Big News!!

So...alot of exciting things have been happening in my life lately-amazing opportunities have been cropping up all over the place. Here's one I want to share with you:

I am teaching a journal making workshop 

at Delish General Store  on Granville Island! 

Ex Libris Journal Workshop Sample

Yes indeed, owner Tamara Komuniecki will be hosting my Ex-Libris Journal workshop on Saturday, May 2nd at her beautiful store. I am really excited to be partnering with her and spending the day at one of my favourite places in Vancouver! We will spend a full day together and I will be sharing how to transform an old book into an amazing and unique journal to capture your thoughts and art. It's a wonderful way to make some time and space just for you and to meet others who love journals as much as you do-it's always wonderful to meet kindred spirits!

For more information click here and to register, click here.
Hurry as space is limited!

You can also get a peek at another of my journals made using the techniques you will be learning in class here. The book I used to create my 2015 journal is 101 years old! It's a really wonderful way to give an old book a new and wonderful life and it saves it from going into the landfill!

I hope to see YOU there!

Coming Soon To A Shelf Near You!

I am really excited to share with you that Dawn DeVries Sokol's new book A World of Artist Journal Pages is now available for pre-order on Amazon! The release date is April 7th, 2015. I am very humbled to have work appearing in this book which is filled with delicious eye candy from over 1000 artists from 30 countries. If you're into art journalling, then this book is going to be a must have!

Congratulations Dawn on all your hard work!

Exciting News: October Workshops!

Hi Everyone! I am super excited to share with you that I will be teaching 2 workshops in October at the beautiful and fabulous 100 Braid St. Studios! I am really looking forward to getting back into the classroom. I hope to see YOU there! 

Spark Your Creativity Inspiration Deck

Date: Friday October 17th & Friday November 7th, 2014

Location: 100 Braid St. Studios, New Westminster
Time: 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm   

Workshop Fee: $85

 Let’s face it: as creatives, we all have times when we’re starving for inspiration! A few years ago, artist I hosted a project with friends to create a deck of cards with all sorts of creative tips and tricks to help reignite the spark of creativity during times when it feels like it's gone out. I'm delighted to now share this with new friends.  This two part class will offer you the opportunity to tap into the collective wisdom of your fellow classmates to create a unique deck of cards that you can shuffle through any time you need an inspiration pick-me-up. 

 The first class will cover collage and composition techniques and I will give specific instructions on creating and copying the cards you create. This class will also have some creative time together to begin working on your cards. Between sessions you will have time to create additional cards.  In the second class, you will bring your copied cards and assemble them, create a pretty bag for your deck and have a trading session with fellow students. 

 Supply List will be sent to you via email after registration. 

Limited to 12 people so I can give you personal attention.

Register for Spark Your Creativity Inspiration Deck Workshop

*****

Ex-Libris Journal Workshop 

Date: Saturday, October 25th, 2014 

Location: 100 Braid St. Studios, New Westminster

Time: 12:00 pm-4:00 pm   

Workshop Fee: $80 

 Do you love books? Love paper? Love to journal? Then this workshop is for you! Learn how to take an old cast-off book and turn it into a cool and unique handmade journal using a basic book binding technique and a variety of recycled papers from your stash. This is a chance to finally use some of the “good stuff” you’ve been saving for just the right project. 

 Warning: This method of journal making is highly addictive! Betcha can’t make just one! 

 Supply List will be sent to you via email after registration. 

Limited to 8 people so I can give you personal attention. 

Age 18+

Register for Ex-Libris Workshop


*NOTE: I have added a workshop page up top just under my blog banner, so when this post is archived, you will still be able to access workshop information quickly and easily.

An Art Date

 

It's been an artful weekend so far. Yesterday my pal Carol came over for an art date, to try her hand at Gelli Plate printing. While she was busy playing with paint, I put together this journal for myself using some of the prints I've made. I absolutely LOVE it!

Here's a quick flip through video I made to give you a peek of what's inside. Several friends have encouraged me to make similar journals available in my Etsy shop, so I've decided to do it. The one in the video was a prototype so there will be some improvements to the ones I will be making for my shop. I'll let you know as soon as they are ready! 

I wanted to try printing on labels yesterday. I think these would be fun to add into my journals. I bought a box of labels, so I have plenty left to experiment with.

Carol had a great time creating. She ended up printing about 30 pages and she said she could see why I said bring a whole package of cardstock. Once you start, you can't stop! She made some great papers and I think she will be hunting down textures to use for next time!

We had a nice lunch-I made my favourite chicken, brie and fig jam sandwiches and Carol brought a yummy chocolate cream pie to share. It's amazing how quickly 6 hours can fly by when you're having fun!

A Wee Gift Revealed

 A couple weeks ago, I sent this gift to eastern Canada to my friend Jan for her birthday. I promised to share what was inside. Now that she's received it, I can show you.

It's a wee leather journal, 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. The leather is very special because my Grandfather made it years ago. I wanted to make the journal small enough that Jan could tuck it in her pocket and take it with her on adventures. I liked it so much, I am planning to make one for myself when I have a spare minute. Happily, Jan was delighted with this small offering. 

It is amazing to me how many of my friends have birthdays in March and even more surprising how many of those people are artists! I am in very good company indeed. Tomorrow is my day to celebrate another trip around the sun. Let there be cake!

Postal Persuits

The weather here on the west coast has been pretty ugly the last few days. By ugly, I mean sneaux, wind, rain, and hail, and just for added fun, power outages. (Basically just about every weather pattern mother nature can think to throw at us.) It's the kind of weather where the best thing you can do is batten down the hatches and retreat to the studio.

That said, I've mainly just been puttering. Yesterday, I decided to replenish my recycled envelope supply because I'm running low. Every now and again, I go through my old magazines, pull out the pages I want to keep and then use what's left to make envelopes. This batch was made from Stampington publications. Aren't they pretty? So much nicer to send out than a plain old white envelope!

I also made this wee journal for my friend Jan Smiley. Jan is the first person who ever approached me about doing art for her books. She saw my art online, thought it would be a good fit for a book she was writing and sent me an email. I will always be grateful that she did. It meant alot to me and set me on a path I had never considered before. I was even lucky enough to meet Jan in person not long after that. Her husband had some business here in BC, so she came with him and we had the chance to meet and hang out. We've been friends ever since.

Anyway, I wanted to send her something handmade so I put together this journal with all kinds of yummy paper bits. I love that it's small enough to fit in a pocket  or a purse. Jan travels alot, so I thought she might like to have a journal small enough to go along. If I remember correctly, it measures about 3 1/2 inches wide x 6 inches tall x 1 inch thick. I sewed 3 signatures of 8 sheets each into it, so it's nice and chunky. 

It's gotten to the point that I loathe to throw out any bits of paper I think might be interesting to make journals with. Add to that my steady curation of a "journals" board on Pinterest and well....it's becoming a bit of an obsession. At least I am putting it all to good use!

*****

I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who commented and emailed me with kind words and congratulations about being awarded the Queen's medal.  You sure know how to make a girl feel loved. 

xox

Rescued Journals

New Journal

So in all the craziness that's been my life lately, I failed to mention that my friends Gisele and Jessica came to visit on the long weekend, just before my husband's surgery. I met Gisele in Vivienne's photography classes and later met her sister Jessica online as well. The both live in Alberta and were coming to the coast to visit family so they decided to stop by. It was a quick 24 hour visit, but we had a great time.

Not long after they arrived, we popped down to the local thrift store to rescue some old books to transform into mixed media journals. We had a little workshop at my kitchen table where I showed them how to gut their books, recover the inside and cut and sew new signatures in. They both managed to get their books assembled in a few short hours.

I chose the little navy hymnal because I like small books that fit in the palm of my hand. It measures 5 1/4 tall x 3 1/2 wide x 1 1/4 thick. Gisele very kindly brought me a stack of old maps of Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. I adore Canadiana, so this made me really happy. I decided to cut three of the maps into pages for my journal. I love how random they are. Older maps have such great colours and these are all soft vintage shades of browns, blues and greens. There are 4 signatures of 11 sheets (44 pages) each, for a total of 176 pages in the book. 

I am still trying to decide if I am going to do anything to the cover or just leave it. I'm not religious, so I have no attachment to the words on the cover. If I could come up with the exact right thing to glue over it (like a rusty book plate or a great label) I might be tempted to alter it. For now, I'll leave it as it is.

While Gisele and Jessica were working, we were talking about journalling. Because of the damage to my spinal cord, which affects my hands, I don't hand write anymore. My journals have become places where I glue, sew or tape bits and pieces, so they are primarily visual. I kind of love them this way-I get to use all those things that are "special" in such a way that I will always be able to enjoy them. I just keep adding to them, as time goes on. I have several different journals like this on the go and I often just randomly pick one up and start working on it, so they are all works in progress.

The girls were commenting on how much I seem to love to teach. I do and I miss it in many ways. I always enjoy showing someone what I know and then watching as they take that knowledge and make it their own. It makes me happy to be able to light that spark.

Mini Photo Journals

So yesterday I had the wild hare to make small (3x4) coil bound journals from some of my photographs.

 Some of the images I've taken lend themselves perfectly to this.

Inside is blank white paper, so they could be used for just about anything.

I don't know about you, but I am always making lists and these would be perfect to toss into my purse.

Sometimes I have really good ideas. *wink*

Current Projects

 I've spent yesterday puttering in the studio. I bought this old dictionary some time ago with the idea of gutting it and rebinding it into a journal. Yesterday seemed like the perfect day to do this.

I love vintage Canadiana, which can be hard to come by here on the west coast. Every now and again, I come across something like this dictionary and I snap it up. The only thing that would have made me happier was if the cover was red, instead of green, but it'll do.

After I carefully removed the original signatures inside, I recovered the entire interior of the cover with a heavy weight scrapbooking paper that matched nicely. This helped reinforce the spine and honestly, it just looks nicer.

 The book measures 6 1/4 inches tall x 4 1/4 inches wide, so I cut a wide variety of papers this size or smaller. Some of the papers I wanted to use were smaller to start with and I didn't want them all the same size anyway-it's more interesting when there's a variety.

Some of the pages were made with pages torn from old art magazines. When you pay $18 CDN per issue, you don't just toss the old ones in the recycler! I use the ones I'm not interested in keeping in this way or make envelopes to send art mail in until the whole issue is all used up. Waste not, want not!

I took an initial pass through the journal, gluing bits and pieces that amused me onto some of the pages. This was done quick and dirty-I'll be writing and gluing things in till it's all filled up, so there's no rush. I added some colour copies of some of my favourite photographs to a few of the pages.

More bits from magazines combined with scrapbooking papers. I am a bit of a paper junkie, truth be told.

I also discovered that travel guides and brochures have interesting images of where I live, so some pages were made with bits and pieces from those. Most travel bureaus have websites where you can order free info by mail from just about anywhere you'd like to visit. Free journal fodder is a good thing!

I added a library pocket in the back as a place to stash paper bits for later, if need be. My plan is to use this journal as a catch all. I'm going to keep it in my bag and the idea is to not have it be too precious to use. I'll jot and glue things into it when the spirits move me and not worry to much that anyone's going to see it. (And what I mean about not worrying about anyone else seeing it is that I don't tend to handwrite much anymore. Having lost all the feeling in my hands because of the damage MS has done to my spinal cord, writing is difficult and it just takes too much energy.)

Anyway, that was yesterday's project. Today I am working on completing some digital artwork for The Week As Art project being hosted by Tonia Davenport of Northlight Books on the Create Mixed Media website. The week I was assigned just happens to be March 18-24, which is my birthday week!

Just before I sign off, I wanted to take a moment to say a very heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who commented, emailed and called to offer congratulations, encouragement and kind words about my name being put forward for the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. I deeply appreciate all the love and support. xox

Fragments Of Me

I'm DONE!! I finally completed my 2012 Sketchbook project and managed to complete it 2 two days before the deadline. (GO ME!)

I made a Flip video of so I could share it with you before I send it off. Please excuse how unfocused I seem-I was very under the weather when I filmed this yesterday with a pounding migraine and it's hard to think when that's happening.

In the video, I mentioned that I have postcards in my Etsy shop. If you're wondering where to find them, just click my etsy link on the side bar, et voila!

I've created a Flickr set for my Sketchbook Project if you want to see the pages up close. You can find it here. It was fun working on this. I did it very loosey goosey-I sewed some pages together ROD style and then just started laying stuff down and adding to it as I went along, with no real plan in mind. It was a good exercise in just going with the flow.
For those of you who are local, The Sketchbook Project is coming to Vancouver in May on the 15th & 16th. You will be able to see it for yourself at W2 Media Cafe, 111 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, BC. May is
shaping up to be a very busy month!

The Bessie Series For Girls

So this week, I've been dealing with this. And by "this" I mean 3 days of IV steroids, which has not been fun. It never is. I've been pretty wiped out. On the good news front though, I had something amazing show up in the magic mailbox, which lifted my spirits.

Back in January, I posted a little Flip video I made of an ROD journal I sewed for Mandy Fariello, for a private swap. I just received the journal she made me and it was *so* worth the wait!

Her journal came in this cool jacket, which reminds me so much of a black Persian lamb coat my grandmother had hanging in her closet for years. This cover is not made from Persian Lamb, but it is fabulous!

The base of her journal was made from an old book, which I've instantly fallen in love with. I love daisies. I see them growing on the roadside in completely random places throughout BC. My Gramps hated them-he'd always be mowing them down, so it amuses me when I see them-it makes me think of him and his little quirks. For someone who planted so many gardens all his life, it's always amused me that he had such a hate on for daisies!

I have no idea how Mandy cut this cover down to size so cleanly, but she did a fabulous job. Isn't it pretty?

Inside the jacket, was a small strap to hold the journal in. The interior is wool.

The journal slides out of the jacket easily, when I want to work inside.

See how chunky it is? Love it!

Mandy filled it with all sorts of odds and ends. This page with architecture is wonderful. I have a "thing" for architecture. If I were a math whiz, there's a good chance this is what I may have chosen to to do with my life.

I love ephemera of all sorts. See? She even included a map piece of BC!

And old bank deposit slips from days gone by. I like how they punched number shaped holes in them.

Mandy makes these great post box stickers. I am pleased she put one in my journal. She has them available for sale in her Etsy.

More fun! One of the best things about these types of journals is that nothing goes to waste. I love putting disparate things together to create something new. It's so relaxing to make do with what you have. I can spend hours sewing paper. It's like a Zen meditation and really doesn't require much thought. Even on a day when I'm not feeling up to snuff, I can usually manage to make a few pages.

She also included one of her Moo cards. I have quite a collection and one of these days I want to frame some of them and hang them in my studio. I started collecting them when they first came out and wrote an article for Somerset about making 3rd generation art from Moo Cards. I've been addicted to them ever since. I now make "faux" Moos-moos from scratch that I print and assemble myself. Not that I don't still order real Moos, but sometimes when I need them in a hurry, the faux method does the trick!

Anyway, I wanted to share all of Mandy's hard work and to say THANK YOU to her for such a wonderful swap. It's great making new artist friends and being able to share our art with one another. This is a journal I will really enjoy using and treasure always. Thank you Mandy, for making my week!



Remains of the Day: Olympic & Paralympic Edition

From the very first day of my involvement with the Games, I began collecting ephemera, with the idea that I would create a journal with all the bits and pieces. Every day my teammates would see me picking up all kinds of stuff and shoving it in my backpack. On the night of the Opening Ceremonies, I even went so far as to scoop up a soaking wet ticket I found in the street. I don't know who was crazy enough to toss it away, but it dried out just fine and it's sewn into my book now!

I haven't had a chance to complete all the journalling I want to do, but I decided to share it with you anyway. I took it to my team's reunion dinner last month and it was the envy of everyone there. Having seen what I did with all the "junk" I collected, they don't think I am so off the wall now!

Dog Days of Summer

In honour of the title of this post, I give you Indy, in all his happy water dog glory on Saturday. We're in the middle of yet another heatwave (when will it END?!?!) so we took pity on the poor kid in the fur coat and drove him to the river for a dip. It always puts a smile on my face to see him happy and he's never happier than when he's in the water.

Not only is he born and bred for this kind of thing, but my sweet boy was born on the Ides of March, March 15th, making him a Pisces, so he's a true water dog in every sense of the word.

Sunday was our monthly ATC swap, so once we were home from the river, I got busy in my sweltering studio. I guess heat exhaustion did something to my brain because I just started dumping paint directly from the bottle, onto a large sheet of glossy card stock and quickly swiped it around. (It was almost drying faster than I could move it around!)

I sprayed inks on it and kept layering mediums, including writing on top with a new Sakura pen, which, for the moment is actually working! (You'll remember 2 posts ago, I was talking about the quest for a white pen that works.) Eventually, I cut the master sheet into cards.

I had some pieces left over, so I grabbed a new punch I'd bought on Friday and clipped these seal shaped circles out. And then I thought "Hmm..I bet those would pop on white. I should sew those onto blank cards." So I did...

And I added some text and kept the threads long so they could hang. I named them "Thoughts on the Wind" because when I hung one up, the fan in the studio caught it and spun it around. It reminded me of Tibetan prayer wheels, which are spun so the prayers can go out into the wind.

I find it kind of telling that sometimes, you begin one thing and it evolves into something interesting, if you can get out of the way and just allow the creative process to unfold. The ladies I traded with thought they were pretty, is perhaps I will make some more.

The Richmond Art Gallery is having their annual ATC exhibit soon. I've never entered cards in that show-the timing has always been off for me to be able to do it, but this year, I think I can manage it. You should click the link too if you make ATCs because you can participate too! The show is always spectacular and well attended and at the end, your cards will be traded with the other artists!

I also hit the jackpot at a local thrift store over the weekend. They were celebrating their 5th birthday and had deep discounts. I scored 4 vintage books for a whole $5 total, which included images like this historical map of Canada. I love when they read "The Dominion of Canada" which is how Canada was referred to until the 1950's.

I also got a French language book, which had this cool map in the back cover. It's of Paris.

I was thrilled to find this Canadian dictionary, from which I have removed the entire text block and am revamping it as a journal. I've already reinforced the spine and recovered the inside. Now I just need to create the signatures and sew them in. It's a small book and perfect for this alteration project. I really like working with Canadiana.

On Sunday, when I was over at Penn's before our ATC swap, I spied a paper bowl on her desk and fell in love. She got hers from this place called 10,000 Villages, which is a fair trade artisan shop.

We went down there before the swap and I picked out this bowl for myself. It's made from recycled magazine pages. The artists use an umbrella spindle to twist the papers tight. Then they flatten them and sew them end to end.

They would them to form the bowl and then cover it with a starch solution to set the form. I think they are so cool and each one was a different colour, based on the pages they used. I've put mine on a corner of my desk as a catch all for things. LOVE IT!! The next time I see a broken umbrella on the street (Vancouver has lots of those!) I will snag it so I can harvest the spokes. I'd like to try making one of these myself.