Gelli plate Art Journal Pages

Some time ago I bought a Gelli plate and spent a couple of nights experimenting. Let me tell you, it is very addictive. All that resulted in so many sheets of pattern papers and then I had to force myself to stop from adding more chaos to my art stuff. So, then I started thinking of ways to use the pattern papers and of course some of them went straight into my art journal pages. These are a few of them.

I love this page as, when I started it I had no idea about how I wanted it to turn out. You can see the gelli plate prints peeping out through the other layers on both the sides of the page. I did that watercolor flowers last year and decided to use it here. One of my handmade stamp prints can also be seen among the layers of paint. I finished it off with random words and numbers that came to my mind.   

 This is another gelli plate print that I glued to my journal. Waiting for my heart to speak and then create some loveliness here:) 

  Yet another page. This is actually three different pattern papers. I tried to create the leaf impression in two ways. Love this but you know what, I don't consider it to be complete; for me a page evolves only within a long period of time. So I'm waiting for that spark within me to come and complete it in the way I want.[I might even end it up with a quote]

Ok, now for another girl that I created. I transformed one of the canvases and added a lot of texture to it as the background. But my girl didn't turn out well. She went through a lot of  painting stages with me and I guess I just spoiled her. Still I wanted to post her here as we were together in it for many hours. I will slowly recreate this canvas but for now this is what it is.

 

Finally, a handmade book that I did yesterday night. I need to practice sketching faces and wanted a sketchbook for that. I found an awesome tutorial here, for coptic stitch binding.

It has been a long long time since I've taken my book binding supplies and was happy to learn a new binding technique.Didn't come out perfect but the book is strong and I can use it for my requirement. 

Hopefully,.this book will appear on my blog with many 'wonderful' faces.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful and creative weekend. Thank you for all the comments and support you give me. Sometimes when I feel that my art is not good enough, just reading these kind words  help me to rise up  and create more.

SusaN   
Linking this page to PPF and Art Journal Everyday

Handmade...

Do you try to stick on to one kind of art? I am just not able to pursue a single one. It varies according to my changing moods. Last week I was totally into making books and I made these three.

This one is made of recycled cardboard and sketchpaper. It has three signatures with a total of thirty pages.

This one also has three signatures made with white and black cardstock.

 

This book has pattern paper and sketch paper. All the covers' spines have been done using strong thick tape. 

I need more practice with sewing and making the covers. I am planning to do more of these in the coming weeks. I am also making some books using binding rings. Once I complete them I will post them here-:)

During the weekend I got busy with something else. I tried out some handmade stamps. Will showcase them here soon.

Thank you so much for all your encouraging comments. It means a lot to me.
SusaN

Learning a new art

Last week, I've been making these: Yes, I mean these, my very first handmade books, Yayyy!

I've been wanting to do this for so many months and signed up for this awesome bookbinding cum journaling class called the Full Tilt Boogie with the very talented Mary Ann Moss of  http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/.

As I made this one for my own use I made some modifications in making the cover page. But I'm soo happy with the result. The two small books were made as practice books, one for me and one for my son-:). I then made the big one using watercolor paper and sketching paper. It has six signatures in total. It lacks perfection in many ways but of course you cannot expect perfection in handmade goods-:) I'm sure I'll improve as I create more and I plan to make many more of these. The covers are also my own watercolor experiments. The little blue and red colored cover is my son's art work and it's his sketchbook.

I've already started using my Big book. One of my finished pages and some yet to finish ones.

As for the Full Tilt Boogie class I've to cover so much more. This is only one of the methods and I'm yet to explore the rest.
If you're looking for a bookbinding class, I highly recommend Mary Ann's class. I've not gone through the entire lessons, there are tons and tons of videos for each week (it is a 4 week class)  but I've really liked the first week's videos; she explains the steps in a very simple and clear way and the best thing is that you can do the lessons at your own pace. Once you sign up, you can access it 24/7.

I enjoyed making my book so much and love it even with all its flaws.
Thank you for visiting.
SusaN