Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Unfinished Creations Finished

 
 I am a bit of a procrastinator, and I told myself it was time to finish a few items that have been sitting around the studio for far too long. 
I decided to start with finishing these three blank books.
 
This one has been sitting in my 'to finish' bin for some time - all it needed was to be sewn together.
It is made with a cover that has layers of paper, fabric, glue, paint and paste wax.
(front cover)
(back cover)
 
Here you can see a bit of the original text and images that were on the paper I used for the cover.
 
The cover is quite stiff, but still bendable. 
 
The layers of fabric and paper to make this cover, as well as the pages, have also been sitting in my 'to finish' bin for too long.  It was time to finish it.
 
 I glued all of the fabric and paper layers together and added a coat of paste wax to protect the cover and give it a nice feel.   The cover is more flexible then the previous book. 
 
Before I sewed the pages into the book,
 I took it to my lovely old sewing machine and bravely added some circles on it. 
My machine is the one my mother used to sew my clothes many years ago when I was a young girl.  It is a heavy duty machine that can sew through many layers, but it can't do free motion stitching, so my circles are a bit rough. 
 
Then I made a hard covered book using a handmade piece of paper that I made and painted on some time ago.  I finished it by adding a bit of collage and paint and stamps and mounted it on book board.  It to is covered with a layer of paste wax to protect it and give it a nice feel.
(front cover)
 
 
 
(back cover)
 

It is nice to see these completed, and out of the stack of  unfinished creations!

17 comments:

  1. This is real ART !! Love your work!!!!
    Greetings Miek

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  2. Oh I love your birds.

    Is that a stamp or stencil printed on there for the leaves?

    I am getting the itch to make some of my flower shapes "printable" and wondered what you used to get that effect. Nice work!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment! The leaves are actually a stamp that I just used over and over again.

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  3. Kim-These are all really beautiful and so glad you stop procrastinating! I especially love the first one, which seems to glow. Hope you are joining us for Roy tomorrow...yellow.

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  4. Even the back covers are beautiful. You are soooo good!

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  5. I have never tried covering a book, I love the way some of the text comes through on the first one, my very favourite is the blue...looks beautifully ocean-like.

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  6. Beautiful books, front and back! You use "paste wax" alot....what is that?

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    1. Yes I use paste wax on so many creations. I love the feeling it gives as well as the protective coating. Its real name is Dorland's Wax Medium and I get it at art supply stores.

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  7. Beautiful! Each and every one of them! I like the deep rich blue on the second one. (Tip: if your machine doesn't 'do' free motion stitching, just tape an index card over the feed dogs and you're good to go!)

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  8. Υπεροχη δουλεια!!!!!!

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  9. You are one of my all time favourite artists. These books are why. Love them Kim!! N, xo

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  10. Kim, your procrastination doesn't seem to have harmed these gorgeous books in any way! xo Carole

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  11. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Not just these books but your whole blog. Found you via Natasha's link love. Hope you don't mind another follower :)

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