Going to the Chapel...

And well, we did go to the chapel, and we did get married - some 21 years ago. About 8 months ago i started a new altered book project with the California Art Girls. Marie had the idea to create wedding journals, in which each of the participants would create artwork, representing their own wedding. I wrote about my book here. Here was the last spead i did in Terri's book. That was back in March before i moved to the LA area. Then as these things sometimes go - i did not get a book for a long time - and then like city buses - three came along all at once! So i was determined to make good use of the long weekend to get these books done and mailed off to the next artist.

Here is the first book i worked on - a large photo album with watercolour pages. So if ever you are wondering what to do with the sleeves of your wedding dress - how about wrapping a journal with them? That's what Marie did here!

I decided it would be easier to work on paper out side the book and glue them in later. Since my wedding colours were peachy pink and lavender, i decided to use plain lavender computer paper as a base. But way to boring. So i used a stencil and Color Mists to create a subtle pattern. Since the stencil invariably gets all wet with paint -i used it like a "stamp" to create the reverse pattern on the other paper. Next i added a border of floral wrapping paper to the outer edges.

I wanted to try a scrapbook style i saw online i am calling "all bunched up". Essentially you create a cluster of things in the middle of the page with a lot of space around it.

The pictures don't show all the layers - but there is lace, the angel is on vellum, and a skeleton leaf adds an ethereal quality.

Some squished up rayon seam binding ribbon adds a nice vintage touch.

Here is the sign in page - Marie provided bell shaped water colour paper tags for us to alter. You can see how fun it is -so much variety!

The next journal was a traditional wedding book - albeit altered in a painterly way that hallmark probably never thought of! Roberta included her sister and parents wedding photos - so i thought i would include mine.

That's their wedding in 1952, and mine in 1988. Not many bells and whistles on this spread - but i did spend a lot of time on the background - pale pink mulberry paper with peach and lilac ink and a final dry brushing of white to tone it all down. The images are sanded in a cross hatch manner to tone down the ink. My parents photo is clearly vintage - but it helps tie to two together. I used organza ribbon as photo corners - very subtle - but pretty. A few stickers of pink roses and lavender bunches are a nod to my actual wedding flowers.

The last journal was a cute compact little book, strangely enough about rottweilers, but carefully concealed with wedding finery by Nancy. It had a more contemporary feel than the others - so i wanted to do a spread that was fresh and youthful.

I started with a background of two floral tissue papers. I laid out my images - featuring my bevy of bridesmaid beauties. (they looked so good someone suggested they came from a mail order bridesmaid catalog!) Then i just filled in around the images with pink roses and lavender flower stickers. I let some of the text - a romantic phrase - from the tissue paper remain. The final touch was a border of peachy pink organza woven through holes punched into the page.

I think there is one more journal to come. Then my own book should be on its way back home - with a beautiful array of bridal bliss...!