Busy, Busy

I have been busy.

This is a sample of why I have been so busy.

All of the books above start out looking like this.

It entails a lot of measuring and cutting of the book boards.

The cover papers have been painted and as seen here,,,glued onto the book boards.

Here I have used book cloth at the hinge and hammered some eyelet holes.

The last step is to cut the paper used to fill the books.

Two covers are then sewn together with decorative cord and accent beads.

A view of the cords and beads.

Each cover paper is different. This is an example of some of my hand painted paper.

Each book has coordinating book cloth on the hinge.

This paper has a gesso resist and is painted and stamped with acrylics.

This paper is a handmade dyed cotton with added blue coloring. It feels fuzzy to the touch

and reminds me of fluffy clouds in a sky of blue.

Once the books are all finished...they are then packed into hand sewn, felt pouches.

Hope you enjoyed the show. These "little beauties" make great stocking stuffers.

Handpainted Paper Sunday Freebie 3

Another handpainted paper Sunday Freebie.

This is the third Sunday

that I am posting some of my painted papers as a freebie for you

to use in your art projects, if you so desire. If you create anything using this

paper, I would love to see it.

The large fern was stamped with gesso and let to dry. This creates a resist effect when painted over with acrylics. A darker shade acrylic paint was used to stamp the smaller fern and little square element.

I will most likely use this paper as cover paper for one of my handbound books that I am in the process of binding right now.

The first two freebie papers can be found by clicking on the label...."Freebies" on the sidebar.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Wednesday`s Handbound Book

I never leave home without my sketchbook.

This time it´s a blue one.

The edges of the book block were stippled with light blue ink.

Three ribbons were attached as bookmarks.

The cover paper was stamped with gesso for a resist effect that you see with the large white stars. After that was dry.... I painted the paper with acrylics and stamped some smaller stars. Once the book boards were covered.... I added the small quote made of the same painted paper.

A closer look at the cover paper and my favorite wave cut spine cloth.

"Art is just another way of keeping a diary."


Wednesday Stamper is featuring everything to do with Books this week.....go have a look.

Sketchbook

My newest handbound sketchbook. Handpainted acrylic with white gouache Kanji script.

Black ink markings, white flower and moth stamping.

A close-up of the cover paper.

"Das Leben ist Zeichnen ohne Radiergummi"
"Life is drawing without an Eraser"

A Great Teacher

" Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day

with a GREAT TEACHER!"

Nothing like a great teacher to make our "school days" memorable.

Here is to all the great teachers in the world that make our schools a better place.

I have had several teachers that made all the difference by making the learning experience

fun as well as challenging.

This is the handpainted watercolor and sepia ink paper used on the card.

I wrote some Kanji script ...added a little mark making and some white gouache.

The tag before it was mounted onto the card.

Tag Tuesday has a tribute to our school days this week and Lots to Do is showing distressed Tags.....go have a look.

My Color Adventure

What do pigs, cotton candy, a panther and a singer have in common?

Yes, you guessed it.....the color PINK!

A more apt title for this post would be "Patty´s Playground of Perfect Pinkness" .... of Magpie´s Nest.....let me explain why.

This tag is for you Patty,,, thanks for turning me on to a color I never really took notice to until you posted these beauties below.

It all happened one cold day last February. Patty posted this beautiful foto of these pink tulips on her blog, Magpie´s Nest. That same day I had been talking to a painting buddy about colors we never seem to use
and then I even read a blogger that was saying "pink stinks".......

When I saw the second foto of Patty´s I thought to myself....well, heck,,,this pink does not look the least bit "stinky" at all. I was actually being drawn to the color pink!

Patty´s fotos so inspired me that I even went out and bought some pink tulips and ended up painting them in watercolor.


One of several versions of my pink tulips in ink and watercolor.


I painted yet another small grouping of pink tulips in watercolor. I was beginning to like a color I always seemed to ignore.

All thanks to Patty´s wonderful fotos.

Patty and I then began to email each other about the color Pink and eventually we decided we would send each other PINK things as a color swap ......

Before we knew it we were collecting every pink thing we saw.
I could not believe how much pink I saw in advertising, magazine covers,,,,even all over the inside of my local phone book. Pink was found everywhere and before I could turn around I had a box brimming over with pure, perfect
PINKNESS.It began to get so full I thought I might have to hire Bekins to ship it to the USA!


Here is what Patty sent to me as part of our exchange.
Some of her art collage cards. I love her work!


A closer look..............



She even made me one of her birds nest charms out of pearls and copper wire. Isn´t it gorgeous.
It looks great hanging from a chain. Thanks Patty, I love this!

Patty sent me all sorts of paper for my collage stash. Different textures and weights and some vintage pages. Many have already been put to good use.

A lovely pink lantern and fan to cool myself off during these hot summer months.

Some pink energy tea,,,,cut outs, buttons and lovely small embellishments.

Another look.............

A wonderful pink illustration and still more paper.

More cut outs and interesting papers.

Don´t you just love all this pinkness!

A pink advertisement for a market in her area.

Here is a "pink freebie" for you Patty and all who come here to see our fun swap. Thanks again for making me stand up and take notice to the color Pink ,,,in all it´s beauty.

Wishing you all,,,,, and especially you Patty,,,,a perfectly fun,,,pink kind of day................

If you want to see what I sent to Patty ,,,go over to her blog the

Magpie´s Nest and have a look.

Grand Finale

No fashion show is complete without a parade of all the pieces.

The Grand Finale....all that is missing is the Wedding Dress!

Anneke´s creation comes as close as I can get....go have a look at her stunning piece.

"Carry on"

In an Instant

As I created this last piece, I knew,,,in an instant,,,

that it would be perfect for Heidi Klum.

Trends come and go so quickly and from one day to the next,,,,,,

you´re either in or you´re out.

Considering that fact,,,and that somebody has to run the vacum and my frig is empty,,,,

now is as good a time as any to say, "Auf Wiedersehen" and get back to the business of living.

Project Runway can be seen in Germany on Viva.

This torso, as well as the last 3 torsos, were created with watercolor and ink.

They originated from a watercolor painting of trees and I carried that theme into the ink doodles.

Ginger Snap wants to see paint and Crazy Amigo has an open theme.. have a look and go create.

A Lot of Look

I know this is a lot of look but after reading

Tim Gunn´s, A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style,

I knew I could make it work.

The belt worries me but then again, it fits right in with

Michael Kors´Buckle Up Collection.

Creating so many pieces in such a short time is no easy task and in Tim´s own words I can just hear him say,

"I can´t want you to succeed more than you do"

and I know he´d encourage me to carry on.

Stay tuned for the final piece in the World of Haute Couture and some tips from Tim´s Boss.

Project Runway Calling

Everytime you dress, you assert your identity. We all need to find our own fashion voice.

Nina Garcia from Project Runway sent me "The Little Black Book of Style" ...how sweet of her.

Nina gives tips on how and when to wear what outfit. For example, she warned me against wearing this little number to a job interview....ahhh heck, I thought this is what is called...

"Dressing for Success." I am so glad she filled me in before I committed a deadly fashion

"faux pas"...

To sum it all up....Nina told me to try to find my signature look, learn how to experiment and most of all......PLAY......... and have fun with fashion.

I did just that.

Go discover yourself through the colorful palette that is fashion.

Tune in this weekend for Michael Kors and Tim Gunn.

Handbound Book in Red, Yellow and Turquoise

One of my many handbound books using some of my handpainted paper.....or as some refer

to as paste paper.

The book block is edged with speckles of gold ink and two ribbons are attached to the spine

to use as bookmarks.

The spine´s bookcloth was cut in a wave pattern ...I tend to use the wave quite often.
I like the shape it gives to the cover.

Handpainted Paper Sunday Freebie 2

Here is some more of my Handpainted Paper....or as many call it,,,Paste Paper.

This piece is a watercolor abstract with some metallic gold and a tiny bit of cheesecloth printing.

Feel free to use this in your creations if you so desire. Again, there is plenty of "white space" for your stamping or mark making. It would be fun to see what and how you use this. Please link to this post and show us your "before and after"......

I plan on stamping a few images and then using it to cover my latest book project.

Make it a creative week!