Altered Books With Carol Owen

This year we are doing something different with our altered book classes. We've invited artist Carol Owen to teach a series of beginner-friendly, but challenging, classes throughout the year. If you've never made an altered book before, this is your chance to try this open-ended, exploratory art. If you have made a book, or seventeen, this is your chance to learn from one of the best Altered Art teachers around. Carol has been a real pioneer in the world of altered art, shrines and book arts.

Click here to read more about the upcoming class.

Kathe Holden teaching a fab class...

Kathe Holden is teaching a fabulous scrap-art class in Petaluma, California and I wish I could go. There's a fabulous project with an amazing kit of goodies. There's the idea of a day spent making a fun project with no interruptions ('Mom, I'm hungry!') PLUS the fun that is had when a room full of crafty folks get together...

SO,  I can't go to this workshop. If you go, would you think of me while you are there?

Those are Kathe's kits in that picture. We sent her loads of Decopatch paper for the project. See more about the kits and the project here. 

Alter A Book - Alter Your Outlook

Are you thinking a lot about what you could do, what you'd like to do, what you should do in 2011? Sometimes working through your intentions with artwork can help you to focus and clarify what you want.  I think this on line class with artist Dawn Meisch looks perfect for you if you are trying to push yourself in a new, creative direction.

 

The class explores collage and surface treatments, embellishment and page design through the creation of an altered board book. The class includes videos, project ideas, techniques and a forum where class members can share their ideas and questions and post pictures of their work in progress. The class is only $30.

find out more about the class here

Image from Dawn Meisch

the perfect wedding bouquet...

My husband and I have been married for 19 years. Our wedding, way back in the dark ages, was just perfect for us - lots of friends and family in a casual outdoor setting with good food, laughter and a very fancy dress for me. I had two Diva Bride moments. I wanted dark-purple cloth napkins (totally un-rentable items in Ohio in 1991. Thank you Mom and Aunt Beth for sewing 110 napkins!) I also wanted an all-white bouquet of giant lilies. No greenery. No ferns. No spikey leaves. That was also almost un-heard of in 1991 in Ohio. The florist went against my wishes and slipped in some ferns but because of the high heat that sunny August day I ended up being happy she had. The lilies shed their petals as I walked down the aisle, unintentionally dramatic, until I stood under the trees next to my husband with a green bouquet of ferns and lily stems. Of course, that could have 'ruined' my wedding if any of the magazines are to be believed, but it really didn't matter.

I love it when I hear of couples who create their own fabulous wedding days that reflect them. Afternoon, pig-picking, blue grass wedding with a preacher in overalls? Great! Midnight, all-black Goth wedding with kabuki bridal makeup and Wiccan priestess? Awesome. Saturday morning Baptist church, white dress and veil, Reverend Miller officiating? Tremendous.

Hopefully, you'll only do it once so I think you should make it as memorable as possible.

This bouquet that our customer Sarah told us about was part of what I imagine was a sweet and memorable day. And I bet the flowers didn't fall apart!

Sarah hand-folded flowers and added watch parts, typewriter keys and vintage rhinestone centers. The bride, Sarah, is a librarian and the couple has 'more books than two people should own!' They chose meaningful pages from favorite books and sheet music from their days as musicians to create origami-folded flowers for the bouquet. The vintage rhinestones add a bit of sparkle to the bouquet. I love the way Sarah watercolored select pages to match her lavendar shoes and magenta petticoats. Sadly, she didn't include any shoe-and-petticoat pics for us to drool over!



Congratulations Kevin and Sarah!
oh, Sarah's etsy page is www.ForgottenThings.etsy.com
go check it out!

Paper Roses for winter

From Megan Galante's blog, these paper roses are lovely. I would love a bouquet of them made from old magazine photos...or black and white roses made from old dictionary pages...go read the how-to. It uses a glue gun!

Thrifty&Swifty Gifties part 4

Oops, this post was supposed to go up on Wednesday. Sorry.

Okay, this is a photo frame idea that uses old paperback books...you could do this with a hardback book, too, if you wanted to. If you are an altered book fiend already you have probably done this cutting technique.

It would be fun to put photos of friends in books that pertain to their tastes and interests. You could also mount these, open, on a wall in a group.

Image and the full project idea are from the blog CraftyPod. Go read and subscribe to the blog.

If you wonder what the heck altered books are then go here. And go to Panopolie for Altered Book Club.

Vacation Journal

Are you looking ahead to your summer vacation? I am. My family spends a week at a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina with loads of friends. We all have small children who will play all day and there will be wading in waterfalls, hiking up steep trails and lots and lots of roasted marshmallows.

This year I am taking an idea that I got from the talented Lois and making a Vacation Journal for my family to fill in during our trip. I have prepared pages, one for each day we will be gone, and put in spaces for photos and places to write our favorite meal, our favorite thing about the cabin, the animals we saw and the names of the friends who joined us. We also make up a lot of songs and I have set aside a few pages for us to write those down, too. My daughter, Cleo, is 5 and loves to write so I have made large spaces for her to do much of the writing.

I used a 7Gypsies blank board book with rings to make this journal and covered the pages with some 7G papers using the Binder's Tape. I used a few of the Envelopments pocket folds to make nifty photo pockets. I will bring pre-cut squares of lined paper and blank paper and colored pencils for my little artists to add commentary to the journal and some pages taken from my Rhodia pad and an 'adult' pen for my hubby and I to add our words. We'll paste the written on papers in as we write them. I have clipped some tags on and will permanently grommet the tags in their final spots at the cabin. I may use the clips to attach sticks, leaves or other 'found objects' that my girls pick up as treasures.

Lois' original books were actual altered books that she customized for her daughter and sons as they took trips alone. Her children have done this so many times now that they think of it as a natural part of taking a trip; you go away and you work on your altered book every day. She made a page per day and asked her children questions throughout the book ('what did you forget?' 'where did you get lost?' etc.) I think that especially for some teens and adults having a prompt every now and then would be a good idea.

I got all the goodies for my book at Panopolie, of course.

just dreamin' (Carol Owen Altered Book Workshop)

Carol Owen is teaching an Altered Book workshop in Raleigh this October. Yeah. I will take it. A whole day of painting and cutting and stapling and ripping and sewing and stamping. Mmmm...