Posted on Apr 26, 2012 in
Sketchbook Project |
2 comments
I wasn’t sure the day would come when I completed the final page in my Sketchbook Project 2012 Limited Edition from Art House Co-op. I began the project in January and, as often is the case with any piece, I would experience spurts of inspiration that would lead to the creation of several pages at a time, and dry spells when nothing came to me at all. The biggest problem of all was time. It’s difficult to find time to create every single day when you are raising four active children and running a household.
Nevertheless, I decided to stop making excuses and buckle down this past week. That’s when the last few pages came to me. (You can read about Fear/Hope in my previous Sketchbook post.) I was most excited about the last page because I chose to use my favorite lyric from The Beatles.
“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
I adore this line because I truly feel that whatever else you may do or experience in life, nothing is more powerful than the taking and giving of love. Not only that, but this lyrical line also gives heed to the importance of balance. Take = Make. How magical is that?
My muse dictated that this page had to be eye-popping bright, so in the palette of colors I had chosen for this project I picked out the Bright Magenta. I didn’t dilute the color, or any of the colors for that matter, that I put on the page. It’s straight from the bottle beautiful. BUT, before applying all that color I wanted to add an unusual layer to the page. I’ve been collecting the little plastic tabs you use to help tie your bread bag closed thinking there had to be a use for these beyond the recycling bin.
- You can see I’ve been collecting quite a few of these, especially when you take into account that I rarely buy bread. (I have two kids with gluten intolerance, so bread is limited in our house).
Anywho, I got to thinking that these tabs would be perfect on this project because they would add texture as well as give me a platform to make the lyric line stand out. I used a bit of Yes! paste and laid the tabs side by side with one row at the top and one row at the bottom of the page. I used painters tape to lay a line across each row of tabs. This way I could create a white line to highlight the words.
Just slapped the paint on (2 layers) with a wide brush and let that dry as well. Added Calypso Blue paint to the edges with a sea sponge and Citron green to the center of the page using bubble wrap to stamp it on. Once all the paint was dry, I inked up a large word stamp by Inkadinkado with VersaFine black pigment ink and stamped the entire page. It was then time to remove the painter’s tape.
I love hearts and decided this was the page where I was going to make a heart the central aspect. I’d also been itching to use a new product I picked up:
Claudine Hellmuth Studio Sticky-Back Canvas. It’s untreated canvas in ivory (or white) with a sticky backing that you can peel off and place the piece to whatever surface you want to. I freehand cut the heart shape and used heavily pigmented watercolors (which just means watercolors with very little water added) to paint it.
I love sewing the edges of things with zig-zag stitches, so I broke out the huge machine of mine to add the stitches around the edges and in the center of the heart. I hand-stitched three vintage buttons to the upper corner using citron green thread. To give an added three-dimensional punch I used a square-shaped hole punch on the canvas and tied various fibers through the hole. Hint: save your bits of leftover ribbon, yarn and other fibers in a Ziploc. You never know when you just need a few inches to add a finishing touch to a project.
I did learn that removing the backing on the canvas after stitching it was a bit more difficult than I’d anticipated, but I was able to remove 90% of the paper. I stuck the heart to the page and used a bit of Yes! paste on a small paintbrush to stick down the edges that were more stubborn. Letting it all dry was the final step.
Page 16 done, the cover to go and then getting the book to post. I’m nearly there and that’s a wonderful feeling.
I wasn’t sure the day would come when I completed the final page in my Sketchbook Project 2012 Limited Edition from Art House Co-op. I began the project in January and, as often is the case with any piece, I would experience spurts of inspiration that would lead to the creation of several pages at a time, and dry spells when nothing came to me at all. The biggest problem of all was time. It’s difficult to find time to create every single day when you are raising four active children and running a household.
Dude, you’re brilliant. So many gifts, chickster. Keep sharing and creating. Hey, I’m now a follower. I’ll be watching.
I’ve been out of the loop lately, Rusty, but you inspire me with your own writing and I thank you for putting it out into the Universe. Much love to you.