Mixed Media on Board

This is a piece I made with inspiration from Shawn Petite.  I love her style and her quotes that she uses on her work.  I also totally appreciate the free tutorials that she gives on her website.  So many artists are so generous with their time and talents! 

Anyway, I found a board at the local Restore for $0.50 that I thought would work for my first venture into working on a hard surface.  I gessoed the surface and then did a collage of map pieces, napkins, text pages and tissue paper.  I stenciled a few paint colors onto the surface and decopauged the butterflies and the quote. I used charcoal pencil to do the shading around the butterflies. The final piece is about 8x8 in.

 All in all, I was pretty happy with how it turned out and I will definitely try this again.  As a matter of fact, I have one in process now.

Book of Days Spread - Happy Mail

This is a week spread from last year in March. This is one I really like, because I made a fold-out page and included some Happy Mail. I have been working some in my book for this year, but not as often as I would like. I have been working on some other altered books as well. I wish I could spend more time, and I hope to be putting more time in soon. Vacation is next week - woo hoo!

"Life Is Short" Altered Book Pages

What I Know For Sure - Altered Book Page

What I Know for Sure - Book of Days.

Reassess What You Value - Altered Book Page

February Spred - Book of Days Altered Book

Welcome to February - Book of Days

I seem to be in love with red right now - maybe it is because Valentine's Day is around the corner, or maybe it is just because red is one of my most favorite colors. I am especially enjoying red and black and white as a combo.  It makes me think of the "reveurs" in Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It has become one of my favorite book and I am hoping to make an altered book with that theme. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. I think she has the most wonderful way of making words turn into images as you read. I just absolutely loved it!

Barnes & Noble

One Little Word 2013 - Devotion - Book of Days

Book of Days 2013 - One Little Word - "Devotion"

This is one of my first pages in my new Book of Days for 2013. I am again using an old book to refurbish into an art journal. I just really love doing altered books.

Sewing Mends the Soul - Book of Days

Book of Days "Sewing Mends the Soul"

A new Book of Days spread - "Sewing Mends the Soul". I used modeling paste in a stencil and so it has lots of yummy texture. I tried another gel medium transfer on the left of a vase of lilacs. It didn't turn out too well, but it adds interest, anyway. There are also doilies, trim, ribbon and a strip of cardstock that I embossed with pink embossing powder. The seamstress is an image from my art calendar. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Unleash Your Soul - Altered Book Page

I used modeling paste, a pocket, gel medium transfers and lots of scraped paint on this one. This page had been sitting for a long time with just some background paint. I am so happy with the finished result.

Home is Where the Heart Is - Book of Days

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
― Edith Sitwell

Home is that special place where one always feels comfortable in your own skin - things just feel right somehow. It is the place that you always yearn to get back to, no matter how wonderful the trip.

I hope I caught some of the feeling of home in this double page spread in my Book of Days. I used a pocket in this one, some tags, and a vintage photo on vellum.

Tears

"Tears" - Book of Days

New Year's Eve - Book of Days

Book of Days - New Year's Eve

Happy New Year - Book of Days

I used a decoupaged napkin for the background, some stickers, paint and rubber stamps for this one.

Looking Ahead - 2013

Looking Ahead to Good Things in 2013

The beginning of a new year is always exciting - something about the freshness, the promise of a new start, throwing off the failures of the past and looking toward the future with hope. This year is no different for me. I haven't made any New Year's Resolutions in quite a few years, but this year, I decided to make a few!

Health Resolutions - Lose weight, exercise regularly and focus on myself more, so that I can accomplish these two things.

Art Resolutions - take one or two online courses, make art regularly,

Family and Faith resolutions - "Devotion" is my "one little word" for this year. I want to increase my devotion to God and to my family. I want to treasure each and every moment with them. This year promises to be a big year of change, and I don't want to squander even one opportunity to show devotion to each member of my family and to God.

Mary, Did You Know - BOD pages

Here is my Christmas two-page spread in my Book of Days. I'm pretty happy with this one. The image is of the Kneeling Madonna from my Metropolitan Museum Calendar from last year.

Book of Days - Dec. 25th

Book of Days - Dec. 1

This was my two-page spread for Dec. 1. It still seems to need something, but I'm not sure what. I'm going to let it rest for a while.

Book of Days -  Dec. 1

Loneliness Art Journal Page - Book of Days

Here is my latest Book of Days entry. You know loneliness is often felt most keenly during Christmas.

This is a new type of journal page for me - different background, use of silhouette and a handwritten quote. It's good to stretch once in a while.

I Toured the Light Altered Book Page - Book of Days

Here is a recent page in my Book of Days. The Light Bulb artwork is by my daughter, Jessica. I printed it out and glued it onto my background page.

Book of Days - Italy Trip

I have been working on several altered books that I have going, along with my Book of Days art journal with Effie Wild. You can find more information here:  http://bookofdays.org/ . Here is a page I made from some of the ephemera from our trip to Italy this past summer.

Book of Days Art Journal Pages

I haven't posted Book of Days pages in ages. My camera was stolen while we were in Mexico, and I finally now have a new camera and can replace my lost photos. Here are a couple of pages from a while back. I hope to be back now to posting more often.

Bird on a Limb

It is hard to tell from this photograph, but I have folded fabric across the middle of the page. This was a super fun page to create. I painted over the top of the collaged papers and painted background. My inspiration was djpettit - I just adore her art and photography!

"Believe"

 This was another fun page to create. I used a tag, ala Effy Wild. I have wanted to put more of my spiritual life into my art journaling, and this page takes a quote from the book Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. This has been a life-altering book for me.

"Believe"

This photo shows the tag open.  I was really pleased with how this one turned out too.