Sunday, October 7, 2012

Look Out!

Look out! It's book making time. Here's a collage from this past year. I like to play around with eyes. I'm not big on figurative imagery but multiple of eyes, lips, etc., are fun. I have more eyes waiting to become a cover on a composition book.
I had a bit of a task last spring while my finger was healing from the gardening mishap. Create a book for our retiring principal. She asked that it be purple and teal, our school colors. Dolphins, the school mascot, were quite abundant!
 
The spine was three inches wide but the book was still bursting with notes and scrapbook pages full of well wishes from staff members.
The hardest part to getting started was deciding the size and basic construction of the book. There were two items I envisioned. The fanned envelopes pictured above and a beaded binding seen below. Yes, those are paint chips we wrote messages on the back of in the envelopes. One day I will be banned from the the paint department at Home Depot...
The spine was constructed from book board wrapped with hand painted and stamped canvass.
Beaded bindings make me drool. In a good way. The book construction is somewhat informal but the beads add texture and subtle bling. If "subtle" can ever go with bling... 
 The interior pages consisted of scrapbook papers, papers in braille and hand painted papers. I went to town using newly acquired stencils from Crafters Workshop. Who knew that painting could be a challenge? Although I didn't need my index finger to hold the paint brush, I had to lean it against the healing finger. It was an education on how every inch of the hand plays a vital role. Healing was not going to keep me from making the book I had in my head.
More paint chips and hand painted envelopes. It was a sad moment when I went to Home Depot looking for Mickey paint chips only to find out they no longer carried that line of paint.
Paint chips, flash cards and rubber stamping were sprinkled throughout.
Making the book was a cinch in comparison to gathering my own thoughts and well wishes to share.
When words fail me, I create. I gathered bits and scraps and went to work on the sewing machine.
I created two facing pages, the #1 page as a pocket for a #1 card I wrote on and slipped into the pocket.
Shoe boxes full of my scraps stash. Postcards, magazine images, LOTs of candy wrappers...
It's all fair game for artmaking. The Craft Fair season is starting up here in Phoenix and the scraps will be soon be flying through my sewing machine as I build up inventory for the upcoming season. 

What a blessing to not fry the moment I stick my head out the door :)
Marissa

12 comments:

  1. OMGsh! That book is amazing! You are one talented crafting Diva : )

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  2. Thank you but the "Diva" in me is reserved for the books, lol. I'm more of a dog hair covered gal :)

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  3. Unbelievable! Almost speechless -soy Cubana so it has to be "almost" speechless. ; )
    That isn't just a book, it's a work of art, and love. Ever thought of doing a video tutorial on this? BB would soooo be a subscriber!! BB2U

    P.S. Glad your finger healed and yes, nothing like realizing how everything is connected and vital.

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  4. woooooow what a crafty work of art. I agree with BB, a video tutorial would be a hit!!

    xoxo
    Cherrie
    www.chicacherrie.com

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  5. Agree with the comments before me, what a great creation! I would love to get my hands on something like this, do you have an etsy shop? Have a great night xo

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  6. You have a good talent, love it!

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  7. Pretty cool!! I always wanted to do something like that, buuut I 0 talented lol

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  8. I love the butterfly wings page of course! :-)

    Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly

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  9. This is so cool! How creative, you are. And patient. I would get so frustrated with all those details.

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  10. Realmente hermoso,,,cuanto talento,,,,te felicito, que tengas un buen fin de semana,,bye bye......

    http://www.evanidades.com

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