editioning

It's been a long time since I made an edition of an artist book. I always love the finished collection and how they all look together as a group, but I forgot how time consuming they are...just as soon as you finished up a cover board, you remember you have to do it 9 more times. Troubleshooting also becomes a problem...you change one detail, then have to repeat it 4 more times!

Vabbè! I started making this edition of 5 the other night to accompany the cards I stitched up for Mother's Day at the C Gallery. They will be for sale up there and there will be kind of an artist presentation of all the goods for sale on May 5th.

They're still a work in progress and I'm actually going to make a separate larger version (left photo right above) of the book outside of the edition (from the pieces after the first revision to the book...) but they make for some nice photos on a dreary day.

snail mail

I started making some cards from some scraps of lace, watercolor paper and paper bags I had lying around in my little (big) mess of an art bubble... so happy to have found another use for the piles of paper bags have lying around.        

























I'm pretty happy how these turned out, for how randomly they came to be created too! I'll be sending them up to my friend's gallery in Los Alamos, The C Gallery, where they'll be for sale for Mother's Day! I think I'm going to make a couple different variations of them too.

I especially love the sewn paper bag flower detail...I used the same shape for when I made my Daisy Chain Box series back in school...and I love to have any excuse to sew on paper and use some ombre effects.

I got the idea for the tags on the envelopes from a post I found through Craftgawker. It was actually for making a stamp but I didn't have anything to make a stamp out of so paper bag cut outs resulted instead!

My little art bubble has been a pretty big disaster zone lately but I really love how some cute and random things can spontaneously occur in it...and that it somehow still makes for some lovely pictures among the mess...

( I converted my little fennel jar that I found awhile back into a little glue jar...)

Both of these scissors are my go-tos for sewing projects. I found the big Gingher scissors and the tiny crane ones among my Grandma's (equally disastrous) sewing center...I guess messy work bubbles run in the family... 

IF: swamp

Quick little illustration for Illustration Friday's theme this week: swamp!

introducing Tuttles!

The last of my little owlets for Lumen is done! Here is Tuttles, Lumen's little brother. And I think he's pretty freakin' adorable!

 

What a sight to see, these sweet little three,

With Lumen in lead, dancing all day,

Then Basil behind, beak buried in a book,

And Tuttles at the rear, humming along the way.

So next up, time to draw out the rest of the pages and the little details then get it all into Blurb and printed! Huzzah!!! Getting closer to the first real book...

In the mean time, been pouring over an old Bon Appetit issue on Italy and now need to make some sweet potato gnocchi tonight...a variation on the last time I made it so hopefully it will be just as tasty.

Going to try to crank out another image for Illustration Friday, Livi & Grace and Lumen all this week...oi vey... going to be a long week...

paper bag folders

I've been teaching some collage classes through a non-profit called  Arts Outreach. For the last session, I had my students use oil pastels and chalk pastels on panels from paper bags to use as covers for their books we were collaging into. After the class, I was left with PILES of small panels, large side panels and handles, which I couldn't stand to throw away after emphasizing repurposing with my kids for 6 weeks.

So! I started playing around with the extras...I've come up with two results so far using the handles from paper bags and the large front panels. With the handles I ended up weaving them into little baskets to hold my succulent plants (which I will make a post of soon, since I'll be teaching my kids this summer how to make them!)  and with the large panels I sewed them into some folders.

Cut the large front panels off of the bags, the side with the handles, right along the edge of the panel. You'll get 2 folders from one bag...

Next you'll need to take the handles off. Pull them off gently so you don't rip a hole in your folder. Toss 'em if you want or hold on to them for other projects...like weaving baskets!

 Fold them in half, or stagger them an inch or so if you want to see inside or the lining paper. Either way, make sure you fold them with the writing on the inside of the bag.

At this point, you can either leave them unlined or pick out some paper to put inside. I liked lining the folders that had the scalloped detail on the top edge...gives it a nice little pop! Cut the paper to the same size as the whole folder...or be lazy like me (and prettyful paper conservative) and cut enough to line just the visible side. Secure it with a little bit of glue to keep it from slipping around while you sew.

Time to sew! Sew the liner paper on first by going across the top and bottom edges. Then fold everything up and sew the sides. I would recommend sewing from the bottom up (or the base of the folder up to the opening).

All done! Now find stuff to put in them! I've been using them for storing small scraps of watercolor paper, scrapbooking paper, work stuff and even paper scraps from my classes with the kids! Let your kids organize their stickers or cards or what have you. You can write on them to keep more organized and if they get messed up it's no biggie!

Now I just have to find uses for all the rest of the scraps...baskets for the handles but I'm thinking handmade journal covers for the side panels...we shall see....more upcycling and repurposing projects to come!

spring rosettes

I've got spring on the brain big time! Lots of spring-y colors floating around my table these days...and some little rosettes happened as a result!

These little rosettes will be up in my Etsy shop if you would like to have them! I've been pretty fixated on tattooish roses lately...probably more to come later today...