What a colour-full week this has been!

I received a fabulous package in the mail from my dear friend Meg Nicks in Canmore, filled with a plethora of mouth-watering hearts and a gorgeous card, as well as a poster of Canadian birds for John.  What a wonderful lift it was!

There are dozens of magical abstracts in these hearts, aren't there?

I've been adding bits and pieces to my recently-constructed books this week, from securing them to decorating which added some more colour.

As always, the feast goes on and on, and I consider myself fortunate indeed.  How about you - where did you find your fortune this week?

I'm such a slow...

 ...learner sometimes that it leaves me laughing hysterically.  This week I've been attempting to create one of the simplest of folding books, and I made so many mistakes on the way to this 'finally-folded-very-badly-mess' that I can't help but laugh.

It's truly a relatively simple fold, and makes a tidy little book.  This one is 3" x 3" finished.

It would have been helpful if I'd actually used double-sided paper, given that I had to gel print that oh-so-white side after I'd cut all the pieces.

And because I can't seem to stop anything once I get started, this is the longest dragon I've ever seen in the wild.

Of course the studio is in chaos with hardly any place for the poor thing to stretch out so she can fly.

The brown signature is still in progress,

as are the 17 mini books, many of which are now at the ugly stage.  You know how exciting that is!

So all in all, it's been an entertaining week.  How about you?  

Books, books and more books...

Because I'm bent on learning so many new styles, this week alone I have crafted a flag book, a secret message book, and a folded pocket book among others.  The flag book is a style I'd not tried before, and it was on my must-do list.  

When closed, it's a tidy 4 1/4" x 2 1/4", small enough to fit into a tiny purse.

I'm liking the look of that 'mapping' on the back of the book.  The pages and covers are pieces of the paper towel collage I did some time ago.

I also did a secret message book, and if you are like me, spatially challenged, this is a sure way to drive yourself right into loony-tunesville.  It is a meandering book for no discernible reason that I can understand.  Does that sound like I'd never make another?  Pretty much!  😖 😵😣

I can't begin to tell you what it took for me to get this sorted, and I have to admit that I actually glued a couple of pages together when I realized that I'd missed them in the middle.  Grrrrrrr.

I was delighted to get the inking done, and did a mini happy dance to be finished, when I found (right near the beginning) two pages I'd missed entirely.  

Here's what I did with them, as I cursed underneath my breath, hissing like a snake.  I guess this is the secret message.

Suffice to say, it might be a decade or two before I try one of these again...or maybe never.  

I also got started on an folded envelope style book which requires no gluing.  It's interesting in that it takes a 35" long piece of paper to create a book that is basically 4" square.  I've not finished the signature or fun inserts yet, so I'll keep you posted on that.

The collection has been growing and I'm a bit concerned.  I did a quick check around the studio yesterday, and found these.  

Now granted, these are not all from this year, but I am a bit worried about the mania/addiction/obsession.  It appears to be turning quickly into a neurosis, given that over the past few years I have sold and gifted some dozens of them in various forms.  Somebody, please send help.

This has been...

 ...a bonkers week as I've wrestled with the Telus email migration, loss of all my contact information/  calendar and third party connections, plus dealing with my own technically-challenged mind.  Which means, of course, that I am late with this post, so I'll get right at it.

I've been working on one of the colour palette signatures, in a range of hues most unlike me.  In fact, this signature turned out to be about a dear friend, Alice Saltiel, who passed away from cancer.  The palette is much more her style and she was directing traffic all the way.  

In fact, the photo on the front of the signature is one that she took of an artist's work in New York City some years ago; she was sure I'd love it, and I did!

The signature is filled with cards, photos and bits of ephemera from her over the years.

And of course, I've been working on the mini books as well, adding another layer to most of them (with more to finish, and more layers to come).

Picture heavy and verbiage short!  Hope you're having a great week, filled with creative juices to the max...  And if I've had your email/snail mail address/phone number in the past, I'd be so happy if you'd forward it again!  Many thanks.

It's crazy days...

...in the Dinn Duo household, and I'm right up there with them.  With near-completed signatures all over two of my three tables,

a table filled with signatures in the making, 

and a fallen-down stack of mini books, it's my usual chaos.

Add to that there's half of the Dinn Duo (aka John) working on a table, creating boxes for the museum.

While it may appear that nothing ever gets done here, that's definitely not the case...

These three books have been completed...well, except for the one on the left which needs some enhancements on the cover before I video a look-through.  😊  Well, so maybe things never do get done - that would make me a typical artist, wouldn't it?  

Hope your week has been filled with all sorts of projects and even some completed ones!  Do catch me up on what your week has been like in the comments below...