Etsy

Hi! I'm a northern Minnesota resident and our weather lends itself to lots of time for projects! I've had many years of creating for fun along with 10 years of teaching art. My children are grown and now I am excited to share my creations with others through etsy! I'm looking forward to retirement with my husband, so we have more time to camp, canoe, bike ride, hike, garden and visit grandchildren - oh and do some ART!

I started creating Penny Rugs in 1995. I was very interested in the history behind this textile art. I was also intrigued with the patterns and colors. Penny Rugs are a folk-art form that arose in the early 1800's. Women joined economy with ingenuity, and stitched together small scraps of fabric, cut from worn out clothes. They used coins as templates and fancy stitching to create colorful and useful masterworks. Their "rugs" adorned their immigrant trunks, table tops and parlor room floors. In keeping with tradition, all my rugs are hand stitched. I resale shop and buy wool and felt to up-cycle as often as possible. You can still find some great antique Penny Rugs around, but be prepared to pay a high price.

I find the art of mosaics fasinating. This too is a historical art form. I love to take little pieces and put them together to form one interesting piece. Often the fun is in the hunt to find that perfect old plate or tile to break. The paper mosaic pictures I create are born out of old magazines. Isn't recycling great!

There are so many talented people in our world and I'm pleased to be a apart of the artisan community!

Thanks for visiting Medley of Designs,

Diane