Cheerio Box Collaboration with Elsa Bouman

Inside opened up

Back with a flap for mailing

Front

Elsa Bouman, a local collage artist and I did a Cheerio box cardboard collaboration.  We each made two or three postcard size foldout substrates out of cereal boxes.  Each of us started the collaboration and the mailed it to the other.  We each did our collage thing on what we received and mailed them back.  This is one that Elsa started and I finished.  Once we were done with the collages on all sides and had mailed them we brought them all together and divided them up.  Total fun!

Japanese Stab Binding - Arrow

Japanese Stab Binding - Arrow

I am loving making Japanese stab bindings.  I like how they look and I like the problem solving.  I usually only see a photo of the type of binding without directions and I have to figure out the method and measurements for the binding on my own.

Marbleized Paper Workshop

   Marbleized paper workshop

Too much fun a week ago.  I took a two day workshop in Tacoma and we marbleized paper.  Actually I was able to do ten sheets.  I love the process and want to do more.  Right now though I am going through the process of totally reorganized my office/studio.  Today was a lot of tossing.  I collect scraps of paper and always have good intentions to use them.  Well off they go to recycling unless they are especially wonderful!

Japanese Stab Binding - Star

Japanese Stab Binding - Star

In my Pinterest searches I found the star Japanese stab binding and decided I had to figure it out.  It took a bit of effort.  First I had to use a piece of graph paper to help figure out measurements.  Then I had to figure out the actual routine of sewing so that I would end up with the star.  I decided not to fill the second line where you see the breaks for interest.  I may do another one and see what filling in the breaks looks like.  Why not!?

Mummy Portrait 08

Mummy Portrait 08

Last night just before falling asleep I decided that I would use this iColorama doctored mummy plank as a whole, as I completed it.  You might remember I used this portrait previously without the background.  In a sense I think that the painterly look that I gave the woman has a bit of a Picasso look.  I am sure you have seen the Weeping Woman.  

Japanese Stab Bindings

Japanese Stab Bindings

Today has been rather hectic going here there and everywhere.  I did manage some Japanese stab bindings using the Zaansch paper from Holland for the covers.  I also am trying to come up with a pop up for some artist trading cards that I am doing.  I am not there yet but the airplane shows my first attempt.

Long Stitch Binding - Japanese Flavor

Long Stitch

I found some great papers recently with Japanese patterns.  I also had some Japanese vintage ledger papers which give a strong appearance on the book cover.  I am now on book no. 153 of my goal to 365.  I plan on pushing forward with about twenty books this weekend.  I have been creating a bunch of Japanese stab binding books of late.  I want to try out different Japanese stab binding patterns so I think I can make my goal.

Mummy Portrait 07

Mummy Portrait 07

I am not so sure whether or not I need one smaller something to the right of the figure and below the flowers.  I will live with it for awhile and see.  One thing that does work for me is that the changes on the actual mummy portrait really worked.  Here is the result after iColorama.

Mummy Portrait 06

Mummy Portrait 06

More iColorama magic on the portrait.  I created a background for the wooden portrait but decided to not use the background on the postcard.  Well, at least at first I wasn't going to use it.  However, I did use some of it just above Special Delivery.  Here is what the portrait looked like after iColorama magic.

Mummy Portrait 05

Mummy Portrait 05

The figures look striking to me.  They are very Roman in nature.  iColorama helped me create the double images.  It works for me.

Mummy Portrait 04

Mummy Portrait 04

I was away all weekend doing individual teaching.  My student made two amazing tunnel books in my new format, French doors.  Just lovely!  I also took a workshop in marbleizing papers.  So much fun!

I am trying to use old letters with other vintage papers along with the mummy images.   I love the wood cracks that run through the face.  It makes it almost look like the image is crying.

Mummy Portrait 03

Mummy Portrait 03

I separated the figures from the wooden background of the mummy plank in iColorama.  Then I created a new background for the two figures.  I filtered the images some and called it done.  The next step was to complete the collage as you see it using the altered piece completed in the app.

Mummy Portrait 02

Two-fear Friday.  Funny me!  I got yesterday’s blog entry ready and then dinner was served and I did not get back to publishing it.

Mummy Portrait 02

I really like how this collage turned out.  I used a mummy portrait again but manipulated it in iColorama so that there were three faces.  After printing the image I collages with other materials.  I am thinking I might add one more little piece of fiber somewhere and then submit this piece in the next NW Collage Society show where collages have to have fiber.

Mummy Portrait 01

Egyptian Mummy Portrait 01 

There are about 900 Egyptian mummy portraits found.  Painting the portrait of a person who died was done with the more well to do Egyptians during the Roman occupation of Egypt.  There were two basic forms of creating the portraits.  The first was encaustic painting and the second tempera.  The portraits were placed over the mummy.  They were well preserved because of the desert heat and because they were entombed.

I used the iColorama application to enhance the portraits giving it a more painterly effect.  Then I collaged the images as you see above.

ATC Group 2019 Third Quarter - Extraterrestrial Theme

ATC Group 2019 Third Quarter - Extraterrestrial Theme

In February a new group to create ATCs was formed at a Collage Society retreat.  We exchange quarterly and this is our second exchange.  The theme was extraterrestrial which was a challenge for me.  It took me a couple of months of collecting ephemera and thinking about ideas for me to produce this ATC.  I rather like how they turned out.  Each is a bit different because of the background.  All have the rocket, the moon and the planet.

July 2019 APC 15

July 2019 APC 15

This series is at an end.  I think I mentioned that I had made 32 of the locomotion APCs.  As it turned out I only need twelve.  I guess I can take a vacation in an upcoming month and not have to make another APC or ATC.  Ha!  To think that will even happen! :-)

July 2019 APC 14

July 2019 APC 14

I especially like how the APC on the right turned out.  I had used other parts of the ephemera in collages and had this man left over.  Even though alone he is an odd cut, it works here.  I have so many little pieces of ephemera, enough for a lifetime, that I probably would never have to search again for anything special.  With that said, I need to cull what I have and use things up.  Maybe that can be a postcard series.  Using what what one has!

July 2019 APCs 13

July 2019 APCs 13

Someone in the Facebook APC group has a last name of Fox.  She uses a fox silhouette on all of her mailing envelopes.  I had to use it too on one of my APCs.

July 2019 APC 12

July 2019 APC 12

One thing I really like about using playing cards is that they add color or strength (black).  They also add numerals and design quality (suits).

Yesterday morning I noticed something different and I could not put my foot on it.  Then I realized that the birds were not chirping.  We have quite noisy morning birds and there was no sound.  Did the earthquake have something to do with that?  I know that there is research about how animals are affected by earthquakes.  Hmm!? 

July 2019 APC 11

July 2019 APC 11

We had an earthquake early this morning around 3:00.  It shook everything quite loudly.  A few minutes later we had an after shock which was pretty minor but we could still feel it.  All is well here thank goodness.  The epicenter was only about 20 miles from our house.

July 2019 APC 10

Two-fer Thursday....yesterday was a busy day with no time for blogging.  I left the house at 7:15 and did not get back until almost 6:00.

July 2019 APC 10

The male image on the right was the reverse side of a scrap of another comic character that I had used in a collage.  It is always good to turn scraps over.

July 2019 APC 09

July 2019 APC 09

Sometimes it seems that maybe the subconscious is in charge of creating. Only after I finished the card with the policeman did I think about the significance of the target on his head.

July 2019 APC 08

July 2019 APC 08

Feedback on have a moving part on an artist playing card or artist trading card has been good.  Last night I started working on my APCs for August and I am trying to attempt one that either has a small book or a popup.  Whatever prevails will make its debut in August here. 

July 2019 APC 07

July 2019 APC 07

I hope you are not getting bored by the similarity of each of the artist playing cards.  They are formulaic but then when you think of the purpose of the cards, exchanging art, and you think of the number of people who receive free art that might change things up a bit.

July 2019 APC 06

Two-fer Sunday......

July 2019 APC 06

Funny how this works....both APCs have the value of 10.  Not planned for today's posting.  Both have male characters.  Not planned for today's posting.  Christmas colors abound as the focal colors.  Not planned again.  Fun how that works, totally random. :-)

July 2019 APC 05

July 2019 APC 05

I guess I am getting very forgetful as I totally missed blogging yesterday.  I was so into bookmaking, I made three books throughout the day, that time flew by without a thought to blogging.  The funny thing is that I have plenty to share!  I will catch up this morning and this will be yet another two-for day.

July 2019 APC 03

July 2019 APC 03

I kind of wish I had taken scans of each of the APC/ATCs “open” to go along with the ones you see here.  Oh well, I did not do that!  They sure were fun to make but pretty intensive because of all the steps.

July 2019 APC 04

Fourth of July two-fer

July 2019 APC 04

Collaging in the round is fun.  Deciding if one is going to remain inside the boundaries of the circles or venture outside the circumference is one of the decisions that has to be made.

Happy Fourth of July to all Americans who view this blog.

July 2019 APC 02

July 2019 APC 02

Someone wrote me about not understanding how the moving part works.  Maybe explaining the construction of the APC would help.  First there is a rectangular 2.5 x 3.5 card.  Then I created collaged circles which I adhered to the rectangle with a tiny brad.  I then tore off opposite corners of playing cards which I adhered to the rectangle with tiny grommets in two corners.  Part of the circle extended over the rectangle.  I cropped off two sides of the circle so that it looked like a total rectangle again.  The circle now rotates behind the playing card.  I then added an ATC coin over the playing card.  I also punched holes in the playing card so that when the circle moves the "scenery" in the punched circles changes.  The punching idea came from Lynn Skordal during one of our meetups.  I rather like the layered APC or ATC whichever you would like to call it.

July 2019 APC - 01 and 02

July 2019 artist playing card 01 and 02

There is a moving part in each of the 30 or so APCs that I created for July 2019.  It is a wheel that has two sides cut off until you rotate the wheel.  Then it looks like the card has a circle that has expanded.  You can see what one looks like expanded on the left and not extended on the right above.