More of my 2010 Calendar

I have finished several more spreads in my 2010 calendar and it is ready to mail. I send mine to Modesto and will receive a book from Discovery Bay. Most of the books are on their way to one of us 6 artists.

Just to remind you about my book i introduced HERE. We are altering art calendars in a round robin format. Each of us will send our books around and spend a month working in each other's book. In my calendar, generally on the left page are images by artists and graphic designers. On the right is my artwork. Then i frame both pages to create a cohesive whole spread.

This page was a challenge - the graphic design on the left was a bit weird - guys fishing out of floating windows. I went with assorted blue papers with rough edges and added some fish.

This is my intro page. I added some striped paper trunks to two of the trees on the right.

I added some christmas lights to this page i showed earlier. Not sure what that illustration means - but i figured if the house is on fire (figuratively speaking) i should add some lights.

I just did a simple cartoony drawing on the right to echo the illustration on the left. kind of dumb - but it was a nice way to get the creative juices flowing early in the morning last sunday.
Here was another bizarre illustration of a female hanging by branches. I thought the trees on the Belvedere vodka sort of echoed that.
I LOVE this spread. I started with two different printed papers and made little folded flaps to hide some journalling. 10 - 11- 12- 13 are the dates. I added some tapes and ribbons, but it still seemed too elementary. Then i went through my stash and found two artist postcards with black and white human forms - i cut them out and added one to each page.

Finally, the last page of January faces the sign in page for the artist who will work on February. So i went with a pink themed page - using a hello kitty face. Her whiskers have clippings of "i love you" in 6 different languages. Including pig latin. Iway ovelay ouyay.

Mixed Media Monday - Something New

The challenge this week on Mixed Media Monday is Something New. So what better project to post than my NEW 2010 Calendar!

I participated in three successful round robin calendar swaps in 2005, 2006 and 2007. A few of my altered book friends loved to look through them each month to see what interesting collage and journalling people were doing. So we decided to start up a new project - Calendar Girls 2010~!

The "rules" are simple - we each purchase a artsy spiral bound calendar - they type they sell at the big books stores. Whatever theme you want. Then you "alter" the covers and create a few pages to set the mood and tone for the book. Then you do whatever journalling, collage or whatever for the days and weeks of January.

Then you mail the calendar off to the next person - around the 25th of the month. So you get a new book by the first of February. You alter that book for a month - adding your journalling to THEIR book. Then you mail, get another book - and so on.

When i did the calendar swaps before - they were large unmanageable groups with 30 - 36 people to track. We kept out group small - just 6 of us. This way you actually get your own calendar back in July - like it takes a summer holidday at home - then you send it off again. It comes back in time for christmas holidays.

The calendar is filled with 52 weeks of collage and images and whatever else your creative friends have added. The books can be chunky and dangly - with lots of embellishments. Or they can be flat but richly detailed. I removed the spiral binding and added large rings - then added some fun ribbons and fibres for texture. Added bonus? you can remove the pages to work in them!

My calendar is filled with quirky illustrations and collage from French Canadian artists. I picked the book up last fall when i was in Montreal. I want the book to be inspiration to try something new - modern collage with an abstract edge. No sepia or vintage photos. Keep is fun and bright and silly.

I have altered several pages - using the illustrations in the book as the jumping off point. I like to work this way - rather than fretting over composition - just have fun with it. Either choose the colour theme or the pattern or whatever - and add elements that echo what is already there. it is like finishing a puzzle or a crossword that someone else started - so easy and no stress!

A new altered book season

For the summer session of my altered book swap group, i created a book called Fear. I wrote all about it in a previous post here. I just received my first swap book from Carol. Oddly enough, we both seemed to strike the same tone - a sort of offbeat look at dealing with life's issues. My book dealt with fear and quilt and depression. Her book is called Self Help! Carol used a book from the 60's,entitled Secrets of Mind Power. This was probably published long before there were whole sections of book stores dedicated to improving oneself. We have been instructed to keep it light and fun, of course.


Please check back in a couple of weeks to see what i end up creating in this book! And check out Carol's blog, the unlikely crafter, you can read more about her inspiration for this book.