Lavender and Maureen

I'm still here.  Just having more work days than play days.  And when I get a play day, I can't decide what to do next!  It's a great problem to have.

I have books in progress.  I have a book ready to be sewn, but can't decide if I want to sew on tapes or make a cloth spine of some sort.  So it's just sitting.

And I got some Bombay india ink, and had to play with that some.

 And, since I seem to feel the need to sign up for yet Another online class (making backgrounds and marks on paper), I had to go to the closest town to see if I could find art supplies I needed or if I need to order online. The only place available without a road trip is Michael's. I still get in trouble with their $1 stuff. I got several shopping list pads because I like the ones with the days of the week on them. I cut them apart to use for journaling. I am ignoring the fact that most of the pads had a chicken theme... I won't use that part anyway.  Those dollars sure can add up though!

But what about Lavender and Maureen, you might ask? Well, one of my books in progres uses the frame pages from one of the vintage albums. And it just so happened that one of the frames had a postcard of these sweet birdies. And another frame had a picture of these two women. I decided to use the postcard on the front of my book when I get the cover made (I'll cover up the Christmas part).

When I turned the postcard over, there was a message.  The postcard was a holiday greeting sent to Maureen from her cousin Lavender.  Even though the postcard and the picture may not be at all related, I decided then and there that the ladies in the picture were Lavender and Maureen.

Never mind the fact that when I re-read the postcard in better light, it is actually a card sent to male cousin Maurice.  And it was sent from Laverne.  What can I say, it's written in pencil and hard to read.  And my eyes are decades old!  I just won't tell anyone.  They'll always be Lavender and Maureen to me, and that's that.



Visuals

It's been all work and not much play the last few days.  But I did get a couple of things from Gaye to perk up my senses.  One is a large album with a patchwork cover.  It has black pages, and I think it will be a good place for the watercolor flowers that I worked on last month.  I've been wanting to put them in a book of some kind, but a lot of them are oversized.  This is perfect.

She also let me bring home some brushes she got at a yard sale to play around with.  I envision the person who lovingly painted with these brushes, using some more than others.  (I just realized I'm envisioning a woman... maybe it was a male artist. Who's to know?)

Letters from Home

It is SO wrong to post part of a letter from a relative without their permission.  So wrong.  But some things need to be shared.

(Click to enlarge.)
(Please forgive me, unnamed letter-writer, and I hope you never, ever see this blog entry.  Please forgive me, unnamed person referred to in the letter.  I'm sorry I'm laughing at your misfortune.)

By the way, if you want to see more books from the Full Tilt Boogie class, teacher Mary Ann Moss is posting lots of class members' books HERE.

Somebody Stop Me

I'm on a roll I think!  I tackled the Week 3 journal in the Full Tilt Boogie class.  I love the new stitches we learned - much easier than they look.  I picked an old book with a cover I liked.  I assembled a bunch of ledger papers, graph papers, etc., and cut some scrapbook papers to size to use as signature wrappers.  I decided to use some dark blue suede paper for the spine. 

I may have gotten a bit too ambitious. I decided to use both stitches we learned and put them on this book rather than make two books. I made several mistakes along the way. Thank goodness I'm not obsessive about perfection. I am perfectly fine with mistakes creative options.

I have started using my Week 1 journal to make journal entries about all the books I'm making.  Is that obsessive?  Don't answer.  So, I'm making the books, journaling about the books, blogging about the books, dreaming about making more books... I need a nap now.

Afraid to Glue

We are in week three of the Full Tilt Boogie online class.  But before I started the third journal, I wanted to finish the second one. 

I was concerned.  I picked out my cover last week - an old vintage photo album.  This would have a hidden spine, so the cover is used intact.  No problem.  My cover is in good shape (considering the age).  It was no problem to take out the stiff photo pages in the album... they were not even attached anymore.  I cut and tore watercolor paper until I had enough signatures.  I added in some of the old photo pages that came in the album.  I was careful to not overstuff the book, and used less pages than what it looked like I should.  I sewed the signatures together using strips of Tyvek for the tapes.  And it all sat there for a week.  I could not commit to glue.  I was sure it needed more signatures - that spine is pretty wide.  But my signature block was already done, all neat and tidy, sewn together like a Christmas package.  (I also used painted Tyvek to support the spine inside the cover.)

 Today, I made the decision.  I would make four more signatures and sew them to the previously made signature block.  Do or die.  The sewing won't show, so it doesn't matter if it looks sloppy. But it looked fine.  It can be done! 

I glued it in and it worked fine.  The book is resting now, and the glue is drying.  I'm very happy with it.  Now I can move on to the third structure!  Can't wait!

Boogie Book

This is my first journal in the Full Tilt Boogie class.  I used the cover from an old ledger book, and upholstery fabric for the tapes (sewn-on tape design).  Most of the papers are scrapbook papers, with other stuff thrown in.  Even though I've made my own books for years, I still had a couple of major screw-ups... but I decided if I don't tell you what they are, you won't even notice!

The above picture was one of my mistakes.  I wasn't paying attention and ripped my pages while sewing in a signature.  I removed the thread from the pages and put different tapes between the sew holes, where the paper was ripped.  I have to say, I like the "after" better than the "before" pages!

My second mistake was that my thread was on the wrong side of one of my upholstery tapes in one spot.  It happed on about the 3rd signature, but I didn't notice it until I was on tying off the last signature.  I decided to let it go.  I didn't have the patience to take apart the entire signature block and start over.  Bet you can't even tell where it is. 

Onward to journal #2.....

In Progress

Remember the children's books that ask what things don't go together (like circles and squares)?  Well, I know what doesn't go together - starting a new online class on Friday (Full Tilt Boogie) and then having to work all weekend.  I am so antsy to move along, but have to work on my journal when I can grab bits of time.  I have chosen a book cover, something I've wanted to use for a book cover for a long time (old ledger book from Academy of Our Lady of Mercy)...

And I have been assembling papers for my pages.  Remember the number rack I got from Hobby Lobby?  I printed the photo of that onto the back of a piece of scrapbook paper (the striped one).  Cut the scrapbook paper to fit your printer, and print away!  Fold page for insertion into your signature.

Can't wait to finish.  Hope Our Lady of Mercy looks kindly on me!

Mail Boat, Part 2

So, she started wondering... wasn't there a story a few years ago, about mail delivery on a lake somewhere "up north", where young teenagers would hop off the boat onto the dock, run to a mailbox, put the mail in the box, run back and jump on the boat, while the boat never stopped.  And they did this for all the houses on this particular lake.

Why, yes, it is on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. 
Watch it here]
 (oh, to be a young, nimble teenager again!)

My Life on the Mail Boat

Okay, that's misleading.  I have never been on a mail boat.  I've never seen a mail boat.  Never even heard of one before.  That is until I had a Florida webcam on my computer screen while I was doing.. something... I don't remember what.  And this bright little boat zips by, and on the side it says Fiesta Mail/ Mail Boat.  So, I decided if I ever run away from home, I want to go work on the mail boat, jumping from island to island in the Bahamas, delivering mail, enjoying the blue waters and white beaches. 

Except in hurricane season, that is. 

(By the way, on the journal page above, I printed pictures from the internet onto matt photo paper, then roughed them up with sandpaper for a little texture.  If you click on them to enlarge, you might be able to see the scratches.)

More Goodies

I forgot to add these things that I got the last time I ventured to the Big City to visit.  Gaye took me to Hobby Lobby (since I don't have one where I live) where I got this cool tool caddy...

 The oval glass containers that hold my tools fit in there perfectly.  (Oval containers came from one of Gaye's past yard sales).  And did you notice Mr. Nib peeking out?  That's a Christmas ornament that Gaye gave me years and years ago.  He lives with my tools.

I also got this.

Hobby Lobby does have some fun things from time to time.

I still play around with color drop flowers when I get a chance.  And in case you still have not taken the class, Martha is having another giveaway.  Go leave a comment on her blog HERE if you want a chance to win the class.  Drawing is on Sunday night.

(I used up my black paint and called them my Goth Flowers!)

Before I Die...

I don't remember how I came across this art project, but it's one of those things that I can't get out of my head.  It seems like lately the world and local news is exponentially worse every day.  It's just nice to read about something that is not horrible.

Ingredients:
One abandoned building in New Orleans.
One artist with innovative vision.
Chalkboard paint.
Stencils.
Baskets of chalk.
One "Certificate of Appropriateness".
People.

Be sure and check out more pictures here.  Also click on the tab for other Projects.  I like the idea of sidewalk stencils.  I may have to make some of those!  And I need to find out where you can get temporary spray chalk.  Kudos to Candy Chang, the artist.

Something Old, Something New

old, new, old, new, old, new....
For one thing, it's a NEW month!  I must have misplaced May - it was here a couple of days ago, I'm sure of it.  Oh, well, we'll just go with June for now...

I have an occasional Thursday off, and sometimes that means a trip to Gaye's house.  Today, it was to check out her NEW car... 

It's a Nissan Cube and it suits her to a T.  The problem with someone like Gaye, who has a vibrant personality, is trying to convince the spousal unit that what's important in buying a new car is that it looks good on her!  She and her husband have been married long enough now that I think he gets it.  If it makes her happy, that's all that's important, right?! 

While there, I checked out these OLD nibs.  Honestly, she finds stuff like this all the time.  These boxes were amazing enough even if they had been empty.  But they were full of interesting nibs, as well as printed ads and information folded up inside. 

I also picked up some NEW tape we had decided we had to have.  Love the tape, love the tin.

 More OLD stuff... I have bought a couple of old albums on eBay, some with cabinet cards in them.

And I got a couple more from Gaye.  I'm pretty sure I'll be taking Mary Ann Moss' next class, Full Tilt Boogie, which will utilize this type of album. 

Gaye also found these OLD Kodak books that have numbered glassine pages to hold negatives.  Oh, the stories these pictures could probably tell.