Feathers Folder

I made this little file folder for a friend who produces beautiful bird art.  Some of these tiny feathers, collected over a number of years, have finally found their way into one of my projects.

Wallpaper lining, painted and printed with acrylics
(approx. 4.5" x 4") .....

.... with four internal pockets

A selection of tiny feathers encased in paper and cellophane  packets

One page fold book

Some months ago I made this little fold book out of an A3 sheet of cartridge paper.  Originally I had intended it to have a Christmassy theme, printed with holly and ivy leaves with berries, but it wasn't a success so ended up in my scraps folder.  Recently, at a loose end for ideas, I decided to glaze over it with completely different acrylic colours and added more printed patterns with white gesso.  With no plan in mind, I have picked it up in spare moments and randomly added more painted and printed scraps from my oddments stash.  (Finished size approx. 4" x 6 )

A couple of other artists using this style of folded booklet are Helen Wells and Sue Brown which you might find interesting.

Another quirky postcard collage

I have started to over-think these postcard collages instead of quickly just grabbing what comes to hand - not necessarily a good idea.  

Handprinted tissue, mulberry and cartridge paper,
acrylic, gel pens and machine stitch
 (Hahnemeuhle watercolour postcard 6" x 4")

Postcard collage

 Another small collage using one of my Hahnemuehle postcards.

 

Printed and painted tissue, book page, scanned sketch,
gold gel pen, machine stitch (6" x 4")

Collaged postcards

Since I finished my collage journal last month I have missed the playfulness of cutting, tearing and sticking random oddments of painted papers.  I have a box of Hahnemuehle watercolour postcards which I have only used on a couple of occasions and the size of these appealed to me as a substrate for further paste and paper experiments.  I also added machine stitching for more texture and interest.

6" x 4" Hahnemeuhle watercolour postcards

Ink, acrylic, paste paper, lino print, stencilled
texture paste, gel pens and machine stitch

Ink, acrylic, gesso, lino print, foam stamps,
gel pens and machine stitch

The completed Collage Journal

To recap, this journal was started in response to a 5 day challenge by collage artist Lydia Rink.  A set of 5 instruction videos plus a materials list were provided, starting with how to make a simple A5 journal, and making your own collage papers, plus sourcing images and letter forms from magazines, posters, etc.

I have used some pre-printed images and text, but mainly utilised my own painted and hand-printed papers together with snippets from my sketchbooks.  It took me a couple of pages to get into a way of working that suited me, but I enjoyed the process.

The Collage Journal continues ...

 I have come to the end of my collage journal, although I am tempted to re-do the first couple of pages which are very uninspiring.  However, I am glad I worked through that stage and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge - thanks to Lydia Rink for sharing her process.

Now I had better get on and start replenishing my files of painted and printed papers for future collage experiments.

Collage Journal

I am not over-thinking these collage pages, just grabbing a few hand printed papers and other scraps from my folders and seeing what goes together.

Book page weaving, hand-printed paper (mainly tissue),
black and gold pens

More "Collage up your Journal" pages

 A couple more pages from my collage journal.

I liked the colour of this magazine image of a bowl and tied it in
with a background of some of my painted papers

A couple of sliced up/re-arranged lino prints on book pages

The Collage Journal continued

 

Book pages, printed tissue and old sketches

Another five pages to fill in this handmade sketchbook.

Another Collage Journal page

 

I tried using wallpaper paste as suggested by Lydia Rink - much easier to spread on thin/tissue papers than PVA, also allows a certain amount of re-positioning.  However, with several layers of collaged paper my pages became completely saturated and took an age to dry and flatten.  I now mix the paste with some PVA which provides a less watery consistency, but retaining the advantages of the wallpaper paste.

Painted and printed collage papers

I am joining another 5 day challenge - Collage Up Your Journal  being run by Lydia Rink.  I believe she uses a lot of letters and numerals in her work and a fairly subtle palette.  I spent a couple of hours printing and painting mulberry paper sheets using my lino cuts and foam stamps - all rather colourful, but they can always be toned down with further glazes if necessary.

More doodling

 I decided to use a more restrained approach to the rest of this page spread.  Again, I used acrylic ink with a dip pen as well as adding areas of shading with dry Inktense pencils, then cross hatching with fine liner and gel pens.

Sketchbook catch-up

With various pre-Christmas tasks taking precedence, I have slipped behind with my sketchbook challenge.  However, I did start work on another spread last night.

This began with a scrap of painted and printed paper stitched onto the righthand page, Inktense pencils and gel pens emphasising the flower forms.  I decided to continue the spread with a floral-themed pattern using acrylic paint with lino, foam and cork stamps, followed up by some "demented doodling" using fine liner pens, acrylic ink and gel pens.  I am not sure I will have the patience to complete the left-hand page with quite the same level of detail!

Sketchbook course continued

 I have watched all the 8 videos in this course now, but I believe I can refer back to them indefinitely.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tutorials and, although it is not my usual way of working, it's refreshing to try a different approach. There was a lot to take in and I am far from finishing my sketchbook, so I will take my time with it over the next few weeks.

This spread used collaged trial lino prints (with added pen patterning), foam and lino printed tissue, graphite rubbing and (just because it wasn't busy enough!) some text.

On this page I utilised oddments of foam and lino printed paper to create a still life collage.

Sketchbook and online courses

I have been slow in adding work to my blog this month.  This has been partly because I have been taking a bit of a break after completing the daily Inktober challenge; in addition, I have been working on this year's Christmas card design which is not ready to be revealed yet.

I have also signed up for a short, online sketchbook challenge run by Laura Kemshall - eight videos throughout November (which can be followed at your own pace).  The course is very reasonably priced at £12 - if you are interested, follow this link.

I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to use the beautiful sketchbook my friend Pat made.  The first assignment was to "break the ice" and get rid of some of the blank pages by randomly adding some found papers, etc. - a couple of mine are shown below.  Now to catch up with the second session.

Faux leather cover with embroidered insert - 9" x 6.5"
(handmade by Pat Kitching)

Foam printed paper collage and stitch

Tartan ribbon - machine stitched

Paste paper collage and stitch

Part of a lino print

Another course being released later this month is by Este MacLeod - this will be free, but you need to sign up to her Newsletter (at the bottom on her home page) to receive details.

Happy sketching!

INKTOBER 31st - Finished!

I managed to get my last page finished just before the stroke of midnight!

I much prefer the first side which is more cohesive. The background of the second side proved to be too busy and distracting, although it did make me experiment more with the ink based products in an effort to clarify the sketches.

The last page and title page (Uniball Eye pen plus gold gel pen)

The complete second side

The first side

The folded book giving me 32 sides measuring 4" x 6"

Inktober 23rd and 24th

I used Indian ink again on the lefthand image, using white gesso as a base for the flower and leaves to enable me to use a dip pen and acrylic ink to add detail and colour.  

For the other image I printed small lino cuts and foam stamps with ink-tinted gesso, adding line work with acrylic ink and gel pens.

Thank goodness it's nearly the end of the month - I'm beginning to run out of ideas for making my sketches stand out on this background.

Fold books with pockets

September's challenge for the group "Crafting Handmade Books" - a book with pockets.
These two were made some time ago, but I don't think I have posted them here before.  Both are made with my hand-printed and painted papers and I have used these structures in various guises for special cards.

4" x 6"

3½" x 4"

Care Mail and handmade books

Our local council is asking for notes or cards which can be forwarded to care home residents to help cheer them up during this lengthy period of isolation.

As well as some of my printed cards, I am sending a couple of artists' booklets.

This one is a little wild - a while ago, I had the urge to completely fill an A3 sheet of black paper with my handmade floral foam stamps, then wasn't sure what to do with it.  Hopefully it will brighten someone's day.

Cover - 4" x 6"

Gesso, acrylic and metallic ink

The other was a prototype for my garden pop-up book (final version here) - this just needed some coloured pencil added to the pen illustrations to finish it off.

You can find my cutting guide for the booklet in this post.

3" x 5" folded from one sheet of A4 paper