Sketchbook Project 2012 - finished

Cover:


A couple of my favourite pages:



I did not rebind the book or change it in any way, actually. I did worry about halfway through and decide to do a running stitch over the binding just in case it decided to fall apart though.



I don't have a whole lot to say about it, really. I really like it and will be sad to see it go. I just hope sending it away will be actually worth it. If people look at it then it's okay, but if it's lost among thousands of other books...

I did not sign up for the scanning service, mostly because I already have a scanner and the images are up on flickr if you want to see the whole thing.

Overgrown

Available here.

I haven't been painting very much since... um... well gosh I guess the last one was Second which is entirely too long ago.

I think I'm getting the hang of this mixed media stuff... finally. It's like a whole new world has opened up for me.



Despite how long this little painting was in process (maybe two weeks?), it was probably only an hour or so of actual work, but I like it. I like the texture of the thick paint pushed through a stencil. I like the subtle shimmer of the gold pen. I like making collages out of book pages (this one contains a page from Orwell's 1984 - I need to buy some old books soon so I don't ruin the ones I actually like).



I don't think I quite "get it" yet... heh. I've been so foggy lately that I don't know exactly where I was going with this painting, and maybe that's all there is to it.

Foggy brain.
Heavy body.
Restlessness.
Standing still while the whole world evolves without you.
Being a few years away from 30 yet working a job more commonly suited to teenagers while acquired skills go unused.

Well maybe that last one is just me.

Endless Rain

I finally listed Endless Rain in my etsy shop. I really like this one. It looks fantastic in a snappy black frame.



This weekend was pretty weird. Milo kitty went to the hospital due to some urinary tract issues, and if you've ever met my cat, you'd know that it wasn't a great experience for him. He screams so loud when strangers are around it's like carrying an angry wolverine in a cardboard box.

I have no idea how they shaved his leg before sedating him. NO IDEA.

He came home last night, just waking up from his ordeal (oddly bathed and clipped...), and it was frightening to see him wobble around unable to move half of his body. His silence was unnerving. He's only just getting over it this afternoon.

But Maggie kitten doesn't recognize his smell and so it's pretty tense up in here. I can't imagine what that's like... to be a cat. To look at an old friend from a distance and go "oh hey, Joe! Nice to see you - *sniff sniff* Wait, you're not Joe. What are you doing in my house? GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Joe: "...Why does she keep YELLING AT ME? *sob*"

Pressed Flowers Journal

As planned, I made journal #6 look like the journal spread I made the other day. I'm rather pleased with it.



This is it for journal-making for the next little while. I'm out of paper and have decided to take a little break, even though I think I like making these more than I like painting.



A neighbour received her Sketchbook Project in the mail yesterday, and since I'm pretty sure we ordered within hours of each other, I'm hoping to get mine today! So excited.

Of course things never seem to arrive on fridays, or if they do, they don't fit in the box and then ride around on a postal truck all weekend and then I have to wait until monday knowing full well that I should have the parcel! Blllaaahh! *crosses fingers*

Let Love Spread Like a Weed

Now that Canada Post is more or less up and running, I've finally posted this painting in my etsy shop:



Available here.

Love it.

Due to the sun being on the other side of the building, I won't be able to post last week's painting on etsy until a bit later ;)

...

Running out of time to sign up for Kira's True to You (2) workshop!

If you've never visited her blog, you are seriously missing out. She needs more sign ups! It would be nice to have more people to play with!

Lovely Time Journal

I'm not excited about this particular violet colour but there it is.



There's nothing quite as satisfying as building a book. Even painting doesn't quite compare. I finish a painting, I scan it, I put it in a book and that's it. But these books... I have them stacked together on my desk and I can't stop touching them. Piling and repiling them.



I like flipping them open, turning them over, touching the covers. Part of it is definitely the possibility of each one. Will they find a new home someday? Will someone fill them with amazing memories and colours and words? Will they end up staying here?

Blank journals blow my mind. If I open a blank page now, I am looking at the future. Parallel dimensions open up and I can see myself writing. Something. Maybe I'm a few weeks older, maybe a few years. Maybe something horrible has happened, maybe something wonderful. This must be what it feels like to go back in time, open a journal and find all of the pages blank, all of my memories have disappeared.



How would someone else fill a journal like this? Endless doodles? A jumble of words? Pasted movie tickets? Spraypaint?

Corrugated ribbon journal

I love this journal!



I kind of want to keep it for myself, but I probably wont. I'll just have to make more of this style because it's so pretty.



The binding thread is a deep dark burgundy colour. Paper inside is heavy strathmore like the others.



What I need to do is get an old book for ripping the pages out and reusing! Right now I've been tearing out less useful pages of actual books we have and that can't go on for much longer.