Colourful Stripey Collage Play Date

Once Upon A Time AB

 Once upon a time we stayed on top of our schedule for our alterd book swaps.  oh well, 2013 got a little bit off target so here i am in january 2014 completed my pages for the month of october. again i had the pleasure to work in K's book - called Once Upon a Time.  You can see what i did last march HERE.  To recap, we were to create pages telling the story of two girls and their various fairy godmothers and evil fairies - in our own words and pictures.
My spread above started with a background of two carpet images from a catalog.  I thought they could evoke a fanciful tree and a river of fish.  i chose some vintage illustrations to create the characters for the story. It wasn't my original intention - but they look like they are perched on a large tree limb - so let's go with that!  The leaves are stickers and the one floating in the river has a small bug (also part of the story).  Let's hope he disappears!

 I found this tent image in a magazine and thought i'd create some sort of circus-y spread. it turned into a fortune teller with a crystal ball.  the two children look very displeased about what she has to say. Vintage ledger paper in the background.

Here is my sign in tag - i need to create a little story to go along with my spreads and attach it to the tag.  better late than never - this book is now ready for three additional artists to finish it off before we can send it back to K!  Stay tuned - we are ready to start NEW books for 2014...!

Altered Calender - Sepia Lens

 I created a few more spreads in D's book - Through the Sepia Lens.  See the work in did last time i had this book HERE.  Since we have gotten a bit out of order with our round robin - i didn't really add the "narrative" to my pages - since this book has a sort of story line running through it.  I just worked with the  supplies i had close at hand, when two friends came over to "play".

The image on the right is the piazza san marco in Venice - where jazz bands play music to the patrons in the outdoor cafes.  lovely really.  I've been there twice!  Once with Mom in the late 70's and with my sweetie about 10 years ago.

 This spread makes no sense whatsoever.  But i'll figure out a way to pull it together!   The good thing is that D likes weird stuff!

 Here is the sign in page - my tag on the right - and you can see some empty spaces for my fellow altered artists once this book makes the rounds.

And here is a sneak peak at the images i'll be using for the NEXT altered book - Paper Dolls! Gosh i hated cutting out paper dolls when i was a kid!

Altered Calendar - October

For this month's altered book round robin calendar swap - i had S's book The Odditorium.  You can see the pages i did in it back in the April HERE.  The goal is to add colourful and unusual characters - real or imagined.  I found two Modigliani prints in a book - which i cut out and places on a hand painted deli paper background. I wanted to add a witty comment about the couple on the right, which was titled Bride and Groom by the artist.  But they just don't look like a married couple to me - so it didn't work.  I searched through a book looking for something to caption the pages, and went with a modified dedication - To mother and father and sister Vera,  then on the facing page, added "Why the long faces?"

For my next spread i did a portrait composition using one of Julian Schnabel's portraits with the texture of plates under the paint.  A bit of Portfolio oil pastels to blend in the background.  I flipped through a children's book and found the caption you see above. I thought it was fitting!

Altered Book Flower Techniques - Weaving!

 For our continuing altered calendar round robin, i had Z's book to work in.  She asked each of us to create pages that show off a NEW technique, using flowers as the theme.  You can see what i did last time HERE.  I decided to show off various paper weaving techniques.  For the first half spread i used a glossy magazine image of a rose bush - cut in straight lines, combined with a rosy coloured textured paper cut in curvy lines.  The cool thing about paper weaving is that you can cut the paper anyway you want - and it will fit together!  My pictures are not great (too much glare) but you can see the play on print and solid.  I added a few flower appliques on the side.

 For this spread i used two pages from a museum ad in a magazine featuring tiffany glass style windows.  Since i had two large pages, i could show what happens when you mix two SIMILAR images.  I cut thin and thick lines in each.  It could use some embellishments - some jewels perhaps? to finish it off.

 Here i chose two DIFFERENT but patterned floral papers and cut the paper on the diagonal.  This looks easy but is really tricky to do - well, it is finicky to say the least.  A couple of layered flower petals complete the page.

For the last spread i wanted to try something really challenging - so i chose a traditional flower illustration and a vintage business document.  Instead of just cutting the flower page into strips, i cut out each stem, leaf and flower and wove the strips of the document in and around them.  I tried to respect the "over/under" process in weaving, but hated to cover up too much of the flowers.  Anyway - it came out interesting to say the least!

Altered Book - Just One More Word

At the 6 month mark in our altered book quest - we each received our own books back home to work on for the month of July.  The intro to my book you can find HERE but explains the "theme" is to create a spread with just one word.  My first spread used a few different images from my favorite Anthro catalogs - a pretty butterfly strewn sweater, a bed of flowers, and a tropical bird wallpaper.  The aged wood at the bottom is scrapbook paper. The flowers cut from a magazine.  The word is Breathe.  As in, just keep living and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.

 My second spread gives you a bit of my frame of mind these days.  It has been about two months since my husband Jim passed away.  So yes - this is a sea of tears.  Cut from pictures in a Hawaiin tourist guide, the oceans and waves we experienced on our 25th anniversary trip in May.

 And for my third spread - this magnificent bird reminds us to look forward and Soar!  I covered the background with hand made paper and gave a little tent fold in the middle to cover the spiral holding the book together.  A couple of vintage air balloons cut from wrapping paper.  The die cut flower, cut from a sheet of lacey scrapbook paper with a bit of peach and grey oil pastel.  Sitting on top of vintage plaid wallpaper.  I might add a little bit of paint to soften the edges before i pack this up.

And finally here is one of the lovely birthday cards i recieved from my friend and play date partner Lucie.  A beautiful hand painted and collaged card with a touch of my favorite things - a bird, robin's egg blue, and vintage french text!  Please check out lucie's blog HERE to see more of her art!

Altered Calendar Swap - Once Upon a Time

 For the month of March i had the pleasure of working in K's book - a fairy tale of sorts, where you continue a story she began about a special little girl, her fairy godmother, and a wicked landlady.  Meant to serve as a "do it yourself" story book to read to her grandaughter, we were to add fanciful pages that tell a story, but don't limit the imagination of the viewer.  I started  with a picturesque cottage and covered it in rose stickers.  i added a litte poem that i cut up and rearranged.  The background was from an Anthropologie catalog.

 For my next spread i created a room with sunny windows covered in lavish green floral "drapes" where the girls could curl up on the tufted couch and read all day long from the piles of books.

 My third spread features one of those pictures you tear out of a magazine, or see online and just love looking at.  this pretty damsel will portray the evil landlady Esmerelda in the story.  The model was originally centered on the page, so i had to splice the image background on the left.  A few dabs of green marker tie it together.

The sign in tag is a little card where you can write your version of the story, but is not required reading to enjoy this delightful and whimsical book.

As has become our custom, we often bring goodies to share with the ladies in our play date group.  here are some textured papers and ribbons we each got to take home.

Altered Book - Flower Techniques

In the second round of our 2013 altered book round robin, i worked in Z's book - which is not so much a theme as a concept!  Her idea is to use flowers to illustrate collage and mixed media techniques.  These are the same mini spiral bound calendars we worked on last year.  You can see my book HERE.

Here is the "sign in page" - actually it is a sampler of paper colours and textures from a paper company, re-purposed here as a table of contents for the technique book. 

For her first "chapter" in the book, Z. showed us samples of embossed and debossed papier mache flowers - using rubber stamps, glue, napkins and tissue paper.  Her examples are intriguing and i cannot wait to try it myself!

For the second "chapter" i created three spreads using resin flowers.  This was based on a technique my pals learned from Kristen Robinson at the Create retreat last year.  Z and K attended the art filled event and brought me back a kit from Kristen's workshop - including an ICE Resin applicator. For this page i applied the ICE resin to some lacey pink paper, and then cut out two flower shapes.  Stacked with a button to create a pretty flower.  They are very pale, so i added some ink to the edges to try to make the layers show a little bit more.

For this spread I used the resin to coat thin tissue paper and napkins to create mica-like paper flowers.  I wanted to stretch it as far as i could - so i probably applied it too thinly.  It would be nice to try some with a thick coat.  Or several coats to build up the layers of resin.  There is a lovely vintage document for the background, and some resin coated floral tissue paper on top. I cut them both with scallop edge scissors. Then the resin flowers on top of that, with a few of my favorite aqua shell buttons.

For this spread i started with dictionary paper background and then applied several large roses from a napkin that had been coated with ICE Resin.  I let parts of the flowers extend over the pages so that you can see the stiff qualities of the delicate looking papers.  I added a few Paris addresses from the resin kit from Kristen.  and a pretty French perfume label sticker.

 For the instructions page - i glued a gold paper envelope into the book (trimming to fit).  I added a sheet of resin coated rose pattered tissue paper as an overleaf.  Then some additional resin coated poppies cut from a napkin.  A pink organza ribbon adds some prettiness.

 Inside the envelope are the instructions how to create your own resin flowers using ICE Resin.  In the workshop my friends took Kristen suggested using a large non-recycled black garbage bag as your protective surface to apply the resin to the tissue.  I used freezer paper and it worked great. I already ordered two giant vats of ICE Resin so i can try many more. (well, actually just 2-4 oz bottles - but that is enough to make many pretty flowers and other resin coated papers!!)

Altered Book Themes

I thought i would show you all the books we created last year in our monthly altered book swap.  Here are the books from 2012 - all fat and chunky after their 12 month tour through 6 participating artists.

Clockwise from top left:

SeaGlass - Miss L

1963 - Miss K

Beach House - that's mine

Dance - Miss Z

Under the Sea - Miss S

The Map and Moustache Book - Miss D

And here are the books for 2013:

The Odditorium - Miss S

Flower Sampler of Mixed Media Art Techniques - Miss Z

Once Upon a Time - Miss K

Paper Dolls - Miss L

Through the Sepia Lens - Miss D

Just One Word - Mine 

Check back often to see each book in closeup as they journey through each artist...!

Calendar Swap 2013 - Just One Word

 Our monthly gathering for play dates and altered books swaps kicked off 2013 last weekend.  We each received a new blank calendar to use for the swap.  Same as last year - the little spiral bound calendars are a nice size to work in quickly.  No stress - just fun!
For my new book i went with a theme called Just One Word.  the concept is that you will create a spread - any style you like, then add ONE WORD to describe it, or express a mood of feeling, or whatever!

To emphasize the theme - the first few pages of the book express this boldly.   For this spread i used 4 different background papers and added gesso to soften the patterns.  then some yellow and green ink.  The word JUST is raised up on thick glue dots.

  Here is ONE.  My friend Z created the bird stamped muslin ribbon on top of the page.

 And WORD - the background is a combination of printed paper and tissue paper.

 Here is the introduction page for the artists who will work in the book.  The tag came from Wendy Addison and said "open me" but of course - since i can only put ONE WORD on the spread, i had to cover up the "me".   The notes to the artist are inside the envelope.  I explain the concept and let everyone know that foreign text, or allover text used as a background are ok.

Here is my first spread in the book.  I took the image of Venus by Botticelli, and cut her out from her background.  I placed her instead on a blue sky with some white clouds.  On the left i created a collage landscape using strips of blue and green papers to evoke the sea and the sky.

I added my one word: idyllic.

Here you can see in the original what i was hoping to achieve.

 For my second spread i used some images of fast moving water over mossy rocks.  I created some interest on the page by adding strips and a couple of puzzle pieces.  The word i chose - Rush, 'cus you know, that water appears to be in a hurry....!

And finally here is my sign in page.  only, yeah it just says SIGN, per the one word per spread rule.  I used Mexican bingo cards for the sign in cards.  Each artist will decorate, add fibers, whatever they want, and place it in the other envelope.

Under the Sea Altered Book

 As these altered calendars go around the second time - it is harder to come up with an original idea!  ALl the cool fish had been taken already....

So i came up with the idea od an undersea look at polar bears!  I printed some images on paper and some on transparencies to give the pages an icy glow.

 I cut the two inside pages of the spread to resemble icy frongs and added white pain, blue green ink, and some fish stickers.

 There is a polar bear swimming in the icy blue transparency.

I was sure to add some specks of "ice" with micro beads and stickles.  Bbrrr...!