Out of character

It’s hard to believe, but I actually made a … paper book.
Well, more like a scrapbook, with tons of pockets and envelopes, and all from scratch.

It all started because I was on Youtube looking for something else, of course. Then I spotted this journal from Anne Mika in Norway, based on my favorite scrapbook paper from Graphic 45, A Ladies’ Diary.

I really didn’t think I could make that book. Or even finish it.

But there you go, I proved myself wrong, and I really enjoyed making this book. It has many more pages and secret compartments, envelopes, etc, but it would be too cumbersome in one blog post.

This beautiful lady in the mirror actually folds out to the right, and reveals more pockets.

It uses up a full 8x8 pad, plus the 12x12 pad, plus the two collage sheets. Noticed? no lace, no fabric.

A lot of ‘fussy cutting’, which was really rewarding. ‘cept for the trail of little bits of paper all through the house. Well worth it though.

Is it a sculpture?

I made a fabric ‘book’ following a class with Joanna Pierotti. I am not sure if it still qualifies as a book, or whether it’s a soft sculpture.

Either way, it’s pretty outrageous. I just love all that lace and fabrics and stuff, sticking out everywhere.

It starts with an altered mirror, created from scratch, with lots of soldering on copper sheeting.

The binding is an interesting adaptation. Most pages are designed as ‘pockets’, but since I don’t have stunning ideas of what to put in the pockets, a lot of them are just displaying lace and baby clothes.

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here goes. Lots of photos.

Here’s the spine, and the binding method:

Each page is sewn with a ribbon to those little metal hooks off the spine.

Inside ‘pages’

This is a real nest that came with me all the way from Canada:

This beautiful pink purse on the right page was made by my sister. Joanna suggested this way to incorporate it into my book. Now, it’s a pocket in the fold, plus inside the zipper at the top, as its original purpose.

Yes, this is a baby sock on the right page.

And a glove on the left page, with a pair of sweet ice skates for a doll, gifted by my dear friend Liz.

 

The back cover, also based on altering a  mirror.

 

That’s about as outrageous as I’ve ever made a book/sculpture, and I had a ball. I will be making many others, I just love the process. I purchased some antique christening gowns, and lots of antique lace, just for this purpose. Needed an excuse, you know…

Living in Palm Springs

Here are some pictures of my life in Paradise.

Yes, blue skies is what you see. Although it’s quite cold today, down to 68F. Normally more around high 80s during the day! What’s not to love about this?

OK, so there’s a cover on the pool to keep the heat in. I swim everyday. Hence the new haircut. below.

 

And the new studio, quite filled already:

And the swimmer’s haircut:

A Medieval inspired lace book

I started a  new Round Robin, with the theme of Middle Ages, as in Medieval,  not OUR middle ages…

My specific theme is Illuminated Letters. I have a fascination for all that gorgeous detail work. This is the front cover:

For the spine, I use a binding I learned from Joanna Pierotti this summer. The spine part is free, attached with ribbons to the front and back. Then the signatures will be sewn into the ribbons as well.

Inside front page, with a leaf pocket:

 

Inside back cover:

We’re each making a double page as well, before sending our book out. This is the outside, slightly decorated so we don’t look at a blank page. I quilted the silk and added some beads:

This is the double spread, on the left, Alexander the Great. At the moment, there is a large piece of silk rope holding the pages in place, just because it looked great. But I really want to show my RR partners the ribbon binding, it’s really very nifty, particularly in a RR, when you never know how thick your pages will end up being:

 

Back cover:

My Lace Book is home!

6 months ago, I started a lace book Round Robin with 5 other amazing artists. My book went to Australia, thank you Suzy Quaife, you’re a gem, to Alaska to meet Karen, and braved barely sub zero temperatures. It also travelled to WI where Deb found time to do gorgeous work in the middle of many distractions, it also went to Teri in New York, who is born distracted, but created beautiful pages, and last but not least, to Liz in Oregon, where the whole crazy Lacebook scheme was concocted in her studio G. And what a prized work she did in my book.

The RR theme was: Vintage or Victorian lace. My particular take on the theme was: A young woman in Paris.

Our pages travelled loose between the covers, as I suspected the spine would always be too small for the end work.

Look at this delicious edge:

A bundle of deliciousness for sure:

Here is how I bound the individual pages, with a stripe of lace on both sides, and some thinner lace to cover the stitches.

The left page is mine, right is Deb.

This page is from Teri, hand painted, if you please.

This right page is the BACK of page from Suzy, who, like all the others, did a gorgeous work on the back of the pages. They were too beautiful to cover, so I’ve just added a bit of lace.

These are the signatures with the lace that binds them together.

And the front and back covers with the spine, before they were all attached together. I found the pearls at Michaels. I’d bought them to study the attachment, and they were perfect on the spine.

I will post the individual pages in the next post.

Our next lace book RR is about the Medieval times. I can foresee lots of beautiful velvets and illuminated pages. Yum.

Heartstrings

It was a great pleasure to take Diane Cook’s online class Heartstrings. She taught very many fun techniques.

Here’s my first one:

That little metal and paper book is just too precious.

The head is normally made with a metal thimble. I happened to have a few wooden ones from India, which turned out perfect for this project:

And since I finally joined the 21st century, and bought an iphone, so my girlfriends can find me when we’re shopping at Joann’s, (what other reason to buy an iphone?), I had to make a pouch for it. That way, I always have my phone close by: