More Handmade Books

I have created a couple of new books. These are "recycle" crafts as the paper inside is blank plain copy type paper that is torn off of a printout at work. They tear the blank part off so there is not so much bulk to file. They were trying to find a way to recycle it instead of throwing it away and of course I said "Let me help you out with that". The covers came from work also. They were 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of cardboard. So I had to make something to prove that I was using it.

For some reason I got a picture in my head of pillow ticking. So I made a background in photoshop to resemble it:

The beauty of Photoshop is that you can now make it any color you want. I made a red book and a blue book.

I made the heart for this book out of kraft paper--the kind that comes on the roll to wrap packages in. This is a staple in my studio! I cut a piece big enough for the project I want and then take it to the sink and wet it. I then crumple the wet paper to give it texture (give it a good squeeze to wring out the excess water). Carefully flatten the wet paper onto a piece of freezer paper or plastic. Pick 2-3 colors of acrylic paint so there will be depth in the finished piece. I use a triagular make-up sponge to apply color (the flat end oposite the point) and I also use a little blending gel or floating medium. This keeps the paint moving and also helps blend different colors. On the heart above I used burgandy paint primarily and then just a touch of black used very sparing to bring out the texture.

Once my paper was dry, I glued a piece to cardstock and then cut out a heart. To add the trim I first poked holes evenly spaced around the edge of the heart and in about 1/4 in. I used crochet thread and blanket stitched around the heart. You could leave it at that, but I like frills and bling so I single crochet around the edge of the heart using the blanket stitch as a base. Once I had gone all the way around I did a little ruffle stich by chaining five and then a single crochet in every third base single stitch. I added a little crochet flower and a button to finish it.

For my little blue book I created the star in a similar fashion except I used some of my husband's gasket material. I had read about using this a while ago and can't remember where, but they had used it as a book cover. You can get this in automotive supply stores and my husband says it's not bad in price, although he doesn't recall how much it runs. To describe this material it is like the kraft paper in a way, but much heavier and stronger. I wet it and purposely tried to tear it and I could not. This has much potential. There was some printing on one side, but I just lightly sanded it and it came off. If you are painting over it you probably don't even need to do that.

I prepped the gasket material the same as the kraft paper. It is a little harder to crumple, but I just did what I could to create texture. I painted this with a brown paint, copper paint and again a little black. Once it was dry I cut out the star. This cuts very easily so no problems there. I then poked holes in a decorative pattern using a large tapestry type needle. I painted the edges with black. I layered a piece of black cardstock creating a mat to give the star a little pop. The center element is made of polymer clay using a mold made from a button.

Hope you give this a try! Thanks for visiting--Denise

Projects, projects, projects!

Here's what I have been up to recently. During this month I had a week off of work. Why does it go by so fast?! We went camping over the 1st weekend, came home for a few days that I spent making things, cleaning carpets, working in the garden and then went camping again.

I had planned to work on some polymer clay projects and experiment with silkscreening. Is that what happened? Of course not, I got off on a completely different tangent (several to be exact) and here's what I made:

First, since I was camping I had to bring along some projects. I usually pack a plastic drawer and then a sturdy tote that my husband now calls the "100 lb tote". I had the urge to do some hand work and had never done any embroidery to speak of so I decided to try that. I went online and read up on stitches. Then I decided to use one of my drawings to see what would happen. This is the drawing I went from. I have had this made into a rubber stamp and I use it all the time.

And here is how it turned out:

I was pleased with the results. I think it looks rather vintage and now I have a million and one ideas for embroidery. I did this on muslin and backed it with fusible interfacing. It did pull a little because when I started it I did not have a hoop. When I got back to town after the first camping trip I ran to the thrift store to solve this problem.

I also got on another handmade book kick. I wanted to spend some time trying to solve an issue I have had when making books with sewn signatures. I have not been able to glue the pages into the book and have the book close properly. This has driven me crazy for some time. I think I have finally figured it out but not until I had made the second book. I still have to make more to see if I truly solved the issue, but here are the two I made:

This is one of those cases where you start out with one idea and end up with something totally different. I gravitate toward vintage looks. I was thinking I wanted to make something in the color scheme of pink and muted green. I painted the background paper and when I was done it looked rather anemic. So I stamped in a darker green with one of my hand carved stamps. The center silver medallion was an experiment with a cuttlebug folder that was laying on my workspace. I laid out the center design and ribbon and showed my husband (who has had quite the education on "art"--I'm sure he never imagined all the projects he would influence). I said "it just needs a little something more" to which he replied "Why don't you put a little thingy hanging down". I told him he was brilliant and ran to finish my book. I am so blessed!

So I actually finished the second book today. I had painted the cover paper thinking I would go for the deep red leather look. Wasn't really happy with that either, so it sat around for several days. For some reason it seemed to come together today as I was trying different papers and fabrics.

I happened to find some fabric in my stash with roses on it that matched the color. I have just been reading the new Somerset Studio Art Quilting book and wanted to try working with some fabric collage. I cut out the flowers and reconfigured them into a design that would fit the book cover. The light colored background is tea dyed muslin and a little cheesecloth for dimension. A button on the lower left and a wire charm I made at the top finished it up.

The other thing I had on my agenda was to make a tote I could use as a purse. I had been carrying a perfectly good black leather purse, but the lining torn and it was a mess inside. I could never find anything. When I finally changed things out I had to laugh at all the things I carry. I must have been a Girl Scout as I would never be accused of being unprepared. I picked up 2 panels at one of my thrift stores (It is called Home for Good and they use their profits to fund an adoption ministry -http://www.hfgf.org/) for a dollar a panel and used them to make my tote. The pattern didn't call for a lining, but I put one in that has 6 inside pockets. I cannot believe how much of a difference this had made. It is much easier to find things and I am still outfitted like a Girl Scout.

Hope you all have been having as much fun as I have. I will leave you with a photo I took while camping. It is a beautiful wild rose. This photo is destined for a future project of course! Thanks for visiting.

Finally, an update!

Sorry if anyone checked back here and still found nothing new. I have had a baaad case of bronchitis and have been very slow for about 6 weeks now. Hopefully, I have seen the worst of it.

Anyway I am putting up some pictures of projects I have done using the gel media transfer method. The first one is a cover on a handmade book.

This is a small book about 4.25 x 5.25 with hand stitched blank pages. I really am not one to journal, but I LOVE to make all kinds of books. Now I just need to figure out what to do with them. For the cover I had taken a photo of a statue left at our house by the previous owners.

I then turned the photo into a high contrast black and white image using Photoshop (one of my favorite toys!) and paired it with a graphic background I had created from one of my drawings. Once I printed it on the inkjet, I made a toner based photocopy and transferred that using gel medium.

Here is a jar I did in the same manner. I have saved all kinds of jars to repurpose and this is one technique I was playing with. To get the background color I painted the glass with gesso, then a couple of coats of turquoise, and then sprayed with a clear coat. When that was dry I proceeded with the gel medium transfer.

The top center piece is made of polymer clay and crystals. This turned out, maybe, a little over the top, but I still kind of like it and it was part of what I call R & D (research and development); so usually things get better after the first piece.

I have one last image to share for now. It uses heat transfer instead of gel medium. It is still taken from a toner based copier. I then used one of the heat transfer gadgets that looks like a woodburner, but has a round flat tip. This was an image of lace that I transferred to thin copper sheet. It will be the perfect thing for some future project I'm sure.

Well, I could go on and on, but I must save something for another day! Hope you all enjoyed my babbling and hope you have as much fun with this stuff as I do.

Note: I am still trying to figure out all this blog stuff and hope to get some of the blogs I visit onto my list soon.