Another Textured Surface Journal Cover

I've finished another journal cover from one of my textured surfaces. For this one, I embedded cheesecloth into the molding paste, then painted it. Then I tried doing bobbin work on my sewing machine, but the thread kept breaking, so I decided that it would look better to just have the thread in the lower left corner. ;) And for one area where the machine skipped stitches, I glued the thread.

I finally got a chance to play with some Tyvek, and I put a piece of it in the upper right (for some reason it looks like Africa). I also used some Treasure Gold and then covered the whole thing with one light coat of polymer medium. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out (and if you look at my earlier work, you'll see that I'm pretty consistent in my color choices - I really need to experiment with some different colors!). This surface is on Pelmet Vilene, so it's not quite as stiff as the one I did on chipboard (because I didn't know I was going to make journal cover out of it when I started it). But it's stiff enough.

I filled this particular journal with a paper that is good for pen and ink (Strathmore Bristol Smooth). I bought a couple of new calligraphy pens recently (Pilot Parallel Pens - which you can see here). I bought the 1.5 mm and 2.4 mm nib pens, and if I like them as much as I think I'm going to, I'll be buying the other widths too. We're heading to the mountains of Colorado on Saturday, and I'm planning on practicing my calligraphy while we're there. We're staying in a cabin at Silent Spring Resort, near Almont, which is between Gunnison and Crested Butte. We've been going to somewhere in Colorado almost every other year for the 32 years we've been married, and this is our favorite place to stay.

More Textured Surfaces

I finally finished my journal cover a few days ago. I put modeling paste onto gessoed chipboard. I combed into the lower left corner and embedded cheesecloth into the upper right corner, both while the modeling paste was still wet. After it was dry, I stenciled some more modeling paste in the center. I've been messing with paints for what seems like weeks, but I'm finally happy with it. By the way, this isn't the same as the one in my earlier post (here); as I painted that one more, it got too dark, and I wasn't sure I was going to like it, so I started a new one. I'm still messing with that one - and I still don't like it as well as this one. Eventually I'll post a picture of it when I finish it.



This one isn't made into anything yet, and I'm not sure whether it's finished. I put modeling paste on really thick onto pelmet vilene that I had gessoed first, then put another piece on top and pulled them apart. After it was dry, I painted it. It started out way too dark (again). I was quite surprised that I was able to lighten it a lot. I like it pretty well so far, just not sure what else it needs.

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon

Lord John Grey is a minor character in this author's Outlander series. This is her second book about him, and better than the first. While it isn't great literature, it is a very good and well written story. Lord John is trying to solve the mystery of his father's death 17 years earlier. In addition, he serves in the British Army during the Seven Years' War as well as living a secret life he must keep secret even from his own family. It's good reading while waiting for the next book in the Outlander series - An Echo in the Bone, which is scheduled to be published September 22, 2009. I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Two Creative Studios

I have taken many classes from the ladies of Two Creative Studios, and every single class I've taken has been great. Both Terri and Sue are very creative artists and fantastic teachers. They are doing a giveaway on their site, and all you have to do is sign up for their newsletter, which you can do here. In addition to classes, there are many good free projects, which are very well written. If you're looking for classes or projects, I highly recommend you check out Two Creative Studios.

Karma Friends Award

Anne Gaal, of Gaal Creative, was kind enough to give me this award:



The wording for this award is as follows:

The Karma Award: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kinds of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

So here are the blogs I would like to award; some of them I've been reading for awhile, and some are new to me that I've found when they left comments on my blog. So it's really true - blogging leads to friendship.

freebirdsings
Pam Carriker
Simply Artistic Pleasures
Fiber Fabrications
Treasures-n-Textures
Barnacle Goose Paperworks
Idaho Beauty's Creative Journey
Tracy's Creative Side

The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook

I read this for my book club; otherwise I never would have picked it up. The blurb on the back made it sound almost like a romance novel. It started slowly for me, and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. But I did - it was a great story. Part historical fiction, part mystery, part love story, it is the story of Meg Mabry, her overbearing grandmother Claudia Bass (whom Meg lived with as a child), and Claudia's mother Hannah Bass, who kept diaries from 1891 until her death in 1902. Claudia published her mother's diaries and became somewhat famous; Meg refused to read them in rebellion against her grandmother. Claudia convinces Meg to accompany her to her childhood home in New Mexico, and they make surprising discoveries while there. I rate this book 4 out of 5.