Saturday afternoon book making

Tuesday night is a big evening for me.  Our local Community College is hosting an event where they are bringing in an author and letting him speak then sign autographs.  West Kentucky Community Technical College has done this before, but this is the first time I have longed to go.  It was almost a year ago that I read about the event and have counted down the days.

Who is coming to the little town of Paducah?  Why Jamie Ford.  You haven't heard of him?  Well, you need to google it right now.  Purchase the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet first and you will be hooked.  There is a second novel entitled Songs of Willow Frost that I also recommend.

I discovered Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet not long after it was published.  I read it, reread it....well, I keep rereading it.  I have the ebook, but once I found out Jamie was coming to Paducah, I bought a paper copy as well.  I pre-purchased Songs of Willow Frost from BAM! and it was delivered to my house the day the book was released.  If you pre-purchased Songs, Jamie would email you a little "supplement" type/companion book written about one of the characters in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  I read it when he emailed me, but decided that since I was going to meet him next week I would try to see if he would autograph my ebook too.

I printed the book in full form. It was rather large to bind, so I printed as a booklet.






I took a large sheet of mat board and cut me a couple of covers (8.5x6).  I covered each cover with one 12x12 scrapbook page (Bohemia by My Mind's Eye---the best paper pad EVER!!!).








 In the meantime I put together the booklet, scored the middle, and sewed the binding of the pages.  Once that was finished I inked the pages with Distress Ink by Tim Holtz (old paper and walnut stain).  I hot glued a ribbon to the "spine" of the booklet (gluing the booklet in the exact center of the ribbon).  Once the hot glue set up, I put a strip of hot glue on the inside edge of one of the covers and put the ribbon down on that side.  Once set I repeated the process with the other side of the ribbon and other cover.  The thickness of the book looks nice between the covers.  I mod podged the covers after adding some walnut stain ink to the edges.  I also mod podged the overleafs of the booklet to each cover giving it a finished look.

On the cover, I used Jamie's cover, but I ran out of color ink. I will reprint before Tuesday and mod podge the new photo onto the cover.

Not perfect but it's kind of like me...covered in flaws but handy.

Day 3 of snowed in

Being poor on trapped in the house if wearing on me.  Cabin fever has set in.  Holy Moly!!  I have done all the dishes, all the laundry, all the sewing repairs, all the touch up of paint, all the cleaning, all the changing of sheets...good gravy you get the picture. I have made 32 cards, 2 canvas thingys, bunches of die cuts paper piecings, organizing of my drawing materials, the taxes, made a peanut butter pie, bit all my nails to the quick, and even got all the recyclables together.  This stupid ice must melt soon, I am not made to sit home all day!!!!

Here is what I created today:

Snowed in.

Here we are on our one millionth snow day of this winter.  Ok, so I exaggerated the number a bit, but you get the picture.  We have had lots of snow days.  I usually do home improvement projects on these type of days, but I was saving my money for our big vacation this year so no projects.  What I have done is touch up walls/cabinets that had chips or just needed to be refreshed (or where my son poked a hole in the living room wall playing basketball), I have done our taxes, perused the internet for a deal on cars, and today made a painting.

This painting started with die cuts that I made with my Cricut cartridge (thanks DiAnna) Art Nouveau.  I have wanted this one since the day it was released, and my friend bought it for me for Christmas.  I broke it out a few weeks ago and started to see what it could do.  Here are some photos of the die cuts I have made with the cartridge.





Today's project started as a blank 8x11 canvas that I painted an old fashioned mustard color.  I then used wood icing and a stencil that I bought at Ephemera Paducah and went to town.  What  a great stencil!!!!  It fits in great with the vibe I was going for with this canvas.  I then decided to make one of the girls the lady in the moon.  I made some cattails for the ground and a beautiful lady in purple for the foreground.

I am not sure that I am done with the painting, time will tell. I am however finished with it today.



Thanks for stopping by.

The chair

A month or so ago, my friend had a chair for sale.  Another friend of mine bought it and gave it to me to paint for her office.  I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. I made a couple of sketches and  did some internet research but in the end I thought about the personality of my friend.  She likes owls, her school colors are green, she is a child of God, and she's pretty awesome.  She needed a chair to fit her uniqueness. I scrapped all previous ideas and painted it in her school colors first.

I had made a bird and an owl for this friend but wasn't sure how or why to give it to her.  This chair was going to be perfect.  With the way the chair was made I thought I could fashion a tree from it.  A tree with branches to hold the bird and the owl.

Here is the finished product:

The bird and owl are made from plastic grocery bags. I took the bags and fashioned them into the shape I needed but using duct tape.  This was a very long process.  They were flimsy, but I wasn't done.  The next step was to make a paper mache with mod podge.  I used many many many layers of newspaper and glue.  I let dry for a week.  Then I made a texture paste and covered the outside of each animal in a thick layer.  I used my fingers to make bumps along each animal body to make it look more real.  This dried for two weeks because I went on vacation....when I came back to them they were hard as rocks.  Very lightweight but very hard.  PERFECT!!!

The chair was painted first with gesso to give the surface a bit of tooth.  I then painted the whole thing green to match my friend's office and school colors.  After that dried I painted on a background of a tree branch.   Next, I took a stencil and wood icing (both purchased from Ephemera Paducah www.ephemerapaducah.com) and added some tree bark and texture.  Once that dried I started painting on leaves.  I added the bird and viola we have a painted chair. 

Trace Creek Crop

This year DiAnna and I went to the crop together.  Our ambition is always larger than our time frame.  Meaning we always plan to make things and get a bit sidetracked.  However, we have developed a philosophy.  Get done what you can, but make sure you have a fun relaxing day.  This year was no exception to that rule.  It was nice to be off work, no one bothering you for meals or fights with siblings...just relaxation, friendship, shopping, eating, and a little Jesus.

DiAnna and I decided before the crop to made matching aprons.  My apron was pretty crappy so this was brilliant idea.  We both took a denim apron and trimmed it with pink trim.  She used an eyelet trim and I used tulle (because I wanted a tutu).  

Here is a photo of my work station.  I was going to work on a Marilyn Monroe drawing that I made.  It was inspired by a pose she did in a publicity still for Niagara.  She was pretty wicked in that movie and I recommend you see it if you have not.

These steampunk inspired items were featured in the Mia's Madness booth. I simply love everything they sell.  It's junk to most by an absolute treasure to me.  I chose some items from the junk bin.  A triangle pendant, a washer, and a few other metals.  Stay tuned to see what I made from .50 of stuff. www.miasmadness.com

This is a photo from the yard sale.  This is where you sell items you no longer need/want were gifted.  I sold a bunch of stuff this year and I did not spend one dime of money shopping it. Now I did get things but everything I bought was with money I made in the yard sale. 

Check out this wagon!  It is all mine!  I have been going to TCC for many many years and never won a thing.  I was sitting with my friends in the church and telling them all that I hoped they won something.  And I listened and wait a minute I realized Jill Rogers finally called MY name.  I won one of the grand prizes. I got the third grand prize awarded the first two prizes where $50 cash. I prefer the wagon because it is something I have always wanted but I never would have bought for myself.  It is extraordinary.  I am very grateful that my name was called. 

I made a couple of sketches but this is the only thing that I finished on the TCC relaxation day.  A wood panel of the Marilyn Monroe drawing I made.  The panel was painted a few colors, I didn't like any of them and finally I got to this green and I liked it.  Next I used Barquoe Motifs to stamp some swirls using StazOn! ink.  Then I used some Aleene's tacky glue and painted it onto the board.  I let it get a bit dry then I painted it with white.  What a nice crackle finish it leaves.  I did a die cut of the Tim Holtz viewmaster thingy and place the die cut on the board.  I used wood icing to make some texture for the background.  Once this dried I used some Walnut Stain ink by Tim Holtz for some effect. I cut MM out from the paper she was drawn and painted on and used Mod Podge to put her onto my board.  I think it's fabulous!!

This is the project I made using the stuff reclaimed from the junk bin.  I did not take a before picture...boo.  The top picture is when I first put it all together. I used wire to hold the circle onto the triangle and made the elder wand with wire down the center.  I painted it with gesso to cover the mixed metals. I added glitter because I thought I would keep it black, but no I found my Krylon chrome spray paint.  I layered many layers of paint on here. I think it turned out grand. 

Another TCC comes to a close.  DiAnna we will do it all again in the spring, Lord willing.