More book making

Sharing more books I have made recently.  This first one I used lots of papers that were used behind other paintings.  I love the wide variety of abstract marks that show up on these papers and use them frequently.  Making this book was a good way to use some up.

This book now sits on my morning table and I am adding art work and mark making to it daily.  Having fun with it.

This is one of the background papers that collect paint and where I wipe off rubber stamps.

A rogues gallery

I used elastic hair ties to attach the signatures.

This next one is not a traditional book.  I suppose I ought to call it a scroll.

 Click on the pictures to read the Mary Oliver poem, Sleeping In The Forest.

 Hmmm, I don't know why the above picture has such a different color.  The one below has correct coloration.

"grappling with a luminous doom."  I love that line.

Above are pictures of the outside of the scroll.  I used coffee dyed muslin for the base, hand stitching small panels together.  Then I copied a poem by Mary Oliver titled Sleeping In The Forest on used tea bag papers and glued them to the muslin.  I've rolled the whole thing onto a knobby stick I found.

 The panels on this side correspond to the poem on the reverse side.  This is a little embroidery I created a year or so ago, I thought it would fit into this story well.  There is a little "pocket" holding seeds, beads and lichen.

 Stones on the river bed.

 "Nothing between me and the white fire of the stars but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths among the branches of the perfect trees."  The moth painting is from a Heron Dance book.  I stitched down tiny star sequins.

 I stamped insect images on used tea bag paper and it can cover this image and owl feathers.  I glued just the top edge of it down.

Most of the images I used are from the Heron Dance book.  They are paper and I glued them down.

 I love Mary Oliver's poetry.  And I love the Heron Dance publications with most of the watercolor paintings by Rod MacIver.  The two seem to go together well.  I do not have any copyrights to these works so this scroll is purely for me.  I think I will put it in a quiet glade in my forest and see how it holds up to the elements over the years.

Making books

Since the nice weather has arrived I've switched from making quilts to making books.  Today I shall show you some of them.  Please do remember that you can click on the picture to see it larger.

 This little accordion book measures about 4 inches square.

 I decorated it mostly using some of Jane Davenport's collage napkins that I purchased at Joggles.com.

 I also did a little acrylic painting in places.

Finally I put a spine on it using some scrim and added a few beads, sea shells and fibers. 

The second little book, constructed in the same fashion, turned out quite differently.

This one I used mainly images from some old Heron Dance booklets I bought.  Hated cutting them up but I do love all the little paintings and this is a fun way to recycle them.

Next I made a couple of tiny accordion books.

I already gave them away, I think they were about 2 inches square.
There are more but this is enough for today.  Don't want to overwhelm you with photos.  Since I only have half a dozen at most followers any more, this blog is mostly a record for myself.  I guess people don't read blogs any more.  I didn't like posting on Facebook, it felt too impersonal and I've been reading things about Facebook that I don't like.  So I'm back to blogging.  Thanks for sticking around.

February creations

Solar Flare

Continuing with my winter projects.  This hot pink/orange one is actually an older piece that I finally got around to finishing, putting the backing on it.  I have been using heavy copper wire as hangers for these dooleybobbers.

I just love these colors.

I had one block left over from the horse quilt I made, so used it to make a pillow cover.

This is another pillow cover I made from instructions I downloaded from Jane LaFazio.

Close up.  Not exactly a cozy pillow to rest ones head upon, but it looks good!

One final pillow made from bits and bobs I had around.  When I dye fabric I usually put spare strips of batting into the dye bath.  That is what I used on the above pillow where the buttons are.

Sending Out the Love

Here is my latest Dooleybobber.

Some people have asked me what a dooleybobber is.  That is the name I came up with to call this series I continue to work on.  A sort of generic term for a nameless thingamajig.  I believe it is unique to me because when I Google Dooleybobber, my work is the only thing that comes up.  Google tries to tell me I want Doodlebobbers but no, if you make it find Dooleybobbers, that is all mine!!!  Maybe I should patent it.

I've also made a couple of little books where I cut and fold a single piece of paper to create the pages.  They are fun.

Our snow is totally melted.  I heard we have had over 7 inches of rain in the past 5 days but luckily the river hasn't flooded so far.  Good thing the snow had mostly melted before this rain storm arrived.

I will leave you with this snow man skeleton.  I can see his ribs!!

Be well.

What I've been making lately

I appreciate all the kind and consoling words from people commenting on my last post about Anne Lockard's passing.  It is obvious she is missed and will be for a long long time.

Life goes on.  I do my best to enjoy it and reflect a giving attitude.  With that in mind, above you can see the quilt I made and gave to my good friend Mary.  She has been going through a rough time health wise, so she was very touched to receive a comfort quilt after having given so many away herself.

This is a book I made from a class in the 21 Secrets art journaling classes I've been working in.  This was from Terri Kahrs I've Got A Secret class.  It makes use of a manilla envelope.

I love the juicy color she helped me achieve.

This is a little book I made from an old ruler and a pile of gelli printed papers.  Can you tell I love orange/red?

 

The back of the gelli book.

Married Love is the book I altered.  I decided to keep the original book title, although what I put inside the book has nothing to do with married love.

A bit of dog love, maybe.

Cover of another book I made, using a fiber leaf I created.

Inside, more juicy color.

Another book, one of the folded paper books, made from a single large sheet of paper, folded and cut to create a book.

 

 

The back of the same book.

A pile of books.

I had an old recipe box that was so dingy and dated.  It is livened up with a new coat of paint.

Little swallow applique stuck to it looks right at home.

The Girl of the Woods is the next book I am altering.  I cut out every third page and then gessoed most of the remaining pages.

Now it is ready for whatever I decide to do with it.

That's about it for now.  I hope you all are keeping safe and enjoying life.  It is far too short so make the most of it!  Dress up for Halloween and let the kid in you out!  

Be well.