Can you hear me cackling?

I've been in Mad Mixed Media Scientist mode this week.  For some time I've been wanting to test dryer sheets on wood panels with the same technique I've used for cheesecloth.  Here's one of the results, used on a painting background.  

It's luscious whether used over another colour, or on a white gessoed panel, don't you think?

And I finally managed to find a roll of Typar house wrap.  I've been on the last of my 100', seven-year-old roll, and knew I needed more.  When I scored some, I just had to whitewash it and then throw some alcohol ink at it, followed by stencil work.  While it's not done yet, I think it's looking pretty juicy already.

The closeups are even more fun... the grey house wrap gives a subtle textural look underneath all that colour.

Now there is a reason for the madness, of course.  I want to create a cover for the second Coptic book in process, and I'm all about the subtlety, right?  😄

The stack of signatures awaits the completion of the cover 'fabric', and with some beeswax to wax the thread, I'm definitely going to be in business.  

On another corner of the table, I've got a stack of toppers which have been created through Ruth's studio time.  Every time we had leftover mediums of any sort or unused paint, we threw it at a piece of canvas.  They're going to make fabulous cards for sale at her November show.

There are other projects on the go, of course, and a list as long as the taxman's reach of things I have yet to try.  Here's to experimentation, failures and successes!

Die, procrastination - DIE!

I'm celebrating this week - I've had the Coptic stitch on my list of 'things to learn' for so long that it's lost in the mists of time, and this past week I finally managed to get the lead out and try it.

It's tiny (5 3/4" x 4 1/2"), and has enough flaws to qualify for "Book Fails in Canada' fame, but I've made a list, learned a ton, and look forward to trying it again.

I enjoyed making the signatures as well, using gel prints for the base, going mad with alcohol inks on white-on-white wallpaper, and generally drooling over the results.

Because this was a practice book, I paid no attention to the prints on the signatures, and then had to come up with something to tie them together colour-wise.

While it works as a prototype, it does so mostly for future possibilities.  I may have to up my alcohol ink stash, perhaps!

In any event, I am gleefully celebrating the death of this particular procrastination issue...a few thousand more of these and I'll have the skill to put together that tall stack of signatures I showed you last week.  That is cause for elation indeed.  

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All that techie stuff out of the way, it's been a busy studio week, and how fun is that?!  I've been learning to make Jelly Bean mini books, mostly because I think they'll make great Christmas ornaments for the grandkids.  I found the directions in 'Making Books and Journals', and have actually followed their advice to create a template so I can do more.  Is this a first?  Perhaps!  😉

These little books are about 2 1/2" x 2", and just as cute as can be.  I created a slot fastening on the first and use the velcro bits on the second.  Each has a 12 page signature, although for an ornament, I would use thicker paper and much less of it.

I've been adding to my pile of colourful signatures this week, and as you can see here I have only two more to go before I can turn them into a couple of books.  That will shock the heck out of my system when that happens - it's only taken years!

With the cooling weather - I'm using that term loosely given that the average daily high has been 34 degrees Celsius - we've been out and about early in the mornings for our walk.  It's next to impossible to get outside in the Creston Valley without seeing some glorious flora and fauna!

I hope that your week has been juicy with colour, playfulness and time in the great outdoors.  Here's to the joy of summer!

I admit to being too lazy...

 ... to photograph all of the family mini books I created.  I'm blaming it on the intense heat dome we've been under for the past two weeks in British Columbia.  I did, however, take a shot of the covers, and thought you might like to see them.

If you've not seen John's book from last week, feel free to check it out.  If you've reached this far on a picture-heavy post, I salute you for your tenacity.  Here's to a fabulously creative week for you!  

ICU is an acronym that really impacts me...

...so it's little wonder that my recent mini books series intended for my family carries the theme.  They were mailed out this week, and soon my immediate family will all have received one of the seventeen books.  To give you an idea of what they contain, I'll show you the one that John received yesterday.

We're a close-knit family, and it's been difficult to be out of physical touch through the past year and a half of the pandemic.  I thought that receiving a reminder of the bonds we share could help a bit.

The books went out in family packages, and they included a wee bit of an opportunity for sharing among the families.

It carries on a theme of a piece I did many years ago.

We were all much younger then, my sister and mother have passed into another realm, and the children's' spouses, grandnieces, and grandchildren had not yet made their appearance.  The love, however, was there, remained and intensified.  One can hardly imagine what my life would have been without all this joy.