A new page

I finished another page in the Fantasy Folded Book last night. I'm supposed to be in the art room, changing it around and de-cluttering. I changed it so well on the first try that I had to squeeze in and out the door; so that meant moving everything back into the original places and contemplating a different move! So I'm on the 2nd change and still it's not right! What I need is just a little more room.....like moving the long outer wall out about 1.5 to 2 feet. I mean, really, it would just make a world of difference on what I could do! It's not going to happen, so I have a too narrow, too short room for a too short, too fat gal with way too much "must have" art supplies. I am finding things to actually toss and some that will go to eBay and more that will go to others in need of more "stuff", but still it doesn't open the right space I need. Most of the reason, beyond just having too much because I want to do everything, is that when you don't have the moola to buy the right storage containers, shelving and tables, then you use whatever you can steal from other rooms or buy cheap and then.....they don't work right and the room isn't right!!
On the other hand, I do recall getting a lot more art done, in the years that I worked, had a growing family and only used the kitchen table that had to be cleared every day for meals! How did I do that?
Well, anyway, I'll continue to ponder that darn room and get it workable, soon. I tried not to get side-tracked BUT I can't move in there without seeing THE BOOK or The Other Book and each time I dare to move a container of images or a pile of magazines or heaven forbid, a painting pattern book, they call out to me and before I even realize it, I'm sitting down and playing. It's the devil and he tugs hard!!! Part of de-cluttering is putting the painting pattern books and other 'how-to' books back where they belong and so I have to look at them!! I'm out of space for those, also and haven't yet got up the courage to tell someone else here that I sure need another book shelf unit built for me! I mean, really, you can NEVER have too many, right? I do get rid of some but I usually replace them at least 3 to 1! I won't even discuss regular reading books, yet!
So here's another page in the Fantasy Folded Altered book. This sort of got off the Fantasy theme but I just had to do it, anyway. This was from a page of advertising in one of those vintage magazines I was given. It just tickled me....the words are funny and the name of the cigs is just ridiculous! SPUDS! They make them sound so good! Here it is:

This is 2, 1/3 fold pages that I used as 1 page. You can see some of the previous pages showing in the corners. I used paper from a card/envelope from my step-son (the black/white pattern), a piece of wall paper, a flower image cut from something, a gal from a clothes pattern cover, the advertising from a 1932 magazine, a poppy that I drew on paper covering the art table and decided to use on here and then the usual markers & watercolor pencils. I hope you can read the words in the advertising. They are so funny! Click on the picture for a larger view.

More Fantasy Folded Altered Book

I have no idea how I managed to lose the days from Tuesday until today. It was just "one of those weeks" I suppose.
But, I had part of yesterday, all of today and maybe all of tomorrow all to myself!!
It's that time of year up here....DEER SEASON....where most of the men disappear from home to go stay at deer camp for 1 to 2 weeks. Oh how sad for all the women folk.......NOT!!!! However, a smart gal will put on a show like she doesn't want to be left alone for any number of days; she'd much rather have her guy stay home with her. You can't be in too much of a rush to get them packed, goodies packaged up, and shoved out the door! The women folk (in my family) are not allowed to be at camp during Deer season; we have to try to fake being upset over that, too. I mean, really, at our family camp right now are anywhere from 4 to 10 guys, eating, drinking, hunting, doing what guys do best when left alone and then all sleeping in a small cabin bunking area and on couches; the nightly sounds and smells wafting through the cabin. You get my drift....you don't wanna be there, but you pretend you're upset that women aren't allowed.
Yesterday, I waited until I saw the Explorer turn the corner and go out of eye-sight and then....I did the HAPPY DANCE!!! After that dance, I just sat for a hour or so doing nothing. No TV, no music, no scanner, no noise at all. Just perfect calm quiet. The hushness was heaven!
After sitting and reveling in the quiet, I did have supper while watching the news and after dishes, I went to the art room to watch TV and did a new page in the Fantasy Folded Altered book. Before I did the page, I was looking around in there trying to decide how to change it around to make it workable, so did some measuring and tried to see what I'd have to move out in order to make the changes. While doing that, I opened a drawer in a storage container and what did I find that had been stashed in a safe place during the last non-completed attempt to unclutter? A couple collage sheets that I knew I had, just didn't know where I FILED them. Now if I could find the rest of them that must be in another safe place! LOL!
As I said, the Fantasy book class is given by Patty Van Dorin of Tuscan Rose. In her shop she has a lot of very nice goodies, including some nice collage sheets which I had purchased earlier this year, maybe even last year. So I was just giddy to find a couple of her sheets and one of my favorites, at that!! I sat right down and played, making a new page and then started to get ideas for the next page to work on later today. Before I can play, I promised myself I would mop the kitchen floor and then further contemplate how to change the art room into a workable space.
The solution of a much bigger room/space isn't a option. We have a tiny house with tiny rooms and that's the way it is. I don't have too much "stuff ", though! No, that's not the problem at all; I have one whole room and part of another just for the heck of it! I can't even begin to say that with a straight face! And I was on eBay last week looking around; which means I have several pkgs. of art books coming my way! Can't ever have too many, right?
So for today, here's the newest page in the Fantasy book. Maybe I'll take pictures of my "oh so neat art room" later and let you see why it takes much pondering to figure out how to move it around yet again.

More Fantasy Folded Altered Book pictures

Before I put up today's pictures, I want to say thanks for the comments that have been left for me. They make me feel soooo good! Thank you!
I'm starting to feel better today but now everything smells and tastes like good ol' snot! Hope I get over that part soon!
We're having a week of Indian Summer here in the Northwoods and it's warm (during the day) and sun shiny and I don't even feel like going outside. I enjoy the sunshine, even just looking out the window. We go way too many days here in the Fall/Winter without a peek of sun.
Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and show the rest of the pages I have done in the Fantasy Folded altered book and then I'll decide what else to show tomorrow, maybe. I changed computers and in the transition I lost a whole heap of saved pictures. I knew it would happen; email addys and favorites were lost, too. G'rrr! I'll have to take new pictures of some other odd artsy items I have sitting around. I think I may have lost a whole heap of yard/garden pictures, too.

So here's more of the book; after these pages I still have about 10 pages to work on before doing the cover and final touches. Seems like it's taking me forever but being my first altered book there's a long learning time in there! I didn't heed one of Patty's suggested directions for choosing the right size book correctly and now it's giving me a problem! You'd think at 50+ years, I'd learn to follow directions or advice, but I never seem to get it right.....always wander off on my own, even if just slightly, and then pay the price later. That's me!

Now tell me, who can resist doing something with these "men in kilts"?

I just love these 3 lads. I giggle each time I look at it. I've used these guys recently on a piece of mail art so it's not new to one special FAIRY sister, just a different take on the same theme. I might just do this one over and over!

This is 1 page, then a half folded page and then the next page peeking in to show what's next!

and this is the next page; it's a half fold and a I guess maybe a 1/3 fold. Now you can start to see the surprise at the end starting to peek through the folds, too.

And this is 2 pages, both 1/3 page folds.

That's all I have done for now. Enough bravery for today!!

Decisions

I couldn't decide if I should or if I did, what to show today. It's a Monday, I'm still sick and I've been blog hopping, looked at so many marvelous things & ideas that now my head is really spinning. If I'd spend as much time DOING my own art as I do oogling others and trying to learn techniques, looking up supplies and books, well, then I'd have plenty of art to show! I need a sort of schedule and I need to stay away from the computer; but what wonders lurk in this beloved machine!!! One little click leads to thousands! And on top of blog hopping I dared to sneak a peek on eBay last week and look at painting books, painting patterns and other needful things. I know better, but I did it anyway! I promised myself  I'll truly get back to art everyday and even back to some painting because these books and patterns coming will give me that spark to start on the growing gift list in my head!
I did manage to do a couple pages in the Fantasy Folded Altered Book so I suppose I'll just keep showing more pages in the order that I have them done so far. Showing pictures of any art I do is a lesson in bravery, especially if I dare to show it to others than the few I dare show it to before now.
So here's a few more pages for today:

That's it for today!

Fantasy Folded Altered Book

I'm still in agony with the dreaded cold but wanted to come on and post a bit anyway so maybe I'll get in the habit of posting more often.
I did do a 2 page layout in the Fantasy Folded Altered Book last night. I don't think I'm done with it yet but thought maybe I'd come here and start to show some of the pages I have finished. On the side,  I was also working (fooling around) in a cheap little notebook that I liked and decided to alter. Well, I altered it so well that it fell apart. There must be a trick to doing those flimsy lined pages that are bound with the coiled wire? I did glue 3 or 4 pages together and the pages held up fine but soon I couldn't get the pages to open and slide along the coil even though I was trying to keep the coil clean of paint and mediums. It started to tear and come apart at the perforations. I'll just save those pages and use them elsewhere on down the road.
So back to the Fantasy Folded book; before I show some of the pages I have to say that because this book is just my own, I haven't paid a lot of attention to what images I use or where I got them. If you happen to see any images that I got from "you", then I thank you so very much. I can't give any credits on this book too much, because my memory is the size of a dried pea and I'd have to go searching through the image files to see IF I did save it correctly using the person's name I got it from. ( I know.....I write long rambling sentences, too!) Anyway, I have tons of images, I love searching for them, finding them and hopefully using them and again I thank anyone who has shared their images for any of us to use. Most of these pages are done just cutting and trimming the images, doing the collage using gel mediums and or mod podge and maybe some markers, ink, caran d'ache colors, glitter and possibly other ephemera here and there.

I don't have these pages actually numbered yet as I'm working willy nilly on whatever page suits my fancy at any given time. I think this will be page 6 & 7. The creases on any corners are where the page is meant to be folded. I opened them to show the whole page.

This might be 8 & 9

and this would be page 10 and then a 1/2 page fold (you can see a portion of page 12 that was waiting to be done when I scanned the page).

and this page 11 (half folded page) and then page 12 finished.

Remember to click on the picture for a larger view (if you dare).

I'll show some more tomorrow....after the game & race!

Altered Pages

So much for blogging a little each day! I've come down with the dreaded cold so been laying low this week. Thought maybe I'd be real brave and show some pictures from a book I've been "fooling" around in since last Winter when I was laid up with cellulitis and a venous ulcer in my legs. Wasn't much fun but it gave a lot of bed & couch time. So,  much easier than a Altered Book is doing Altered Pages. I grabbed a Readers Digest Condensed Book and have been slowly altering the pages with found words. I usually keep it on the coffee table and then grab it while watching a Packer game or a Nascar race and spend time finding words or taking sharpies and blocking out words. The art isn't intended to be great art; it's mainly just doodles to block out words. Then later I go back to a page and maybe add some image or do further doodling. At this point I can't say that any page is finished. So because this book has 4 different stories, the form and choice of words differ in sections. That doesn't really matter but I found in doing these that one story gave me found words that brought back memories and feelings I tried to bury. It's amazing when doing these pages how certain words will just jump out at you. Just like a form of therapy.
I'm finding it hard to scan these pages to show. So I spent some time trying to learn to scan better and so now I'll see if I got the words to show or not. The print is small and some have a glare because I scanned some after I went in and put a protective coat over the page. I'll never learn to scan first in order to reduce glares.
So here's 2 just random pages that I went back and added images to:

(what's a pretext to a rueful smile?)

(she can't understand this, she just wanted it; reflected on wider implications)

Next starts a different section of the book and this will show the beginning of a series of pages that will tell a story....maybe. These aren't finished but I'll show them anyway:

(terrible secrets of the past, haunted by truth)

monster, the smell, the sound, was terror spun into nightmare. destroyed life; it would be finished)

(a flicker. The monster's here. I had to hide)

(hands shook, didn't speak; there were signs.)

This one (above) actually shows 1 page and a half page

(door shattered; Horror)

This just shows another half page and then a page with only the "found words" and the rest of the page not blocked out yet. Hopefully the words will be readable. I saw they weren't so came back in and added the found words under each image.

One Thing Leads to Another

I'm taking a altered book class given by Patty Van Dorin of River Bend Ranch. My first ever class! This class is called Fantasy Folded Altered Book and I highly recommend it to anyone who has never altered a book or has and wants to learn another style. It's easy to follow with many pictures,  Patty is always willing to answer questions and best of all for folks like me, the class is affordable! Here's a link to Patty's blog and a link for the class is on there also. And take a look at patty's wonderful books, journals and assemblage's!
http://ramblingrose.typepad.com/
This is my first altered book. It's coming along and as a first book, it has a definite learning curve to it. Hopefully I'll get faster and better on the next one! I'm just going to show 1 double page layout from the Fantasy Folded Altered Book tonight. I'm showing this because I have a friend who's a author of Fantasy books, a much better writer and story teller than she gives herself credit for!
http://jennakayfrancis.livejournal.com/ and http://www.jennakayfrancis.com/
Now to be honest, I love some Fantasy art and some fantasy things but I don't usually read Fantasy as my every day reading choice, far from it. BUT, Jenna wrote a book ( this book is just 1 of about 30!) that I fell in love with. I was tentative about reading it, but once I opened the book and started on the first page, I was hooked! The name of the book is NITESH, a Fantasy romance with adventure and a touch of the dark,  a White dragon, elves, fairies, and other fantasy people & creatures.
So Back to my picture. As I said, this is a spread in the fantasy Folded altered book and I made it with Jenna and Nitesh on my mind when I found the dragon. The art on the pages doesn't fit the story exactly, and it's a a white dragon heavily shadowed with blue but still, I was thinking of the magnificent Nitesh!

I should say that the art in this altered book is mainly collaged images with a touch of paint , markers, watercolor pencils or caran d'ache crayons. If you click on the pictures they should show a full page view.

So see, one thing leads to another.....

Star