April 15 and 16 Little Book

Well I don't have a book to post for yesterday, this one I started yesterday and it took me until today to finish it. I am pleased with this one, it is based on instructions from Teesha Moore. Mine is 4X5 in. I made 3 signatures of 3 papers made of 140 lb. watercolour paper. I covered the bookboard with a computer printout of a music paper collage and the spine is cotton fabric and I glued black ribbon along the edges. I did a stitched layered paper and fabric embellishment and added a piece of hand knit lace. The flower on the top left corner is from a hair elastic.

Little Book For April 14

Yesterdays little book is made with 3.125X5.5 in. brown envelopes, the sealed end trimmed and folded in half. The enveloped are alternated and the flaps glued together. The covers are cardboard covered with paper napkins and the spine is 2 fabric pieces joined with fusible web. Ribbons are added to tie the book shut and a Quietfire Design stamp is stamped on translucent paper and cut with Nestabilities Label Four. The envelopes can hold ATCs.

April 9 Little Book

For today I made 3.75X4.25 inch book with a metal binder clip for the binding. The front and back cover are tissue box cardboard glued to cereal box cardboard and I made the hinge with cloth hockey tape. The pages are cardstock form the Value Pack Meadow cardstock package. I had to do a bit of tinkering to get the hinge to work right, but I'm sure happy with it now.

Little Book For April 8

This time I used a double sided Amy Butler Designer scrapbooking cardstock from K&Company. I made a 3.5X4 inch book with 3 signature pamphlet stitch with a fold over flap and added satin ribbon to tie it closed.

Seventh Little Book

Well I needed another quick book yesterday, since I am also working on ATCs for this month's swaps. I hadn't planned on doing one so similar to a previous one, but what can I do? My daughter saw the book made from tissue boxes for the covers and came out with some boxes that she really likes, shoved them in my hand with the request that I make her a book. I encouraged her to have different pages, but it had to be the same pocket pages. So here is the April 7 book.
I'll be posting the ATCs soon.

April 5 Little Book

April 5 Little Book
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Another purse style book for ATCs made from paper from a gift bag. The trim on the bottom I knit from Red Heart Twinkle yarn and 5.00 mm needles. The pages are double-sided scrapbooking cardstock and there is a beaded handle and buttons and heavy thread for a closure on the bottom. The trim on the top is a labels 4 Nestabilities die folded over the top to the back. This one also holds ATC "hockey cards" and will probably go to my niece. I like the contrast of a girly purse book holding hockey photos.

Today's Book and ATC Backgrounds

So today being a holiday, I needed a very quick project so I used cardboard cut from a tissue box for the covers and double-sided scrapbook cardstock. This is very similar to the first Zutter ATC book I made some time ago. One of the papers had a nice stripe on one side, but a very bright pink floral on the other side, so I sponged gesso on and wiped off to tone it down.
I just scanned the ATC backgrounds I made yesterday with alcohol inks and canned air. These are precut ATCs with the aqua stripe down the side and I have a huge box of these given to me at the March swap.

Three Days, Four Projects

I showed you the first 2 books I made on April 1st and 2nd, so on April 3rd I got the inspiration from Charmane over on Tweedcurtain Productions blog to alter a watch box I've had for awhile.
This little cardboard gift box had an insert glued inside and the manufactures name on the lid. I pulled the insert out and lined the bottom with peal and stick black felt and the sides with black and white scrapbook paper. On the outside of the lid I used Nestabilities Label 4 and cut one piece of the scrapbook paper and a smaller piece of white cardstock which is rubber stamped with stamps from the Altered Art mini set. It's the perfect size to hold ATCs.

So now for the third book and fourth project I've wanted to try alcohol inks and canned air for awhile and this seemed like a good time. The long piece of shiny cardstock is 3.5 inches wide and has a black stripe on one side and a reddish stripe on the other. I dropped the inks on the black stripe side and blue it around with the canned air. On the reverse I dropped ink on the applicator and dabbed it on the used alcohol to blend it. I cut 2 pieces a little over 4.5 in for the covers.
For pages I folded 4.25 X 6 inch envelopes in half and punched the folded edge with the Zutter
Bind-it-all The envelopes were in my stash from when Ruby Dog's Art House had a bulk section and made pocket pages that will hold ATCs or tags.

Little Books

After spending the weekend at the hockey tournament in Richmond I came home and decided to start some little books. The first one I made is a small purse book made from a hotel brochure and holds ATC "hockey cards" of photos of my niece playing her hockey games. Her team had a good tournament and won or tied all their games and made it to the finales and won silver. It sure was great to see the games as this is the last year she plays in minor hockey. The pages are double-sided scrapbook cardstock and is pamphlet stitched with a beaded purse handle.
The next book is covers made of coasters that are covered with paper from a gift bag. I took the bag apart, misted it and crumpled the paper. I rubbed white pigment ink on the high points and edge. The inside of the covers is black cardstock rubber stamped with white pigment ink. The pages are brown and black cardstock rubber stamped with bleach and coloured with stamp pad inks. I added card sleeves with double-sided tape. This is bound with the Zutter Bind-it-all.

Bead Soup Journal

For this little 4"X4" journal I started with coasters and painted out the centre logo, but left the fruit image around the edge. On the back cover I stamped a lime slice and covered the inside of the covers with scrapbook paper. The front cover has another piece of bead soup, taking the colours from the fruit image on the coaster. The pages are watercolour paper coloured with distress inks and the journal is bound with the Zutter Bind-It-All,

Created Byhand Challenge March 2

This weeks challenge is to create art using the word "Believe" and since I was already making this little journal for my blog candy it was perfect for the challenge. For the covers I used scrapbook cardstock and the front cover includes the word BELIEVE. I glued the cardstock to 4X4 in. coasters for the front and back covers, distressed with a sanding block and Vintage Photo Distressed Ink and rubbed the edges with Spun Gold acrylic paint.
The first page is a mono-print background I made awhile ago using watercolour paper and gel paints. I cut it to size, stamped the word believe with an alphabet stamp and Sage pigment ink pad. Next I stamped my favourite quote, which Suzanne at Quietfire Design has made into a beautiful rubber stamp, with Timber Brown StazOn ink. The rest of the other 11 pages are blank watercolour paper and the journal is bound with the Zutter BindItAll. This journal is part of the blog candy in the previous post so you might want to check that out.

100th Blog Post and Blog Candy

Post has been edited and the rest of the blog candy photos added.





Before I get started, just a reminder that Lisa Volrath at Ten Two Studio is running a St. Patrick's Day countdown so do go check out the free images there after you finish reading my post.
Well this is finally it, my 100th post, well part of it anyway. I've had to keep quiet here for awhile because I wanted the 100th post to be about my latest prizes and they are not quite ready yet but I just can't keep quiet any more and I just can't wait to show you the third place blog candy. I will edit and add the first and 2nd. prize in a day or two. Now how's that for putting pressure or motivation on myself? In the meantime go ahead and post a comment on this post to be in the draw if you don't mind risking what first and 2nd prize will be.
This journal for third place is the third assignment for my course. The project was to use old book paper and a chipboard flower or other shape and paint with stamp pad ink and a wet paint brush. The ink is stamped onto freezer paper used as a palette and then painted on the book paper which is glued to the chipboard;, but instead of a flower, I decided to do the journal covers. This little Zutter bound journal is 4.25 inches by 5 inches with 12 blank watercolour pages just waiting for your art to be added. For the inside covers, I added some green cardstock that I had mono-printed with gold and pearl gel paint. The chipboard and wires are small pieces leftover from the 12 Days of Christmas Gift Journals. I used brads to add a decorated chipboard shape stamped with "Friends" in green Stazon ink. There is also a Quietfire Design quote stamp which was stamped on the blank white sheet from a paper napkin and glued over the old book paper and a bunch of ribbons tied onto the wires. This was a fun project, I hope you like it.

Well the pressure I put on myself worked, the prizes were finished in a few days. It has just taken me more time to get online to post them. Well here they are. Second prize is a 5X5.5 inch knit felted bag. It is bias knit in garter stitch with a self striping wool and soy yarn and then machine felted. This little bag will arrive empty just waiting for you to fill with tresures.
Now for the first prize, a 5.5X6 inch felt bag which I designed with a diaganal flap. This is again bias knit garter stitch from a 100% wool yarn and machine felted. Next I needed just the right button, so I checked out my collection and could not find just the right one, so I went to a jar of vintage buttons my Mom had given me and this one seemed perfect. This little bag comes with a 4X4 inch journal tucked inside and you can read more about it in my next post. Of course you could remove the jouranal and fill the bag with whatever treasures you would like. Now to win one of these prizes leave a comment on this post by March 28, 2009 and I'll draw 3 names on March 29, 2009. Please check back after Mar. 29 to see if you are a winner, I will then have instructions for claiming your prize. Good luck to all of you, I hope you have as much fun as I did.

Felt Wrap

Felt Wrap
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I've uploaded all the pages from my book for the 12 Days of Christmas swap to my Flickr account. Here is a link for the slide show

or just click on the photo to go to this set of photos.

The Last Group of Journal Gifts

These are more of the felt knit journals for the 12 Days of Christmas swap. Judy, Louise and mine are fastened to the o-wires of the Zutter journal with half hitch cords with shell buttons on the spine. Judy's has a garter clip fastener, Louise's is tied with ribbon ties, Wendy's is a crochet cord held in place with a button and wrapped around the journal and mine is also a crochet cord with a button that the cord is wrapped around to hold it closed. For fastening Wendy's felt cover to the journal, I let my rebellious muse out again and did free-form crochet chain loops. This is the first time I have done felt knitting and it was a fun adventure. The first part of the journal has some of my artwork and favourite quotes and the last half is blank or background pages for the recipients to add in some of their own favourites. I will show some of the pages in my next post and maybe some of the covers under the felt which are all done with handmade papers.

More of the Journals

This is the next group of the journals I made for the 12 Days of Christmas Gift swap and this time I had four finished at one time and was able to photograph the stack. Usually the gifts were mailed at different times in order to get to the most distant destinations on time. The journals for Linda T., Jane, Nicolette and Carolyn are more felt knit covers with half hitch cords or lace ribbon to hold the felt covers to the Zutter bound books. most have shell buttons on the spine, two have ribbon ties, 1 has a garter clip and one has a sleeve clip for a closure. I didn't keep track of which one was sent to each of them, so I hope these ladies will leave a comment to let me know. The last group will be posted in a while.

My Gifts For The 12 Days of Christmas Swap

Now that my day 9 gifts have been opened I can show you the 13 books I made. The ones for Melanie, Beth, Linda C. and Kristy are knit with various wool yarns then felted in the washing machine with hot water wash and cold water rinse. I used ties, lace ribbon or half hitch knots to fasten the felted covers to the Zutter Bind-it-all books. To fasten the covers closed I used garters or sleeve clips. The cover for our hostess, Mary-Beth was the only one made differently. For hers I used a piece of felt I made a long time ago and recently found in my stash. This piece was made by laying wool roving in the brown and white pattern, basting it between fine netting and felting in the washing machine with hot water wash and cold rinse. I cut the felt to size and let my rebellious muse out to couch yarn leftover from one of the other knit covers in a random design. Although i usually like things finished neatly, I left the ends hanging out of the edges, and used a garter clip for the closure. I'll continue with the rest of the books in a new posts in a little while.

Background Swap Bound

Well it took me all day, but I got the Byhand Artists Background Swap pages bound yesterday, and I did it all myself. I was going to ask for help, but I slowly cut my way through the chipboard covers. I had an extra piece of my background technique set aside with the metal letters just waiting for the rest to arrive. I chose the cover paper from a Glorious Glitter package of handmade scrapbook paper and covered the front and back covers with the same paper. I glued the letters on my swap sample with No More Nails glue. This was then glued to the cover. For a design detail, the small piece of black and silver paper from the Dark Shadows handmade paper pack was added to create a little glamour. I fastened all the instructions to their respective pages and created a title page, dedication and table of contents.Another design detail of a torn paper on the inside back cover was added for a bit of a rustic touch. I like glamour and rustic together. Now came the big challenge, could I use my wonderful Zutter Bind-It-All, available from Quietfire Design, with my left hand? I love the Zutter, it was a breeze to use even left handed. That is except for one little glitch, all the layers of decorative paper and the corrugated made the covers too thick to go into the Bind-It-All. I couldn't waste all that effort and materials, so I cut a small piece of the corrugated and pealed a layer of paper off the two cover pieces. Success, it went in and the holes were punched like going through butter. So here come the design details, otherwise known as cover up your big mistakes and end up with a finished book that is, in my opinion, even better than planned. For binding I used 1 inch silver wires. I am very pleased with my book and thanks to all the artists who contributed it will be a valuable resource and inspiration. I think it will live near my creative space in the attic.