Vintage Paris

That is Lynne's theme in the journal round robin going on at Kindred Souls.  What a gorgeous book it is!  Our collaborative project is nearing its end, and this book is full of beautiful images of Paris, in Lynne's requested colors of whites and creams, lots of fabric and lace and lovely papers.  It's a great size too; 8x8 may be my new favorite.

Here is the front of my page.

 

 

The background (most of which wound up being covered) is an old photo of the Eiffel Tower, printed on cotton.  Many of the images I used came from a Navel Jelly collage sheet I've been hoarding  saving for years.  Others I found online, and others were in my stash.  Some are printed on fabric, some on paper, and there is a bit of machine stitching as well.

 

A couple of closer looks:

 

 

 

We don't have to do much to the backs, just finish them and include our information, but I think I decorated this back as much as the front.  Guess I was having too much fun.

 

 

 

The background on this side is a decorative napkin.  On the lower right there's a little pocket.

 

 

 

Inside the pocket, this little tag:

 

 

 

On the reverse side, my information.  The dangly on the top is actually a pin, which Lynne can remove if she likes and wear.

 

Although I'll be thrilled to get my own book back, I'll be a little sad to see this come to an end.  I've enjoyed each book I've worked in, and am always impressed with the pages that came before mine.  This is a group of very talented people!











Vintage Ancestors and Art Is You

The newest collaborative journal I'm involved in is themed Vintage Ancestors, and we will begin mailing our books in mid October.  We're using cabinet cards (or our version of them), creating a back story, and then each successive artist will give us another relative or two or six (might be a group photo) and add to the story.  I see great opportunities for every style of art.  Seriously elaborate lace, fanciful altered ancestors, and everything in between.

I think most of us created our own books for the project, and from what I've seen so far in the photos we've shared, they are pretty fabulous.  My own is modest in size and decoration, but I think it does have a vintage feel.  Here is the cover:

 

 

The covers are corrugated cardboard disguised by many layers of decorative napkins, tissue paper, paper tape, gesso, ink, and paint (not necessarily in that order; I just kept layering).  Here is a sideways view (a little dark; sorry about that) to show the exposed spine.

 

 

 

The binding method I used is one I learned from Michelle Ward at CREATE this past summer.  No sewing at all!  Pages are attached to one another with strips of paper and strong glue. In Michelle's class we used tyvek, but I used decorative paper, which the artists can incorporate into their work or ignore and cover completely.  I'm leaving that up to them.

 

 

 

The back cover I left plain. 

 

 

 

To get my party started I chose a cabinet card that has some special meaning for me.  According to what I read, the couple in the photo came from a town in the Ukraine called Brody.  My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Brody, which I always thought odd.  I thought Brody was an Irish name, and imagined that it probably started out as something like Brodsky and was shortened by immigration, as was often the case back then.  Now I'm wondering if her name was something else altogether, something not understood by the folks on Ellis Island, so they just gave her the name of her home town.  Remember how young Vito Corleone got his name in the Godfather?  Anyway, here is my first page.  I haven't written the story behind it yet.

 

 

 

I won't be working on that story for a while.  This afternoon I leave for Connecticut and what I know will be a fabulous week at Art Is You.

 

 

 

Everyone I've spoken to agrees that this is one of the finest mulit-teacher art retreats around.  If you live on the east coast and haven't signed up for classes, they're not all filled and it isn't too late.  Hope to see you there!













Toss The Smokes; Alter The Box

The Kindred Souls group is in the midst of a cigar box swap, and I was lucky enough to be paired with Neil, an awesome artist from England.  We briefly communicated and both decided that whatever each of us did would be fine.  I was happy to be making a box for a man, because I don't often get to do that,  and I did what I love to do......a little bit vintage, a little bit steampunk, a little bit grunge, and a whole lot of texture.   I just mailed the completed box the other day, and it will take about two weeks to reach Neil.  So, Neil, if you're reading this and would like to be surprised, step away from the computer or go visit another blog!

Above, a look at the box with the lid partially opened (yes, it closes nicely).  And now for some closer looks.  First, the top.

I took some corrugated cardboard and ripped off the paper covering one side, then cut it into different sized pieces for the mosaic look.  I used inks and stains to color the pieces until I thought they looked suitably grungy, and adhered them with a strong glue.  Then I went through my stash of keys, selected some and glued them down.  I wanted to attach some sort of knob to the top to aid in opening the box, but the craft knobs I had on hand (lots of them!) didn't have a screw long enough to go through the lid, and I had no screws in my junk drawer that would fit, so I wound up using a finial from an old lamp that worked perfectly.  It took a while to get the hole made, but an awl worked fine.

The sides of the box were covered with many scraps of patterned tissue paper and sealed with Ranger's Glue N Seal.  Oh, I used that on the top of the box too, by the way.  The chain goes all the way around the box and the swags were created by attaching the chain with plain old thumb tacks....which I banged up and colored with permanent ink to get a rusty look.

Decorating the inside of the box was optional, but I just couldn't leave it naked.  Here's what it looks like fully opened.  And next, photos of the inside of the box and inside of the lid.

                                         

For the bottom and sides of the inside I took some patterned paper and altered it with stamps and stencils.

The underside of the lid was covered with Tim Holtz's tissue tape, which was then colored with both Golden's fluid acrylics and distress inks.  And yes, everything was sealed and protected with more Glue N Seal.

I think boxes look nicer if they have some lift, so I added feet.....made from bingo markers.  The paper on the bottom of the box is plain old kraft from a disassembled grocery bag.  It was inked, crumbled, inked some more and glued down, without smoothing it too much so some of the wrinkles remained.  It may not look it in the photos, but I think it resembles leather. 

I left this out and opened for DAYS before packing it up (carefully enough, I hope) and sending it across the ocean.  Even though everything seemed dry after a few hours, you really want to make sure of that before shipping something like this.  I wouldn't want Neil to be unable to open it.  Speaking of which, before packing it up I did put a little something inside for Neil to discover.  No photo of that, so even if Neil decided to look, something will still be a surprise.













The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 6

The tag Tim did for today features embossed metal, painted and distressed and very vintage looking.  Tim used one embossing folder for his tag (one I don't have), and I used three folders.  I cut them into sections to create the collage look of the folder Tim used.

I used the holiday, snowflakes and sheet music folders.  This tag was not difficult to do, but it does
involve some drying time.  Also, as Tim states clearly, after painting the metal you will most likely think that your tag is a hot mess.  Don't be alarmed.  The following steps really do make it all work.  I think it's a wonderful look.

The embellishment (I don't have any of the Christmas charms) started life as a truly ugly overly bright piece of thin cheap metal.  Applying the paint and embossing it really transformed it.

By the way, Tim used Ranger's self adhesive foil.  I used metal from Ten Seconds Studio.  But......if you have neither, this is what I used to do before I had any metal sheets.  Adhere some heavy duty aluminum foil to your cardstock and then proceed as directed.  As long as you are a bit gentle with your sanding you won't tear the foil and it is a good substitute for the real thing.



Vintage Beauty

Jason from ATT hosted a vintage photo page swap, and yesterday I received all the pages......they are all gorgeous!  Sometimes in these multi-player page swaps you get a page or two that are....well, how do I put this?  Not as great as the others?  Underwhelming?  You get the idea.  Not this time.  Honestly, I love them all, so much so, that I wasted no time in getting them bound together.
My one and only complaint....four fabulous artist did not identify themselves!  As soon as they step forward and claim their pages, I will insert their names.  ****NOTE:  I believe all pages are now properly identified, but if any of my information is incorrect, please let me know.****
Here is my precious book:

 Jason's Cover....he did one for each of us!

Cover with door opened

 My page

 Unknown :(   Sue Stoughton's Page

Inge's Page

Unknown :(   Joyce Norman's Page

Jason's Page

Pamela B.'s Page

Gail's Page

Pam A.'s Page

Unknown :(  Liz Walters' Page

Unknown :(  Lisa's Page

Ellen's Page

Kim's Page

My great friend Pat's Page

Penci's Page

Deb's Page

Nancy M.'s Page

Jan's Page

Sue B.'s Page

Gloria's Page

I have to say, I only snapped pix of the fronts, and the backs are every bit as gorgeous.  Hmmmm...maybe I'll do a page back post another time.