Painted Journals

Recent experiments with hand painted journal covers have been productive.  I have been using heavy recycled cover boards from discarded books and given them a new look with acrylic paints.  The painting technique involves starting with a background color and then adding a variety of colors with 'found object' stenciling.  Very fun to do and I like the playful results.  

The front and back covers are painted at the same time to allow continuity of colors, but they are each unique in all other respects.

Here is another color variation using a violet base color.

The pages are a variety of papers, including watercolor, heavy illustration and high quality text weight papers.   These would be perfect to use as visual journals.    

You can find a variety of hand made books like these in my Etsy shop.  

Bottle Cap Buttons

Fun with bottle caps!   

I have been making bottle cap buttons embellished with stamped polymer clay centers.   The edges of the bottle cap are hammered and holes are punched into the metal from the back.   Polymer clay is pressed into the center and a rubber stamp is used to embellish it with design.  Holes are opened up through the clay.   The buttons are baked to cure the polymer clay and with the metal backings, they are very durable.     

This journal is posted in my Etsy shop.     

Handbook

During a recent trip to our local antique mall, a pair of vintage ladie's gloves accompanied me to the check out. Although they were much too small for my large hands, I knew at once they would find a place on the cover of a book. The soft white leather was worn in distinctive creases as a woman's hands were protected decades ago. These gloves had been well used and I wondered about the person who had carried them in her pocket and slipped them on casually over and over again. The gloves now hold a book for an artist to use. Pages are made of thick papers for mixed media or watercolor and the book should be a delight to fill.
The gloves are stitched directly to the covers of an antique book with white waxed linen. The spine of the book has been replaced with reinforced vintage cloth and pages are attached with harlequin binding. There are 4 signatures of 10 pages hand torn from artist quality papers.

Altered Book Journals

Books have always been important to me on many levels. Reading books, making books and altering books are among my favorite things to do.

When I find vintage books that have structural issues, they come home with me and receive new spines and bindings. The old text pages are replaced with a variety of papers for mixed media art or writing. The books then begin their reincarnation as visual journals or sketchbooks and since I can't keep them all, they are posted on my Etsy site and sent out into the world.