The Sylvia Tietjens/Parade's End inspired book

I was invited to a bookbinding class yesterday taught by my friend Carrie. (I also got to play with the new stamps she's got coming out and they are super cute!) 

We took old Reader's Digests and gutted them. When I took mine apart, the glue was so old the cover just popped apart so we used the black book repair tape to reattach it. 

Inside cover. I cut the Ex Libris bookplate from the innards of the Reader's Digest. The paper (on both the front and back inside covers) is from the new She Art paper line. 

 The cover image is a sticky back canvas transfer and the bottom border was cut from paper - oddly enough, the Glue and Seal made it look as if it were a canvas transfer too. There are 6 signatures of 3 pages each.

 For the record: it took me TWO HOURS to bind. The pamphlet stitch is easy but the beads take time! Especially when you have to find ones that your needle will fit through!

I cite Sylvia Tietjens and Parade's End as my inspiration, as Parade's End is one of my favorite books and watching the BBC miniseries has been divine. I don't normally use my books once I make them but this one I am going to use as an art journal with the theme of Parade's End. I'm also thinking about using my other hand made books for the same thing, a book for each of my favorite novels. But we'll see because I am lazy when it comes to projects like that!

before and after

before: a page from my sketchbook covered with two used dryer sheets. glued on with lots of patience and glue and seal.

after: same page, trimmed and colored with distress ink (festive berries) and glimmer mist (rudolph the red nosed reindeer)

i don't know what i'm going to do with it but it's got a lovely texture to it!

Boot Camp

I spent some time catching up to the Creativity Boot Camp -- we're on day four and I was behind by, well, four!

I decided to go with paper as my medium. I sew all the time and am constantly playing with fabric, but the paper side of the room is neglected more often than not. I started my craftiness with paper, then moved to sewing; I decided it was high time to get back into it. As for my journal, I just went with a simple college ruled notebook that I plan on embellishing as I go. It just didn't feel right to go with something fancy for whatever reason.

So far, I've really enjoyed the projects. The journal prompts have actually sparked some positive thought and I LOVE that. Two of them resulted in my thinking about certain things in a different way. I've decided not to share the journal entries here but will share the art pieces I come up with over on Flickr.

What I'm enjoying the most, though? Getting through these projects not worried about how good they are compared to everyone else's. It's just the vibe of the entire project.

The above? The letter we had to write to our future selves. Everything else is here, so far.