The beginning of Inspirational Women AB RR for ICE

This is the back of my book where I made 2 niches...I glued the pages together then I cut the niches...I covered the pages with some Japanese (white on white w/gold highlights) paper that I got at the Flax store in San Francisco...did I already say if I ever move to SF, that I will either live in this store or at least try to get a job there so I can take my salary home in paper...lol... Then I glued some pearl and net border (I got it at Hancocks) around the edges...it really is pretty...my plan is to make a "page protector sheet" bead (from Sherrill Kahnn's new book) in the small niche and a 3D embellishment in the large niche...the reason I made the niches is because my book is fairly large (in pages) and there are only 7 player/artist in this particular RR... This is my sign in spread...the sign in cards are Bridal Shower Invitations that I got on the clearance at Wal Mart...of course I didn't know what I was going to do with them but it turned out that they were perfect for this...don't you just love when that happens? I cut of the part that said "You Are Invited" with some decorative scissors and wrote over the stuff inside to read Name: Address: E-Mail: & Blog:, so each of the player/artist can fill in their info...Sometimes little things can lead you in a direction with your art when you least expect it...that pesky muse of mine does that sometimes. I really did not intend to alter my book in such a "girly" way...but the stage is set. The paper in the back ground is some that my friend Christy in Fort Myers, FA. sent me, I am sure it is because it is pastel and she is definitely not a pastel kind of girl...of course she is not an "Average American Girl" either but she claims to be...lol...I added some beaded ribbon and the Antique Crochet is some that my Grand mother made for pillow cases back when I was just a weeeeee lass....we won't go there, but trust me it is "Antique".
This is the cover of my Inspiring Women AB...I really was going to do something with a lot of texture and bright colors...but I decided I wanted my book to feel soft...so I put some quilt batting on it and then I had this beautiful blue upholstery fabric (left over from another project) the lace trim came from another trip I had taken to SanJose several years ago and my friend Neldi took me to an Asian Fabric store that had every kind of lace known to man...really...the letters are some embroidery letter from Hancocks...then I added the pearls around the letters and I used white dimensional paint with a very small holed writing cap to write the rest of the words...the "hinges" are some Tim Holtz Grungeboard pieces painted gold with Lumieres...the piece of the spine is a glass slide embellishment that my friend Toni Curtis made for me...it is just perfect....so my texture turned soft and my bright colors turned pastel...with a little help from my muse and friends....more spreads to come in the next couple of days, because the mailing date is Tuesday....So the fun for the Inspiring Women AB RR is just starting....watch for more posts on this subject...I am sure they will be fun...

"A View of the World", Lin Collette's AB

This is the first spread I did in Lin Collette's AB "A View of the World". I decided to use the 2008 Olympics in China as the theme for my view of the world, since it is what is going on in the world right now....I had no problem finding images for these spreads since there were so many to choose from on the Internet...I used Golden Glazes for the back ground...along with a map of China that was available from Dover Publications last week...I used a border punch and then glued some red card stock behind it. I found some images of the Olympic Torch and then used some metallic wrapping paper to make the flames...I embellished with some Asian coins from Stampington and a Chinese New Year ornament. I made 5 tags using the official characters used for the Olympics. The back of the tags have the official Logo on them.
The second spread has a pocket holding a Chinese envelope that contains all kinks of pictures of Beijing, the Olympics buildings and ceremonies. The words I wrote are about World Peace...because that was the feeling I got from watching this amazing event...I used a grunge board swirl, some metallic Koi Fish stickers, a foam embellishment that is stamped with one of my hand carved lino stamps and some 3-D black and white letters. The background is sprayed Moon Mist and sea sponge (which I love the look of) stamping using Lumiere paint.
I just thought that the sign-in tags that the other artist (Chris Tessnear of North Carolina, Lorraine Watson, Dawn Gold and Kristen Bolton, all of the UK) were so awesome that I would include this pic for you to see.

This is a close up view of the envelope that holds the images of the Olympics...I got these darling envelopes from Lisa at Collage Stuff, she has all kinds of really neat and hard to find embellishments.
I hope Lin likes the work that we have done in her book, because it is really a terrific book...a real treasure to keep forever.

The ICE Group is going full steam ahead and starting another AB RR with the theme of "Inspirational Women"...all the player/artist involved in this new RR are really excited and creating some wonderful AB covers...I can't wait to get started....

A Little Collage for Val

This is a small (5"x7") collage that I made for Val Foster...I call it the "Biological Clock".

Chris's Birdland Book for ICE AB RR

These are the spreads I did for Chris, for her "Birdland" book. The book is so awesome I wish everyone could see it in person....We are in the 5th month of our Round Robin over in the ICE Group and the books are really starting to set some awesome art work in them...no wonder, since everyone in this RR is so very talented.

This first spread presented me with a little diliemma...the spread had been gessoed and then two precious little birds had been drawn near the bottom...my dilemma was did Chris prep this page so that one of us would add our art work to it or did she just want the spread left like it is?...as I looked through the book I saw several spreads that were done the same way, you know with gesso and drawings...so I decided to take a chance and add some art (I use the term loosely here because the art was really already done by Chris) I used a quote by Aesop: "It is not only fine feathers that make the fine birds" and I added some beaded fringe to the top...then I glued some beautiful feathers to the pages...I sure hope this is what Chris had in mind....

These 2 spreads were a lot of fun...The one with the hummingbirds is definitely the most colorfull...for the back ground I used some Asian Gold Leaf paper and I put a bird nest pic on the Gold Leaf then I cut up some brown paper (a Braum's sack to be exact) that I had sponged with some brown and black paint, to make it look like sticks. The other background is a sponging technique that I use from Sherrill Kahn, on water color paper. The square in the right hand corner is also a technique that is from Sherrill Kahn, using foam sheets that have been heated and stamped (my own original hand carved stamp) then painted with Lumiere paints...The hummingbirds have on crowns with a little jewels and feathers. The quote on the left side is:"Never look for birds of this year in the nest of last year". Then I added a fiber covered gold metallic pipecleaner and tied hummingbird charms to the fibers on the right edge of the page.

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer...It sings because it has a song" is the quote I used for this page...The background is some printed paper that I embellished with "Squirt" fabric paint and some wooden leaves and flowers. My friend Susan the musician made the music notes (she says I don't make them right). Then I glued on some beaded fringe...I didn't think this book had enough "stuff" hanging out of it hence the fringe and the fibers...lol....Chris is going to love it. (I hope)

This is the last spread that I did, the background is some beautiful printed tissue paper that my friend Christy sent me...the pocket at the bottom is made from a dry brush technique on heavy textured card stock...the trim is some gold and white braid that I have been wanting to use ever since I bought it in...lets see...1994 maybe. I used my feather and crow stamps and made tags with pics of birds on them, I stamped the crackle design on the tags before attaching the pics...then I embellished them with some embroidery and beaded flowers...they turned out pretty cool. Well these are my spreads for your book Chris...I hope you like them.

Spreads for "Realization" AB

These are the spreads I did for Amanda Stirm's AB "Realization" over on Our Round Robin Altered Book Group. I think my favorite spread is the one using Norman Rockwell's painting of a young artist running with her art supplies and easel. I got the image from a calendar that my mother saved for me...she saves all kinds of cool stuff for me to use in my altered books. Aren't mothers the best?

I Wanted to tell you about the "Foam" doll...she came with her own "stick on" clothes. She is like a paper doll but she is made out of foam...(one of those Michael's bargains) so I put her clothes in a clear yellow envelope and used the label from the package that said dress me...I painted the back ground with Golden Glaze to match the envelope and then I glued some pink trim down the edges of the pages...it will be a lot of fun to dress the doll...I love making pages that are interactive...it gets the viewer involved in the art....there are lots of other pages in this book that things to touch and enjoy.

Spreads for "Quilts" AB

These are the 4 spreads I did for my friend Priscilla Hoekstra's "Quilts" altered book in a round robin over on OurAlteredBookRoundRobin Group. I hope she likes them...I found the quilt pics on a web site called Quilts.com. Silla is the one that writes the poems I used in my altered board book "Haiku by Silla", which you can see in my older posts...she is a very talented artist that I am happy to call friend.

Everything Georgia O'Keeffee

This is a numbered print of Georgia O'Keeffee by Dan Budnik taken not long before she died, (she was 98 years old when she died) I loved the Alexander Caulder mobile in the back ground....I go it in the gift shop at the Georgia O'Keeffee Museum in Santa Fe. I am going to frame it with some other postcard pics that I got of her and make a collage of them in our dining room. Of course I got a lot of her note cards and Susan and I got Georgia O'Keeffee T-Shirts.

These are pics I took of the front and back of Georia O'Keeffee's home in Abiquiu. During the tours they don't allow you to take pics of anything...

This the church that Georgia O'Keefe painted so many times...if is atop a hill just to the south of her home in Abiquiu. It was so exciting to be able to see it in person.

These are some pics I took of the Church in Abiquiu, New Mexico. The church has been very well taken care of and they have services there every week. The church is owned by the Arch Diocese of Santa Fe. It is named Saint Thomas Catholic Church and is located on the plaza in the Pueblo of Abiquiu. This historic church has been a continuous place of worship for over two hundred years

The doors are all solid carved wood. Abiquiu is where Georgia O'Keeffee had her home and studio.

There are a lot of things going on out here in the dessert. In August there is a "Fiesta of Santa Rosa de Lima" which is celebrated each year and begins with the carrying of the statue of Santa Rosa to anto Tomas Church.

In October the "Annual Abiquiu Studio Art Tour" takes place on Columbus Day weekend. It is a driving tour that takes visitors to over 50 artists who open their studios to the public to show & sell their art.