Creative process.

 

Kraft-tex, french stitch binding books

I find it interesting to see some of the processes that artists go through in creating a new project. I think for myself a lot of these processes are intuitive so I'm not really aware of some of the mechanisms of it. Stepping back and being more aware of some of the processes can actually be very helpful to me in future projects. 

One of the things I've realized I do is use small 4" x 4" paper tiles, usually a fairly heavy Brisol or Watercolour paper that can withstand anything I throw at it. This lets me play with different techniques, mediums and colour palettes without thinking about the end product or worrying about more pricey materials that I may be thinking of for the final project. And when I am done and ready to move onto the final project, I'm more confident about where I'm going with that project and I'm left with lot's of fun background tiles that more often than not get made into cards. I sometimes use odd sizes of papers thinking they are just samples but they get tossed around and are harder to use for other projects.

French stitch binding.

I had an idea for making these books with embossing folders and Kraft-tex paper. I wasn't sure what I wanted to use to colour them so this is where the tiles came in handy. Actually because I wanted to see how the Kraft-tex was going to work with the paints, I started with some left over strips of both black and white. I embossed them with regular and 3D embossing folders and then coloured them with Finnabair Waxes. These will probably become bookmarks.

Bookmark possibilities.

I discovered that the Kraft-tex seemed to play the same with the colours as regular paper so I switched to some black and white cardstock tiles for more trials. Next I tried Cosmic Shimmers Gilding Polish on the embossed papers. This I discovered was somewhat addictive. As much as I love my waxes the polishes proved to be easier and faster to use for this technique. When I was finally able to stop myself from making more backgrounds I started making some cards. The backgrounds on these are lovely by themselves and somewhat busy so I felt like I didn't needed to add much to finish them.

I used the Cosmic Shimmers Gilding Polish on the backgrounds of all of these cards. 

A few notes about Finnabair waxes and Cosmic Shimmers Gilding Polish.  Both products have a great metallic finish to them and both are permanent when dry. For blending colours the waxes work better. They have more open time and blend wonderfully. Since the Polishes are acrylic based they dry very quickly and don't blend well but they do layer well and are quite opaque. I found myself going back and forth with the different polish colours and loved the way I could add more colours on top of each other. Both products can be applied with a variety of tools such as fingers, brushes or small sponges. My preferred method for the waxes are small dry brushes. For the polishes the applicator that comes with it works very well.

Wax and Polish.

Well this started out as process oriented and turned into product info. Oh well, hope you liked it. If you've use these products, let me know how you liked them and what's your favourite way to use them. If you have any questions about them let me know and I will do my best to answer them. 

I'd love to hear about your creative process

Keep an eye out (fingers crossed) for workshops coming soon.

Happy Creating

Wendy

Kraftex watercolour book.

This month on Dragonfly Dreamers Monthly Exploration facebook group the theme is watercolour. I'm not a watercolour artist by any means but I do like to play with it and it sometimes finds it's way into my mixed media projects. 

So the first thing I needed to do is make a watercolour book to play in.

I decided to try a few new things while making my book. As a carry-over from last month's theme of  'use it or lose it', I decided to do the cover with some Kraft-Tex paper that I have had for a while but haven't tried yet.  It's an interesting paper that they describe as leather like and can be sewn like fabric. I was pleased to discover that it played very well with the watercolours.

Layer one.

I used Daniel Smith and Twinkling H2O watercolours. The first layer I painted with a very generous amount of water. While still wet I sprinkled coarse salt on and let dry completely before wiping off the salt. This gives an interesting texture to the paint. 

To learn more about this technique watch this video. For my book cover I didn't use the isopropyl as I did in the video.

Watercolour, isopropyl and salt.

Layer two.

For the second layer I used Lindy's Gang Magical powder with a stencil. This is a pigment powder with mica. Unfortunately it's not noticeable on the picture but it has a lovely shimmer to it.

French Link Stitch

Now to put it all together. For the inside pages I used a 140 lb watercolour cold press paper. The final size of the book is about 8" square. To stitch it together I tried a new technique called French Link stitch. To help learn this stitch I used a book I have called Little Book of Book Making by Charlotte Rivers and watched this great video by Jennifer of Sea Lemon.

French Link Stitch.

Finished book

I'm sure I will do a little bit more playing with my covers but for the most part it is done and I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at the French Stitch binding method. 

If you'd like to see what everyone is doing with the 'watercolour' theme this month come join us at DDMET.

Happy Creating!

Wendy

Junk Journal workshop

   This weekend was all about using up fun and 'junky' paper in the Junk Journal workshop. No paper is over looked when making this little gem of a book. I scour the house for interesting paper and often students bring some of their own. There was graph paper, ledger paper, maps, copies of personal art, scrapbooking paper, envelopes, magazines, old book text, recipes...... You get the idea.

   Other than a break for lunch this group of creative ladies had a busy day making their books. They all turned out so unique and amazing. It just makes me want to keep making more.

Deb

Debbie

Janice

Kathy

Linda

Vivian

Do you have an excess of paper? What do you do with it?

Happy Creating!
Wendy

Junk Journals

  Last weekends workshop was full to the brim with a great group of very creative women. We all made some fun and funky Junk Journals.
   They are so much fun to make and a great way to use up some of all that paper you have stashed away. I know you all have a good stash you want to use. This book is filled with just about any kind of paper imaginable. It may be small at only 6"x6" but it's chunky at 2" thick so it packs a good punch. 
   Just look at all this lovely. I should have taken more pic of the inside but didn't think of it until they were gone. They are so amazing inside and out. 

Deb

Janice

Johanne

Kathy

Lis

Marian

Patricia

Sharon

I love seeing how all the books turn out so uniquely the persons style.

Next up on the schedule is Gel Plate Layers workshop on Tuesday April 3. This is a favourite of mine. It's always fun to have some Gel Plate printing time.

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Encore to Gelli Plate workshop

   I had another great group of women in for the Gelli Plate Printing workshop yesterday. Already having a Gelli Plate of their own they jumped right in and made lots of prints but still found time to put together this fun book at the end of the day.

Janice

Joanne

Manon

Susan

Have you tried the Gelli Plate yet? I will warn you it's somewhat addictive. You can't stop with just one print!

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Leather Bound book workshop

I'm not sure what is more fun, making books or teaching book binding. Although this book is a lot of work to make it's well worth the effort and my students this week did an amazing job.

Laurie

Louise

Maggie

Sharon

Sheila

I don't make books all that often and this sure makes me want to see what other kinds I can try.

Happy Creating!

Wendy

Students work update

One of my favourite things about teaching is to see the finished creations of a workshop. But sometimes things don't always get completely finished or things don't always go exactly as planned in class. So when a student comes back to show me how their piece turned out after they went home and added their own things, it make me very happy. 

Sharon's book

This piece was like that. Sharon wasn't happy with how her carving turned out for the front cover of her book so she decided to make a plain one and decide later what she would do with it. Well within a week she brought this lovely creation back to show me. She already had these flowers in her stash and just painted the centers to match the leather spine of the book. Isn't it just lovely! Thanks for sharing your finished book with me Sharon.

If you have something you've made in a workshop but it wasn't completely finished or you've added your own special touches to it I'd love to see how it turned out. Please send me a picture or come on by the studio for a visit and show me.

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Piano Hinge Book workshop

I've probably said it before but I'll say it again, this is my favourite book to make. It's a little tricky and takes longer than you may think, as my students at last weekend workshop found out. Just when you think it looks like it's almost finished it's time to weave the skewer through the signatures to make the binding. It is tricky but well worth the effort. This is a real conversation piece. It was a fun group of women and they did an awesome job.

Donna

Kim

Linda

Sharon

I'm working on a few other book variations and hope to be able to add them to the Spring or Summer schedule. So if you're a book lover, keep you eye out for them. I never get tired of making book.

Wendy

Piano hinge book

Teaching the Gate fold book last weekend got me in the book making mood again. So I got out my papers and made a Piano Hinge book. I think this is my favourite book to make. The skewers are actually what binds the book together. And well, being able to decorate with beads is an added bonus for me!!

Although this isn't on the fall Workshop schedule you can let me know if it's something you'd like to do in the new year. Oh my did I say the new year...yes I guess I'm thinking ahead a little but it's always nice to know what you're looking for. You can see the fall schedule here.

Do you like to make books? What's your favourite kind of book to make if you do.

Happy Creating!

Wendy

Creating a Gate-fold book.

I had another wonderful workshop this past weekend. It was a small group of 3 women here to make gate-fold books. They did a lovely job and chose beautiful papers to use.

Gisele

Julie

Sharon

Looking at these photo's I now realize I should have taken some of the inside too. They contain a variety of papers that coordinates with the outside. Well I'll try to remember next time. 

Happy Creating!

Wendy

Handmade books and winner

 Last weekend I was able to find a little time to stop by a local show, something I don't get to do as much as I use to and I miss it. And of course I couldn't resist some of the handmade goodness.  You may remember last year I picked up a few of Mary Kritz's books (you can see them here).  This year she had an even more wonderful array of books to entice me. It was hard to choose but I went with the books that spoke to me first.

This is a Japanese stab binding book. The art work on the front just mesmerized me and I kept coming back to it.

Then when I looked inside and saw this lovely Japanese marbled paper that she had embossed gold trees onto I knew it had to come home with me.

 With so much of my own work, texture plays a huge roll, so when I come across something as textured as this book I could not pass it up. This is made with Lokta paper. I hadn't heard of this paper before but was intrigued to find out it is made from a bush from the Himalayan mountains. 

Here is a little bit closer view of the texture. To see more of Mary's amazing creations and to learn of an upcoming exhibition she doing check out her blog.

This weeks tag giveaway winner is Jennifer. Congratulations Jennifer I'll get that mailed out to you shortly.

Each year I think about and try to make and buy some handmade goodness for my Christmas giving and this year is no exception. There is so much wonderful talent out there I think we should support them more. So this year I've decided to do some sharing here on my blog. Along with giving away a tag each Monday I'm going to share some of my favourite handmade goodness that I've come across on line. 
See you Monday with this new feature.

Happy Creating!

Wendy