blue spell book

blue spell book - overall view
Originally uploaded by anongrrl

i finally kicked myself into gear to do some more bookbinding. i made the exterior cover paper. and the little embellishments. it took me a while to get going, because i'm not really into working with cool colors at the moment. this book fought me every step of the way. it's 5 signatures (80 pages), 7.25 x 5.25 x 1 inch.

do you ever have projects like that? where you just have to push through a little bit at a time until it's finished? eventually we made peace with each other. i felt better about it as soon as i had the signatures in, and the spine one, and put the first pentacle charm on.

i know this image of the book looks a little like i was drunk when i took it... i wasn't. lol. i just happened to be using my powerbook as a stand for it to photograph it. this is an 'out take' from the photos of the book. you can see more professional looking ones @ flickr.

Friday Round-Up: Catch-Up Edition

&rew: Embedded Thoughts

Ang: Chunky and More Chunky

Beth: More Fall Foliage in Watercolor

Jeanne: Susanna Bergtold's Funny People and My Funny People

Judi: Snail Pincushion

Karen: The Blue Dot Episode

Kathy: Trying to Find a New Direction

Maralena: Green and Blue Art Squared Project

Nicci: Orange Eyelets Make the World Go Round

Nici: Dominomania

Pattie: Published!!

Spike: What I Did with My Weekend...

Tam: Soap

Wendy: sock animal swap

Sock Animal Swap Send Out!

One of these sock Creatures was mailed to Canada today......
see my blog to see the cute sock creature I received from Spike!

August ATC Swap - The Beach

Here they are at long last, the August ATCs - The Beach
Top Row - Penny
Second Row - Bonnie & Natalie
Third Row - Jeanne

book stash! binding madness!

book stash - good witch bad witch shop
Originally uploaded by anongrrl

i guess you can tell what i have been doing this month.

pictured above are several of the one of a kind handmade, hand bound books featured in the good witch/bad witch shop. the square books are 4x4 inches, and the long books are 4x8 inches.

each is hand sewn, embellished, and one of a kind. the covers are either of handmade paper, collaged, or hand drawn and painted. no two are identical. mmmm. book love.

for many of the square books, i used those water soluble oil pastels i was talking about earlier. a couple of them use just paper with collage elements, but those are mostly buried under the others. also, i started doing some japanese stab bound ones. i went a little button crazy. i think buttons are the thing for October. at least in my studio!

you can see more details of various books in my good witch bad witch flickr set. there are also some cards there which i have been working on!

orange spots book

orange spots book - open
Originally uploaded by anongrrl

i received those handmade papers from everyone on a day i was sitting down to make some 4x4 inch blank books. since they happened to be just the right size, i started using them to make the books! this one incorporates papers from 2 people, plus some stuff i had on hand.

recognize the papers, ladies?

handmade papers, cover stock, medium, thread, yarn, button.

Friday Round-Up

&rew: Third Day in Southwestern Wisconsin

Beth: Layered Leaf Completed

Corrine: More Poison

Judi: Baby Toys

Karen: Daring Cardmakers - Postcard

Kathleen: My Big Fat Skinny Book: The Journey Ends

Kirsten: New Batch of Paper Beads

Maralena: Wooden Photo Opportunity

Natalie: In the Clouds

Nicci: Mini Journal - Side View - Embellishment

Nici: CD Art

Pattie: Bird

Spike: Nothing of Substance

Zhenia: Birds

mini journals with water sol. oil pastels

mini journal - guts
Originally uploaded by anongrrl

so. the other day i started some little 4x4 inch cards. but then as i got to making them, and they took longer and longer with all the details i was doing, i decided they should be one of a kind books, not cards. i used several different techniques, and experimented with a new medium.

i have seven completed, mostly just experimenting with the water soluble oil pastels that Karen C. sent me for a swap of materials.

have y'all ever used them much? these were the portfolio brand, and i had never really used them. i find they get really loose when water is added. .otherwise they are sticky like regular oil pastels.

to seal these, i had to use 4 coats of spray varnish, and a coat of medium brushed on top. what do ye experienced oil pastel users use?

Friday Round Up

Amy: Skinny Book Pages WIP

Ang: Better

Beth: First Morning Rays Completed

Corrine: Poison Bottles

Jeanne: Follow Up on Image Transfer Questions

Judi: Cover Girl

Karen: Molten Rhapsody

Kathleen: How Do You Thank Someone for Buying Your Art?

Kirsten: Hand-decorated paper, step by step

Maralena (mcdc3s): Sweet Orange on Its Own Accord

Nicci: Dad Zine

Nici: Playdate Payoff

Pattie: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Spike: I Had a Dream

Zhenia: wip: i carry your heart

Hand-decorated paper Sneak Peek

The results are in and they are gorgeous! You will definitely enjoy the returns, ladies! I wrote a little step-by-step of my paper decorating on my blog if you are interested!