Covers and Title

It took me a while to figure out how to get started on this art journal/altered book project at all. And I have NO doubts that there are several things I'm going to get "wrong" before I figure it all out.

So, for my first book project, I started simple, with a chunky book.

Now, on the art sites where I trade things like chunky book pages, ATCs, and the like, chunky books get their name because they are thick, and often include chunky "bits," - like fibers, beads, charms, shells, gears, you name it - either attached to the pages or added to the binding or edges.

I'm not entirely sure that my faith journal is going to include "chunkies," but it is definitely thick and the standard 4x4 size. Eventually, it will be bound with rings, hopefully D rings if I can find them in a style I like, through rivet holes punched in the edge. I'm hoping I can keep track of the binding area in the art, but we'll see.

In my research, finding out what artists actually USE in the making of their journals has been a bit of a challenge. Some folks use whatever - cereal boxes for the cores, for instance. Matte board would be nice, but not readily available and difficult to cut accurately and well without a matte cutter. I've settled for chip board, available at my local scrapbooking shop, that seems to be an acid-free and reasonable base.

To this, I'll attach the pages themselves, which I'm crafting on whatever medium seems best - watercolor paper (140 lb. cold press, though I hope to switch to hot press when my stock is low), glossy card stock, marker paper. I'm thinking that, in general, the hot press watercolor paper is going to be the best all-around option, because, as I work on pieces, I don't always know exactly what media I'm going to use for a piece, so I need something flexible. The hot press, so I'm told, gives a smooth finish for paints and pencils, while still being a good watercolor base.

Transcending Boundaries - a new project

God and I have been struggling of late. Way too many times in the last few years, I've wondered what in the world He was thinking, making me a "jack of all trades" as my violin teacher once called me, but master of none.



What was the point? WHY am I blessed as I am, and how could my talents be useful for Him? What was the purpose of this drive to create, to draw, to do more in the world of the visual arts that seems to have overtaken me?



Undeniably, the variety of skills, passions, and interests I've cultivated have been incredibly useful in our homeschooling journey and as a support to my husband and our marriage. But, despite deep satisfaction in these areas, I still felt like all of these aspects needed to be focused in some way.



Along the way, I'd discovered the work of Ingrid Dijkers, an art journalist who creates the most fantastic art journals that are so visually appealing that you want to just immerse yourself in them. I've become fascinated with the world of art journaling, but somehow that alone seemed rather empty and self-focused.



Recently, during my struggle with this set of questions, I began reading Dr. Henry Morris' The Long War Against God. And while I greatly enjoyed the depth of the work, I suddenly started started seeing the concepts of Morris' book displayed as an art book. Images and ideas flooded my mind of how these ideas could be presented in some way that would intrigue people and interest them in the basic questions at the heart of culture and the spiritual warfare that we face.



But, I had *no* experience in creating anything like this! And what I was seeing in my mind was certainly *much* more complex than anything I could feasibly create at this point. However, I figured if God took six days to create the world, He'd give me the time and experiences needed to create tHis project!



And so it began. My first book is a faith journal, titled Transcending Boundaries, a title both inspired by a recent set of sermons by our pastor and by the fact that this book launches me past my own mental boundaries about being an "artist."



At this point, I've committed the project to God. What comes of it is His doing.

Hiding under the hoops...

Needles and keyboards don't mix, as I just discovered.... I just dropped one under my spacebar in the process of removing it from the computer area. Ugh.

Anyway, I've been totally swamped with costumes for our local dance studio's production of The Nutcracker. It's been a totally consuming process, but I'm almost finished. I'd better be - the dress rehearsal is December 3rd.

Meanwhile, for my husband's recent August birthday, I completed this piece above. Called Desert Star it is from Nancy's Needle. Of course, it has a story.

In my needlepoint stash is Laura Perrin's Tucson Twilight. I'm really itching to get into that piece and I showed it to my husband about a year ago, before heading off to a stitching retreat. He said something like, "Well, it's nice, but it doesn't really make me think of Tucson."

On the way to the retreat, I stopped at a needlework shop and, when I saw this, I knew that *this* was what he was thinking about.

So, of course, I purchased it and started it that weekend.

Hubby really likes it and comments on it often, so I'm glad it's appreciated.

Meanwhile, I also finally got a chance to hang this:

I took this to a local framer in late summer 2006. She returned it to me before Christmas. Yes, I learned my lesson and have gone back to my "old" framer.

Anyway, it came out rather nicely. It's a Drawn Thread (I think) and I just love the little squirrel charm at the bottom.

For the record, by the time I can get my keyboard looked at by my computer guru, I'm going to have really strong thumbs!

Finally, something finished!

I started stitching Shepherd's Bush's "Be Smart" on a recent trip to a stitching retreat in Kentucky. It was such a quick stitch.

The Silver Needle in Tulsa offers the finishing fabrics *just like the model* for a reasonable price. Of course, no one has the finishing instructions, but it's pretty simple.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out - even the back (which I didn't bother to photograph).

Pillows are not, usually, my thing. This one will go on the mantel over our fireplace this fall.

Meanwhile, I'm making another cover for this same pillow from a Lizzie Kate design. Hopefully that will be finished relatively soon.

If my dear hubby weren't asleep and the piece being in our bedroom, I'd post a pic of the counted needlepoint I'm trying to complete for his birthday in mid-August. I started it last September at the Hoosier Stitchers Retreat and was very pleased with my color changes.

Finishing the Lot

Spending another long evening with Cadefael, I got the last two projects that were completed finished for display.

It was a *very* long evening.

The first piece I worked on was the second Shepherd's Bush Monthly Musing - "Bee Buzzing June." I'd decided to use the hive shape for the final piece, but had hesitated on how large to make it and whether it would have one mat or two.


I finally decided on two, because I wanted to make the green swirly fabric large enough to really show the swirls. They really seemed to fit with the swirls in the letters, the bees, and the overall theme. The tan fabric fits well, bringing the browns together. The hive button is a totally different shade than the rest of the browns in the piece, so it needed to be there.

The back of this piece looks like this:


Each of the recent finishes has this easel-type back. As you can see, they are fairly simple and will fold into a flatter shape than most stand-ups.



If I were using a pattern that had an "easy" match, I would probably try to match the fabrics on the back, so that the place where the fabric shows underneath was a bit less obvious.

Of course, who's really going to be looking at the back?

The second piece I finished last night was a "freebie" design. I don't recall the designer's name or the title, but it was intended as a scissors fob. I stitched it on this lovely green fabric, 10ct, to make it larger.



There, of course, is the swirly green fabric again. Totally unintentional, by the way!

I'd chosen it at the store for the Shepherd's Bush piece, but then it was laid next to the pumpkin and the greens looked so nice together, and there are the swirls again.

So, I broke them up with a swirly gold fabric and put the black cording on the edge to emphasis the piece a bit.



I'm still having "cording problems" on these - I think cording should be added to projects when I'm a bit less tired?

New Finishing Style - for me...

I've made it a personal "rule," so to speak, to send-out my needlepoint for finishing. I tried it once and was so critical of my own results that it wasn't worth my effot.

The second advantage is that sometimes I get ideas from what the professionals do to apply to my cross stitch and other needlework. Always a plus!

I've had a few things sitting on my shelf, waiting to be made "into something." I have to admit, I have to be in the mood to cut, glue, and fidget with things like cording. But, when the mood strikes, time isn't always available.

The stars aligned properly last night, however, and I was able to get a few things done.
The first was a design by Shepherd's Bush (I think it's the Monthly Musings series). I'm working on a few of these that sort of "fill in" my decorating for various months - like February, Easter, and summer.


The way these are crafted is fairly simple. The backs have an "easel prop" - just like a table-top picture frame. The various layers of matboard are covered in fabric and are relatively thin. The finished project can be stored fairly flat, the thickness being determined by the number of layers of fabric.

The last mat on the back is finished in the usual way for the front. You wrap the fabric to the back, mitering and trimming as needed. Then, you cut a piece of fabric *exactly* the size and shape of the back mat and glue it, right to the edge, to cover the back. Using cotton, the glue locks the edges and they don't fray.

Cording could be applied around the edge of the back mat, but I thought this looked better without. The cording essentially "hides" areas of thicknes, which is usually created by attaching the needlework to the next layer. If I had any complaints with this piece, it's that I don't particularly care for how the cording finished at the bottom. Still working on that.

The ability to "shape" the final product is somewhat exciting! I got more creative with the next piece:


With this piece, the circle cutters from my scrapbooking tools came in handy. The need to make the finished project stable resulted in the arch, rather than circular, background. Well, that and the fact that I didn't have a circle template large enough to make a true circle that I could have then flattened on the bottom to make it stand. :)

One thing I learned - this works best with cotton fabrics because of the quantities of glue required. The dark circle is a deep purple silk and, while it attached fairly well, it absorbs glue differently and I am glad I decided not to use it on the larger back mat.

I have a few more of these "kitty moons" - the designer is Stitchy Kitty - and one is an Independence Day design. I'm seeing a wild star shape for the back mat, with the design (again a circle) in the center and the middle mat another wild star shape. Think fireworks!

Stitching for Two

I've made it a tradition to try to stitch something new for my own daughter every year. So far, I've kept to my promise. (Though, this year's requested piece doesn't draw me in the least - a teddy-bear-unicorn...?)

However, I had the excuse to stitch something different last year, Bent Creek's "Swirly S" sampler, for my new niece.



As usual, the piece has a story. As usual, I changed the color of the base fabric and the fibers.

When I learned that my sister-in-law was pregnant, we started talking about decorating the nursery, of course! I mean, the baby is due in six months and it must have a fashionable place to sleep *now* because it knows, right?

Eventually, a stars and moon theme was suggested for a "future, post baby" room and this sampler popped into my head. Millennium Blue fabric and the gold stars seemed to match some of the things we'd talked about. (Of course, I'm *not* going to hold anyone to those plans. But if you wanted to, you could decorate a room around this piece... !)

The photo can't show some of the details - like my initials and my daughters replacing some of the little doo-dad design things. Sophie's birthday is also on here. Once she was born a she, the L and M are initials, so they were stitched in the rose color.

But, and this still floors me, the Swirly "S" charm. There was no way I could have known she would be a Sophie! It's the charm that was designed for the pattern and I wondered how to handle that. My best option was to leave the charm off and design an "s" to replace it - but I kept that until the very end. Either out of hopefulness or premonition, I don't know.

Am I glad I did!