Working Inch by Inch

Most of what I've been working on lately is for swaps, and I don't want to post here until all my projects have found their way to their new homes. One thing I have been working on are inchies, strangely addictive, tiny works of art. The only rule is that they have to be an inch by an inch. These are a few nights worth of inchie work:

The first row are my very first, which I started a couple weeks ago but couldn't figure out how to finish. I finally added the borders around the letters and called them done. I love the lady on the end (a rubber stamp, along with the lock and all the letters) because she looks so mischievous. I definitely think she's got a secret. The second row is a zentangle that I cut down into inchies (one is missing, it's finding a new home along with some puzzle pieces). The third row are all cut out from a Russian picture dictionary, I think my favorite is the toilet (sorry for the glare, I'm not steady enough to not use the flash) or the bicycle. The last row are just some random ones I thought up, I love the button and lace and the candles. I think these will end up in my journal if they don't get swapped.

For those of you who are curious, I took some in progress shots as well.

These are some bases I cut out, some from a cracker box, some covered in scrapbook or wrapping paper, and some I made a whole set of with blow pens and a sheet of card-stock.

These are bases waiting to be cut down, the blue and yellow, blue and orange, and purple and orange are acrylic on card-stock, and the other two are tissue paper on card-stock. The blue tissue paper is going to turn into an ocean, I know there will be a jellyfish.

And here they are all cut down and ready to be embellished!

Ghosts of Projects Past: Altered Book

This isn't really a past project, since it is definitely still a work in progress. I've really been getting into paper crafts lately, and scrapbooking isn't really my thing. I'd like to keep a journal, but I'm just not good at writing every day (though I have found a system that works for me. I still don't write as much as I'd like to but I'm getting better). Then I discovered the altered book or journal. It was a bit scary at first. Being a loyal Barnes & Noble employee for five years and book lover, the idea of cutting, pasting, painting, and coloring pages of an actual book seemed ludicrous! But the projects I was seeing were so amazing, I decided to buy a book at Goodwill for 79 cents that I would never read (an old children's library book called New Amsterdam Days and Ways, some good illustrations, and the old library checkout log still taped in the front. It called to me) and give it a try. Now I'm cutting pages out of Goodwill books like there's no tomorrow. Here's my title page, the first of the finished pages you come across in my book:

The weekly theme when I started (I've joined an altered book craft-along on Craftster) was birds, and peacocks are one of my favorites. This is the first page I did in my book:

Next I started on a series of rainbow pages. I haven't finished yet, but here's what I have so far.

What's inside the envelope, you may be wondering. Why, it's a love letter!

The next theme I picked off the list was carnival and hands. I came up with this spread:

Who's that behind the curtain?

And the full fortune teller spread:

Eventually the other side will have a dancing girl behind the door, I just haven't had the proper inspiration to do her justice yet.

My last finished (almost) spread is black and white themed. I'd been collecting objects with one in mind, and I finally felt that I had the finished idea in my head. It's also my first try at a zentangle or in my case a zendala.

The images are from a children's literature anthology, they are by Maurice Sendak, one of my favorites. You may spot these in other pages that I post in the future. I'd like to find a quote to put under the zendala, but I haven't found the right one yet.

I'll continue to post pages as I finish them. I haven't been giving my book as much attention as I would like to lately, but with rainy, autumn weather ahead I'm planning to spend some cozy evenings with a cup of hot chocolate and my book (and scissors, paste, paints, and crayons of course).