DJ Pettit Workshop, The Final Post (I Promise!)

While I can say my book is finished, I know there's lots more I want to add.  I have tons of bird stamps, including some great crows from Quietfire Designs that are perfect for this project.  But the book is bound, and I love it just the way it is.  Here are my pages......all 30+ of them!

BTW, I always forget to mention this, but if you click on a picture you'll get a closer look.  Which sometimes means a fuzzier look, but hey, I never claimed to be a photographer.

This is my cover, and you can see a bit of the spine.  DJ taught us the best, easiest binding technique that involves sewing that I've ever done.  The buttons are not merely decorative; they are what hold the thread in place.

 

 

This is my book opened so you can see both front and back covers and the spine.  

 

Some pages are all paper, but some are all fabric and lace:

 

 

And some are a combination of paper and fabric (and some washi tape and a few feathers never hurt anyone).

 

I love how the stitches from the previous page just add some texture to the next one.  On the right, one of many smaller bird images I've already added to the book.

Another image, more washi tape and one of Donna's stamps.

 

 

Room on these pages for something.  I was thinking of adding quotes and poems and song lyrics relating to birds and/or flight to some pages.

Check out the great texture on the left hand page.  This was one of many pages that was gessoed with super heavy gesso.  I didn't even know such a thing existed.  Now on my must-buy list.

 

I found this bird photo in a tourist publication at the hotel.

 

Lots of room for journaling, or just more stuff!

 

 

I took one of Elena's leftover muslin strips to incorporate into my book.  One of Jacquie's is somewhere too.  Love having a bit of my friends' work as part of my own. When you go to a class with friends do that.  Every time you look at your work you'll think of them and the good times.

 

I got that little photo of the two pigeons from DJ and painted it just as we did the crow for the cover.  Aren't they sweet?

 

 

The wonderful thing about picking (and sticking to) a color palette is you don't have to do too much fussing about the order of your pages.  Every single page works well next to any other page.

Just so you know, the circles which appear throughout my book were stamped with the rims of a paper cup and a glue stick cover.

 

 

When the book was bound I added some charms and do-dads to the bottom.  That little turquoise bird and nest was made by my friend Val.  I've had it for years and have been saving it for just the right project.  Talk about perfect! 

 

 

The beaded trim on the back cover was acquired recently at yet another great weekend workshop with Lynne Perrella and Michelle Ward.  We had a share table, and I found it there.  It didn't make its way into my project that weekend, but I knew I'd use it eventually.  More perfection!  So, thanks to the anonymous artist who left it there for me to find.

 

 

That's it!  I'm looking forward to a return visit to Donna Downey's fabulous studio.  I don't know if I'll ever be in the same space with DJ Pettit again, but I can hope.  DJ did say she'd come back, and if she does, I'll be right there too.

 

If you enjoyed this art adventure, and want to see even more photos, go to Donna's blog on her site (link above).  And also, don't forget Andrea Walford's blog.

 



The Lace Journey Ends......And Some Art With Friends

Just before the start of the Memorial Day Weekend, I received Marita's luscious lace journal from Elena, and spent a good part of those days working on it.  Marita's is the last one I had to create for, and soon I'll be getting my own back.  I've loved being a part of this group, and fully intend to continue to incorporate fabric and lace into my projects.

Marita's theme included vintage faces, hankies, and the colors ivory, ecru, and black.  In anticipation, I set aside all the elements I thought might work, and selected a focal image.  So when I actually had the book in my hands, putting together my spread came very easily.  Don't you love when that happens?

You can see I had plenty of lace in the right colors; the pocket for the "hankies" is just an oval doily cut in half.  Since I didn't have a hanky that went well with the colors Marita requested, I made a faux one with black and white netting.



 

 

There is a bit of batting under the image to make it puff up.  I went over her headband and earrings with flat backed pearls and crystals; the gold "chains" on the earrings are lines of Ranger's Liquid Pearls.

 

 

 

The back is simply decorated with lace and some beaded trim.

 

 

 

As for the "art with friends" portion of the title.....I recently got together for a play date with Pat and Teri.  After a wonderful Greek dinner we headed for Teri's place where we each brought a project.  Pat was up first, and we received these:

 

 

 

What to do with a wine glass, a paper template, and an electric votive candle?

 

 

 

Pop in the candle, then using the template, cut out a skirt.  I used a gelli plate page that my pal Lillian gave me when we were at Keys4Art in March.  A dab of glue holds it together.  I used decorative scissors when I cut the top and bottom, and a tiny flower punch to make some holes so the light would shine through.  I also added the beaded trim because.....well, because Pat thought it was a great idea, and it was!

 

 

 

Pardon the pun, but Chinese take out food takes on a whole new light when consumed with this little beauty on the table.

 

Teri's project was altering old photos.  She picked up a huge supply at a second hand store.

 



 

 

They do have to be traditionally developed photos, not computer printed ones.  It's all about the coating.  First we submerged them in water for a few minutes, then dried them off, and proceded to scratch and sand them.  On some I altered only sections, on some the whole photo.  It's a very cool way to isolate one area and then create an entirely new picture surrounding it.  After scratching and sanding, we added paint, and then some stamping.  Here are three I've completed.  I like this!

 

 

You can't see the original photo at all on this one:

I left the stones untouched; I think it looks like seagrass

and weeds are growing out of water:

On this one the wall was unaltered, and the cityscape

stamped over it.

 

 

 

My project was a birthday card using the wrapped package from Tim Holtz's Birthday Blueprint set.  I've seen a few very similar cards in the blogosphere, so I'm not taking any credit for the design.  I have no idea who originally came up with the idea of paper piecing, but it sure wasn't me.  Coupled with pop dots, it does make for a wonderfully dimensional card.

 

 

 



 











More Lace

Our Vintage Lace journal group is small; there are only 5 of us, and we've been moving the books along very quickly.  Last week I received Tracy's gorgeous book from Elena, and have managed to not only work on my pages, but finish them.  Tracy's theme is the art of John Willian Waterhouse, and once I found the image I wanted to use, everything else seemed to fall into place.

Here is my double page spread; Tracy will bind it into her book down the middle, between the two rows of buttons.

And closer views of the individual pages.

 

 

I included some beading (pink and bronze seed beads) around the image (which was printed on cotton fabric).

 

 

 

And had the perfect flower in my stash of Prima embellishments.

 

 

 

Some of my antique buttons found a new home too.

 

 

 

The back has to be finished, though not decorated.

 

 

 

I only have one more book to work in, which I should receive some time in March.  If things move along as they have been, my own lace journal should return home to me in April.  Yea!