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December 2007

December 30, 2007

The sketchbook

I can even begin to tell you how pleased I am with the way this one came together.  This will definitely be one of the projects in my journals class. 

Outside
The Sketchbook - 9" x 12"

and the inside ...
Insidefront
Pockets with watercolor tags and hand painted water color pages for writing on

Inside1
blank pages for sketching on

Clearpocket
clear pockets for drawings or photos

Pencils
and pockets for pencils, brushes or pens.

And the whole sketchbook is done with ring binder clips so you can add and take out pages easily.

Have a great Sunday everyone!



December 29, 2007

coptic bindings

"Memories of Paris" journal...
Outside

Coptic bindings are not the easiest bindings to master...
Binding
I added beads to this one.   

This journal has some clear plastic pocket sleeves for photos...

Clearpocket
corner pockets for journaling tags and other things...
Cornerpocket
some great images for journaling around...
Inside1
and each signature has a collage spread...
Spread
and some square pockets for tucking in treasures...
Insidepocket
Hope everybody is having a great weekend! 

December 27, 2007

Journals for sale

All of the winners of the journals in the giveaway have chose the ones that they want.  I've got three left and I've put them up for sale here.   The ones with the text scribbled on the outside are not currently available.  I was contacted by Stampington about them using them in an upcoming issue of Somerset Studio so they're on their way to California right now.

If you're interested in a custom themed journal just send me an email!

Back to the studio...

December 26, 2007

and the FIVE winners are...

Well good grief 99 comments!  Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my 12/21 post about the journal giveway.  One of the best things about holding a giveaway is that it gives me a chance to meet all of you who visit regularly don't leave a comment.  It was great to visit some of your blogs and see what you all have been working on. 

Here are the winners of their journal of choice, chose by random draw...

Doreen Kinkade - "the musician" journal
Gunnel Svensson 
 Chris P
Catherine - "Ladies in Pink"
Linda Stokes

I'll be contacting you all directly via email to get your mailing addresses and find out which journal you want if you didn't say so in your comment.

For those of you who asked about learning how to make these journals, I will be running an article in issue 3 of Fibre&Stitch which the directions on how to make these.  Issue 3 publishes on 2/27/08.

For those of you who asked about a class in journal making:  I am in the process of developing and writing a complete online class on how to make several different types of journals.  It will run over the spring session at Joggles and I'll be posting photos of the projects over the next several weeks. 

And lastly for those of you who asked about purchasing journals:  the journals that I have left over after the winners pick the ones they want will be available for purchase.  The price will be $50 US with free shipping to anywhere in the world.  As soon as the winners pick the ones they want I'll put the rest up for sale. 

Have a great day everybody, I'm off to spend it in the studio working on some new journals!

December 25, 2007

back to journals...

I had just enough of that very cool map fabric left over to make up one more journal...

Outside
The theme of this one is maps...
Insidefront

and I used a different binding method for the signatures for this journal.  The actual journal is bound together separately from the wrap and is removable....
Book
This way when the pages are filled up you can use the wrap again just by inserting another set of signatures.   There are a lot of pages in this journal with three signatures of 12 pages each and I used a nice ivory parchment for the pages in this journal.   There are pages with fun maps printed on them...

Inside
and pockets of course...

Inside1

There's still time to get in on the journal giveaway, so if you haven't already make sure to visit my 12/21 post and leave a comment! 

December 23, 2007

Painting canvas

I decided to take a day off from making journals and broke out my Stewart Gill paints and painted up some canvas pieces...
Canvas1

Canvas2

Canvas3

These paints worked beautifully.  I put a light wash of water on the surface first and then just used a sponge brush to paint on the color.    I used a combination of the Colourise and the True Opaque paints.  The next step for these will be to add some surface design probably in the form of text.  I'm hoping that these pieces become the bases for the collages I will create for Virginia Spiegels Collagemania.

Thanks to everyone whose left a comment on my giveway post so far.  I've gotten a couple of questions that I thought I would post the answers to here.  Several of you asked if I had thought about doing an online class in journal making.  And the answer to that is yes!  I am in the process of developing a class and I am hoping that it will run during the spring session at Joggles.   It's going to cover all aspects of journal making for the textile artist.  We'll look at different ways to bind signatures, embellishments both inside and out, spine options, outside wrap variations, permanent signatures, removable signatures, creating pockets, and a whole lot more.

Just about all of the images and clip art that I used for making the journals came from the Memories of Lifetime series books.  I have almost all of these books (I am just missing the Christmas and the Pets one).  They're excellent books for images and I highly recommend them.

And lastly...if you haven't already don't forget to leave a comment on my previous post to be eligible for the journal giveaway.  I've gotten over 75 comments so I'll be giving away at least 3 journals.  If you've already left a comment then go visit my friend Vicki's blog and check out the very cool version of the 3 drawer box that she created.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

December 21, 2007

The big give away!

OK!  I finished off the last 3 journals.  The details on the giveaway are at the bottom of this post :)

Here's some photo's of the journals I just finished:

"Garden Time"
Gardenoutside
and the inside front...
Garden_insidefront
and some of the inside pages...
Garden_inside1
pockets of course...
Garden_pocket

And "The Butterfly"....
Butterflyoutside
Filled with... you guessed it, images of butterfly's:
Butterfly_insidefront
Butterfly_pocket
and I printed up extra sheets of butterfly stickers for further embellishing...
Butterfly_stickers
And lastly "The Musician"
Musicoutside
and the inside front...
Music_insidefront
and  inside pockets...
Music_insidepocket
and fun embellished pages...
Music_inside1
Music_inside3

Okay so now it's time to start giving some of these away!  I've got 10 journals here (I had 12 but I put one aside for me and the art nouveau one is on hold for someone)
All

(note that the cooking themed one that's in this photo is not available, sorry!)

How many am I giving away?  well that depends on how many comments I get.  The last time I did this I planned to give away one but ended up with 80+ comments so I gave away three.  So if I get a lot of players this time then I'll give more than one away.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post between now and midnight on 12/25 and on 12/26 I'll draw names from all the comments.    Good luck!

and in other news.... This weeks winner for the free issue to Fibre&Stitch for subscribers toVirginia Spiegel's  "Art, Nature, Creativity, Life."  is Lynne Crosswell.  Congratulations!

December 19, 2007

are you sick of journals yet?

I know you're all probably getting bored with the whole journal thing by now but I finished off three more today.  Just a few more to go and then we can start giving these away!

Today we have Pretty in Pink...
Pink_outside
Four signatures of different sizes...
Pink_insidefront
filled with images of vintage dressing labels and pretty ladies...

Pink_inside3
Pink_inside2
and pockets filled with journaling tags...
Pink_insidepocket

And this one has a flower theme...
Flowers_outside
Three signatures and some fun postcards...
Flowers_insidefront
Flowers_inside2
Flowers_pocket
And the last one for today...
Brown_front
Three inside signatures...
Brown_insidefront
Brown_inside2
Brown_inside4
The pockets in this one are done with velvet paper which is very nice to work with by the way...
Brown_inside3
I'm hoping to have the last 3 journals done by Friday and then I'll be holding a giveaway to send some of these off to good homes!

December 18, 2007

Three more journals

I finished three more of the journals...
Threeoutsides

The fabric on the outside came from this larger piece that I had done a few months ago:
One

This was a piece of canvas that I painted using some dye-na-flow paints and then added the scribbled text in black acrylic paint.   It's been hanging on my design wall for months because I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it.  I think it's perfect for these journals.  Here's a look at the insides...

On the inside of the one on the left ...
One_insidefront
Lined with hand dyed cotton, there are three pockets along with some journal tags made from some old dictionary pages.
One_insidepockets
And each of the three signatures includes some embellished pages.  I used some french print clip art to embellish the pages in all of these journals..
One_inside
and the inside of the one in the middle of the top photo also has three signatures, with pockets and some journal tags...
Small_inside2
with embellished pages...
Small_inside1

and the one on the right in the photo has some journal note sheets...
Two_insidefront
inside pockets...
Two_insidepocket
and embellished pages...
Two_inside1
I've gotten emails from a lot of people since I started posting these journals asking if they are for sale.  If you are interested in buying one they are $50 and shipping is free.  I can also create a custom journal for you using your own fabrics as well.  If you are interested just drop me an email and I will send the details on fabric requirements. 

I also want to call your attention to Virginia Spiegels Call for Artists for Collage Mania II.  Visit her blog for the details on how you can participate.  I'll be donating at least one collage and it's a great opportunity to create art for a good cause. 

December 16, 2007

Online class registrations start today

Registration opens today at Joggles for two of my online classes that will run over the winter session.

Mixed Media Surfaces starts on 1/22

Montage

This workshop will explore using a wide variety of materials and supplies that today’s textile artist can use to create new and innovative surfaces to stitch on. This class is sure to be a lot of fun as we create a wide range of beautiful mixed media surfaces using items such as tissue paper, gel mediums, soy silk, paper towels, silk caps, mulberry bark, cling wrap and so much more!

Lesson 1: Paper Fabric
In our first lesson we’ll create a stitchable surface using tissue paper and sewing pattern tissue bonded to a base fabric using a variety of methods. We’ll create some beautiful sketchbooks and journals this week that you can use to record your samples and experiments from all the lessons.

Lesson 2: Layer it on
Create a mixed media surface using fusible webs incorporating the use of just about anything and everything you have in your stash. We’ll use this innovative surface to create a multi drawer box.

Lesson 3: Silky surfaces
We’ll be working with silk cocoons, rods, caps and mulberry bark this week and how you can incorporate them into your fiber art. I’ll show you how to turn a silk cap into a beautiful tabletop sculpture and we’ll make a concertina book with a machine cord wrap.

Lesson 4: From the kitchen
This week we’ll use cling wrap to create a multi layered surface and then create a beautiful hand dyed collaged surface using paper towels that you can use to make a triangle vase and some fun gift tags and greeting cards.

Lesson 5: Sparkle, shine & shimmer
We’re going to work with Angelina fibers, fantasy film and ETAL this week. For our last lesson I’m going to show you how to create a 3d vessel with curved sides.

And Silk Fusion begins on 2/7
Silkfusionbox
Lesson 1 Create 2 sheets of silk fusion papers using hand dyed soy silk & create a silk paper envelope and a tissue pouch.

Lesson 2 Create a handbag – students will have two styles to choose from

Lesson 3 Create 2 sheets of silk fusion paper using bleached soy silk that we will hand paint. Create a 3D treasure box & silk beads.

Lesson 4 Create 2 sheets of silk fusion paper using bleached soy silk that we will hand paint and explore the use of inclusions. Create book cover & checkbook holder.

Lesson 5 Using the leftovers we will create a variety of items such as amulet purses, greeting cards, atc’s, funky layered pins, earrings, gift tags, business card holder, eyeglass holder & more.

Questions?  Just email me at suebleiweiss@yahoo.com