Blast from the past

Back when the CREATE classes were still happening, I had the chance to take an amazing class with Andrew Borloz, who is just so great! Using Andrew's stencil designs, we created our own hand painted book cloth for two sketchbooks. I love the way mine turned out,  and bought almost all of Andrew's stencils to make more of these yummy books! Here are some samples from the class!  All books were created with Blick Matte Acrylics and cotton fat quarters.

You can find the acrylics here
You can find Andrew's stencil line here 
If you would like to see Andrew's work here's the link to his blog.

Here are the books from all the class participants!

Gold over purple

These are my finished books!

Donna Downey class

In December I was lucky enough to get a seat in a sold out class Mixed Media Academy with Donna Downey at the Ink Pad in NYC. Donna is so charming and funny. It was a great chance to see some of her work up close and in person. I love the project, and I signed up for one of  Donna's online classes- Metamorphosis . Stay tuned...

The No Glue Book

Early on in some of the bookmaking classes I attended, I learned how to make a book with out glue or binding of any kind.  When I teach this technique to students and other teachers, everyone is amazed that the book stays together just by the tension of the folded paper.  It's truly amazing!  Below is a supply, some photos and a video tutorial I made for the "No-Glue Book."  Enjoy!

Supply list
(the book can be made any size-these are my dimensions from the video)

two pieces of board (can be chipboard, mat board, even cardboard) 4"x6"
a few sheets of decorative paper large enough to wrap around the board (I'm using some gelli prints on copy paper)
heavy cardstock (mine is 110lb weight) 3"x6"
ruler
pencil
scissor

Oldies but Goodies

When I am teaching classes, I try to allow some time at the end to have a little "gallery" showing.  Everyone will usually set up their completed work and then tour around the room, giving themselves the opportunity to see their colleagues artwork. I also use this time to ask them to reflect about their own artwork, what their favorite part of the class was (as well as their least favorite!) and where they see themselves going from here.  This is a great way to bring closure to the class and give everyone some time to reflect and grow!  This video is from a class I taught in 2009 called Bookmaking for Artists and Educators. We made over 20 books in 5 days!            

A Fresh Start

So I've realized that I abandoned my personal blog long enough and that I need to do more than vent/complain on here, and actually post something of substance. I've been inspired by Deanna Rio and her blog. I discovered Deanna from YouTube and her makeup tutorials, but she is a fellow creative soul and I'm finding a lot of fun ideas from her.Here's what going on in my life:

-I'm cooking this chili right now, except I used ground beef.

-I just bought Cake Love because I need to start baking more from scratch. Especially for my upcoming Wilton cake decorating class (part2)!

-I'm reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. In my

quest to be more green (both environmentally and monetarily!) I'm utilizing my library card, and trying not to rack up too many late fees! The book is good, but very dense. I'm only about 2/3 of the way through it.

-I'm going to make this wreath this week. I have the coffee filters, I just need the styrofoam base. I may use the stapler method.

-I'm making Jason another one of these aprons because he loves the first one so much. I have fabric with little monsters on it and another one wi

th owls. He puts it on whenever we cook or bake, it's too cute for words.

That's about it for the week, yay for 4-day work weeks!