How Busy Should Neighboring Pages Be? Patterns!

Isn't it interesting that as producing art communities and art museums continue to struggle to maintain a profile in our country, the visual gratification aspect of work completed by students has migrated from aesthetic to electronic? 

I have done very little to explore the wide range of paper choices in the scrapbooking world.  The smallest of the curved pages above is an example of one of these "snazzy" choices.  It appears that buying these varieties a sheet at a time is very costly, but finding a bound collection with many desirable choices (especially if it is on sale, or with a good coupon,) put their use in the ballpark.  I tend to prefer patterns next to a non-patterned, color coordinated neighbor, but know that often the paper collections are often highly patterned and grouped in like color groups.  I have invested very little time exploring these choices, but know they exist for those interested. 

The combination of the drink print and the green bubble paper (both unique and hand made,) are about as far as I go for pattern combining. 

I am returning to my graph paper thoughts from yesterday.  A couple of years ago I discovered small, more portable versions of graph paper.  Rhodia produces several different sizes/shapes of graph paper tablets.  I love the 3" X 8" tablet for lists and refridgerater notes.  Post it has a functional 4" X 5" sticky note version with aqua lines on white paper, and the Moleskin line includes grid, plain and lined versions of stitched-bound note books in several different sizes.

The actual quality of all of these products is about the same.  Although Moleskin has been sited by some highly creative sketchers, I fail to see any distinction between Moleskin, Post-It, and Rhodia.  The disadvantage of Moleskin is the rounded corners, the advantage of Post-It is the adhesive, and the positive attributes that make Rhodia appealing include unusual sizes and perforated tear lines. 

To Text or Not to Text........That is the Question!

Decided to try the addition of block type in this mini, since the images are all block prints.  The difference being the origin of the image.  All of the "picture" images are hand carved and hand inked or painted.  The type is created using purchased letter font blocks. 

When looking at many mixed media creations, I marvel at the precision of text printing many can produce.  A few are hand lettered, and often have a calligraphy look, but many are stamped letters, like the examples here. 

I think the one I like the best are those that have been created using a stencil of some kind.  The outline of the letter(s) has/have been shaped using a pencil, then filled in with paint, ink or marker.  This technique seems to work the best with large letters or where the letters, and not the visual image, are the focal point on the page. 

As I continue to work sporadically in the creation of these minibooks, I am moving further and further away from the addition of text in the development process, and closer and closer to images only with block printing to create text lines.

What I find intriguing is the creation of the line, itself.  I can even remember as a child, being interested in the different types of "ruled" paper, and teacher demands for one type (usually "wide rule," rather than "college rule".)  I also find it very interesting that in all of my undergraduate and graduate work over the years, I have NEVER had one professor require, request, or even mention the need for "college rule" paper.   (Of course that is somewhat of a mute point for college students at this point since I don't believe there is a category of college rule electronic submission; font and spacing now.)

In high school the grid in graph paper was also a teacher driven choice and while most required 1/4 inch grid, there were a few that preferred the 1/8 inch (much have been an engineering major,) and even one that required 1/2" (try to find that at the local K-Mart.....or anywhere else.)

Anyway, lines on paper can be very intriguing in the way in which they contribute to the overall visual composition of a finished piece.  I wonder how many students stopped to review and think about a final written page in the visual/aesthetic prior to submitting the piece on the due date. (Such a non-issue for most students now, as well - the teacher/student arguing point now centers most around font choice!)   There is something very satisfying about text horizontally aligned and the consistent marching parallels of high-formed letters (b, d, l, h, t, f, etc.) and the "below-the-line" draggers (g, j, p, q, y, etc.)  I suppose these visual aspects are the enticement behind the development of strong calligraphic lettering styles.

New Book - Block Print Focus

I happened across this delightful olive ribbon on a fabulous sale and was inspired to do something that made olive filled with scarlet red pimentos appealing - the Bloody Mary block print is born!  It probably would have been would have been wise to make the block AFTER cutting the pages - this was clearly a step in the learning process. 

The advantage is that it forced me to use the same block in multiple ways with layered, varying sized pages.

I could have never located stuffed olive ribbon in a million years had I been trying to find some!  Serendipity or just lucky- sometimes it's just FUN!!

Mini-Book #1

Below is the cover of the first mini-book at the completion of the project. 

Completed mini-book cover - 1st one!  The flower on the cover is a close up of a poppy from the local plant nursery, growing on our deck.

This was a great learning book and I will go forward ready to try some different page configurations, sizes and additions.  This book was made at a time when I was still printing a lot of photographs.  I was very glad to discover the printing variations possible at the various photo kiosks around, but am not sure I will continue down this path.  I really like the idea of more original art work to truly make these little gems one of a kind.

I tried some hand lettering and writing in this book - I am not sure I will do a lot of that either.  I love picturesque caligraphy, for example.  Unfortunately, I am not very good at that and so don't like the look of my writing on the page.  I also tried some very inexpensive lettering stamps, (like $1.00 for the entire alphabet.)  I might experiment a little with some of these in the future, but not a big fan, either.

I did decide that I like to layering and scrapbook-style, and like using glue sticks as the adhesive of choice.  I do think "back-to-school" time is the prime time to pick up glue sticks that are actually affordable, however.  When you analyze how much product is actually in one of those swivel tubes, it is disgusting - an inch and a quarter of purple goo in a 3.5 inch tube.......hmmmmmmmm. - anyway - it is convenient and when used carefully, not to messy or too much waste!

I do like the paper binding, although it does limit the number of pages that can be included.  It does give strength and stability to the entire book, however.  I am not a big fan of the book binding rings.  With the demise of Office Depot, book rings are difficult to find.  If stores, (like JoAnn's and Target,) do carry any of these rings, there are 8 or 10 in a package, and two of each size, up to about 2 inches in diameter.  In these sets, there are only two rings useful for these minibook projects.   If you find a source for book rings, please send me an email in the link below - I am still looking!!

I also like the ribbon to attach to the insert tags.  It adds color and lies flat; it's not bulky.  I am not sure it will withstand the test of time, but my mini-books are not a "pass on the the ancestors" item anyway.

All-in-all, fun, colorful projects.  They can be cut and assembles a little at a time or all at once.  The hidden factor is the substantial amount of time required if there are a number of pieces to attach and/or a number of layered pages......is it worth time time investment - jury's out!

Almost a Day Off.....

The number of cartridges available for the Cricut cutter is amazing.  Quite by accident, I discovered that retail outlets, like JoAnn Fabrics and Michael's carry only a small fraction of the available programs.

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Springtime

I loved the look of the pretty, lavender flower - the plant is a series of runners that shoot out these lavender and orange, single blossoms.  The Como Conservatory had these in large grouping of hanging baskets.  They might even look sparse and stringy on their own, but in with the lavender, purple and yellow blooms in the combo, they were the star of the show!

Of course daffodils have always been one of my favorites.  In the yard of our small summer cottage, we were surrounded by massive clumps of daffodils - there were hundreds of them.  They were not the orange and yellow blossom seen here, but were the all yellow King version.  I have often wondered if they are still growing there.

A Springtime Signal

Some day it might be fun travel to Holland and see all of the tulips in bloom.  These beauties are part of the spring planting at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum....

One of the pages I find useful in the Cricut mini books program is pocket/envelope style containers that enclose treasures.  I have used them for tags, receipts, and thumb drives.  Obviously, inside a book the cannot hold the volume of dense materials or stacks and stacks of receipts, tags, etc.  These pages do provide a quick place to hold these type of items, however, and most of the styles in the program have a flap that can be secured.

The envelope page below is a nice size in comparison to the page size of the book,  When the flap is closed, it the page fits inside/below the top ring, but when opened it will extend beyond the top edge of the book.  Each enclosure page, no matter what the style of the book, is designed to fit inside the book when the enclosure flap is closed, be secured in the hole-punch and ring binder system like neighboring pages,  all of the punched holes align (particularly important on multi-fold pages,) and marked in the cutting process to indicate all fold lines.  I have discovered that some of the other Cricut programs, like the 'small packages' cartridge, for example, do no indicate any fold lines.  Mini books is almost foolproof!