Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Busy Bee August!

Dear Reader, this has been such a busy month. First a trip to DeLand to see what's new on the house and workshop. Then a trip to Oakland where my friend, Laura Bowker, gave a presentation on a special kind of engraving that she learned in Murano. She told a great story, how she fell in love with the technique, built an amazing piece of equipment to do it, and intricacies of the technique. It was great fun to tell everyone that I was her roommate!





One of the days it was so clear that we could see from our window across the Bay to San Francisco. Reminder to self: Always check the weather when going to San Francisco, you will likely need a jacket!



Then I got a cold for a few days, followed by Tropical Storm Fay. Spent some time during all that working on a bunch of swaps. Made NINETEEN birthday RAKs for folks in the ClothPaperStudio yahoo email group. NINETEEN! That was the biggest month so far.

Next I started a bracelet for the bracelet RR in Adornmentz. Jeanne Brickman sent me her bracelet, which is a dainty little bracelet with no links, so have to put on my thinking cap for that one. Have some ideas, will post those next time.

Worked on the technique pages, boy did the bubble paint thing not work, have to try that again, good thing we have until October.

Then there's this Deco RR for the BookArtz group. This is my very first Deco RR! My theme is Bees, which I love. Bees are so important to our food supply, and most people don't even know that. Nor do many folks know that there is a very serious disease affecting colonies all around the world. We could be in some very serious trouble. Everyone should be planting bee friendly plants in their yards to encourage bees.

Couple of personal challenges have started too, so I'm very busy in the studio these days. More pics soon!

This afternoon I'm taking a bead crochet class at the Golden Bead Monkey in Tamarac. Should be fun!

Then back to DeLand, St. Augustine, Daytona and Melbourne to make the rounds of our future stomping grounds, and visit family and friends. Guess lots of stuff has happened this month, even though Fay kept the guys from doing much of anything last week. We sure got a lot of rain. But our property is very high and dry, so just a few branches were down. That's a blessing!

Take care!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Bandana technique production mode

Dear Reader, I've been in production mode now for several days on these pages for the BookArtz technique book page swap. Every time I check the database, someone else has added their name! Since the closing day for sign up isn't until the 15th, no telling how many will join. Oy!


But never mind, I do enjoy making these. First I paint, and while that's drying I stamp some already painted pages, and while that's drying I outline. Or doodle.

You can use a couple different types of pens. Since the Inksentials (from Ranger) pen wasn't readily available, I started with a paint pen by DecoColor. It has an extra fine point which I like very much. You definitely want an extra fine or fine point pen for this! And DO NOT get a Marvy pen, boy they can make a big mess. Here's a hint for paint pens - always start them on a separate sheet of paper. I mean every time you start using them, not just the first time! Nasty little surprises are just SO unwelcome!

The Inksentials pen is just a gel pen, and it's nice, although it doesn't smell as nice as the paint pen. Both make a nice line and dot though. So either. My personal preference is the extra fine point.

I did start getting a little bored just doing the white doodles, so then I started adding some color doodles too. Would this strictly still be bandana technique? Who cares? So then, maybe the image doesn't have to be black either. And I definitely think that one should try drawing an image in black and then using the white doodles with the drawn image.

While you are doing these over and over you can think of lots of ways to change up the technique. And maybe what to cook for supper and a few other things not completely related...

But watch out! If you mind wanders too much, sloppiness happens! And everyone knows "NEATNESS COUNTS!".

On these last two pics, you can see two sizes of pen point. The fine point in the color, and the white is extra fine. It's about twice the size. For some reason the A.C. Moore only had white in the extra fine.

If you aren't already signed up, go directly to the BookArtz yahoo group and sign up! This promises to be a really great reference for altered book techniques!