Happy Birthday Richie Rich! We love you!
In the Blissfully Art Journal Yahoo Group one of the prompts was "What have you learned in life?" The first thing I thought of was don't' put all your eggs in one basket. I have learned always to have a contingency plan. Don't rely on others to do what they say they are going to do. Don't put your money in one place, or rely on one thing to happen. Life isn't like that. Most times it is for the best so always have some eggs somewhere else.
The last two years I have been sorting and going through things trying to make my life filled with the things that mean the most to me. It has been a powerful experience. Totally eye opening and empowering.
These two pages reflect my need for something spiritual in my life on a everyday basis. I think we all get so busy with immediate things that we forget to do things that give us solace and strength. I am asking for help and guidance in these pages.
The beginning was odd because we were to write our name everywhere. I am not a name writer, but at the end I was more comfortable. The armor part was the best. I loved thinking up what I was going to say here. My armor is from Karen Wimsey's clip art on medieval stuff.
The inchie page was our third prompt. We were to have one page with torn dictionary pages and the other plain. Gesso them both then when that was dry paint a bit. My gesso stinks to high I don't know what. It had molded. So gross. I through it out and just used cheap white acrylic. Work fine - no bad smells.
After everything was glued down the way you liked, we were to add a little paint around the edges and doodle at will.
The next spread we were to just spill our thoughts out on the blank paper. When finished cover with tape. I used masking tape first then when over that tape with more colored and decorative tape.
The last step was to sand the tape, gesso the tape, sand some more. I decided to add some thoughts to my page. I like how the various tapes sanded. This was a fun exercise. Now to go on to the next....
I think she is checking the Tom turkey to see if he is plump enough. I guess we are going to have to start thinking turkey pretty soon. Yum, and pies...
A day at the races or is it just a day of amusement. Give yourself and your special someone a day...just for the two of you this month. It might surprise you both.
November is the month that family and friends start to visit. So, clean up the public rooms in your house and buy something special even if it is just a few candles to set the mood. Remember everything does not have to be perfect and ask for help.
Games are in the air. Football season is upon us like a Mack truck. This is the time to get out the crock pot and make a few soups or a hearty stew. You can get in some art time while they dose in front of the game.
Which came first - the chicken or the egg?
This is one of my favorite Halloween postcards. She is so pretty and I just love the big old moon.
This just cracks me up. She and her kitty are so sweet. It reminds me of taking that picture of your sweet precious one in their costume just before the trick or treat fun begins.
My favorite Ellen Clapsaddle Halloween postcard.
Isn't she incredible with her owl head dress? I want a costume like that.
She is such a sweet little witch. Maybe a cousin to Little Red Riding Hood.
See how the book has popped open now that the spine covering has been cut. You can see that the tissue paper that was covering the signatures has torn and rolled up. The glue is visible and the signatures are all still sewn together. That is good.
I took the spine covering and put an edge of gel medium on it and bent it back and adhered it to the covers. This left the spine totally exposed. In the above picture you can see the top is adhered and the bottom is not.
In this picture both of the pieces have been glued and tucked in nicely. I have manipulated the spine so that it is now even and full.
I glued what was left of the original spinal covering back on. Then I broke out the mending tape. This is a very thin tissue like tape with an adhesive on one side. I covered the whole spine with it leaving where the fabric book mark is based clear. Again I manipulated the spine so that the pages were aligned more and the spine was straight.
I then applied gel medium to the top of the mending tape, laid a piece of tissue on that, then covered the tissue with a layer of gel medium. Let this dry thoroughly. At this point the spine now measures almost 2 inches. That is 1 1/2 inches larger than it was. Poor spine.
Next, I glued on the leather. I found a leather that was well tanned yet sturdy. A bit thicker than the original leather. You can usually get leather scraps at a craft store, some fabric stores, or even cut up an old purse or garment you might have. I decided to use the smooth finish side. I glued the front first using gel medium. Let this dry and then turned it over and wrapped it around to the back. It is firm but not tight. There is much more to do in this journal.
This is the back side. Still thick and interesting. This journal is twice the thickness it once was.
Here you can see that I did not glue the leather to the spine, just to the covers. This gives the journal the same feel as it originally had. The mending tape and tissue are the new spine.
The front all nicely finished and ready to be worked in.
This is my entry for Theme Thursday Challenge this week. The theme is faces. We are to make an ATC, a 4 by 4 or anything we want just as long as it has a face on it. Well, that was a challenge. Way too many choices for me in that department. I have been playing with photo shop using one photo with lots of the drawing, layers, filters, etc. Also, making things using the grid feature.
Yum!
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