swapping ...

the OhMi sketchbook with the yellow cover is winging its way to Michigan as we speak, headed to the arms of Maralena. =) i didn't photograph every page i worked on this time, but i did do a little video. i plan to edit it together when i find my transfer cable, and have some youtube fun with it.

i even did some 'in progress' work on one page, filming the actual process itself. whee!

some pages i heart

for more on this image, check out nicci's flickr page.

in working over some of the acrylic paint applied (by Maralena) to some of the thickest pages, i discovered that my dip/fountain pen works great with a certain black acrylic ink. (it's not a secret, i just can't remember the name of it at the moment.) doodles resulted, then i put down some smeared ink. technical, yep. i took a paper towel remnant and smeared purple around. then came the sharpie. oh, beloved sharpie. the texture is pretty awesome. if there were more light in here, and my camera battery weren't dead, i'd take a few detail shots for you! i'll try to remember to do that before it's mailed...

this spread would make an awesome sketchbook cover. i like it that much =D.

On second thought

After posting these images... I believe I do have some more things I want to add to the journal before shipping it off to Nicci. Just wanted to show my progress thus far. I am really enjoying sticking things/memories of the day... into the journal pages x2 (hers and mine).

16-20 of 20 updates

11-15 of 20 updates

6-10 of 20 updates

1-5 of 20 updates

I have not dropped off the face of the earth.

I plan on taking pictures this weekend of the journal work I have done and then hopefully get it mailed out by the beginning of the week. I have a whole lot of shooting to do!

Stitchin but not Bitchin

I have been busy adding some texture layers (boring) to some of the empty pages. I've shown ton's of photos of that in the past - so you get the drill.

Look at the cool colors of threads (more to follow) I am using to blanket stitch the outside pages in Nicci's journal. I've done three so far. I like the contrast on the tissue pages she did.

color color color

backgrounds, backgrounds, backgrounds!

a slice of progress

nicci's journal - july 08
Originally uploaded by anongrrl

the going can be slow when you're using a layering technique to do backgrounds for 25 spreads in a book! i have about 6 to go before i do some edging, and send this baby on to Maralena.

as you can see from the edge, various things are in and hanging out of this book. there are colors and so many thick pages it's ridiculous. to think this book used to be about (or less than!) an inch of plain white paper. look at it now!

and it just keeps going...

dry, glue, dry!!

progress in the journal is slow, because many layers of glued on paper and tissue must dry. this is a slow process, since i don't have a hair dryer at the moment. even if i did, it's noisy enough to put me off using it very long! it was very humid and hot today, and nothing wanted to dry. in fact, it's currently storming. eek!

well, not eek. i love storms. i love sleeping in thunderstorms even better. watching a big lightening thunderstorm roll in during the summer is one of my favorite things. still, a little eek because drying times slooooooow waaaaay doooown.


i'll be going to a workshop tomorrow, given by an artist friend. it's a collage workshop... i think it'll be fun to go play all day with other people, even if i have to leave the house in 6ish hours. yikes.

not. a. morning. person.


... you can see larger versions of these images, with more details, on flickr.

sometimes i go a little nuts with the 'note' feature, so beware.

off to go put together a quickie bag of supplies for tomorrow's foray into collage. i usually take WAY too much stuff to these things and don't end up using most of it. i'm going minimal tomorrow. i will only allow myself ONE big ziploc bag. no, NOT the size you use to store clothes under the bed. geez, have a little faith guys! ;)

My THICK THICK THICK New Spreads

So far, I think these are my favorite spreads (that I created) - background wise. These are so THICK and pliable. I would venture to say each side has at least four layers of gesso, papers, paints, etc... and topped with hand stamped images carved by moi! I am so glad this baby is being mailed "Flat Rate" Priority - otherwise, it would cost a small fortune to mail. It is HEAVY! I wish everyone could "FEEL" the texture of these pages. I just love the way they turned out. They are textured, yet smooth to the touch.