Pieces

Oh my, oh my it is hot here in MN. Going into the 90's today. I am melting. The blower fan on our AC is out so we just have to deal with the heat until they fix it on Monday. Just for the record I am a 'winter' kind of gal. I love the snow and chilly, deep freeze temps. I am like a polar bear looking for her ice flow. And then to make it even more unbearable. I am a gal dealing with major hot flashes. Menopause sucks girls. It really does. My mantra today, Winter is coming, winter is coming. This won't last forever. I should be putting our pool up but that is ALOT of work to do in a fully sunny backyard and my DD's are not home to help. Next week, when it is supposed to be a little cooler. Anyway. I have been working on Kelley's journal. I finished one spread this morning.

The quote is by Brian Andreas. I love his little poems.

I did the back sides of the pages of my spread. The pages curled due to the layers of paint so by working the opposite sides of those pages I reversed the warping. They are all nice and flat. These 2 pages are not quite finished yet.

A Background and Falling Stars

I think I'm probably avoiding something

pretty big in my inner life, she said,

because I'm keeping pretty busy

Storypeople.

I love Brian Andreas. He gets right to the point. It is exactly where I have been as of late. I think I have been trying to avoid my life for the last several years. LOL. Especially the parts where I have to try and figure out how to work magic on the numbers in the check book and the numbers on all the bills. HA! Anyway.

Over the weekend it became really crazy hot and humid here in MN. I turned on the AC and spent most of my time doing stuff around the house that had been ignored like doing a major cleaning of the family room; which tends to be the room where everything and anything finds a temporary home. It seems to happen every year. Anyway, I cleaned and even found time to work on various art endeavors. I finished my background in Kelley's journal for the RR I am in hosted by Erin Kenepp. I went with many layers of paint applied with a brayer.

I also worked on a journal, Ophelia asked me to make for her. I finished it tonight. I am calling it a 'falling stars' journal. I am quite pleased with the colors. It is 6" by 8" and has 4 signatures so it is nice and chunky.

There is a fabric pocket page in each signature with a pocket on both sides; 16 total pockets to fill.

Some pages are plain 90pd watercolor paper and others are collaged and scrappy.

Happy and Scrappy Journal

Today I have been working on more journals that I will be listing soon in my Etsy shop. I fell love with these colors and all I could feel was happy. So this is a peek at my 'happy' scrappy journal. All I need to add are the pages. It is 8" tall and 6" wide.

Cover

Back

All wrapped up.

A Gathering of Zines

Zines have been spoken for.

I have a stack of zines looking for a new home.If you love zines or want to get your hands on back issues, then read further. I sewed up the cutest purple, scrappy bag and will be putting the following zines in it. Almost all of these zines have all of the original goodies still in them. They are all in perfect condition and have lived in a smoke free environment. So the 'gathering' includes the following zines. 21 total zines $40.00 plus $11.00 priority shipping within the US. If you are interested please email me.

14 issues of The Gleaner Zine

(issues 1 - 14)

2 issues Zine of Zines

(issues 4 and 6)

2 issues Alphabet Soup

(issues 3 and 4)

The following zines are all single issues

Collage Cats

issue 6

Playing with Dolls

(1 of a kind)

The Art of Hope

(issue 2)

This is about half the stack.

This is the cute purple bag I put them in.

Another HuG Journal

I just finished another HuG style journal. These are so much fun to create. I love how they feel in my hands. This one is created with ripe and juicey colors perfect for those hot summer days that are on the way.

I just listed in this in Etsy

Art Journal Round Robin

Today I finished up my art journal for Erin's RR and sent it on it's way to Elena. Here is my spread in my journal. I love this Leonard Cohen quote.

HuG Accordian Style Journal

We've had a lot of rain the last few days making it the perfect time to stay indoors and create. I finished one of two 'HuG' journals I have been working on this afternoon.

This accordian fold journal is 29" long, 5" wide. The wrap around tie is 39" in length. The 3 spines are each 3/4" wide and hold 2 signatures each. The pages are each 4.5 by 4.5. and are fabric hinged. There are 10 pages in each one. 60 total pages. Some of the pages I back ground painted with watercolors while others are plain. The paper is 140pd, cold press watercolor paper. There is a slight texture to the pages. There is also 6 pocket pages created from brown paper bags. I keep adding things to this journal and am having a blast watching it grow. The front flap that encloses the journal is 3" wide which keeps the pages snug and cozy. It is a twist on Mary Ann Moss's 'remains of the day' journal. I have added an addition 12 mystery pages into this journal. There are pockets, enclosures, inclusions and plenty of room on the pages for personal play. I have listed this in my Etsy shop.

Fools Gold: An Art Journal Journey

I will be embarking on a journey with 11 other amazing artists. It began with a call for participants by Erin Kenepp. If you have never visited her blog, have a look. Her work is wide open, honest, true. Her mixed media pieces draw the viewer inward. I love her work. Erin is hosting a round robin. There are 12 of us going on this adventure and I am excited. I chose to make and bind my own journal using my Zutter. A small binder that is perfect for creating personal journals and books.

Here is a pic of the cover and pages. The journal is 6" by 6". The pages are 140pd watercolor paper that I have lightly gessoed and background painted. I can never send a bare-naked journal out the door even if the pages may be totally covered up in the end. It is just one of my personal quirks.

I don't really have a theme for this journal but I do have thoughts about the direction I would like everyone to think about as they add their work to my journal. It is based on the book Foolsgold; Making Something from Nothing and Freeing Your Creative Process by Susan G. Wooldridge. This is my introduction. I will be posting my progress here as the journals arrive in the coming months.

Foolsgold

My journal is based on the simple, yet powerful messages found in the book; Foolsgold by Susan G. Wooldridge.


Susan writes; ’I began writing these pages when I decided to make a small collage box each day for a year with what I found on my walks- often the most ordinary, seemingly worthless bits of nothing. That’s when fool’s gold became ‘foolsgold’ for me, a field around us, or state of being, when everything can be transformed by our own seeing and creativity. Merged into one word, foolsgold describes a paradox, the value in what may seem to be worthless. Foolsgold reminds us to look beyond appearances, even in ourselves. What seems to loom in us darkly may finally be what brings the most light. Everything can be transmuted by attention, play, love.’ - SGW


My thoughts. I am a very ordinary individual, but I have extraordinary dreams. I find value in the simplest of objects and am drawn to things that most people barely glance at, much less find meaning in. Most artists view the world differently than others. We see what others miss, the tiniest of details hold the biggest surprise. We notice the colors or lack of them. We extend our emotions to include every minimal experience held against those that are expansive and grand. We find ourselves looking under rocks, observing each and every crack in the sidewalk. We seek meaning in the mystery. It does not matter what medium the artist chooses to create with but that the desire and need to create is always present, the driving force behind the artist’s need to capture life; one moment at a time. The world is a place full of possibility and without limitation for an artist. We shine from the inside out and we are most often the ones who tend to hold ourselves under the harshest of scrutiny. Our inner critics always seem to linger nearby and yet we push them away and must tell ourselves, what we do matters. We have a place here.


As each of you add bits of yourself to my journal, trust your intuition, don’t worry about whether or not I will like it. That isn’t important. What matters to me is that each of you ‘journal’ from your place in the world at the moment the journal is in your hands. If that day has been amazing, let that emotion spill to the pages, if your day, has been a jumble of stress and you are feeling less than creative, then journal from that place. I would rather find myself viewing a glance into someone’s life from a true and real perspective than having you simply create because this is what you signed up to do. Create in this journal in the same manner you would create in your own journal. Don’t hold back. Be authentic. That is what I value in other artist’s work. That is what matters to me.

'Hug' Accordian Style Journal

Over the weekend I started on two accordian style journals that I will be listing in my Etsy shop when they are completed. Here are a few pics.

Cover

Inside

Cover closed

View from top.

View from side

This accordian fold journal is 29" long, 5" wide. I call it a 'hug' journal because once it is closed the the wrap around 'hugs' the 3 spines together, while at the same time enclosing the pages in a 'hug'. I love chunky a journal. The wrap around tie is 39" in length. The 3 spines are each 3/4" wide and hold 2 signatures each. The pages are each 4.5 by 4.5. and are fabric hinged. There are 10 pages in each one. 60 total pages. Some of the pages I back ground painted with watercolors while others are plain. The paper is 140pd,  cold press watercolor paper. There is a slight texture to the pages. There is also 6 pocket pages created from brown paper bags. I keep adding things to this journal and am having a blast watching it grow. The front flap that encloses the journal is 3" wide which keeps the pages snug and cozy. It is a twist on Mary Ann Moss's 'remains of the day' journal.

"Authentic" Journal Winner Is......

It is that time. It's 10pm and that means that someone is the winner of the 'Authentic' journal. Before I share the results I wanted to thank all of you for all the wonderful comments.  I am pleased to send this journal off into the world. So a quick visit to http://www.random.org/ produced the number 82 and the winner is Teresa who posted the following comment:

Teresa said...

*squeeee*! I love the colors! What a gorgeous book! Thanks for the chance to win. You're a sweetie.

Teresa, please send my your snail mail address and email addy so I can let you know when it is on the way and I will get the journal posted to you this week. You can reach me by email. Thanks again everyone. And wishing all of the Moms, soon to be, Grandma's and everyone in-between. Happy, Happy, Mother's Day. Enjoy the day. Stay safe and savor the attention of your loved ones. (((((( BIG HUG ))))))

Among The Trees

Among The Trees hand bound journal.

This journal has sold.

This journal is now looking for a new home.

I finished it earlier today and am quite pleased with how it all came together. There are 20 blank pages, 4 have a 3.5" fold out, fabric hinged page.

The pages are 7 3/4" each. It is pleasingly plump and has a 40" wrap around tie to keep things nice and snug inside. In my Etsy shop.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Susiesmuse

Almost Done

I spent last night beading the cover of this journal.

This is the cover.

This is the back of the cover.

Front and back open.

Detail.

More detail.

Inside of cover and pages.

Inside of back cover.

This is almost done. All that is left is to bind the pages into the journal. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. It's a slight modification on Remains of the Day journals. The pages have a cloth hinge running down the center of each page which serves as an anchor when the pages are bound onto the cover. I used 90pd Arches watercolor paper; hot press, for the pages.

Journal Under Construction

First, I want to thank everyone who has visited me here and for all the kind comments each of you has shared. I am looking forward to this coming Saturday evening when I find out who won the journal as shown in the previous post. If you have not put your name in the hat, there is still time. Just add a comment to the 'giveaway' post of May 1st. Today I have been busy working on the first of many journals I will putting in my Etsy shop. This one is still under construction. It is 9" by 9".

This will be the cover. The branches of the tree will be adorned with seed, bead buds; ready to bloom and will have vintage Mother-of-pearl button roots. I hand dyed the scrim soil and will be adding further embellishments. The 'forest-n-field' theme will carry on to the back of the journal, as well as the inside of the cover. The pages will have sewn fabric hinges once bound and will have a wrap around closure to 'hug' whatever treasures get added to this journal.

I will continue to share my progress here.

'Authentic' Journal Giveaway

Today I dusted off the shelves of my Esty shop in preperation for the new hand bound 'Gathering Up Bits of the World' journals that I will be listing in the coming days and weeks. They are made in the spirit of Mary Ann Moss's Remains of the Day journals. Some of these journals will be created with blank pages using water color paper as I did with journals I made for holiday gifts, pictured here scroll down to see them and others will be created from a variety of materials and scraps from my gatherings of bits as in the journal pictured below. In honor of this event I am announcing the giveaway of this journal. Read on for details.

This journal features a hand sewn cover using various bits and pieces of fabric. Two pockets are on both the front and back of the inside covers. There are 66 pages. The journal is 6.5 by 6.5 inches and pages are 5.5 by 5.5 inches. The wrap closure is long enough to go around several times and will allow plenty of room for the journal to grow with your own additions. The pages are painted with gesso and light layers of acrylic paints.

Here are a few peeks inside.

To enter the draw leave a comment on this post and I will choose a winner using the number generator at Random.Org next Saturday May 8th at 10pm CST. Just in time for Mother's Day. I will post the winner here on my blog.

Good luck. I am looking forward to sending this journal to a new home.