Back Home From Sailing Adventures!

Been having a great time on our sailboat, but because it is hurricane season, we parked the boat in a safe location and flew home for the summer.  That is a good thing since I have been having withdrawals from my longarm and other art supplies.

I took up photography while we were on the boat, so I wanted to show you a slideshow of few of my favorite images:

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Now I need a good way to organize and stow all the 1,000’s of images I took.  Luckily, my good friends, The Pixeladies, are having an eClass starting soon on organizing all your images using Photoshop Elements.  I am going to take it, and I hope you will join me in this class.  Stay tuned, I will tell you more in tomorrow’s post!

Hugs, Carla

Happy New Year!

Home now after 3 trips in 3 months!  October, I was in Australia.  Went sailing in November in the British Virgin Islands.  December was spent spending quality holiday time with my Dad and Doris in Missouri.  I am a bit traveled out, I do say!

Example of Digital Quilt drawn in Photoshop Elements

In the meantime, the power cord on my Fujitsu tablet PC was detached by accident by a cute little boy named Ethan.  That means for the first time in over 10 years, I am without a tablet.  Do I hear a gasp?  🙂  So now I am on the hunt for a replacement tablet PC, and I need to have my Fujitsu repaired, too.   Promise to write a post about my research for those interested in this subject once I look at all current offerings.

Once my Tablet PC is replaced, I plan to announce another Quilt Whisper design class.  I may even hold a brand new class, too.  Stay tuned as I will announce it here, on FaceBook, and through my mailing list.  If you are not one my mailing list, please write a comment indicating you wish to be added.  I promise to never share your email with anyone AND will not send out junk mail to you.

Here’s to a wonderful and creative 2015!!  Hugs, Carla

New Images of Fabric Crochet Purses

Lauren also took digital images of my work, too..  I love how she captured detail images of my fabric crochet purses, so I thought I would share some of these with you.    I started crocheting with fabric many years ago- inspired by generations of women who created rag rugs using old clothes for practical reasons.  I remember that the first one I made was during a Lori and Carla Creative Adventure Week, so Lori may have taught me how to crochet with fabric or vice versa.

I have taught my crochet purses/bags as a class many years ago at High Sierra Quilters, and plan to offer this technique, along with my embellishment techniques, in the future as an online eClass:

Some images of my Autumn fabric crochet purse.  The colors in this purse are quite striking and it is an easy beginner project:

Notice how well the fabric has held up over the years.  Below are some embellishment details of the front:

The leaves feel and look like suede, but instead are made with one of my techniques:

Above is the back of the purse.  Her is another color way using different colors:

Notice the embellishment flower on the front?  Here is a detail shot of the flower and beaded center:

I have also made this bag using spring color fabrics, here is an older image I took many years ago:

 

Commercial fabric was used in the bag, shown above, and I was starting to experiment with various types of bag closures.

Here is the very first one I made, I used mostly hand-dyed fabrics:

 

 

Anyway, I hope you will consider taking this class when I convert it to become an online class or if I decide to teach it again at quilt stores or shows.  Take care and have fun creating!  Carla

 

Adobe Illustrator Homework

This semester, I decided to take an Adobe Illustrator eCourse through a local college in Sacramento.  So glad I did, here are a couple of samples of my homework projects.

First project was to take a TV or video remote and recreate it to be as realistic as possible.  I did show it early in the semester, but I like what I created:

rasterized AI file for class

Next project was to take an interior image from a magazine and recreate it using certain color pathways and lighting.  Here is what I turned in:

class project by Carla Barrett

The most recent project is a package redesign- where we had to search for a grocery store product in need of a design overhaul.  Here is my label for this beef product:

Personally, I like the white/blue ribbon in the product logo I made.  The cow art is also mine; here is a close up of this white-faced hereford:

AI art by Carla Barrett

Taking a class like this is great!  It stretches your skills, challenges you to try something new, plus I love to design.

Of course, if it were up to me, I love the first cow I drew for this project  (see below), then decided it was too un-sophisicated for a product design.  Still, it would make a terrific Carla quilting design:

Copyright design by Carla Barrett

Can you say Moo?

 

Announcing Tablet Design eClass- Self Study Option!!

I am excited to try out a new class feature- the ability of students to take my Tablet Design eClass at their own pace and as a self study option!  I have jammed packed so much course content, that doing this just makes sense.

To register, click HERE.  If you need assistance registering, please watch my helpful video located on the bottom of my Schedule & Registration page here.Below is more information about this eClass:

Tablet Design Class-  Self Study**  by Carla Barrett-

Dates: Available Now!  Once you have paid, you will have up to 9 months to complete this course.  Registration starts Now Here

Fee:  $70  (Repeat Students may contact Carla for a 50% discount rate)

Class Description:  This  online self paced course by Carla Barrett teaches you how to use your tablet, pre-loaded with Photoshop Elements, to create a wide variety of designs.  Through online videos, handouts,  and creative exercises, Carla will show you how to plan and design your quilts, your quilting motifs, pantograph designs, wholecloth quilts, and art quilts on your tablet.  This self-paced class is jammed packed with design lessons and creative exercises sure to inspire any student- no matter what their drawing skill level is.

**Prerequisite:  Basic knowledge of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS.  Knowledge should include familiarity of tools, how to install program and open it, how to save a file, and working in layers.  If you are not sure, you may contact Carla here.

Here are just a few examples of class projects:

Quilting Design by Carla Barrett

Quilt Design by Carla Barrett

Zen Doodle Design

wholecloth design

and MORE!!!

Supply List

Tablet:  •This class uses any Tablet, Tablet PC, or Tablet Plug-in (ie. Wacom) capable of interacting with Photoshop Elements.  (Please note that this class is not for tablets running Android or Apple iPad OS software.  Why? These type of tablet Operating Systems can only run Apps, and unable to work with a comprehensive full design program such as Photoshop Elements.
Software:  • I currently use Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 10 for all videos in this class. If you already own a previous version of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, you should be able to use your particular version.
• To view the videos, you need a viewer like QuickTime or Windows Media Player.
• To view the lessons, you need a PDF viewer like Foxit Reader or Adobe Reader.
Class Level–  Previous Photoshop Elements class or basic user knowledge of Photoshop or PSE.
• This class is for Photoshop users who want to learn how to design a variety of quilting applications with their tablet. All the tools and techniques we use in this course are useful for other applications as well, i.e. digital scrapbooking, brochures, graphic design.
• You must have the programs installed on your computer before the course begins.

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Any questions, please contact Carla HERE.

Registration Opens on 1/2/13 For Designing Fabric eClass!

Hello from Carla,

I wanted to share that registration for The Pixeladies eClass on  Designing Fabric using Photoshop Elements opens tomorrow!    (Remember, too, that students wanting to repeat this class receive a 50% off invoice.)

Course Description and other information is HERE. Please watch the following How-to video if you need assistance in registering for classes.

To contact me, please click on the Contact link button above.  Thank you, and Happy New Year!

Info About Next Session of eClasses

Just a quick message to let everyone know about upcoming eClasses I have scheduled for early 2013.

The following 3 class dates will be announced soon:

Quilt Whisperer eClass by Carla Barrett–  This class is all about learning Carla’s unique approach to how to design quilt tops for machine quilting.  Also learn some of Carla’s favorite quilting designs and how to find your own inspiration!

Fabric Design with Photoshop Elements* by The Pixeladies– The Pixeladies teach you how to design fabric for use in your art, art quilts and pieced quilts.

Tablet Design Class* by Carla Barrett- This eClass is jammed pack with methods for how to effectively use your tablet and PSE to design quilts, quilting, quilting motifs, zen doodle and more!

*this eClass has a prerequisite of Beginning Photoshop Elements eClass OR basic knowledge of Photoshop Elements or PS CS.

Side note- I decided to take a class break for this holiday season 2012 so teachers and students may enjoy their holiday season!  Keep watching for when I finish scheduling the 2013 eClass dates!

Thanks, Carla