A Book for a Book

Some weeks ago a blogging friend asked me if I was interested in swapping our handmade journals,
Not long after that this amazing package arrived in the mail for me. I excitedly opened it ...

and inside was this lovely journal - with a beautifully decorated cover wrapped in a lovely piece of silk.

and although I love the whole package, the beautifully decorated pages inside the journal is my favourite part! A huge THANK YOU to Kim for making this for me!

In return I made her this little soft covered journal.

With sewn together posters to make up the inside pages. I so enjoyed making this book for Kim,

and it has inspired me to make more soft covered books

but now I have told myself no more book making until...

I catch up on the stack of handmade books I have made that need finishing. Yes I tend to make books to the point of them needing binding, and then it takes me a long time to finish them.

That being said, I'm off to make a new book..... I need to because it is for a friend, and none of the ones above are "perfect" for her...

The Gift of Time

Today I gave myself a gift of time. I had other things I could have done, but when I woke up this morning, I decided I should give myself a gift of time and I decided this time was going to be spent working on a painting on plaster that has been sitting on my desk for some time.
This is how the piece looked this morning when I sat down at my desk.

And a few hours later - that went by in a blink of an eye - this is what emerged. I am not sure if it is finished yet, but I will leave it there for now and let time tell me if it is done or not.

Here are some close ups....

in which you can see a bit more of the detail.

I enjoyed my day... and wish for you all a chance to give yourself the gift of time.

A Few New Books

I have been busy making books lately. These were made from supplies I got out of the recycle bin at work. The pages out of an old flower book became the covers....
(with a piece of an old file folder between the flower pages)

and the pages inside the book are made of old posters that were blank on one side. I ripped the poster into small pieces and sewed the pieces together with the blank sides out for the pages.

I love giving things a new life that would otherwise be heading for the garbage or recycle centre!

A few weeks ago I sent off this little box of items to apply to sell my creations at a juried art sale.

I tried my best to include an assortment of my creations so that if I was accepted I could choose what I wanted to create to sell.
I am happy to say I was selected to sell my creations at the sale. At the same time that I am happy I also am a little paniced, as I need to get busy creating things I can sell.

One of the things I decided to make for sale is tea bag and flora art cards. These cards are quite a bit of work, as I like to display these bits in cards with openings in them, and the openings take me a long time to cut. I cut one layer in the card itself, and another piece of card is cut to go inside the card behind the tea bag transparent piece.

I worked on these all day yesterday. This one has a couple of lily petals in it. Lilies petals are one of my favourite to work with, as the petals have beautiful striations in them that you only really see when the light shines through them.

Here are the cards I managed to finish yesterday. I still have some more to put together and will need to continue to make some more of these before the sale.

(The sale is not until the end of November, and yes that is a long way off, but a full time job and driving my daughter to hockey (100 miles one way) 3 times a week takes up a lot of my time.... So I need to work towards this goal a little bit at a time)

Baking Sheet to Magnet Board

My very creative neice moved into her own place not long ago, and I wanted to make her something special for her new creative spot.
And I decided on a magnet board where she can hang her creations or her inspirations

I bought a baking sheet and painted it with layers of acrylic paint, wrote on it with a permanent pen, and finished it with a thin coat of cold wax.

I drilled some holes in the top corner added a hanger, made some magnets and there you have it a magnet board ready to hang her creations or inspirations on!

The magnets are made out of clear flat glass marbles that have painted pieces of paper and magnets glued to.

Because there were 2 trays in the package I made another one...

This one I painted and stencilled, and then added some stamps from my handcarved fish stamp.

The magnets were made the same way,

the hanger was added, and now this magnet board is finished as well.

Postcard Swap

Bloom is the theme for the most recent postcard swap.

So I created my postcard with a copy of a picture I drew. I wrote on it....

Added some pressed flowers, sewed it onto some handmade paper and a stiff backing piece, and finished it with a layer of wax.

I then mailed it off to the United Kingdom. Working on this project I realized it has been a long time since I have spent time drawing a face.... and I want to.... so little time, so much I want to do!

Tea Bag Luminaries

In a previous post I introduced you to my tea bag luminaries that I wrote a "how to make" article for GreenCraft magazine. It inspired me to make some more luminaries, so I gathered my used tea bags and created.

I decided to write on them they say....
"new beauty meets us in every step in all our wanderings"

J. Muir

and when you put a small battery operated tea light inside

the luminaries glow.

I am still waiting patiently to see the article in the magazine.... I hope it will arrive soon.

If you would like a luminary, I am hoping to make some soon that I can give away.... I will let you know as soon as I have them ready!

Where I Keep a Piece of My Heart

We have a small cabin (more of a shack really) and a few acres of land on the edge of Kluane Lake. We don't seem to spend enough time there, but when we do I enjoy every minute of it.
We were there a few days ago, and while we were there I wandered the windy beach... (and saw no one else)

And took many pictures of plants.

Although it is early August, fall is approaching quickly. The leaves are beginning to change colour

the berries are ripening

and many of the flowers

are beautifully going to seed.

I enjoyed my time taking pictures....

and then I set myself up at the old picnic table down by the beach with a thermos of tea, my sketch book and paints and my new art book - and the hours flew by.

Plaster Vessel

In the Plaster course I took in June/July, Stephanie Lee showed us how to make vessels out of plaster. I loved the look of them, but for some reason it took me a lot of time to build up enough courage to give it a try. I think it was because I wanted to ensure I had enough time to work on it, and having the past week off work, I decided to give it a try.

I made my vessel in a crude boat shape. It is made out of wire and covered with plaster. (Tricker than it sounds) Once this part was completed, it took about 3 days to dry.

I then painted the outside, coated the inside with a layer of encaustic wax, which I carved into, and then rubbed a thin layer of paint onto the wax.

I enjoyed making it, and one day when I once again have a big chunk of time, I will make another one.

But for now, it is time to finish up a few chores, and clean up the art supplies as it is back to work tomorrow. It has been a wonderfully creative week!