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.

Textured Surfaces

I've been painting some of my textured surfaces today. The top one is molding paste with cheesecloth embedded into it, and the bottom one is molding paste that I combed through (in both directions). I have another one that isn't dry, and still another one that is quite ugly at this point - I hope I'll be able to save it, but I'm not at all sure about that.

I'm quite enamored with the molding paste - it's a really fun product. And you're supposed to be able to sew into it too, although I haven't tried that yet. But the pieces are flexible, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to. Probably not until the next lesson, however.

Textured Surfaces

click on picture to see it larger

This isn't finished yet, but I wanted to post my progress so far, because I've just been introduced to the coolest new product. Well, it isn't actually new, it's just new to me, but still . . .

It's Modeling Paste (or Molding Paste, depending on what brand you buy). It is for adding texture to surfaces. I put gesso onto chipboard. When it was dry, I added modeling paste. While it was wet, I put cheesecloth into the upper right corner and combed through the lower left corner. After it dried, I stenciled into the center with more modeling paste. Then when that dried, I tried to paint the whole thing. I used Golden's Fluid Acrylics mixed with Glazing Liquid, and I had trouble getting it into the cracks and crevices.

I'm taking (another) online class; this one is Textured Surfaces. I've had my first lesson so far, where we've learned to create LOTS of texture. The second lesson will be about coloring the texture we created in lesson one. But being the impatient person that I am, I tried adding color to this already. It's not bad (I actually really like the color combination) - I just want to get all of the white modeling paste colored. So I guess I'll have to be patient (as difficult as that is for me) and wait for lesson two.

This is going to be a cover for a journal that I'll bind with my Bind-it-all. I've already punched the inside pages.

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Another story about ancient Egypt. Told by Nefertiti's sister, Mutnodjmet. Nefertiti marries Amunhotep, who may have killed his brother in order to become Pharaoh. Amunhotep's mother hopes Nefertiti will stabilize him, but Nefertiti is ambitious as well. There is much intrigue at court, and all Mutny wants is a quiet life away from court with her garden. At the end, I really couldn't put it down. I rate it 4 out of 5.

Goodbye Lucky

Lucky came to us in January of 1993 as a young adult cat, about 2 years old. He'd been dumped by his previous owner, and he was starving. I wanted a cat, so I fed him. I never saw a cat eat so much so fast - and after that he was ours. He started out as an outside cat, but after our dog nearly killed him (which is why he was missing an ear), we moved him inside. That turned out to be the best thing that could have happened, both to him and to us. We'll miss you Lucky!

Lucky

This really isn't finished - I need to do something with the background and put some words on the page - but it's another drawing of my cat.

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

Very interesting book. Obama writes about what it was like growing up as a mixed race child in Hawaii - his confusion over who he was and where he fit in. Even though he was raised by a white mother and white grandparents, he always identified himself as black.

From the Epilogue:

"The study of law can be disappointing at times, a matter of applying narrow rules and arcane procedure to an uncooperative reality; a sort of glorified accounting that serves to regulate the affairs of those who have power -- and that all too often seeks to explain, to those who do not, the ultimate wisdom and justness of their condition.

"But that's not all the law is. The law is also memory; the law also records a long-running conversation, a nation arguing with its conscience."

I rate this book 3 out of 5.

Happy Anniversary Brian and Jessica

I made this card for my son and daughter-in-law's anniversary. The only catch was that I was late with it (their anniversary was May 22; I mailed the card on the 27th - I hope they got it by the 30th at the latest).

I colored the stamp with watercolor crayons, misted with water, and stamped onto watercolor paper. I tore the image and then used distress inks to color the background. Then I layered it with some patterned papers onto the card.

Lucky

I've been wanting to do another drawing of my cat for awhile now, and I finally decided I needed to do it today. You see, he isn't doing well at all, and I'm afraid we're going to have to put him down sometime in the next week or two. He's 18 years old or so, and he seems to be shutting down. He was sleeping this morning and I got started on it then, and finished coloring it tonight. I know I didn't get the shape of the face quite right - but he had his head turned at a funny angle, so it's actually not too far off (even though it looks funny).

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Edgar Sawtelle is born mute and can only communicate with sign language. His parents, Gar and Trudy, breed and train dogs. Gar's brother Claude comes to live with the family for a time, but old hostilities between Gar and Claude drive Claude away. Edgar's life seems ideal until Gar dies suddenly. Claude returns to help out when Trudy is too ill to work. Edgar becomes convinced that Claude had something to do with Gar's death. It is very well written and I rate it 4 out of 5.

On the Prowl

I finished this today - I thought it was finished yesterday until I realized I hadn't put the whiskers on. But now it really is finished and hanging in my entry way. It is from a pattern by Toni Whitney and published by Bigfork Bay Cotton Company.

Wordle

Anne, of Gaal Creative, reminded me of how cool the Wordle site is.
Go here to create your own.

Tennessee Trip 2009

I finally finished the journal pages that I kept on our trip last month to visit friends in Tennessee. I had the whole thing done except for coloring in the turkey a few days after we got home; I finally decided I needed to do that today, so here it is.

I laid out the grid on day 2 of our trip, so it was a challenge on some days filling the boxes. But I made it work.

Book Rating System

I have decided I need to simplify my rating system for books, and so I am going to use the same scale that is used on Netflix:

5 - Loved it
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Didn't like it
1 - Hated it

No more .5's added either. I've revised my ratings to reflect this new scale.

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell

I was going through my book journal this morning, comparing entries to my blog entries, and discovered that I forgot to post a review of a book I read last October. What is really funny about that is that I had forgotten to post a review of the sequel to that book until a month or two late; but I didn't notice then that I had never posted the review of the first book.

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn shows a very different Anne Boleyn than The Other Boleyn Girl. Both books are works of fiction.

Anne kept a secret diary that is given to Elizabeth shortly after Elizabeth becomes queen. The diary shows Anne's "fierce determination, her hard-won knowledge about being a woman in a world ruled by despotic men, and her deep-seated love for the infant daughter taken from her shortly after her birth." She was a much more sympathetic character than in The Other Boleyn Girl, where she was much more scheming and calculating. I enjoyed both books; both were well written. I rated this book 4 out of 5.

The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner

This book follows Peter and Rosemary Grant, who have spent 20 years studying finches on the Galapagos archipelago. This book was the current selection for my book club, and I was afraid I would find it boring, but it was really very interesting. It talked about many examples of evolution that are occurring right now, in an understandable way for non-scientists. Anyone who doesn't think that evolution is a fact should read this book. I rate this book 3 out of 5.

Newest Face Quilt

I've been working on this little quilt off and on for a week or two. I finished it this morning. The face and the flower are my designs; the cat is a Darcy Ashton pattern from her book Claire's Cats Volume II. I wish the cat showed up better from the background. As always, if you click on the picture, you can see it bigger.

The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph M. Marshall III

We listened to this audio book on our trip to and from Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. It is the story of Crazy Horse written by a Lakota Indian and read by the author. Since history is usually written by the winners, this was a fascinating look at a man and a culture from the inside - not the history we learned in school. I highly recommend it.

The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson

Ambrose Zephyr, at age 50 or so, is told he has a month to live, more or less, and so he and his wife, Zipper Ashkenazi, take off on a tour of places that he has always wanted to visit or places he has always loved, from A to Z. It is a beautifully told sad story of love and life and death. I rate this book 5 out of 5.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Fifteen year old Michael Berg becomes ill on his way home from school one day and is helped home by Hannah, a woman twice his age. Michael and Hannah become lovers, then Hannah disappears. Michael sees Hannah again several years later when she is on trial for Nazi war crimes. Much of the narrative is Michael's thoughts and feelings about Hannah, his relationship with her, and his feelings about Germany's actions during WWII. I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde

This is book four of the Thursday Next series. While it was enjoyable, I didn't think it was as good as the earlier books. After spending 2 years as Head of Jurisfiction, Thursday decides to return to the real world to get her husband back. I rate this book 3 out of 5.

The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan

Book 3 for my World War II Reading Challenge, and April's selection for my book club. Louis Belk, a soldier who has recently completed a bomb disposal course, is sent to Alaska on a secret mission: the Japanese are making bombs and sending them out in balloons, hoping that they will reach the US and explode here. I had never heard of these balloon bombs before; maybe because the news media cooperated with the US government in a policy of silence in order to reduce the chance of panic among Americans and to deny the Japanese information about the success or failure of their program. The story is told by Belk, who after the war becomes a priest and returns to Alaska. The story goes back and forth between past and present. This seems to be a very popular way of telling a story these days; several of the books I've read recently have used this method. It was quite effective for this story. I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Migraine Journal Page

I had a particularly bad migraine episode Thursday night; this is my response to it. I started it Friday and finished it today.

Spring???

My latest journal page, done yesterday during the snow storm.

Zentangles

For the first two Zentangles I did, I doodled a random shape, and then divided it up into sections and made patterns in each section.





After that, I traced a CD and divided the circle up. I'm not sure why I never thought to just fill the whole page. You could also leave a space for writing in. I did most of these while we visited our son and daughter-in-law. I'm SO glad we traveled when we did - our whether was perfect. Tonight, on the other hand, it is sleeting!













Anyway, these were fun to do, and really not as hard as they look. You just do one section at a time, and there isn't any right or wrong. You just put patterns into the sections.