A Drawing and MORE Pages

As I said at the end of my last post, I felt like drawing - so draw I did. It felt good - and now I want to paint her, and I will... just not yet. After the drawing I did feel like working on a few more pages for the artsy notepads I am making. And here they are.....


I made 4 different types of these pages. They started as scrap paper that I saved from the recycling bin at work last year. The paper was heavy-ish (about 80 lb. I think), and although they had information on one side the other side was blank. There was about 100 posters, and I was sure I could do something with them. For these pages, I took 3 posters, and ripped them into the size I needed. I then used my sewing machine to sew 2 sheets together, and then stamped them and grunged them up to have the messy look that I like so much. They are decorated on both sides of the page.



I also made little pockets that can hold pieces of whatever a person may want. I am not sure if I will put bits of pieces in the pockets yet or not. They were made from an old paper grocery bag that I glued onto heavier cardstock.



In my mind's eye I see each of these "books" about an inch think, and if I am making 6 of them, I will need a stack about 6 inches high. I am just about at 4 inches, so will continue to make more pages. I have a few more in mind that I may even make yet tonight........

Pages, Pages and More Pages

A stack of pages ready to be made into the artsy notepads I decided to make.

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You know how sometimes you take on a project that seems like a good idea at the time, and then it kind of takes on a flow of its own, and you wonder how you got there. Well I decided to make an artsy type of notepad - rather than a book, as it won't have a spine and be sewn together - and I thought how great it would be if it was a gathering of many different papers that were decorated in someway or another - and since I am doing this, I think I will make not just one book - I think I will make 6 of them! (thinking back, I don't know where that number came from - it just came) - and they will have quite a few pages - chunkyish pads. That doesn't sound too hard. Now, it is not that it is hard, it is just very time consuming- which is okay I guess, even though I don't have a lot of time. As long as I am enjoying it.



This is one of my favourite type of decorative pages to make - old text - gesso - stamps - pastels and some matte medium to seal it with. I enjoyed making them - they were fun.

Here are a few examples of some of the pages I have made so far. Some are decorated with paste paper I have made in the past, handmade paper I made and then decorated, and images I have painted. Some have lots of room for writing or drawing or painting or pasting - while others have very little, and some are mainly for decoration.


The pages have all been fun so far - but now before the project is done, I am a little tired of it, and will work away at it slowly - when I want to, so that I enjoy it.... why do it if I don't enjoy it? It will get done, but perhaps a little slower than I may like.

Right now I feel like drawing, so that is what I am going to do.

Tea Bags In Art Making

I was asked how I use tea bags (one of my favourite things these days), and thought I would answer that here. The above image is the paper from a used tea bag that I dried out, dumped out the tea, and ironed it flat. I then stamped on it with permanant ink, and used drops of ink from non permanant ink pad refillers to add a bit more subtle colour. I then coated it with a layer of matte medium.... and then it was ready for use - on a card, for a decorative page in a book etc.

The cover of this book was made from a page out of an old book that I put a bit of gesso on, and then I layed a few tea bag paper down on the cover and glued it in place with matte medium. I then stamped with permanant ink on top of that, and covered the whole thing with Dorlands Wax. (oh yah I added some very rustic embroidery to it as well)

Inside the book the first page is a tea bag decorated using the method I talked about with the first picture. It is quite sturdy once it is coated with matte medium.

And Lastly here are a few cards I made by stamping and inking and adding a bit of paint to used tea bag paper.

A few of the people that I work with now help me out by giving me their used tea bags.... it sounds kinda crazy, but I love it.

Moments of Makings

My time to create is very limited - sometimes this can be frustrating, but for this project it works fine. In the small moments I have each day, I am working on creating pages for a "book"... it is a bit like a treasure chest book, as the pages will be so varied.... some you can write, draw, paint or wander on in whatever way you want to, and some can be left just the way they are - or can be varied if the individual prefers. I am enjoying making them, as I can work on them bit by bit as my moments allow. The pages above are made with old tea bags, - pages from an old book that I painted over, - and old tissue paper sewing patterns. I do like to reuse whatever I have on hand.


I work a lot on the floor - I do have a desk, but it is usually full - and besides the floor is right there and it invites me to come down and spread out. I am a very messy in my makings - I wish I wasn't, but I am....

Each page has been so much fun to make - not sure if these are done or not, as I tend to keep adding to the pile, as they begin to stack up on the floor.

My Eyes

These are my eyes - I drew them a while ago. These days I am working on seeing more and doing a better job of seeing the beauty in the every day - in the moments that fill the ordinary days. I am trying my best to enjoy even those everyday, ordinary moments. Sometimes those moments are the best ones, and they can be so very easy to miss.

My eyes travel inwards to my mind. When I close my eyes, I see the things I want to create. At night I am happy to go to this lovely place and create, as my day may not have got me to the place where I can create with my hands and mind and eyes and heart all together. If I finish this post right now, I may have an hour to create with all of those things. Wish me luck....

Windows and Doors

I have always loved to take pictures of windows and doors .... don't know why, but I guess I don't need a reason. I have been away from home all week, so have not had time to create - so just have these pictures to share.... maybe more tomorrow.

joy!

I made this sometime ago, but I looked at it today, and it made me smile. This girl makes me smile. She brings me an amazing amount of joy.... She is my oldest daughter, and I am very proud of her. She is 16 years old, and doing so well.

Right now I am taking an online course with Kelly Rae Roberts - I am learning loads, enjoying it, and struggling with it - but it is of course all good in the end - it makes me do some thinking. But, it means I haven't had time to create, and unfortunately my day job, may get in the way of getting me to create too much this week either.... and I have an idea in my mind that I WANT to do now! Hold on idea - Hold on!

Painting Faces

I spent some time today painting these two faces that I drew some time ago. I haven't painted faces for quite some time, so it was fun to try it again. I don't think I am quite finished with the one above yet. But, I am done for now. The process I used was to photocopy and transfer my drawings on to watercolour paper (which created some "holes" in the paintings) and then I painted them with watercolour crayons, and some acrylic paints.

The words on the top one say "whatever you can do or dream you can begin it. boldness has a genius, power and magic in it. begin it now" J.W. Goethe

The bottom one may get some words yet. They will both probably get sewn to a piece of coloured paper and a layer of wax on yet. I haven't added the wax yet, as I am not sure if they are finished. Once they have the wax on they have to be finished (or it is harder to change them after that) I will see.......

Books on an Non-Book Day!

I didn't think I was going to make books today. Actually I had decided to take a break from book making, and do some painting and collage work. But then last night before bed, I looked at my niece's blog, and she had made this really cute little book, and I couldn't resist giving it a try. I have made these style of books before - but not for a long time, and I had forgotten all about them. I had a very enjoyable day puttering at these books. These books are great if you have never made a book before and want to try. (My niece has a link to a tutorial on her blog.) The first one I made is the larger brighter orange one. It has 7-8 pages (2 sided) in total - 3 pages are also envelopes to hold tags.


I then decided to make one with a double set of pages (15 - pieces of paper) - and to make it more in my style. The paper covering this one, is handmade paper that I made some time ago. I dyed the paper, and then stamped on it. I also used some fabric for the spine. This one has four envelope pages with tags inside. (2 side loading, 2 top loading)
Now this teensy tiny book was lots of fun to make. (It has the red cover in the first picture) You can write a favourite quote in it by writing one or two words on each page.
And the medium sized one on the first picture is this one. I wrote a quote in it and will be sending it off in the mail soon to my sister that lives miles away.

May Long Weekend

It was a beautiful May Long Weekend - and as usual the leaves were not out at the beginning of the weekend, but popped out by the end of it. We went to Kluane Lake for the day on Saturday, and the ice was not out yet - but according to the hubby it is not usually out until June. But as the picture shows above there was already a lot of open water - so if a big wind comes the lake may be ice free before June rolls in.

Although there were a few springs flowers beginning to show their colours, I seemed to focus on the dead flowers from last season.
A magpie came around to see what I was up to.....
and on the way home we saw about 30 snow geese feeding on the mud flats by the river.

My weekend also found me busy building a fire pit close to our house, and spending some hours creating.