Glitz-Oh Girl

I created this book sculpture to have fun.  I SO wanted to use one of the old post office box doors I won on Ebay ages and ages ago…it led me to think about mail- old old mail- and this was the result.  If you can see, there is a tiny image in the hole of the P.O.Box door.. one from Ten Two Studios faux postage which I punched out with a 1″ hole punch.  (I’ll add that the structure of this book sculpture was inspired by an image I found while surfing Pinterest.  The tag is stamped with a 2002 Tim Holtz saying, and the skull beads are also from Ten Two Studios.)

It is up to you to figure out the title of this book sculpture, which can stand alone on a shelf or table top, or hang on a wall (but then the front cover with the door won’t show.)  (hint: a very bad pun – fully intended)

Keeping to my self-proclaimed mission to “de-stash” my art supplies, I’m also having a great time altering books/ journals.  This was a ‘falling-apart’ “Child Craft” Book – I removed the spine, covered the book covers with paper I got in Italy in 2007, and using my 9″xyron machine, I covered 18 of the original book pages with  art papers showing fanciful maps (Cavallini-Made in Italy) – some from 2003! and 2005.  I only covered one side of the original spreads, and left the original text and images and crayon and pencil scribblings uncovered on the opposite sides.  These are the signature covers.  The original pages can be altered at will.  I used them because they were all evenly sized, and good thickness. 2  folded Canson 100lb watercolor paper pages make up the interior of each section (signature).  Including the signature covers, there are 12 page sides which can be journaled or ‘arted’ on in each of the 18 signatures.  The journal is approx. 7″W x 10″H x 2″ thick.

I love how this turned out- it weighs nearly 3 lbs, but is very sturdy.  The closure is one of my laser cartridge pull straps- the thing you pull out when you load it to the printer.  I cleaned it of any toner residue- it closes like a belt- they’re fun to use for journals!

Back Cover and Spine, with my own fabric beads.

Inside Front Cover

Spine- Coptic binding (six-needle)

Inside back cover

Original book page -part of signature cover-to alter at will

 

Interior View - 18 signatures

I am near the end of another altered book round robin , hosted by an on-line friend.   This is her book.  Theme: What makes us Happy.

I have a whole list of things that make me happy- but for this book, I whittled it down some – I can sum it up by saying the things that make me happy in my art come in layers – and are all included in this spread:  colorful paints,papers and fabrics; working with my stamp collection-and using used stamps , received in various swaps, in my altered art; sewing fabric onto paper; collage!-especially using up my bits and pieces of stuff;  and hidden object games!  have fun,  Amy!  The paper making the pocket for the list is one of my watercolor (Twinkling H2O’s) and ink drawings, which I liked better when I ripped it to use for other projects.

All of the altered book art for this RR, that I have created, is in THIS FOLDER.

Layers of happiness!

List of my 'happy' things - fits in the pocket

First page with pocket .

A little depARTure here.   I have a dear, DEAR friend in Florida, whom I’ve known for over forty years – we had our children at nearly the same time, both of us having two boys, and I’ve spent many an hour years ago tending her kids, while she tended mine, and so many lovely memories fill me to this day!  She is an avid supporter of the arts, as am I – not just visual art, but we are both devoted to supporting musical art as well – especially for schools!

I have donated this 6 X 6 canvas for an auction in which my friend is involved.  It will go to support an emerging Community Cultural Center in Gainesville, FL.   I created this canvas in mixed media collage, with a Stampers Anonymous saying stamped into melted UTEE, then applied to the collage.

Top View

Bottom

Left Side

Art Is Truth - 6" X 6" X 1" art canvas collage

I had planned to show the next 8 pages of altered masterpieces for this book – as well as the other 5 signatures I added to the book- with pages ready to be altered.  That was going to happen after I took these four pics- then- due to a gremlin, or a poltergeist,  or dare I say  due to my carelessness?? – I dropped my wonderful Canon Power Shot SD550 camera!! wahhhhh .  Not only did it drop onto our oak floor, it bounced twice! and oops- there went the lens.   I love this camera- I adore it! It has kept me company for several years, on a sailboat (nope- didn’t go into the water!), at the beach -( nope- not into the sand) and many places and memories in between.    So-  camera shopping is now on my to-do list. Shoot!

In the meantime, I’ll use my iPhone camera and muddle through.  I realize I’m lucky to at least have an alternative.  Here is my big fat altered book- all locked up, with 8 signatures total- 3 altered, 5 waiting for images and text.  It pays to work background papers when I’m in the mood,  I was able to use all 10 of the sheets I made earlier – they have been converted into the signatures for this book!  I found the lock amongst my mom’s things in her desk- such treasures she left for me to play with – and the keys are all from ‘our’ collection of keys.   This book is approx 11.5″ tall X 9″ wide X 4″ thick – and currently weighs in at 5 pounds.  I told you it was BIG AND FAT!!  (You can view ALL of the images in THIS ALBUM.

I showed the book to my husband and he said “Oh wow!”  It jingles and jangles and makes ME  smile.  Over the years, I’ve collected so much ‘stuff’ – and for the past eleven years of working in mixed media art, I have accumulated enough of this and that to alter the moon, I think.   As to creating this altered book, I purchased NOTHING in present time to make it- instead I feel happy using up the big and little and colorful treasures in my art studio.  This nearly 2-week project has made me happy.   (now to research cameras……)  (Once I work on more pages, I’ll be using my gold-leaf pen to embellish the page edges.  I do that last as the leafing tends to rub off after a time.)

Under Lock and KeyMy maternal grandfather's sterling, monogrammed money clip - with a charm from one of Mom's necklaces.

My maternal grandfather's sterling, monogrammed money clip - with a charm from one of Mom's necklaces.

…for my Big Fat and Altered Book.  This is part of the second signature.

  You can see the rest of the pages for this signature, and all done so far, inTHIS album.

I’m irreverent – what can I say?  This thin book of Art Masterpieces housed at the Louvre has been in my possession for over 40 years;  I NEVER look at it or read it.  I will now – it is in the process of being intensively altered.  To see all of the pictures of the book in progress  so far, please go to THIS ALBUM.  Don’t forget to read the captions on the pages – all part of my fun!

The Covers and Spine:

Two  pages- altered – “Charles I” and  “The Lacemaker”:

My Mom- American Red Cross Volunteer during WWII - and we are now nearly 70 years beyond this time - what is next??

PLEASE, please, won’t you help?? these little folks seek only safety, food, shelter – and would take some love too, of you have it to give.   A Place To Bark is all about the love- they need help to help- I give- won’t you, too?  Thank you!!!!!

Please help me find a safe 'forever' home.

I’ve made a re-purposed book into a journal of imaginary ‘relatives’ – using wonderful vintage cabinet cards and tin-types from my sister-in-law, who GAVE these to me! (they are HER relatives  ). TY, Mendi! Love you!

I used envelopes I’ve saved for at least 8 years as the pages.  I had always planned to make a book from them – and am finally doing it.  I prepped the envelopes using acrylic paint, white gesso, and pencil.  All of the stamped decorations, buttons, printing and etc. were on the envelopes when I received them from friends and faraway places. (Which is why I loved them and saved them).  I then added the images. Yet to come is the ‘story’ of these people – I will write it in as I am inspired.  For now, to have these little treasures all in one journal makes me happy!

You can see ALL of the images in THIS ALBUM.

I created medallions using UTEE for the front cover, directly making them on the fabric, then stamping into the warm UTEE with one of my favorite “art” stamps.  The beads on the spine are my simple fabric and paper beads.  The journal itself is an old Childcraft book, gutted, using the covers and spine to create the ‘new’ journal.

More art therapy!  My sadnesses of these past 10 months have been largely helped by creating journals and messing with paper, glue and paint.  This journal is made from a set of 5″ X 8″ ‘manila’ paper alphabetized dividers (for a smaller file drawer) that were in my mom’s office supplies.  Says I, to myself, “alter them”, “make a journal”!  And so I did.

I used all saved scraps in my stash of ‘leftovers’ from other art projects, as well as paint, stencils, spray inks, vintage buttons, fabric, a few beads, and my larger saved pieces of lokta paper and watercolor paper for the pages of each signature of the journal.  The dividers I hinged with fabric, sewing the fabric to the paper dividers with my machine.  I then ‘sandwiched’ four folded sheets of lokta and watercolor papers into each divider section. There are 12 signatures (sections of pages) in this journal.  I made the spine material by fusing two pieces of fabric together with Liquitex brand “Flexible modeling Paste”…they feel like a single piece of leather – wonderful texture! (The fabric shows a partial map of Paris, France.)

I decided to name this journal piece of art “Number 48″, taken from the small round brass tag fastened onto the pocket on the front cover (which holds the key).

YOU CAN VIEW THIS ENTIRE JOURNAL HERE.

R.I.P. 10/01/2000 – 08/04/2011 I miss you so much, and love you!

Buster

For the past 3 weeks, as I’ve sunk into a real funk, I’ve found my art papers, PPA, and lots of color  have boosted my spirits.  After thoroughly emptying my mother’s home, by estate sale, plus disposing of and mostly  re-gifting her possessions, I found the huge amount of supplies in my art studio to be overwhelming, and no longer necessary for what I love to do most- alter books and make journals.  Consequently, after purging tons of bits for recycling, I decided to use up 3 plastic bins of scraps by turning them into large sheets of ‘backgound’ papers.  I did this by gluing them in complete randomness (and with great abandon!) onto parent sheets of Stonehenge paper – the 22″ X 30″ sheets.

I now have about ten sheets of multicolored sheets to use for signature covers for various journals.  Just cut and use.  No waste – perfect!  Here is ONE sheet of Stonehenge paper, front and back, as an example.

And this , below, is my latest journal, using ONE of these large Stonehenge papers for the signature covers with watercolor paper for the journal pages of each signature.  I used canvas board as the substrate for the covers, an image of my mother as a young woman, fabric, and many vintage buttons on the spine.  The journal measures 5″W X 7″H X nearly 4″ thick.  I love it. What do you think??

Back

This is another page I created for the Honolulu Altered Book Round Robin.  This is for Rosemary’s book for August- her theme is Mandalas.  We had free rein with this.

The Mandala is about 7″ in diameter, drawn on Stonehenge paper. (I used one of my old wooden circular cross stitch frames as a guide).

I divided the circle into 16 equal parts, then cut a template for one of the 1/16th sections.  Using that,  I cut 16 fabric-scrap triangles, glued them on with a gluestick, then sewed around the perimeter with my machine, and then sewed the spiral.  The Koi stamp is a 2001 stamp I  got from someone with Stampin’ Up.  After tinting the koi with markers, I  cut them out, glued them on with tacky glue, then gave them a coat of gloss PPA, so they would stand out a bit.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! Thanks!

(Double click the image to super-size it.)

KOI POND MANDALA

This past weekend, I took another terrific journal-making workshop with DJ Pettitt, an awesome artist, good friend, and very talented lady – if you ever get a chance to be in one of her workshops, take it!

This journal is the product of 3 days hard work, plus loads of fun.  As I’m a bit of a rebel with my art, I chose my own image for the cover of my journal- an original early 20th century Dutch postcard featuring the mother of Rembrandt.  I can’t describe all the techniques we worked with in DJ’s workshop, but suffice it to say, lots of laces, ribbons, collage elements, gesso, flexible modeling paste and Stonehenge paper for the pages were used.  Here is my journal.  (I plan to work on the pages some more, as I had to leave early yesterday.

Rembrandt's Mother - Mica covers the image - CatsLife Press stamp 'JOURNEY"Back Cover, with some of my grandmother's ribbon lace from a dress

3.5" Spine, with vintage buttons and laces and rib

Back Cover, with some of my grandmother’s ribbon lace (white lace) from a dress

Inside Back cover and facing page of last signature and sig. wrap - collage for inner back cover- the doily and black lace were handed down to me from my mom- the black lace was my grandmothers- late 19th century

Inside front cover - fabric and lace collage on muslin, free-motions sewing, tea staining

Journal Interior - 3 signatures with 6 fabric- hinged spreads in each sig., and vintage laces and crochet for the signature 'wraps'.Inside front cover - fabric and lace collage on muslin, free-motions sewing, tea stainingInside Back cover and facing page of last signature and sig. wrap - collage for inner back cover- the doily and black lace were handed down to me from my mom- the black lace was my grandmothers- late 19th century).

Hello out there!  In order to make room for books from my mother’s estate, and to also make room for art I’m working on, I have decided to part with some of my favorite pieces.

The first three are listed in my Ebay store- three book sculptures.  They all start at 99 cents each!

Hope you can stop over there and bid! Thanks.

Hi again- I took a break from the heat this afternoon and made a few ATC’s – the images are from Ten Two Studios’ collage sheet “Little Yellow Things”.

I used napkin and painted babywipe pieces for the backgrounds to the collages and acrylic paint with the images. The base is watercolor paper, adhered to manila folder pieces.  They’re sturdy but not too thick.

TRAVEL

MUSIC

HEART

is the theme (and title) of Connie’s book, in the ABC altered book RR I’m in with 5 other women.

This is my spread for Connie’s Book. I used fabric, Xyron adhesive, sewing, marker pen, book image cut and glued, PPA, old sheet music, painted-splattered paper towel,  and acrylic paint.

Dreaming While Awake

This is my tip-in page for Mike’s book in the Hawaii RR in which I participate.  His book theme is “Celebrate Life” – and I love to celebrate with a cup of tea.

The dimension of the page is 9″H x 5.5″W.  I used Stonehenge paper as my tip-in substrate. For the front, using PPA, I adhered an original piece of ephemera to the page.  This piece came from my mom, who was an avid collector of anything to do with Cornwall, England (our roots through Mom’s paternal grandfather.) I like using originals when possible, as I seldom, if ever, want to repeat an AB page design.

Over that,  I added a napkin design layer, again using PPA.  I then added a transparency print-out of another piece of emphemera of Mom’s- one I cherish and will keep intact.  I like to use my Xyron for adhering transparencies, as the adhesive never shows.  I also leave the ‘rough’ side up, as it appears less glossy, plus I like the feel of it.

Celebrate life With Tea!

For the reverse side, I used a napkin layer, a stamped saying (Stampington rubber stamp) and tea bag (real) with the brief and simple technique information.  The right margin of the reverse (and left margin on the front), are ‘empty’, to allow the page to be added to Mike’s book.    DOUBLE CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

Reverse side of tip-in page.

Our grandkids have been in town the past 2 weeks, and it was so fun to have some play time with the girls (13 and 9).  With our tall strong grandson, the girls, boy and I all worked on getting the finishing touches done on my mom’s estate sale.  Lots of hard work!

But for ‘leisure’ time, the girls and I played with paint, paper, fabric and glue.  The girls painted with watercolors, while I played with fabric and paper and tissue to create the beginnings of some background papers.  I used my Canson watercolor paper as background ( 18″ X 24″).  PPA is my adhesive of choice for gluing down all the bits and bobs of fabric and paper.  The top piece is all fabric, while the other two have a combo. of fabric, paper, book pages and tissue.

When I recover from clearing out my mom’s house , I’ll work on adding layers of paint, stencil, stamping and whatnot to these papers.  When done, I’ll give them a thin layer of Micro Glaze- then they’ll have a soft, leathery feel to them, and won’t stick to anything else.  I may use them in another journal – who knows?!

(DOUBLE-CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

I love being inspired by other artists- I don’t mind one bit ‘borrowing’ from the inspiration of others, and putting my own twist on the idea.  I think artists have been doing that for thousands of years….as humans, it’s how we first learn- by imitation, repetition and etc.  As we grow, our imagination allows us to re-interpret ideas artistically; to put ourselves into an idea we may have gleaned from another.

(NOTE: Links open in a new window)

I give credit for this idea to two artists whose work I saw on Pinterest.  First I saw Rachel Ashe’s Book of Alchemy.  Then Lisa Vollrath created her version of the idea.

I chose a slightly simpler palette.  The pages are ‘aged’ with Tim Holtz’s crackle paint “Old Paper”. I stamped some design, added napkin bits, and drew some lines. The vials contain little beads and embossing powders..I wanted color to go with the idea, and not so much what the content of the vial was.  The bird image is from some art paper I  found in Florence, Italy when I was there 4 years ago- I finally decided I could use it!   The bird’s nest and eggs are ‘store bought’- a gift from my sister-in-law to me, to get me started on a bird nest/egg collection.  (as if I needed one more collection!) I had the glass vials from prior purchases from a few different places which I can’t remember.  So- all items were on hand.

The back of the book is reinforced with a piece of book board, which I screwed into the book to hold it firmly wide open.  I layered tissue paper, paper toweling and napkins to cover the back, (using PPA glue) and spritzed it with a bit of Adirondack brand ‘Butterscotch’ spray color wash.  All items glued to the front are adhered with “Liquid Fusion”- a fantastic non-toxic, odorless, and super holding adhesive which I learned about from a member on the AB Group.

Voila….a hanging book sculpture.  It is 13.25 ” wide X 9″  high.

Alchemist Of The Air

Reverse side- ready to hang on any wall!

Speaking of hanging on walls, here are a few of my book doll sculptures which hang in our dining room.  (note the wooden rocking horse above the little closet door?  It was made by our younger son in wood shop in middle school.  He’s now married, and on the ‘near’ side of 40…sighh..I love artful memories!)