Well we had such a bad year last year that i’m glad its all behind us now and we can move onwards and upwards

So here we go !!

I’ve been taking on board Ruths challenge and thoroughly enjoying myself but doing something a bit different.  I have been crafting ever since i can remember and always love having something on the go, ever since i found felting i really did fall in love and still am but i have this mental block with it and cant seem to get my act together to make something that i really like.  So i’m having a little break from actual felting and moving on to something else for a while, i’ll still be incorporating fibre and felt into things but i think its best if i stop trying and wait till it wants to come naturally lol

So having said that and as much as i love crafting i’ve never been into Altered books, with Ruths challenge i wanted something that i could do in small or large doses  and include lots of mixed media, i.e  fibres , silks ,beads ect, There are some beautiful Altered books out there but i havent found anything like what i’m doing so i can honestly say these are coming from my head, good or bad lol  And about 20 years ago i used to make something similar to these and sell them at a market stall, by the masses lol    i thought i’d give them another go but add lots more of what i’m doing now into them.   I had a stack of note books ready to make covers for and  i’m turning them into my  little motivational altered books, yes they are a bit different but  i’m having a great time.

Here are a few  i’m playing with, i’m still not sure if there quite finished but i’m showing you anyway.  They start of course with a note book !  then  paverpoled, painted and lots added , they take about 2-3 days to make one with all the added embellishments, paint ect, and lots of drying time so its been fun to get a sort of production line going, and its keeping me entertained.

These first couple have  adding beads, silk threads, sari silk ribbon, angelina, felt and touched over with shiva sticks , i made flowers from some light weight material and added them in and a few words of inspiration. I hope you dont mind all the pics, there quite hard to photograph so you can see properly !

Silk Paper back, in hindsight  i shouldnt have used the silk paper on the back as your not going to be able to see it much unless you pick up the book, but i really like how the silk came out hardened.

This next one ( i do have 6 on the go ) lol  i wanted to try some tyvek on the back and melt it down,  when i put the first layer on i had to use glue to hold it and when i hit it with the heat gun it just would not melt at all, so i added another layer straight over the top and used heat to fuse it together, it worked then but i learnt that once tyvek has glue on it will only melt the tiniest little bit.   This first pic is after glueing and i forgot to take a pic before i added more tyvek and sprayed

But it gave a  huge amount of texture and its now black, the gold was just way to much for me !!

Plain black first to the front

Then the added tyvek and paint

i also discovered that i can use the tyvek to make a lace work ( of sorts ) i think it would be great for making cobwebs.

I might have gone a bit overboard with the lace on this one, but everyone here likes it best lol

So this is what i’ve been up to and i definitely feel back in my comfort zone, The next one has more felt and fibres, angelina and beads but its not finished yet. I love the fact that as there all done in stages i can have quite a few going at once.

What do you think, i’d appreciate any feedback on these, but remember its only the first few, i’ll improve as i go along lol  And Thankyou Ruth if it wasnt for your challenge i’d still be scratching my head over some felting 🙂