#198: K.I.S.S.

I really admired the beautiful linoleum cuts that our Diva posted on her website.  The shoes were oh-so-cute, and the other tile she created made the most wonderful patterns when turned and repeated on her surface.  That girl is so talented, and I have to wonder when does she have time and energy to churn out all this stuff??  I think that until I remember that when I was her age, I seemed to have boundless energy too.  Time has, um....passed... But Laura's work reminded me of some work I did years ago that fit this K.I.S.S.  (Keep It Simple, Silly - or Stupid if you're an American politician - I digress...) theme.

Back in the "Olden Days", I took a college art class where the final was to make a linoleum cut and use it to create a project for a good chunk of our grade.  Many of my classmates had done beautiful and intricate carvings of scenes or people, and they were using them with multiple colors of ink or specialized Japanese art paper or some such spectacular application.  Although I draw fairly well, I just couldn't get that linoleum to cooperate, and wasn't very good at the carving.  I managed to carve a simple, single leaf on a block about 5"x7", I believe.

But, like every good former Girl Scout of my day, I had a sewing machine and knew how to use it!    I bought some very simple unbleached muslin (really cheap on my student budget, and also easy to sew.)  I made a long gathered skirt and a really easy blouse with an elastic neckline and super simple raglan sleeves.  I got some brown printing ink and made a border at the bottom of the skirt and put some leaves down the length of the sleeves. I completed the outfit with my best hippy-dippy raw leather lace-up belt. 

Well!  I showed up in class on finals day wearing my new duds and was the hit of the season.  The teacher, with mouth open and eyebrows raised way high, gave me an instant A+.

For my response to the challenge, and having been reminded of that leaf carving, I did a single something-like-a-leaf.  I took inspiration from a leaf in the pattern of my bedding with fluted edges and round thingys down the center.  Here is my version.

On other fronts, the Square One group is using Indy-Rella this week.  Much of the work that's been posted on FB is incredibly lovely, but mine...something weird happened and I just had to go with it.  Oh well:

So thank you for dropping by today.  I enjoy all your comments and am grateful for your input.  To see all the Diva Challenge responses, use the link at the right margin of my screen.

Happy Holidays, everyone, and stop back next year for the next round of challenges.  God Bless!