusual items including Lutradur. We also have access to Laura’s Class Treasure Chest.

We’re getting a lot on design principles and hands on painting today.

I took this photo during the Anheiser-Busch tour in St. Louis. Thanks to Laura and my classmates, I discovered the flower is a bromeliad plant. This is what I will attempt to recreate!

Here’s my practice painting to get used to the 2 weights of Lutradur. We got white, yellow, red, and blue which enables us to mix any color we want. The paints are Jacquard Dye-na-Flow, that despite the name, is an acrylic paint not a dye. My key takeaway was the Lutradur sucks up the paint. You’ve got to mix up enough to start with because you probably won’t get the same color blend.

After the afternoon break, I painted my background on the heavy weight Lutradur. Most of this will get covered. Apparently, it’s easy to stitch through. I painted an 8.5 x 11 piece but am not likely to use it all. My issue came from stitching two colors to close together. They bleed on this material. Had I let one area dry before painting next to it, it may have been less evident. But, Laura helped me blot it from spreading too much. And, stitching will cover it. I have more Lutradur and could try again. Or, maybe painting over some of this. I’ll consult with Laura tomorrow.