The Album from Judy's workshop

The main thing we got done in Judy Wilkenfeld's workshop was construction of the entire album and getting that finished.  That took two of the three days in the workshop.  We did the cover first, then the inside pages.  While glue dried, and others caught up, we learned many techniques on how to age photos, fabric, paper, brass findings, etc.  Judy is full of ideas and techniques for putting together an album that is truly a work of art -- a family keepsake, if you wish.

On Friday, we did the album cover, start to finish.  This is the finished album cover.  We constructed it from scratch, the entire album from book board, book cloth, mull, foam, (I used) dark brown velvet, special papers and lots of glue.  Judy taught us how to age the brass findings that you see on the cover here.

We constructed the signatures (2) that went inside the book using the special papers, book cloth and book board.  The signatures were then bound to the large spine of the book using waxed linen and a simple pamphlet stitch.  Lots of space was left for the addition of pictures, fabrics, metal pieces, etc.

Here you can see the special papers from my stash that I used to cover the pages and the inside of the covers.  We aged them, scruffed the edges and did some stitching, too, to make the page look old.

Here you can see the aging of photos.  It is possible to use inks to age the photo leaving the faces highlighted.  Wonderful technique!  The edges of the photos are bound with copper tape that has been aged using Novacan.  Great stuff for aging metals.  The piece of fabric on the right was aged using walnut ink sprayed on it then quick-dried with a heat gun which melted the edges of the fabric containing the polyester fibers.

As you can see, I am not done.  I wanted to gather more items I had here at home to finish the inside pages.  You just can't take it all with you when you do a workshop.  Pity!!

Flowers and rayon seam binding

Just wanted to share a couple of things with you today.  Coffee dyed and walnut inked flowers and how to crinkle up rayon seam binding.

First of all, here are the flowers. 

The one on the left is the original flower shape and color.  I took these flowers off of an old basket purse found at a yard sale several years ago.  After spending last weekend with Judy Wilkenfeld and KC Willis (fab weekend -- more on that later!), I am back into coffee dyeing and using walnut ink to dye things.  The middle flower is coffee dyed.  The flower on the right was wet with coffee and then I sprayed walnut ink onto it before it dried.

Each petal set was separated and placed on a plate to air dry.  You can see the uneven dyeing effect on the flowers.  Some petals have off white tips and other petals have dark tips.  I love the effect!  I plan to use them to make pretty pins or to decorate upcoming projects.

Next up is crinkled rayon ribbon.  I love the look but really didn't know the "secret" for getting the ribbon crinkled.  I tried ironing it, but didn't like the pressed look.  While at Art Unraveled two weeks ago, I met Lesley Venable (whom I liked immediately!) and quizzed her on how she crinkled her rayon ribbons.  She was gracious enough to share that with me.

These are from vintage rolls of rayon seam binding or ribbon.  I love the softness of the old rayon binding.  I crinkled these by spritzing them with water, scrunching them up, squeezing them and twisting them tight.  Then I packed each piece in a plastic baggie, squeezing out the extra air and rolling the bag and left them overnight.  The next day I unwrapped the ribbons, and fluffed them on a plate to continue to air dry.  And the crinkles are great!

Got to show you the white rayon seam binding up close.  It started out white.  But I saw my empty coffee pot sitting on the counter with just a little (really little!) bit of coffee left in it.  So I took the damp white ribbon and wiped the coffee pot clean inside and proceeded with the above instructions.  Look at what happened on the edges of the ribbon!

It looks really old!  I was so happy with this happy experiment!  Am going to do more!

An upcoming workshop

Last year I had read and heard about a workshop that Dede Warren was hosting by mixed media artist, Judy Wilkenfeld.  After reading about the wonderful workshop and seeing pictures of Judy's book as well as some of the artwork by those who took the class, I was upset with myself for not going.  Dede had encouraged me to take it but I didn't.  Various reasons.  Not important now.  Put it on the "bucket list."

So, when I discovered that Judy was coming to teach in the USA again, I decided I would go if she was anywhere close.  Then I found out that KC Willis is hosting Judy's workshop in August at her studio!  Could I be any more excited about that??  Judy Wilkenfeld at KC's studio?!!!  Well, I signed up and will be heading to Colorado in mid-August to take the workshop.  Here is a glimpse of the piece Judy sent to KC as a class sample.

"Just in Case"

Artwork  and photo by Judy Wilkenfeld

I can't wait to learn the techniques for creating a book as wonderful as this!  I have already spent time gathering the class supplies, still have more to do.  More metal, more pictures, more doodads.

I think there are still a few openings in this workshop.  More information can be found here.

Books to alter

While doing some thrift store shopping late last week, I came across these old books. They were not priced. I had to wait until earlier this week to find out how much they wanted for either individual books or the whole set. They are all printed in German -- that lovely German font. They date from the late 1860's through the late 1890's. As you can see, they are in very poor shape. Most of the covers are loose or not attached to the spine anymore.This picture shows the covers as well as the inside. The book on the bottom right is the only one that has the mottled cover. The rest all have the same cover as the one on the bottom left. I think they are connected to the Lutheran church -- missals or some kind of teaching tool. I don't know. Can't read German and the thrift shop employees didn't know either.

Most look like this one with the browned edges and spots. A couple of the books are still in their original condition -- white pages with no stains or foxing.

This is the inside of the book with the mottled cover. As you can see, it is not in very good condition. Due their age and condition, they are not worth anything. I see altered book projects.

I see a reliquary of some kind. I have wanted to do an altered book that has a niche cut out of the pages where sacred artifacts/relics could be placed. That is a reliquary. Look it up. And, check out Judy Wilkenfeld's blog, Visual Anthologies. I am sorry now that I didn't have the money to attend one of her workshops earlier this year that Dede Warren hosted. Should have gone. Won't miss that again if Judy returns to the US.