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!!

Embellishments 2

I think that taking a strip of fabric, and adding sewn buttons, bits of other fabrics and safety pins is a neat way to add texture and interest to a piece. Also a fun and unexpected addition could be a watch face with the gears and arrows of Tim Holtz bits. Putting that on lace just makes it interesting! This vintage orange velvet corsage is attached to a tiny doily piece. I tied long threads to it to hang down like a ribbon from the corsage.
The fridge is fixed! The repairman found the problem (bad capacitor, relay and overload parts) right away and had it running again in a matter of minutes. And he even had the repair parts on his truck! Can you imagine that??!! I lost most of the items in the freezer. However, the entire fridge is now clean inside and the food that couldn't be salvaged is gone. Feels like new!

Having fun!

Since I signed up for the collage camp with KC Willis, I have been scouring my stash as well as many thrift and craft stores. My friend, Joy, and I spent last Friday going all over the East Valley. Stopped at Hobby Lobby, Michael's and Goodwill.

The background piece I found at Merchant Square just this week. Look how it fringes! Love that. And the pattern is tiny roses that are burgundy and pink. And it is soft! I think it has already been washed. The piece of black fabric is velvet that has a pattern on it. There is a name for that, but I can't think of it now (embossed velvet??). That is all I have of this velvet. Drat! It really is a pretty piece. Discovered that and the ticking in my stash. The ticking is a very small piece, too! Another drat because I love the color. And coffee stained it will be great!

Kim, Kim, Kim!!!! Thanks ever so much for this grand fan!! I absolutely love it! I hope that this weekend I will be able to scour Mesa to see if I can come across more of this good stuff! You have much better luck than I do!

The fan rests against the wire dress form on a cedar chest that my dad made when he was in high school. The dress form has a vintage lace collar, a vintage corsage (pink rose, of course!), pearls and a light pink ribbon tied in a bow. I love this! Thanks, Kim!!!