crayon Paper In Continuance

("in continuance" ? Is that actual English?...)

Well, anyway, my fascination with these crayon papers continues. After having finished the first one (see the post below) I got back out my cray-pas and oil/water pastels and went over my other three papers that I configured from the rest of the paper bag. I added more color and lines here and there.

I ironed again, but not so much as before. The ironing seems to take away a lot of the color. Of course it also melts the color right into the paper... so I guess that that is just a decision that we make. I got very interesting top sheets out of the ironing though:

And here are my crumpled and then flattened papers. You'll see the paper in the middle is kind-of shiny. Jill - oh! I forgot to tell you: the author of the article in Quilting Arts magazine is Jill A. Kennedy. Anyway, Jill instructed to iron interfacing to the back of the papers - which I didn't do as I thought that the brown paper was pretty sturdy by itself, though you will see that I did back the papers with some acrylic felt when I started to stitch. Jill also instructed to iron WonderUnder onto the front of the paper. I am not sure why. I am thinking that it helps to adhere embellishments later on (basting isn't so possible on paper, leaving holes and all). So the fusible web leaves the paper shiny. I only fused one of the pieces. I haven't started hand embroidering that piece yet, so I don't know if it will warm in my hands and be sticky??? I will let you know.

Here is some early machine stitching. As I did not bond the felt to the paper I had to take this beginning stitching slowly, working from the center out, so that I didn't get wrinkles.

Then I started working in the fancier free machine stitching: (and you can see did not center the white felt evenly and had to snip the paper to even things out a bit.

Here: some machine stitch patterns (yellow) mixed with free stitching (red):

More free stitching:

More of both kinds of stitching: I love how this looks.

It has taken me all day to get this written. I started before breakfast, but had to stop due to a crashing lightning storm, it lessened, I wrote, I had to go to the studio, I stopped ...

The Continuation of the Crayon Paper Adventure

The thrill continues: these were my tools yesterday: regular crayons like the article described. Then I thought that I would try cray-pas pastels and Portfolio's water color oil pastels as well - just to see what happened. Well the cray-pas and especially the water/oil pastels are such a dream to lay down color with.

Then I sprayed again with my watered acrylic ... and rubbed it in with a paper towel.

See? See? Nice rich colors with that muting of the blue.

Like a goof I ironed it under freezer - not parchment - paper. (It all stuck together.) And it also came off on the freezer paper - so I am going to stitch on that too. Later.

Then the article said to crumple the paper to soften it.

Then I machine stitched it onto a backing of acrylic felt:

Drew gold dots and then hand stitched. I like it.

So tomorrow I will go back to the original crayon paper (see the post below) and draw/spray/stitch into that.

Really, very nice texture and muting/blending softening of color, yeah?

Making Crayon Paper

Well, I am hale and hearty. I visited with a homeopath about the headaches and am having some very wierd dreams on the Constitutional, as well as a bit of luck staving off the sad behavior that begets the headaches. (See the entry below for why in the world I am chatting about my head health.)

So, back on board, I was perusing last summer's issue of QA>>>>>

and came upon this great article/lesson about making what I am calling "crayon paper".

Oh! And I am so sorry: I cut off her name in the picture of the article and the mag is not with me at the moment.

She starts with paper - like bond I think, or drawing weight? I started with brown paper bag because, well, I had it.

And I got out my box of colors:

Drew a little like the article instructs.

Then, instead of using an ink wash, as she says, I decided to try my very watered down acrylic paint spray water.

Wow!

It worked sooo well!

I rubbed and scrubbed the now wet paper with a paper towel and the paint water gently soaked into the empty part that the crayon missed.

Then I kept drawing - there is something so calming and lovely about drawing with crayon on an old grocery bag: the materials are uber-inexpensive, crayons have a fit to one's hand and a scent to bring one comfort and sureity of talent ... what could go wrong?




And look what went so well.

I love this look.

Tomorrow I will give you some pics of the rest of her instructions ...

... which will include running the paper and backing of some kind through the sewing machine. :)

Sick Day

Lots of apologies here: I won't be at the Studio today: September 1st. I've got a crashing headache and at last am succumbing to the understanding that over-the-counter, allopathic meds do me more harm than good. So I am home, staying very quiet, hardly using my eyes and slowly getting through it. I hope that I will be back in the Studio on Thursday. Call first if you want: 323-1629.

India Journal Completion

OK, Here are my cover boards for the India journal (see below/earlier blog entries for the beginnings of this journal if you are just tuning in). They have gel medium on them and are ready for the screening just above them there. This will make very durable hinges in the cover. Now, with the screening glued in I attached them to my painted paper grocery bag and flipped it over for you to see.

That all dried under a stack of magazines for a while today, then I cut it to size and folded and glued the edges over.

Below you see the paper signatures ready to bind into the cover ... but wait ...

See how the gluing didn't work so well? Pondering the situation I came up with a repeat cut border in metal tape to cover the errent edges and make them stick - but in a pretty way.

Here is the cut. You will see it set in a few photos down ...

Here I am punching the holes into the signatures according to a template carefully measured to fit the spine board.

There is the metal tape border. I like how it turned out. And here I am punching the spine board according to the same template. (Sooo much easier with an awl. I have always used tapestry needles and a thimble. Ouch.)

The beginning of the binding ...

And the mostly completed book. I still have to attach the closure bead which must be somewhere in my stash at home. Somewhere.

The journal open. See the envelope on the front inside cover? That is for whatnots. (You can see it better up above.)

I like this binding a lot. I am very pleased. :)

So here is your enticement: Come to Sunne Spot and I will walk you through the binding and give you a sketch of the stitching pattern.

Now what magic thing will I have fill these pages?

Good night! Thanks for wandering through this with me.

Maine Media Workshops Visits Sunne Spot

Well, this summer has been a season of serendipity and good fortune for Sunne Spot. Through this and that little turn of fate I have met, and had the good fortune of working with, some wonderful artists.

One of my favorite groups of people to work with are parents with their children. I have had the astonishing and nigh on miraculous opportunity to work with my children over the years. I have a theory that keeping this practice of art - like meditation or prayer - is both intimate and healing when we regularly share it with someone. And when that someone is our child we parents are given a sweet way to deepen and strengthen both of us in the relationship. I welcome you to visit the Studio and test my theory. (!)

One of my favorite and regular moms, Beverly, happened to meet Clem Spaulding, a student at the local art school: Maine Media Workshops. Clem has been a still photographer in Texas for years and was taking a class to move his work into videography. In their conversation Clem found the subject of his Workshop video: Sunne Spot Studio.

You can see the result here at youtube:

Well, Clem showed the video to his longtime friend, photographer Judy Herrmann, also teaching at Maine Media Workshops this summer, and it turned out that Sunne Spot filled a need of hers and we were able to collaborate this past week.

Judy has been teaching "Jump Start Your Career", a course about using creativity in business develpoment. (It sounded so wonderful - wish I'da been there..) Judy wanted to have her students not only do the classroom work, but also to have an opportunity to just play, knowing that this kind of visual "what if-ing" gets all of our work re-charged.

How true.

Here they are at work: And here are some of the results. They painted, printed and stamped some papers on Tuesday ...

Then came back this morning to make paper chains, journals ...

(make some more papers)

make an Artist Trading Card (this one is called Paper Bag Elvis) ... (and is actually up on the Trading Rail waiting to be traded on...) and even origami.

I enjoyed working with the Workshop students very much. (Thank you all for visiting! Beautiful artwork.)

And I was delighted to be asked to brainstorm with teachers this summer.

I might be turning into a part time art consultant.

It is all good.

India Journal In Continuation

You stayed tuned!
Hi again.
I figured out what I would do for binding strength and flexibility. Now, I have been home and had a chance to raid my fabric stash, but I thought that I would give this a try: window screening. (!) There are my cover boards all laid out ... and below are some papers to cover the insides of the boards ... but I needed something yummy - and long - for the outside ...

So I got out a brown paper bag and started scraping on some gesso and then some color.

The blues were too similar so I added a bit of white to smush around. Nice big, gross motor movement here.

While that was drying I glued the cardboard to the inside paper.

And now that the boards are drying under a stack of magazines I stenciled the paper for a bit more interest and activity.

Now that is drying and I am here writing to you.

Oh! I meant to tell you: I am calling this my India Journal because the little journal that I am copying was made in India. Mine of course, is being made here in Maine, USA. but that would be a less fun, thrilling, exotic name for me. (Now if I lived in India ...)

More tomorrow when everything dries. No, I have a class in here tomorrow ... well, I'll figure something out. I think that I will get to the binding tomorrow. I will draw you little pictures and how-tos. Then you can comment and link to what happens when you do this.

Stay more tuned.

India Journal Bookbinding

So, I bought a pad of acrylic painting paper, 9 x 12", and cut the pages in half the long way to make 40 pages, each of them 4.5" x 12". Then I folded them in half, divvied them into 5 signatures of 8 papers each - 16 pages. Next I took the sturdy back board to the pad and cut it not quite in half so that the cover boards would shelter the papers by being bigger. I made the back a bit longer too, which then made the front cover a bit shorter - but that is OK with me as there will be a front flap to cover any discrepancy - and even may make the flap easier to close.

Here are the covers laid out:

And here are the covers balanced in their eventual closed position:

The pages are so thick and sturdy (the better to paint them by) that the signatures pushed the center papers out. I decided to cut them even.

Next will come the part where I get the covers bound to each other and after that I will sew the signatures onto the back spine piece in the pretty pattern of the book that I am copying.

Now I have no fabric here at the Studio, and there is nothing quite as strong as fabric for a binding that will open and shut often. Hmm. Be patient and bring some in tomorrow? Or scrounge around here and see what I can find?

The mystery awaits a solution...

Stay tuned again.

Glue Drawings and Bookbinding

Good Morning. Some more painted glue drawings have dried, and I thought that I would show them to you. These will make wonderful medallions in my art journals. (We are not getting it in these photos, but the silver paint on top makes them shimmer.)

Add-a-Project: (as if I didn't have enough journals going...)

A friend gave me this journal back in 2004 and I started writing and gluing.

It is pretty stuffed full now. I love the structure a lot, and have always wanted to copy the binding.

So here goes.... I have my papers cut, I am off to cut the cover boards. I will photograph as I go along and let you see.

Stay tuned.