2014 Altered Book Round Robin

We kicked off our 2014 altered book round robin on Sunday and this is going to be an exciting year for collage swaps!  Everyone's books are so original and a great jumping off point to inspire each of us to create.  

After 3 years of altering little spiral bound calendars, we decided on a colour theme.  Originally inspired by the amazing book True Colors, i have done colour themed books several times in the past.   

First off is K's book above - she titled her book the Order of the Purple Rose - and yes her theme is purple.

 Next up is S's book - titled Bling - it has a black and white and crystal theme.

 D's book is called Cherry Heaven Teal - her colors are red and teal.

Z's book is Called Nature and Other Green Things.  So yes - green theme!

And finally my book which is PINK.  Read more about it below or HERE. 

Please check back each month as i work in each of the books, twice, throughout the year.

I will be working in the green book first.

Sadly our friend L who moved away last year - but still participated in our swaps decided it was time to move on to other projects.  We'll miss you Miss Lucie!

Pink Altered Book

 Are you ready for the cutest altered book project, like, ever?

This year's altered book round robin swap with my artsy friends has a colour theme. We each chose a colour for our books - and we will send them around twice this year to our group of 5 ladies. As you might have guessed - i chose PINK! My covers were done with a floral print paper with gold foil accents.  I added some wicker handles from a gift bag and painted them pink.  Then i added a bauble and some ribbon for a "closure".

 I used to have a wicker purse with flowers on it that was so cute, everytime i put it on the checkout counter in a store to pay for something - the sales associate would say, "what a cute bag!"    It got to be so common that my husband started talking to us like we were girlfriends. 

"Are you and 'what a cute bag' having wine with dinner?" 

 "Would you and 'what a cute bag' like to go for a drive?

Well i think this altered book is just about as adorable as that bag.

 For my inside front cover i created a collage with scrapbook paper, some hand painted and stamped deli paper and some french dictionary pages.  I chose the page with "rose" - which is the French word for pink.  The bird was originally yellow - so i painted it pink.

 For the title page i used dictionary paper as a background, and discovered i have lots and lots of pink postage stamps.  I sorted my stamps by country and genre once upon a time, and had a lot of queens and kings i just grouped together.  the big pink letters were from a punch out scrapbook sheet.  I sprayed them with pink mist to add more colour.

 For the next spread i used some random stuff i found in my stash.  The page on the left was from a class i taught - where i demo'd walnut ink and gold foil, and water colour pens.  I added some washi tape and glitter tape to the edges.  The image transfer on the right was on a pink cardstock card that i never finished.  I added the bow and the word pink.

 Inside the card i added my intro and instructions to the art group.  Anything goes in this book - so long as it is predonimantly pink! 

For the next spread i started with a cool marble paper for the background and then added pieces of napkins - applied with slightly diluted matte medium.  Remember to remove both back sheets from your napkins in collage - so they have an ethereal transparency.

And finally here is the sign in page at the back of the book.  I used an Italian map with pretty pink and green printing as the background.  then some tall narrow vellum envelopes. An assortment of pink paint chip samples cut from a full deck will be used by each artist to decorate and sign.
I always love the process of "birthing" a new altered book. It is fun to create something from nothing.  And like sending your first born off to college - this book must now leave my protective nest and journey around to my friends to add their own interpretation of PINK!

Two Birds Painting

Here is a sweet little cheater painting i finished this month after starting it last summer.  why cheater?  it is a paint-by-number!  I wanted something to work on to just take my mind off things - it was a great way to just zone out.  and almost go blind, working with a teeny tiny brush and small sections.  It came out quite pretty!

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...!

50 Swallows

I ordered 100 die cut birds in cream coloured card stock from a lovely etsy seller to add to my christmas cards.  sadly due to the slow mail they did not make it in time. (although i probably would not have had time to finish them anyway!)  CHeck out her site HERE.

Since i was going to see my sister over the holidays, and it was her special 50th birthday on the 21st - i decided to put the birds to good use.  i created a garland with 50 birds - just by running them through my sewing machine with about 5 inches in betwen each one. 
Here you can see she hung them over her kitchen door and windows where they can enjoy the snowy winter until spring when they have to fly from Calgary to Capistrano!

Quilt!

 My friend and neighbour E gave me a big surprise last week.  She made me a quilt! How unbelieveable is that?????!!!  It was so generous of her and i am delighted with how beautiful it looks on my bed. She hand cut and sewed this pattern with type dye style fabric in a rainbow of colours.  The background was sewn on a long arm machine by her friend.  They chose a dragon fly pattern.

 How can i thank her?  well this is just a "start"!  I made a little quilt inspired thank you note with some origami papers and glue dot buttons.  I'll have to come up with a better way to show my appreciation.

Here is the quilt with my existing cushions and artwork.  I might change things up a bit - but for now - it is just so beautiful and fresh and lovely.  Thank you E!!!!!!!!!!!!

Altered Book - Paper Dolls 2

 I have been having fun creating paper dolls for L's altered book.  I previously worked on the book HERE.  Our little spiral bound calendars are almost finished their journey through the 6 of us - each getting the books twice this year to work on.  I started with a pretty gal cut from a catalog.  I put her on a swirly green paper background and added a few "fashion" phrases.  For her first frock i created a whimsical polka dot party dress and added a netting petticoat and a pink bow.  The dress attaches with a gemstone magnetic so you can actually PLAY with this paper doll!

 Here is a mod a-line dress made from a handmade paper that looks a bit like tie dye. Oops - your slip is showing...!

 All girls need a little black dress - this one cut from this silver/black check.

 Finally i made a big poufy skirt and organza blouse.  all made with paper and a copper organza bow.

 And every girl needs a nice big closet for her clothes - they all go in here!

 Here is the next spread.  A cute little kewpie style red head with a paper wardrobe accented with ribbons and trims.  Her background is a mixture of orange and purple stained ledger paper, some striped fabric and some jumbo orange rick rack trim.

All her clothes fit in the sheer pockets on the left and attach to the doll with another magnetic gemstone.  Have fun playing with your doll book L!