Little Lotus Journal

 

My latest obsession has been mini-books. I recently taught a live-in-person class at The Ink Pad NYC, and made a bunch of samples for the shop. Then I made some during an in-person store demo. Then I made some during the class. And then I made some every day for weeks after the class because they were so cute and so much fun. Here's a few of my favorites:

I decided to give the really tiny books a rest, and try going a little bigger. And what better way to start my larger books than with my leftover scraps of Gwen Lafluer stamped images? To make it even more "Lafluerish", I added in some roses from Gwen's downloadable collage sheets, along with some book pages with foreign text.

Above are six pictures of my collage process. I started with a messy piece of painted 140 lb. watercolor paper that I had cleaned my brushes on. Next, I gathered the collage elements, then started randomly gluing them them to the paper. Once I got a lot of coverage, I used some brown acrylic and mahogany ink to age the white edges of the papers.

To add depth and unite the elements, I stamped some of my favorite natural elements from the Magnolia, India, and Wildflower stamp sets onto the collage with black and sepia archival ink.

I wanted to make a square book, so I trimmed the collage. Next, using a bone folder, I folded it in half, then ran a sepia ink pad around the sides to give it a finished look.

The collaged book cover looked really pretty and I could have stopped and left it alone, but I wanted something bolder. I selected one of my favorite Lafluer stencils, the Lotus. I carefully applied VersaMark embossing ink through the stencil, sprinkled some fine white embossing powder, brushed away the excess, and zapped it with the heat gun. I used some mahogany distress ink here and there to make the lotus pop.

It was time to add the blank signature pages...but since I used upcycled watercolor paper, the inside was a mess! Beautiful paper from Gwen's online store to the rescue. I carefully glued it in, then cut some blank pages about 1/4" smaller than the book, punched holes with my awl, and stitched the pages in.

I left the strings long and decorated them with my own handmade tyvek beads and some smaller commercial beads.

The folded edge was tearing a little, so I reinforced it with some sheer brown polka-dot ribbon.

I added grommets so that I could use sheer ribbon for a tied closure. But, I still wanted some dangling elements, so I puttered with my collection of Turkmen parts until I got the right arrangement, added a little elephant for good luck, and attached it to the closure with a rustic brad.

Here's a detail shot so you can see how pretty the dangling Turkmen charms and little elephant are.

Now the big question is: what will I fill the journal with? Photos? Poetry? Artwork? I'd love any suggestions you may have!

Turkmen Treasures Sash

One of the things I love most on Gwen Lafluer's website are the Turkmen jewelry parts. Every time I order (which is often!) I get a bag or two of Turkmen parts. My first idea was to make a necklace with them, but somehow it didn't come together. Then I hit on the idea of using the parts to enhance a plain black sash that came with a "little black dress" that I purchased a while back for a formal event. The sash was a little too long, and droopy, and I kept thinking: "I need something more interesting with this dress, something more ME."

 I made a sketch of my idea and jotted down the measurements I wanted to use.

Next, I rummaged around in my closet and found the cast-aside belt, laid it on my worktable, and placed a few turkmen parts on it. Bingo! It would be just what the belt needed.

Then I ironed the belt, measured the width, and marked the length I needed. (The belt was really long and wrapped around my waist three times!)

But wait...it was too floppy to support the Turkmen parts. I decided to line it with strips of firm interfacing and cover the white interfacing with black felt. I chose felt because it wouldn't ravel and have a raggedy edge.

Then the question was how to close all the edges: glue? hand stitch? machine stitch? I settled on hand stitching. I decided to leave about 6 inches on each end without any interfacing so that I could tie the belt shut, rather than adding a clasp.

Now the fun began, auditioning the many Turkmen parts to see what worked together best. When I finally decided on an arrangement, I taped them in place.

 I thought I would just sew them all on, but each one was a little different. Some were easy to stitch on. Others had to be wired. A couple of the flat rectangular pieces were first stitched, but the black thread looked odd on the silver pieces, so instead of sewing, I attached them with silver brads.

When I was almost finished, I realized that the wires and brads on the back of the belt might be a bit of a hazard, so I cut small black felt squares and glued them over any wires or brads that might poke into my waist. Finally, it was ready to wear!

 Here's how the belt looks on me with the little black dress:

Now, I just need a special event to wear my new belt and the little black dress...although it does look pretty good with my jeans too!

Stenciled Affirmation Card Deck

Over the years, I have participated in quite a few of Tina Walker's stencil collaborations. They're always fun, creative, and push me to think outside my own box. The StencilGirl Affirmation/Tarot Card Collaboration was no exception...I'm really pleased with the deck I created: the cards have some of my favorite colors, designs, symbols, materials, and words.

Rather than beginning with a piece of plain white paper, I stumbled on a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper that was smeared with bright colors. I thought I'd try using similar brights, and stenciling with my own designs on the paper. I chose some of my newest collection: my Lemurian Leaves, Blooming Violet, and the small Lemurian Leaf from my Wyatt ATC MixUp. I started with the Lemurian Leaf using white acrylic and a cosmetic sponge.

I added more and more of the white leaf, then used the other stencils in brighter colors. Here's how the design progressed:

Once I had colors and shapes placed all over the paper, I got out my cutting mat, metal-edged ruler, and exacto knife, and cut it into 2/5" x 3.5" ATCs. Some of them needed a little extra pizazz, so I added splotches of color and a few extra stenciled areas so each card would have a nice flow of color and shape.

Here's the ATCs:

I knew I still needed to design the back, and I also needed to find the right affirmations for each card.

I had a stenciled 140 lb. watercolor paper using a gorgeous Wendy Brightbill design a few weeks ago. It was just the perfect shade of pink to go with my cards, and the nature design complimented my ATCs perfectly.

The paper was really beautiful and I hesitated to cut it up, but I pushed on and cut it into 2.5" x 3.5" sections. Here's how the cards looked together:

Two things were missing: words for the back of the card, and a little something extra for the front.

I decided to use the Sacred Heart ATC designs by Laurie Mika on the front, on top of my colorful Lemurian Garden designs. I carefully applied VersaMark embossing ink through the stencil designs, sprinkled on white embossing powder, shook off the excess, and zapped it with my heat gun. The effect was magical! The sacred hearts added an extra layer of meaning for me and the shiny white looked so pretty on top of the bright colors.

Using heavy matte medium gel, I glued the fronts and backs together and used a small fingertip sponge to apply sepia ink to the edges, which gave a finished look and hid any imperfections.

To create the words, I used my Photoshop program and typed the affirmations to fit an ATC-sized space, then printed them out of my inkjet printer on giant sheets (8.5" x 11") of Avery shipping labels. 

I cut the labels to fit, peeled away the backing, and pressed them in place. The clear label didn't even show once it was placed on top of the stenciled design...it looks like the words were printed directly on the cards.

Here's the finished cards, and a close-up of my two favorites.

 

Sing Your Own Song: Vintage Ephemera Journal Pages

Ephemera is such a magical sounding word. Incorporating ephemera (collectible memorabilia) and vintage images into your artwork really makes it unique and special. However, finding just the right ephemera can present a challenge.

The new EGL19 Build-a-Collage set, designed by Gwen Lafluer for PaperArtsy, has the feel of vintage ephemera. All the stamps are hand-drawn, and the set was inspired by Gwen's travels around the world and her love of the outdoors. There's a unique mix of natural items, combined with game pieces, invoices, and other whimsical images. 

I tested the stamps on quite a few different papers, both printed and plain, colored and neutral. Then, inspired by artist Nathalie Kalbach, I explored the idea of stamping on vintage ledger paper. Nat filled a vintage ledger with a series of colorful repeating patterns, stamped using her art foamies and rubber stamps. (Her series of videos is called “Pattern Monday—video from my ledger”.)

If you don't have a local source for vintage papers, such as yard sales or antique dealers, obtaining old images and items can be tricky. Since I didn't have a vintage journal on hand, I decided to make my own. I found several ledger images on The Graphics Fairy website and printed them in a variety of sizes. I also experimented with printing on some traditional ledger paper, which brought back happy memories of my mother, who was a bookkeeper.

Using sepia and black archival ink, I tested all of Gwen's Build-a-Collage stamps on the vintage-looking ledger paper…and I was in love! 

 

 

Next, I used both watercolor pencils and brush tipped markers to add color to the images.

Once I trimmed the white edges away, the papers were exactly the right size for my 5" x 8" Dylusions art journal! I used a gluestick and some matte gel medium to adhere the papers to the journal. Next, I added some dots here and there with my colorful Posca Pens. I also enhanced the eyes with some extra white and touched up any sketchy areas with a black or sepia fine-line marker.

I liked that the right side of the page was colorful, while the left was more stark. It needed a little more, so using Gwen's EGL-16 Deco Alphabet stamps, I added words: “Sing Your Own Song.” As I was working on the pages, the lyrics from an old 1969 Mama Cass song, “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” popped into my head. I thought the words of the refrain were appropriate, so I stamped them on. I often have song lyrics running around in my head when I am art journaling, and usually incorporate them into the page.

I used a clear stamp block that had gridlines, which helped me line up the letters neatly. I flipped the block over to see if I had them in the right order before printing.

When I was almost done, I noticed an empty spot on the left page. I decided to add a little bird going the opposite way. When I was testing the stamps on various papers, I had stamped the bird with sepia ink onto a dry, empty teabag. I carefully tore the extra paper away, then flipped the bird image over and carefully glued it in place. 

Somehow adding that little bird felt just right. Can't you just imagine it going its own way and singing its own special song?

*** Many thanks to Kimberlee Foster of The Back Office Diva for her technical assistance, and her eagle-eye for proofreading!