I’ve had fun reading an advance copy of Alisa Burke’s new book , Sew Wild. It’s beautiful and full of great techniques for fabric and more!

Now, I have to be honest, I don’t sew. I CAN sew, I CHOOSE not to. I learned how to sew the ‘right’ way and well, that pretty much took all the fun out of it for me. I learned quickly that I’d rather paint so I left sewing behind although my machine is still part of my studio. I did do a stint of sewing on paper that was fun, and when I took my machine in for a cleaning I got reprimanded for it-lol!

Where I’m  going with all of this is that I was very pleased to see how many of Alisa’s techniques can be used even for us non-sewers! It’s chock full of cool things that can be used without ever touching a machine! (shhhhh, don’t tell Alisa;-)

I chose to start with a wood carving project. I’ve never carved on wood and it’s a lot different than lino blocks, but fun and the carvings are very unique looking.

I did some simple designs to go along with the face I carved. The carving blocks and even tools can be found at Michael’s. I even used my lino cutters and they worked fine.

Now, to get around sewing something I found a cute little ready to decorate muslin apron at Michael’s as well. There is a whole isle of ready to alter clothing etc.

Here’s the begining of my apron, with some carved blocks, and thermofax screens.

I’m not sure if I’m done yet but loving it so far! Can’t wait to try some other techniques from the book. Be sure to check it out HERE.