The Medieval Lace Book RR

 

The next Medieval Lace book I was working in was Karen. Her theme is John Waterhouse’s heroines. Here are the front and back covers of the spread.

By pure coincidence I used a large piece of lace on the left side of the page, that perfectly matches the lace Karen used for the last page of her book. It will look like it was meant to be. Which of course, it was…

This is the inside left page, showing Courtly Love.

The right page is built around an image of a young lady kneeling in front of her knight in shining armor. The two pages are built on top of a beautiful piece of dyed lace, which has completely disappeared under all the embellishments. l-))

On the right page are several layers of doilies, with some chiffon to frame the image, and some guipure lace. The top trim is metal hearts and under the purple velvet is upholstery trim.

I never realized how very dark Waterhouse images are. It was a challenge to keep the page light.

 

I added a vintage brooch that I had in my collection, with beautiful stones that echo the colors on the page.

It seems I haven’t posted the previous pages I had done for Teri in NYC. So here they are. Her theme is Horses and Armors.

On the left page, I used a picture of a horse that actually comes from a carousel. I loved the colors. I tracked down, with a lot of help from my friend Deb who is also in this RR, a horse blanket pin. Then I aged it.

On the right, I printed some horse equipment terms in French, like Haslebarde, Bride (which is the bridle), Henaut, the helmet, Joult, (Joust), Harnais, (harness), Destrier (a form of horse) Cheval (horse) and Palefroi (a farm horse)

For the right page, I used a reporduction of the Black Prince riding armor. It was such a beautiful image. I used a belt which I had cut up and painted, to look like a bridle.

 

I have to admit, it is quite a superb round robin that we’re having, and the books are really turning magnificent. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of talented artists.

Last Vintage Lace Book Page

This Round Robin journal is now going home to Elena, and it was my privilege to be the last one to work in it.

Her theme was vintage Paris.

I made the design on the back pages on my new embroidery machine. Gotta love it. I also added a crown and the letter “E” for Elena, because she’s our queen friend, who organizes lots of wonderful Round Robins.

Her book cover was mainly black and white, so I followed the theme.

On the left page, I printed images of Paris on fabric, and decorated them with a beautiful white flower from Beads and Buttons in Portland, and a sweet little white bird inside of a black rose. For the background, I used this wonderful black and white Paris map fabric that I had. It all got covered with tons of lace, of course.

For the right page, I had this wonderful furry and feathery black nest with precious stones in it. It guided the design for the rest of the page. I used a large piece of lace that covers both pages. It has these large white flowers on it, which seemed to continue the theme.

 

Here is a view of both pages together. I trimmed the top of the page with black and white gingham, very French. The bottoms silver and black trim comes from the collar of a jacket a girlfriend just gave me. It comes from Italy, and has tons of silver beads. Not easy to wear outside of Italy, even if you live in Palm Springs! It was perfect to finish the pages.

Round Robin books and a Lace journal

Busy time of month when the Round Robin journals come in.

I have completed several, which are now on their way.

In the Kindred Spirits Round Robin, I finished Gloria’s book. Her theme is Vintage Shabby Chic. Here’s what I did:

The girl is actually 3D, and each butterfly is highlighted with clear embossing powder.

I grunged and aged the page too.

 

Next is Eileen’s lace book in the Vintage Round Robin. Her theme is Vintage Accessories. Her book already had gloves, glasses, so much good stuff, but… it was really missing a boa. And everyone knows life goes better with a boa. Here’s the front cover:

The left page has a red rose, and lots of lace.

 

The right page is the lady with her boa and her jewelry, checking herself in the mirror. Soooo romantic!

 

 

And finally, the last Round Robin that left yesterday is the Medieval Lace Book. I had Liz’s journal: Medieval Gardens.ON the left page, I embroidered a medieval design from BeadsEast, on a background of faded pink velvet.

On the right page is a picture of one of the last Medieval gardens in France, Chateau de Villandry. It happens to be 10 miles from my home town, so I know it quite well. Liz loves rust, orange and green colors. All fall colors. So I added some chestnuts, and some flowers in that color range.

The outside cover is striped velvet that I decorated with machine stitches in all sorts of colors, as well as ribbons and flowers.

And of course, the latest bracelet, because I wouldn’t want you to think I’ve stopped beading… This one is headed to my hairdresser’s salon. Because in Palm Springs, there is  a market for such a masculine cuff. Now to find a rock star…

A steampunk journal cover

In the Kindred Souls Round Robin, I have picked A steampunk Air Travel as my theme. Koinkidenkilly, I saw a beautiful Prima kit at a weekend conference, prepared for a class by Finnabair. I didn’t take the class or attend the conference, but I sure got my hands on this gorgeous Prima Sunrise Sunset kit.
Not even released yet! I hope they do soon, because Im going into serious withdrawal. Are you reading this, Prima?????
The kit gave some explanations on how to achieve ‘the look’. I can’t claim that I have, but I had so much fun making the covers for my book:

The Prima kit comes with all the metal flowers, and the fabric flowers. It also has the grunge board letters, the metal wheels, and lots of dooh dahs!!!
LOVE!

I didn’t take any pictures of the inside, because I forgot! Here’s the main heroine, MS Magdalena Orgenloff. Dressed for her journeys and adventures around the world. A little montage in Photoshop. Her various parts come from a kit on DeviantScrap from Brimm-steamtown-celebrations. Fun!





Oh, valid point, Kathy, I didn't describe the process. I painted the background with white gesso, because it was cardboard. Then I glued down cardboard pieces, cheesecloth, and with the gel medium I was using, I also make some marks and designs. Then I used spray glimmer mists from 'outsidethemargins.com' since I've had good luck with their sprayers. I also added some titan buff and gold paint, and van dyke brown for edging the sides. Voila!

Many projects

 I took my first ever embroidery class, where we were learning to make little samplers such as the one above.


I made a little embroidered purse, based on the online beading class I took at Joggles, based on a pdf. Not the best way to learn...  I sent it to my sister for her birthday.


Following on the October beading class I took, I just finished a bracelet. It's based on a design by Sherry Serafini from her gorgeous book.

Here are some details. It took about 4 days.
Then I made a brooch. That was faster, being smaller. )



But one can’t be beading all day long.
I also made two pages (huh, couldn’t stop at 2, made 4…) in the Asia Round Robin I’m involved in. I played with my new sewing machine, embroidered the geisha’s hair. Endless fun!

This is the extra two pages, on the reverse side.
The gorgeous little girl is one of the Chinese unwanted girls who are sent to the orphanage, because they are girls. Wonder what will happen when all the remaining boys come of age, and there are no Chinese females around. Hummm…

Then I joined a tag swap, theme vintage dressform in Paris, I had so much fun with that one. There were 15 participants, and we traded tags, fabric and lace. Here is the front cover.
 

I decorated some of the pages without tags, because not all the participants had their tags ready by the due date.

Everything and the kitchen sink

It’s true, I’ve been having so much fun this summer, I have not posted for a long time. But I certainly have been productive. So here goes:

First, I made a gorgeous book for my friend Lillian, with her fabric and choice of ribbon. It’s for our Asia RR.

I also made one for Sue. I use the french ribbon binding technique, so you can open the book flat when you’re working in it. Don’t you love Sue’s cover? It’s really beautiful in person:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also took Mary Ann Moss’s new online class. Of course it’s fabulous, all sorts of new binding techniques, she’s a gem. Here’s one book I made for a present. I used an old german dictionary which I gutted, and I replaced the pages with vintage ledger paper and some pages from a 1829 book!!!! It was fun!

I also signed up for a Cabinet Card swap, where we decorated the cards on the theme of clocks and Time. We were to send 7 and receive 7 back, bound in a little book. Here’s my series:

I also entered a fabric journal swap where we were to decorate 15 tags on the theme of Paris and using a dress form. We’re sending our partners a fabric strip, 14x9 and a piece of lace, too, so they can vary the pages in their own book and I’ll receive 14 pieces to make a book. Here are some of my tags. They are larger than normal tags, made of fabric, but they will all fit on the 9x7 pages.

In Mary Ann’s new class, she uses old Victorian photo albums. I found my first one today. This will make a unique journal:

And finally, here’s to Teri, who forwarded an article from CPS, about what to do with what’s left (on your art table at the end of a project)! Fabulous project. It’s 9x12, and I like the way it looks: