The One With the Most Unfinished Projects Wins...

"Inscribe all human effort with one word, artistry's haunting curse, the Incomplete!"

-Robert Browning-

I declare myself the winner! I was finally able to get in some studio time over the weekend to prep some projects and I managed to start several however, following through to the finish was just not happening. Mr. Browning knows of what he speaks, see above quote, as an artist there are always too many ideas and not enough time to execute them all. I often have a half dozen projects going at once usually waiting on something to dry so I move on to something else. Eventually I do get back to the original project and complete it, usually.

I wanted to use a few of my recent finds and it occurred to me that I don't always show you what I actually do with some of the oddities that I find, like these three tiny chunky bird houses which I cut in half with a band saw...(Ooops! Forgot to take the pic before I cut them.)I used pliers to remove the perches and the odd little roof addition...

I prepped three of them for a set of tags using some of the wonderful paper darling daughter left behind when she moved out and the three of the little birds I found recently...

A little ink, paint, glitter, and glue and these will be through!

I used the tissue paper images I made last week to cover the three remaining bird houses...

These will be made into tags too.

I picked up a bag of five little matted Scriptures and originally thought I would use them as tag bases...

But as often happens the project took a slight turn from individual tags to a messaged set...

I used some of the paper that I let the Shabby Roses drain on for the frames and bits of the dyed gauze...I am still playing with bit and bobs as decorative elements as well as deciding if I want this to hang like a banner side by side, linked up and down, or if I will mount them on a piece of drop cloth canvas mounted in a black frame. I am leaning towards the frame I think.

I got this big letter "B" for a couple of dollars but am not crazy about the gold so I am using up some of my leftover paper scraps from other projects and some wall paper paste to cover it...(YIKES! Sorry about the blur, too late to take another, oh well, pobody's nerfect!)This will go on a shelf in my living room.

I almost finished a new piece to list in the shoppe! Here is a sneak peek...

The darling bird image is one that Dawn (The Feathered Nest) shared on her blog. Thanks so much for the image Dawn! If you would love to use this image just visit the highlighted link and it will take you to the post where it is featured.

After a ton of sewing I had a bunch of fabric and fiber clippings left over...

So, I actually finished one wee little project, a mini fiber nest with faux pearl eggs...

That cute little bird is another sweet find as are all the ledger paper in the background shots. I will be listing two half size ledger books with a fun local history behind them in the shoppe also. OK, so maybe I am not the winner since I did get one wee little project done but I could be since I did not show you the two bees wax collage canvas and nature journal in progress or the scarf that only needs about a dozen more rows to complete it, oh, and there is that paper doll project, as well as...see I totally could be the winner!

Speaking of winners, there are still a couple of more days to sign up for my give away,
just visit this link to sign up.

So, what did you do, or like me, not do this weekend?

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Book Making Tutorial.....

The art swap items are beginning to arrive and I am so excited to see them all together! The last project for the swap was a little book with pages made from vintage sheet music. I made two books, one of which I will show you here. I am undecided which book will make the swap. This is called a Tied Book because the pages are tied to the binding.BOOK COVER MATERIALS:
*Book board or sturdy cardboard
*Decorative paper of your choice for the inside and outside cover
*Bone folder
*Your choice of a PVA glue, mat gel medium, or a spray mount adhesive
(I used 3M Super 77 multipurpose adhesive, if you choose to use this product, work in a well ventilated area.)
*Tyvek paper or spine paper~ optional
*Your choice of paper for your pages
*Waxed paper
*Brayer

1. Determine the measurement of the size book you want to make. Cut a front cover, back cover, and spine from the book board or sturdy cardboard.My cover measurement was determined by the sheet music I was using for the pages, I made my cover 5" by 6". I knew my book would need some thickness to the spine so I chose to make it 1/2" by 6".

OPTIONAL: Before assembling your book, you can add a strip of Tyvek paper to the spine. This will make your binding last longer. Tyvek is very strong, lightweight paper made with polyethylene fibers. It is used to make FedEx Paks and U.S. Postals Service large envelopes. TIP: Recycle by saving the ones you receive in the mail and cut them in to strips for your book bindings!

To add Tyvek or spine paper to your book spine, glue covers and spine to Tyvek or spine paper, leaving a 1/4" gap. (The demo below is done with a strip of card stock to show how to add the spine reinforcement, I skipped this step on my book as it won't get much use, but if I were making a blank journal, I would recommend doing this step.) Fold the Tyvek or spine paper to the inside and glue in place. Flip over, cover Tyvek or spine paper with waxed paper, bray over the surface to secure the layers.

TIP: I always cover my project with waxed paper before braying so that any excess adhesive will not get on the brayer and be smeared on the next step of the project. I change sheets of waxed paper as needed during the process. This also keeps my brayer clean and free from glue build up.2. Glue the cover papers to the outside of the book, making sure to leave a 1/2" border of paper around your book. Depending on the size of your book, you may have to use more than one sheet of paper for the cover. If you do, I suggest using matching sheets for the front and back and using another coordinating strip for the spine, which adds a decorative touch.3. Trim off corners of the cover paper, add adhesive then fold in excess paper edges,smoothing in place with a bone folder. Flip over, cover with waxed paper and bray over surface, securing layers.4. Cut an additional sheet of decorative paper, 1/4" smaller than the inside measurement of your cover.

OPTIONAL: I wanted my book to tie closed. If you want your book to tie closed, add two 12" ribbon ties to the inside center of your front and back cover, securing with glue before you add the inside cover paper.5. Glue the inside cover sheet in place, covering with waxed paper, bray layers to adhere. You now have a completed book cover to embellish as you wish.

PAGES:
You will want to create a signature or a small group of signatures for your book. A signature is sheets of paper, folded, and nested together for binding in your book. For a blank journal, assemble as stated below.

NOTE: If you are using this as an art journal like I did, I suggest embellishing each page before you assemble the book. It makes it easier to work on the pages when they are flat rather than fight the fold of the book.

1. Cut your inside pages 1/4" smaller in width and length than the inside of your book.
(For my pages, I tore one large piece of sheet music in half, then added two other sized whole sheets of music from and old hymn book. I liked the look of the uneven page sizes when nested into a signature.)

2. Fold the pages in half and smooth over each seam with a bone folder for a crisp fold.3. Nest four pages per signature.(My book only contains one signature, four pieces of sheet music, fold in half, nested, stacked one on top of the other.)

NOTE: You can add as many signatures as you like, but be sure to allow for more in the width of your spine.

BINDING:
Unfold your signature and place it inside the book. Lay a long length of ribbon along the fold of the signature. Bring the ends around the outside of the spine and tie and knot. Trim ribbon as needed. Repeat for additional signatures.NOTE: My book is bound a bit differently. I used a hole punching tool to make holes in my spine and pages. I substituted copper wire for the ribbon and attached a twig, stone beads, and plastic bead leaves to compliment the theme of my book. See details below.

MISS SANDY'S BOOK DETAILS:The last art swap kit included a little book made from vintage sheet music and an image of Laura. We were to create a cover for our book and fill it with our own creative touches and embellishments. The book pages were to include quotes from favorite books or a line from favorite songs. This went along with the blog-a-thon theme of musical memories and beloved books.

BOOK COVER:I knew I wanted to use nature quotes in my book so I let that theme dictate my color palette, paper, and embellishment choices. For my outside cover paper, I chose a neutral printed paper that looks like it is embedded with bits of natural materials. For the inside, I used a lighter piece of handmade mulberry paper embedded with green leaves. For the book tie, I chose a sheer woven wired edged ribbon in a green color to match. I then assembled some various nature inspired materials, real and manufactured to embellish the book front.

I added a piece of torn green tissue paper the the spine of my book and two little snips of sheet music to the upper and lower edge of the spine to match the pages inside. I stamped an image of a nest and eggs onto a tiny aged notebook page using light brown. Using some fine tipped colored pens in a light brown, dark brown, and black, I filled in the nest twigs. I colored the eggs with colored pencils. To age the paper, I wadded it up into a ball, carefully unfolded it and smoothing it a bit. I ran a brown ink pad over the paper and around the edges, then glued it to my cover. The paper folds catch the ink giving the aged appearance.I glued the portrait of Laura to a piece of sheet music and tore around it, inking the edges, then glued that to a piece of decorative paper, tearing it and inking the edges also. I glued it in place, trimming off the overhang to match up with the edges of the book cover.

Using spray mount, I added a dried leaf, a sticker with a bird on it, a twig of dried leaves, and a piece of thin bark that I trimmed out to look like a branch. Using a label maker, I stamped out the words "nature" and "quotes", peeling off the backing and adding spray mount I glued them to the book.

I added a piece of fringed burlap to the upper corner with E6000, topping it off with an old jewelry piece in the shape of a butterfly.

For a final touch I adhered three small pebbles with E6000.

I left the back of the book unembellished save for the handmade stamp and my signature and date.

PAGES:
For the first page, I wanted to you to get the feel of the book, like it was a nature notebook. I added a decal edged piece of sheet music in a slightly different hue over the page, leaving a small edge border. I adhered a strip of torn green tissue paper using a permanent glue stick, layering a small strip of cream paper over it. The cream paper was trimmed out with a decal edged scissor. I stamped the word "nature" in black ink on the cream paper and added two tan buttons threaded with green knotted embroidery floss, using hot glue. I glued on a magazine cutout and layered on a printed quote from a piece of scrapbook paper. For a final touch, I added a fringed square of burlap and a button.I decided I wanted my quotes on tags and there would be one tag per two page spread. I kept the design of the tags and pages the same in each layout, varying the elements a bit from page to page. Each page on the left got a strip of green torn tissue paper applied. A square or rectangle piece of crackle finish scrapbook paper edged with pen draw stitching lines and a dried leaf or a feather glued to it. Each page also got a square piece of fringed burlap, button, and a botanical sticker with a definition of a word on it.
Each page on the right got a library card pocket with a stamped "nature" strip of paper across it and a quote tag. To make the library pocket, I used a strip of the same paper that I used on the book cover, cutting and folding it to fit my tag size as pictured below.
I trimmed out a cream piece of paper with decal edged scissors and stamped the word "nature" on it, adhering it diagonal across the front of the pocket. I then glued the pocket to the page.

TAGS:I used a small creamy standard shipping tag, gluing a torn piece of green tissue paper across the bottom of the tag, inking all the edges brown. I then cut the top shape of the tag using the same paper I used on the inside cover of the book, inking all the edges and gluing in place. I then stamped nature images on the blank center along with words using brown ink.The top of the tag back was done in the same way as the tag front. For the body of the tag I used tiny notebook pages from a little book I had, tearing them out and writing the quote on them. I then age processed them in the same way as I did the nest on the book cover. The quote was then glued to the tag and edges were inked in brown.After punching the hole in the tag top, I used some bits of yarn and embroidery floss, pulling them through the hole and gathering them together just above the tag, wrapping them with copper wire to secure them. Each tag was then placed in a library pocket.

SPINE:To attach the pages in my book, I used hole punching tool to punch two holes in the spine of my book and matching holes in my pages. I broke off a twig slightly shorter than the spine. Opening my book, I lay my stacked pages on top of the cover, threading the ends of the copper wire through the holes. I then wired each end of the twig securing my pages in place. I threaded on stone beads and plastic leaves while twining the extra lengths of wire ends around the twig. I tightly twisted the end together, clipped, and secured them underneath the twig.If you are up for a monthly art challenge, visit Mind Wide Open.They have created the Mind Wide Open Challenge Contest that will run monthly, starting the 1st of each month (or as close as they can get it there). They hope you will come and play with them as the winner will receive a $20.00 shopping spree (with free shipping) to Shabby Cottage Studio! Their first art challenge begins TODAY! Run over and see for yourself!

Happy Book Making,
Miss Sandy