Putting the cart...

..before the horse is a talent of mine, I'd say.

I wanted to test a fabric cover for a book case, but given that I'd no book completed, I just went ahead and started the process anyway.  I spray glued (Super 77 by 3M) a cyanotype print to a piece of 140 lb. watercolour paper.

Given that the paper was boring white, I definitely needed to buck that up a bit, so I ghost-printed it in a coordinating colour

and tore into it.  In the meantime, I'd found a gifted stab-bound book in my stash, so I actually had a size to work to.  Seems like the creativity gods were working my favour.

Still in process, I've already discovered something new - the fabric, although well-secured, had unraveled a bit at the cut edges.  Running a bead of acrylic liquid gel medium over the edges fixed that issue.  More to come on this project at the finished stage.

And I was lucky to have a friend visit in the studio this week.  Eileen Gidman wanted to learn the basics of creating a journal slipcase, and we had a terrific time.  Look at what she accomplished in a couple of hours, even with all the chatting we did to catch up on our lives!

Eileen, being in recycle mode, used an old watercolour painting to create her cover, and it's truly gorgeous!

Both front and back are stunning, and her plein air and botanical drawings are surely going to benefit from such a wonderful slip case for her journal.

I'll leave you today with a bit of colour from the front patio.  The peonies were gifted from Laura Leeder's garden.  Stunning, no?

And I can't get enough of these beauties in the hanging baskets...it's hard to know whether the colour or texture pleases me more.  

As we move into summer, my walks are stop and go as I push my nose into every rose bush (wild, heritage and cultivated) around the area.  I'm so grateful we live where we do - supremely fortunate are we!