Everyday ephimera journal book

This book has been made out of everyday ephemera,

I simply have a paper bag over my studio and throw in there

just about anything paper that could be turned into a page 

in this kind of  journals!  

This is a lot of fun to make! You should try it!

You will be making a unique book to journal in

and you will be recycling a lot of stuff that we

 usually call trash and throw away!

Simply get some papers from your everyday life 

that you usually throw away like:

Paper bags

tickets

cloth tags

old envelopes

fun catalogs

junk mail

postcards

food packages

I use a guillotine to cut the papers that can`t be folded in to the 

chosen size of my book but I let some pages be smaller or larger 

to make it even more fun!

Some papers can be really beautiful!  I choose the best

to make interesting pages, they can be guessoed anyway

but colors are always fun wouldn`t you agree?

You can also add good papers in between for a great

day like a watercolor paper or scraapbook papers

and I think this would be a great gift to someone

who likes to journal!

I make my signatures small and clip them with a cloth pin

while they wait to be sewed, then I use a regular embroidery 

white thread but it can also be of great colors to add more interest!

Now this pages are ready for some journaling, this format

makes me wanna go super loosen and not worrying 

about being a perfect page every time, I can simply

go for it and the pages are so small, they are perfect

for those days I just don`t have much time

or feel a little tired to make a large piece!

 Ephemera is fun, use it to make something with it!

Recycling feels good and it saves money!

Inspiration!

2013 calendar cover

Hi sweets! I am glad some of you are going to 

make your own claendars as well, I think is a 

wonderful idea and also a lot of fun to make

and a great way to practice your art skills!

Yesterday afternoon  I started to make the cover of my 

calendar book, I`ve chosen to alter an old book with a hard

cover wich had fabric on the cover so it`s like a canvas!

I never know how it will turn out, I just keep adding and adding

layers of the things I like until I fell happy!

I just love collage, there is something about it that makes me happy!

This girls are to remind me to not take it so serious, sometimes I forget!

Regarding your questions about how I did the boxes,

in the previous page/post, here it is: 

After painting the background, I made two rubber stamps

to fit the size I needed, one larger than the other,

I`ve stamped first with the larger and  brown 

paint, then the smaller and white paint, all acrylics,

 the rubber stamp gives it that texture 

effect just by changing the position of the stamps!

I hope you enjoy creating yours! 

Altered books gallery

 This gallery if from an altered book were I used an 

encyclopedia, is really big and It`s still unfinished but I have

a few favorite pages to share...

I am still working on the Altered books Online workshop 

and it`s a lot of work but I am also enjoying it a lot for it`s 

something I really like, altering books, making books, 

Journals and have plenty of great surfices to work freely!!

Hello there!  I am working hard but also really happy to be able to do this!

You can see one of the projects in the class there! Just a little sneak a peek, I don`t

want to ruin the surprise!

I finally got a new sewing machine, I am in love and I keep searching

for new projects to use it! Of course I included a sewing project in the 

altered books workshop! Couldn`t resist but it`s fun and easy!

In this page I used one of my photos of me as a model, I liked it and so 

I made my dream of being a fairy come true here! 

In this page I used the inspiration of the Native Americans which I love!

I even used sawdust in the bottom of the page to recreate the feel of this
magical places!

That`s why I love altered books, some how my mind and heart feel free to add 

anything I can think of, or almost! ;D

I will let you know more bout the workshop later on of course
which will open sometime in September!

I hope you are having a great time as well!

Altering books!

Hello my sweets! I hope you are having a good time over this 

summer, maybe you`ll take a brake and make some art!

I am not on vacation at all, I have been very bussy working

and still am, I have been thinking for quite some time to create an

altered books online workshop, I have shared many things about

 it and I think it`s time for me to make it happen, so I am working on

 it just now!
 I love making tiny books, they are the same time consuming
and effort than a large one, sometimes even harder but they are adorable! 

Making the videos is a lot of work and so I have been very bussy and

this shooting session has been very difficult, everything has happend! Lol!

Meowings from my kitty, claxons out loud outside my house, forgetting how

something is called in English!!! Just to name a few!

But this is something I like to do so I keep going!  

So I am altering books!  A fascinating surfice tha allows so much freedom

and somehow I am never worried about how it will turn out and when I don`t

it usually ends up great!  It`s funy!  I wish I could be like that in other areas as well!

I want to share about this wonderful  world of altering books which
is fascinating and addictive! I`ll bring the news about it  soon so if you are
in to this, please make sure to stay tuned!

Hugs and smooches to you!