More Stuff

Yummy! Look what came in the mail today; Sinopia dry pigments for encaustic. They are so beautiful lined up on the shelf next to my wax area. I just had to share.

And another journal page. That too.

I was inspired yesterday to shoot several pictures along the Willamette River. I drive this route every time I go to town and it is full of great old buildings. This abandoned Marina was flooded out when the Willamette breached it banks a few years back. It occurs to me that much of what exists along this old stretch of highway is disappearing.

A few days ago I promised you a tutorial on making a journal out of used grocery bags which I think are a great material to recycle. Well, here we go. First you carefully open the seams of the grocery bags. (or you can just rip them open like I did)

Tear them to size. My size was 10" x 15 1/2 ". They'll be folded in half. I got 3 sheets that size out of each bag so it took 6 bags to make the journal.

Next I soaked each sheet in water and squeezed it out. Then I hung the sheets on a rod in my studio to dry.

Next I ironed out each sheet with a little spray and my iron.

Here are all the sheets folded and stacked into 3 signatures of 6 each.

After sewing the signatures in a coptic stitch (there are many tutorials on that online. Just google "coptic stitch" and choose one) ---

I cut a sheet of tarleton (use whatever you have. Fabric, cheesecloth - I happen to have tarleton because I'm a printmaker but I would have used anything else that presented itself equally) - anyhow, cut a piece of something and get a sheet of cardboard to fashion a spine so you'll know which end of the book is which.

Here is the spine cut out. Dont measure. This isn't that kind of a book.

Slather gel this way and that until the spine is roughly in the spinal area and the fabric is glued to the cover.

Let it dry. It's gonna be a wet puppy.

Ta Da! You now have a floppy, friendly, fabulous book in which to gather up all your ideas and flotsam. Throw it in your purse, let your friends draw in it, do anything but treat it like it's a big deal. This journal is just for sloppiness. (come to the wild side!!)

Another shot of 99E looking south toward the motel that has never been open in the 10 years I've lived here. We refer to it as the Bates Motel and joke that the government uses it as a witness relocation house. You never see anyone outside but the roses are always pruned. Very straaaaange.

Ciao!