Checking In

I can't believe it has been over a week since I posted! It has been hot here and I've been very, very busy, but I try never to be too busy for you, my lovelies. So here's a bit of what I've been up to when I wasn't horrendously busy with work, which has eaten up much of my time.

I finished this book for the June Blank Book swap on BookArtz. It's going to J. Norahz. I must admit that it bothers me a bit to not know her first name (? I think she's a she!)! I asked but got no reply. It's a fairly close and very friendly group at the core within a larger group. Many of the same people are in abc_decos. There's just enough different to give that group the same close feel but in a different way.


The book was inspired by a tag book I received a month or so ago in the same swap. I saw these lovely large tags in my local paper shop, The Creative Quest, in the charming old downtown area of Glendale, AZ, and knew that I had to make a book from them. I bought enough to make the whole book, then changed the design (who me? yeah, big shock, eh?). I discovered that I could make a book of 4" x 4" pages (let me backspace and insert the "s so that you don't think I mean Jeepy and 4WD!) that was half an inch thick. So I cut and folded two signatures of two pieces of watercolor paper, colored them with light washes of my fave Twinkling H2O paints, and sewed the whole thing together with some waxed linen thread and some beads chosen pretty much at random from a bag that was sitting on my work table. I'm quite pleased. The flower and ribbon from my stash really completed it beautifully, I thought.

I also discovered that when you cut a ribbon to tie an overhand knotted bow, if you cut the wrapping side about 2" longer, the ends end up pretty much the perfect length! That would be the left side once you tie the initial half granny knot in the usual right-handed way.


Next is my Sunset pages for the monthly page swap that have been sitting around waiting to be finished for honestly, about two months! The picture doesn't show it well, but I printed the word "sizzle" on some deli wrap paper in my Epson inkjet printer, applied it with some soft gel, then glued on some round sequins in warm colors over the very highly textured yellow spiral that I stamped on with a homemade stamp and yellow Fluid Acrylic mixed into soft gel medium.

In trying to complete all of my swaps that were due in June (and there was quite a list), I found I needed three starter decos. What in the world possessed me to sign up for that one on Quality Decos completely escapes me. Here's the book I got from said J Norahz in the swap this month. Much as I loved them each, the two covers just didn't seem to me to go together. I couldn't imagine drawing on the parchment paper covers which I find has not enough tooth to make either my pen or my pencil happy. But it's perfect for collage. This little book saved my bacon this month! Once I had the idea of cutting the accordian book in two, I was on the way. And once they come home, I'll be able to see both of J Norahz's paintings at the same time.

;-))

As soon as I wrote the word "Landscapes" on the one page, I felt it had the focal point it had lacked. This was quite a nice book to start with. But now it suits my purposes and is making a happy addition to my eventual collection of little decos. Similarly, the word "Flowers" added just that needed touch to the other cover. Here's my doodle on the back of the flower deco. I'm pleased with it though it is not my usual style.


I still needed one more little deco.

Looking around, I had to come up with an idea quickly while I was on a roll. There was my working pad, an ancient pad of newsprint that I'd long used as a sort of blotter on my work tables through the years. I mean this thing is actually yellowed with age! Sometimes I can barely stand to take off the top sheet and reveal a clean one. (I don't often throw the old ones away, either!) I let it sop up all the liquids that spill, the paint that sploshes over, stamps I need to try out before I try them on the good paper. It occured to me, not for the first time, that this paper shows what I've been up to. Wouldn't it be fun to ask others to paste a bit of theirs in this deco and see what they've been up to! Sherrill Kahn, in her book Creative Embellishments, calls these Serendipity Papers. So that's what I called the deco.

I've got more but I'll save them for another day. Have a beautiful day, my lovelies!