Artist Book Pages

Another few pages for my "Artist Book" for class. I am really enjoying the process of making these pages. It does take a while for each page, but it is so rewarding.

Tiny gems for the ribbon on this one. I forget the actual name, but they are real gems. I also have some amethyst that I want to use in the book as well.

Love how these wooden beads look in this abacus. I have had these beads forever and a day. Really, nearly thirteen years, so been a while. They were a bracelet at one time. Repurposed wonderfully here on this page.

This tyvec sample goes so well with this two page spread. I am so happy that I decided to use it here. The little medallion has some gold beads to hold it in place.

Looking at the two finished pages of this one makes me so happy at the moment. I still have six more pages within this page to complete, but am letting it percolate for a bit.

I decided to use some of my "Paris" advertisement cards for this book. I think this first one is so pretty sitting amidst the paper, lace and stitch. The bonus is these cards still smell heavenly after having them for about five years. I am sure the smell will fade now that they are no longer in their packaging, but I am ok with that. I like how they add a bit of something to the page.

I decided to make this page a tri-fold page on each side. That gives me more surfaces to actually load up with scrappy goodness! All my samples and then some will be used up in this book. It takes a lot of samples to really make these books look full! Which makes me happy in return as I love to embellish and add to the umph degree. Can you tell I am loving the process.

I had doubts about this for about two seconds, until I could actually picture future embellishments. Now I am happy I went with the tri-fold pages.

Another look at my page.

A different page, but no less lovely in my opinion. I really love how the cutouts on this page look now that they have stitch and beading applied to them.

Had to add a few beads to the tyvec to bring it out a bit more. Before it just sat on the fabric and scrim scraps with no life. I think it is much better now. I just wish the picture showed the shimmer of the gold fabric underneath it. So very pretty.

This is another page in the book. I used scrim, a bit of vintage cotton fabric for the base. I then added fabric and a button with a crocheted flower underneath for the front of this little envelope. I will be placing some fabric fragments of my grans dress inside along with a bit of her ribbon that I have. The ribbon is really old as it came off of one of her mothers dresses. She was nine when her mother passed away and she was allowed to keep only a few bits other than her mothers wedding dress. I am so happy that I have a bit of my gran as well as my great gran to treasure.

Underneath is scrim and a bit of muslin with some script fabric just because I could. I love to layer items together like this. I am combing what I have learned in class with the way I put my cloth books together and am loving the way they combine to make a beautiful little book of treasures.

This little page is very precious to me. Jazmine dyed the tissue with dyes and shaving cream in her school class this year. She made them especially for me and I knew I had to add them into the book. I added the lace flower motif because Jazmine shares my love for roses and flowers in general. She is always picking flowers and bringing them to me, as well as picking my flowers and taking them home with her. I think the sequins and beads add the needed sparkly bits that Jazmine and I love.

My artist book is not ready to put together by any means, but these pages are making it grow and expand. I am not rushing this process as I am loving it so much. I will be making more of these in the future though. They are very relaxing and enjoyable to work on. If you have never taken a class from Karen, you can find her here. You really should, as she has so many ideas to create beauty through stitch. She has a new class that just started, so its not too late to join in. Have a great day and remember to put needle and thread to cloth sometime today.

A Page in Progress

Today has been a rain filled and cloudy gray day here in the south. I took advantage of the stormy weather to work inside on my "Artist Book" pages. I really like the way this page is shaping up. I am in love with the dangly bits hanging from the edge and know there will be more of those throughout the book. I am trying to decide on which lace motif to put to the side or maybe I will put something a bit different there. Must think on it a while. I was so inspired by Karen from a class video that I pulled out a ton of my laces and embellishments that I use in my crazy quilts for this little book. My dining room table is messy and filled to overflowing with wonderful lace, trims, embellishments and beads. It looks like an explosion happened in there. I will be so glad to get the studio up and running. Which will be happening soon! Happy dance and days ahead. My dear sweet hubsters is taking a week of vacation to get my room ready for me next week. So once the new walls are up and I get it painted and the floor dealt with I will once again have my own sewing, quilting, stitching studio. I am so chuffed about my up coming new space! Hope your day is filled with much love and stitching of course.

More Hearts

A few more hearts in the basket to be sewn down and some already put together. These little hearts are quick, easy and addictive! May your day be filled with much love and stitching.

Lilies

My lilies are blooming like crazy at the moment. Just had to post a pic of these lovely flowers. I am so in love with these! The colors are so vibrant on these beauties. Hope your day is filled with much love, laughter and stitching.

Baskets

I have nine more baskets for my basket quilt ready now. I am really liking how these little baskets are coming along. I need a total of 300 of them, so still a long way to go. But this has always been a slow work in progress. I was only working on these when I took my dad for eye appointments and dr. appointments. Now I am trying to work on them daily. He always loved to see me stitching on these or the stars I am epp. Working on these baskets and looking at the ones I stitched while with him has made me more determined to finish this sooner rather than later. May your day be filled with love, laughter and stitching.

Artist Book Samples

Working on samples for my Artist Book that I am making in class with Karen Ruane from here . These are the beginnings of a collection of toggles. I see a new addiction for these beauties in my life. I am taking my time and enjoying the process. Of course I have been down most of the week because of spider bites and the meds I am taking for them. Will be making more samples before I am ready to put the book together. Hope you are having a stitchy kind of day.

Sample Page...

An almost finished page for my sampler page for Embroidery Class with Karen Ruane from here . And some more tiny hearts for my heart project that had been delegated to the ufo pile. I am thinking this will become a cushion or small wall hanging for the sewing studio. Undecided at the moment as this was originally going to be a twin quilt. Now I don't know if I want to make all those tiny hearts for a bed size quilt. We shall see. The biggest problem is I need so many more low volume prints for the backgrounds than I have on hand. I was surprised by how little of the light backgrounds I actually have. I have purchased some, but not enough to have a good enough variety to make this a quilt. So we shall see. They are cute and I have a ton of these cut out and ready, just need more backgrounds.

Artist Books

Another sample for my "Artist Book" class with Karen Ruane. It is not to late to join in on all the fun. You can learn more about the class here . I am enjoying the process of making loads of small samples for my book. Hope to see you in class.