With my first day “kid-free” for a couple of hours I finished up this project that has been nagging at me for quite some time.

I feel like I rushed the last page…can’t think of anything really clever to say. Maybe it will come to me later on. I did name the picture “Purrfect dinner” …that seems to fit.

I was surprised to find as many FDR quotes as I did that I actually liked. I picked this one for it’s fun yet very true statement and also that it was short enough to fit on the cover nicely.



Got to sneak in a little art today.

I’m determined to finish this book. One more set of pages and the covers to do.

Here are the pages I completed today.

Special thanks to Elizabeth for the blue handmade paper!!


Just finished a CD…altered, of course. I’m proud to say that the beautiful fairy is actually my paternal grandmother. I never had the chance to meet her but have been told I take after her. I’ll accept that as a wonderful complement.

Our family attended the Minnesota Renaissance Festival yesterday. I went to a paper making, print making and bookbinding demo. It was very informative as to the history behind paper and books. They were making all the paper at the festival at the mill where this giant hammer type thing pounded cotton clothing until it was back to fibers. They used wool felt as the couching sheets. They also had a basket that you could donate an article of clothing to go be made into paper. I really want to try this process with cotton but am not sure how I’m going to pound my cotton into oblivion.

The printmaking was cool for the history but didn’t learn anything I
could use.

The Bookbinder showed us a 200+ yr old book from Spain and explained that the pages were made from 100% cotton. The pages were still quite white and in excellent shape. I tried to volunteer to be the apprentice bookbinder but the guy picked a cute young girl that wasn’t even volunteering…figures. She got to keep the blank journal that she made.



This is my hand bound journal made from an old book cover with signatures of watercolor paper backgrounds and cardstock. Each of the 9 signatures is different adding to the very eclectic look of this blank journal. The inside is lined with some store bought handmade paper…if that makes any sense. :)



Finished another project… I’ve been in a bit of an art slump but am finally getting back into gear. A while back I made myself a new address book binder so I had the old boring black one left over. After some gesso and lots of paint, papers, paints, inks and rubber stamps… this is the result.

Like many of my projects, I have no plan for it…yet. I think it might make a very nice project journal since I can take pages in and out and rearrange them as I please.


I’m over half way through making all my little houses for the chunky book swap I’m participating in on BookArtz.

The little house measures 3 inches wide by 7 inches tall. The little chimney is one of my handmade paper beads.

8/10/07 UPDATE:

I finished all 34 of my little houses! I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t buy anything to do this swap. It was a self-challenge. I’ve been spending too much on supplies lately so I decided I wasn’t going to participate unless I could do it VERY INEXPENSIVELY. I used cereal and cracker boxes as my substrate, painted pages torn from a book I altered…I used bits and pieces and scraps for everything. I guess you’d say that glue, paint and UTEE for the paper beads I had to pay for but that is from long ago so I wouldn’t really count that.

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