Sunday 26 February 2012

The Altered Book Continues

Sunday is always a disjointed day for us. I always start Sunday morning with a chat on the phone to my Mum. That's been tricky of late as I've been away at weekends recently, so it was lovely to talk to her for more than five minutes. Spent a couple of hours in my studio followed by lunch. Mundane stuff like sorting the laundry and preparing a meal for tonight always takes a chunk out of your day. We always visit Mark's Mum on Sunday afternoon too and once Missie Meg the dog has had a nice walk, I can start to feel that I can do whatever I want with the rest of the day....trouble is, by the time you've done all this, there's not much of the day left so I decided to do a little bit of work on one of my "WIP" projects.

 It's painted with Fresco Finish paint and many, many layers of stencilling. I purchased a few Lavinia stamps at the Stevenage show recently and have been itching to try them out so I used the rose hip one today (well, I think they are rose hips!).



The very first altered book I made, had a zip in it and it was a feature that I absolutely loved and I knew that I wanted to put one in this book. I found it quite tricky though deciding what size zip to put in. You would think that an easy decision wouldn't you?????  Wrong!!! I had it in my head that I would have a zip the full height of the page. Only problem was that the little zippy tag thingy didn't sit well at the tippy top of my page so plan B came into play.....shorter zip. Problem with this is that you end up with a gap between the pages, above the zip which I didn't like at all. So after much faffing around, a solution was found, not sure that I love the solution but it looks better than the gap. I simply added a black flap behind the gap.....I'll liuve with it for a few days....if I hate it, I'll try something else.

Not sure how good my pictures are, hope you can see all the layers.
So that's what kept me out of trouble for a while today. Hope your weekend was a creative one.
Lin

17 comments:

Helen said...

What beauty! Love the idea of the zip...
I am nervously watch8ing Liverpool in the Carling Cup Final - can't keep still, hence checking blogs! Have been inky, hope to finish it later...when I can concentrate again...

Deborah said...

Utterly gorgeous! I think they are poppy seed heads, not rosehips, though.

JoFY said...

love love love!!! & i agree with deborah - they're poppy heads... i've got it somewhere (and a thistle head) & you've reminded me how gorgeous those stamps are.
:o)
& the zipper idea is a little bit genius!

:o)

Kirsten Alicia said...

Definitely poppy seed heads & they're lovely. This is a great page, the zip was a fab idea & I love all the different stencilling.

Unknown said...

Great book and I love the zip idea. Glad to see you are having so much crafty fun now that you've semi retired!

Debz
x

flutterbycrafter said...

Stunning and the zip idea is fab

Cath Wilson said...

Glorious spring stamping, Lin - beautiful colours and love all those luscious layers. Zips are awkward, aren't they, but it looks superb x

Hilda said...

Absolutely love this Lin, the colours and layers are simply fabulous and the zip looks fine to me. You have reminded me also that I have some Lavinia stamps, must dig them out and have a dabble.

PS definitely Poppy Seed heads!

Unknown said...

absolutely fantabulous,such inspiration,wish I could come up with such great ideas,letalone put them in practice...ah well will just have to drool
Mikki B

Unknown said...

You can definitely see all the layers ... Beautiful ... And the zip ... That is pure genius x

Lin said...

my my my this is just gorgeous...can't wait to see the next bit so don't be a stranger....the zip is fantastic!!!

Trish said...

Truly stunning!! I love it!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous project Lin, the depth you've achieved with your layers of stencilling is just amazing. Sue C x

Lindart said...

Gorgeous pages Lin! I love the colors, the layers, it absolutely glows! I also love the interactive aspect of this page. Well done!

Anonymous said...

Love blue and i love stencilling and when you combine them it is just gorgeous.
Margriet

judith@poppy cottage said...

Love the colours, the layering and the stencilling. I think they are poppy heads too. Poppies are my favourite flower. You have used some of my favourite stencils in there. Fabulous pages, it's lovely to see you enjoying yourself, and making stuff that you are creating for you.
The zip is a great addition, so clever.

Judith xx

Karen R said...

Love the zip idea, you have inspired me to have a go at an altered book just got to keep my eye out in the charity shops for the right one.