Sorting, cleaning, rescuing
I’m finally fed up with the mess of papers in my house! Maybe I’m inspired by my teacher and altered book swap leader (see her blog here) who has been cleaning up her studio but I just spent a couple hours going through some bags of paper.
Background papers, focal images, ephermera, vintage images…even though I now know fancy names for these pieces of paper, they still form clutter when unattended! I’m in a couple swaps of material right now so it’s a good way to sort and send away things I know I will never use. I’m sad that maybe the recipients will think they are trash and throw them in the recycling bin…but each piece was cut out and saved with deliberation by me! Hopefully they will inspire someone else and be put to good use.
Good-bye beautiful papers and good luck in ending up in some creative endeavors!
1 comment March 15, 2009
Alphabet Altered Book
Last weekend I took a 2-day course at Castle in the Air with Ulla Milbrath constructing an altered book in a Moleskine Japanese style accordion book. We did 26 pages and the covers! So it was a good lesson in working quickly and not overanalyzing (okay–I failed that because i skipped a couple letters so I could keep up!).
It truly was a lot of fun, I learned some new techniques, and got to play with a bunch of lovely papers and materials. it was a great way to spend a rainy weekend.
Check out my Flickr! paperarts set to see more photos of the project.
2 comments March 7, 2009
getting better!
This page spread was within an old Hallmark book about nature. We were asked to use the existing artwork when possible. So here I added some glazing to enhance to existing photo, added two pop-up fish, one flat fish, and another one which folds out along the edget. I like the way the pieces I added look like they are part of the part.
I had cut the fish out of a magazine and then added some blue glaze to the white edges. The flip-down fish is attached with a brad and there is a piece of yarn which is the handle.
For this spread, I had purchased some natural history ephemera from Urban Fauna (San Francisco) and it included this page from an old field guide for liverworts and ferns. I couldn’t decide which side to use so I decided to make it fold out so you could see both sides and it goes along with the existing fern forest images on the right. I also did want to keep the quote on the bottom visible so I made a flap out of the decorative paper I pasted on top. Both the field guide page and the flap have a piece of yarn through a metal eyelet.
My tag was covered with a napkin I nabbed from my godmother’s house during thanksgiving dinner! I loved the colors and patterns.
Add comment February 27, 2009
sharing craftiness
A special 7-year-old is starting to pick up the crafty bug! She made a very creative mixed media collage which I’ll have to post sometime but this is what we picked out together and made during ski week last week. There were five fairies but she gave one to my mom and kept the other four. We had ribbon and more floss left but she thought her fairies were perfect as is and didn’t want any improvements.
The kit included flower petals, pipe cleaner, beads for the head, floss for hair and some simple instructions. so simple and made us all so happy!
Add comment February 25, 2009
latest collage
Got back into the art groove yesterday and today by working on some altered books (posting to come soon) and this collage with my swap group. Magazine ads provided the focal face and “hairdo” imagery while thin metallic borders and floral photo stickers added to the collage. The background is painted deli papers created by our leader, Diane Brouchard, of alteredbookstudio.blogspot.com.
Add comment February 22, 2009
recycled paper dress
Last year I became more and more inspired with recycled materials and paper arts. During my NYC trip last summer, I had visited an exhibit about Brazilian dresign. They had a series of handmade dresses and this was one of them. So brilliant!
2 comments February 8, 2009
class time!
It seems that art classes are starting up again for the new year and so I’ve signed up for an altered book class in Berkeley at Castle in the Air–one of the cutest stores on Fourth Street (among the many including ScrapbookTerritory and PaperSource).
My knitting is suffering from my attention to paper arts but also because it was so warm around here, it didn’t make me feel like knitting! I think the other reason is because after xmas, i won’t have an excuse to knit scarves and crochet hats. Hmmm, gotta find some motivation for it.
Add comment February 8, 2009
Limits provide opportunity!
I’m trying to clean up my piles and piles of scrap paper, old books, glues, paints, ephemera–it’s crazy how much stuff I have!
I’m trying a new thing–using limits and less choice to inspire creativity! It seems unlikely and antagonistic but for my personality, having too many choices just provides excuses for perfectionism and stagnation. I am frozen with too many choices.
I’m doing Kelly Kilmer’s prompt a day online class and one the really great insights I’ve gained is how she works–she uses a small selection of images to work from and when she gets tired of those, she moves onto another batch. That way, you never spend days looking for “the perfect image” and you use what you have. You can rotate materials but you only work from one subset at a time. What great insight! I am going to start trying that as soon as I finish this post. No more procrastinating!
Add comment February 7, 2009
Collage Project
at my monthly book swap, we always do a project as well. always fun, fast, and satisfying! Diane always brings us something fun and easy to do. The women are great–they were worried I wasn’t coming back to the group and they made me feel so appreciated! It was very heartwarming for me.
Diane’s blog features our projects
and this post shows how to do the project.
1 comment January 26, 2009
2008 altered book swap
This was the last swap for 2008 in my altered book group. I finally gave it back to the owner yesterday so i can blog it now!
This was the cover I got and the CD was my signin. I used scrapbook paper as the background and simply used my Brother label printer for the text and name.
These spreads were based on songs which have special meaning for me: the Beatles’ “In My Life” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive.”
The first is a disco-based page with an art-deco focal image and I have Bette Middler peeking out from a pocket because she is a survivor!
The second is my interpretation of “In My Life” which makes me think of all the homes I’ve lived in. All collaged from magazine scraps. I gessoed a map from a free tourist magazine, added a strip of tissue paper left over from Xmas presents, and cut geometric patterns from a magazine. I love using materials on hand because it makes me feel creative and very green!
Add comment January 26, 2009
