Happy Valentine's Day

A very blessed and loving Valentine's Day to you all.


My heart creation goes out with best wishes to you.


See you soon, *smiles* Norma

Success comes from hard work

Many the time I have heard this but I learned it for my self these past few days. I've been struggling and failing badly with my attempt to master a zine that I'm designing from used tea bag paper. One tea bag gives one zine which measures about 1.5" wide by 2" tall and gives 4 pages with a front and back cover. I've pushed through to success and am very proud of myself. Here are 5 zines which constitute my first successful batch. There will be no stopping me now!


So I have two zines which I'll keep for reference, one zine is a gift, and two will likely go up on my etsy shop. I am very pleased to be able to offer these.
Every zine is one of a kind. Every one has a front cover with a hand drawn sketch of something and a title that features numbers of some sort with a word or two to give the feeling of the zine. For example below you see: 36 warning as the title, inside there is a sketch of a bird using india ink with yellow acrylic coloration and gold watercolor highlights and the message is~in darkness, Every moment is an opportunity; 47 of mental shows bamboo drawn in an india ink sketch and inside the sketch is a lotus blossom with the message~'I'd like to be flexible.'
My goal is not to explain poetry but for this blog I'll say that 36 warning is a heads-up to remind one that not only yourself, but others can utilize a moment of their choosing, and 47 of mental can be read as of things mental, or of things of the mind.


Messages are made using cut text from antique books and typewritten messages on the paper from the margins of the same old books. I love my manual typewriter.


45 magic is one I'll keep or give away as a present. Inside shows a sketch of an owl and the message says~if you wish, Your life is your work of art.
IV artist is a gift to an artist who gave a wonderful workshop training session which I attended a few weeks ago. I made this zine as a thank you to the artist. The inside message says~Forever, I am learning to trust my intuition. It also features a drawing of an owl.


So that's what I've been up to these days with my head down cutting and drawing and pasting and mouthing expletives with frustration. It's all good now!

Thanks for dropping by and I look forward to seeing you soon I hope! *smiles* Norma

What is on my workdesk today?

Ironed tea bag paper, india ink, nib mapping pen, rubber stamps and an old book lay on my work surface today waiting to be used to make a zine that I am designing. You can see the zine itself at the bottom of the photo.


The cover of my zine entitled: know [38]


Page 1 showing an owl sketched in india ink.


The center spread (pages 2 and 3) show the message: to go through I listen to my gut feelings


Page 4 and the inside back cover. I sewed a few sequins on to this page. The image is from an Asian stationers stamp. I don't know what it says and so hope I don't offend anyone.


The size of my zine is 1.5 inches wide X 2 inches long (approximately). You can see that tea bag paper likes to bleed. This is part of the visual that is unique in my opinion.

Thanks for dropping by; to see more fabby art from other wonderful players go here.

My favorite things

In the selfish interest of having a chance to win this:


I am playing along with the butterfly effect and answering ten questions about me.

I. What is your favorite flower to bring to your enemy’s grave?
The grave is a place of memories so I'd bring forgetmenots.
II. What is your favorite bird to dress up as if you were in a parade?
Budgie.
III. What is your favorite pet quality you’d like to own?
Cat~the ability to just walk away; Dog~eternal optimism
IV. Which one of your favorite celebrities would you marry if you could?
Michael Caine
V. What is your favorite food to order when your in-laws are paying for the meal?
Something involving booze.
VI. What is your favorite drink to accidentally spill on a person you like?
Water
VII. What is your favorite destination to vacation and/or live if you won a million dollars?
London town
VIII. What is your favorite color to wear to your best friend’s wedding?
Indian yellow
IX. What is your favorite book or/and book character you’d take with you on a lonely island?
I Ching
X. What is your favorite song to sing in the shower?
My Sweet Lord by George Harrison

We are to do something creative as well so this was the excuse to go ahead and try out something I've been planning inside of my head for about a year now. It's a zine/littlebook made from a used tea bag sheet of paper. Here is the cover which features an india ink sketched bird and a quick collage. As tea bag paper is impossibly thin you can see that it bleeds easily and tears even more easily. Both a rip and a bleed come with the territory on this cover. So here is my prototype of my zine which I plan to make for my etsy shop.




Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see you soon. *smiles* Norma

Watercolor Sky

Here's the new cover for the wee bird book I am working on. It began as an idea for a fall themed pumpkin image but turned into a blustery sky scene. All of the pages are now complete so it's just a matter of finishing touches and it's ready to be put together! This has taken a bit of time as I've come up with 'page' designs so it will be easier to make more of these (with different covers of course!).
Have a look at more projects with many different artists. This is a fun weekly event.

Thanks for dropping by! *smiles* Norma

Tiny Bird Book on my workdesk...

On my front lawn (was on my workdesk!) lays a tiny bird book in the process of being made. It's about half complete and so for photographic purposes I inserted the covers for the original prototype that I started making last Christmas. I've only just now got around to it again. Here is a close up of the cover which was 'winter' themed. My new cover will be fall themed I bet.


I joined up to play in a paper swap and it's my first so I'm not completely certain about what I should be making but this will be my contribution as it is made of paper. Here is a photo of the pages loosely stacked along with the front cover of my prototype. I'll do a new watercolor painting for the swap.


Two pages from the actual book I am making.


Two more pages below.


First page with front cover. Notice the tea bag paper being used! I adore tea bag paper.


Front and back cover. The back cover features a cut paper scherenschnitte composition. I may use this actual piece or do a new one.


Well this gives you an idea of what I am working on today and these days. Much more work to go on this project. It'll need a Tim Holtz procedure for sure!

Well thanks for dropping by! *smiles* Norma

To see more fabby artwork and what people are up to go here.