NEW BLOG LOCATION

Hey ya'll!!! I have relocated the blog to my website. Please join me there. 

I will not longer update this space as of August 26, 2013. For 

information about the Book-in-a-Day series and about my online 

courses, give-a-ways, and other creative happenings, please join me at 

the new blog!!!

See you there!!!!

Common Sense: Book-in-a-Day 16

Title: Common Sense
Structure: One page book / Snake Structure
Dimensions: 5 x 5 closed
Video of my process 

It really feels like I'm so behind in everything this month. It's a month filled with great things happening, but it keeps me from being able to keep up with it all. So this book almost didn't happen. It got me thinking about what I might do if I missed a week. I think I'd be tremendously bummed and it might impact how I went forward. Luckily, that did not happen and so here I am with book 16. 

Each week, I have to reorder my list of top five BIAD books. It seems like I like the books more and more as I create them. So, to date, my top five are: 

• Book 4: Urbanite (accordion with pockets)
• Book 15: 15 (the blank art journal)
• Book 10: 20 Ways of Talking to Your Poem (Fan Book)
• Book 12: Game On (Domino Book) 
• Book 16: Common Sense (Snake Book)

This week's book, Common Sense uses a great structure with unexpected twists and turns. I love this structure, but had never made it using a painted page. The Fabriano watercolor paper I used really adds a layer of quality that I love. It gives it a thickness that alleviates the need for hard covers on the book. I think all the layers of gesso and acrylic paint help with that as well. 

The text for the book comes from a collaborative poem written by me, my husband, Damon, and my two nephews, Cameron and Treavor. We were eating a meal at some restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida during the summer of 2009 (actually I think it was in 2007 or 2008), and we decided to do an exquisite corpse poem (each person writes a stanza using the last line of the previous person's stanza). I was happy to come across the poem because it really does fit the background and color palette I used. I love it when that happens organically. 

I needed this book to be easy and it was. It's one of the easiest structures I know how to make. The one page painted paper had some amazing textures and colors that really add to the narrative of the poem. I'm happy about that. 

Two things I wish I had done differently with this book:

1. The title -- Common Sense is okay, but I think if I had thought about it a little more, I might have called it Freedom Thinkers. That's a repeated phrase in the poem and I really like it.
2. The text strips -- I used printed text strips for the poem and I'm okay with that, but I didn't really try to get them on straight or even and so some of them are a little wonky. Of course, this adds to the handmade quality of the book, but I can see it so clearly and it bugs me a little to know that I could have done a lot better with that part of it. But I'm also trying to embrace the imperfection in my art (that's the quote from book 12). 

I realized today that this week, I'll be on the road again Thursday and Friday. That means I'm either doing the book on Wednesday or Saturday or maybe even Sunday again. I know that there are at least two weeks in the summer where I will be away for an entire week, which means the book will have to be made away from home -- that should be fun :-). So if I can avoid making the book away from home, I will, until I can't avoid it.

I'm looking forward to what this week brings. Stay tuned! If you're watching the videos, I'm honored! If you're making the books, I'm intrigued, so please share here or on the Giving Hands Creative Community site.  

15: A Canvas Covered Art Journal: Book-in-a-Day 15

Title: 15
Structure: Canvas Covered Art Journal
Dimensions: 6 1/2 x 9
21 blank pages
Video of my process

Immediately after this book was done, I was on to making another just like it. That's how much I loved the final product. The feel of the canvas around the watercolor papers had me eager to start journaling with paints and inks and gesso. 

If you watch the video, you'll hear me talk about the book that inspired this week's book. One of the members of the Giving Hands Creative Community, Lorrie, made a beautiful hand bound art journal for the current art journal swap. I was so enamored by it that I wanted to make my own. She used a pair of old khaki pants to make her cover. I used raw canvas. The results were amazingly similar. 

My plan for this blank book is to take a class with one of my favorite art journal teachers and fill the book with goodness. OR to simply make a new page each week. Maybe I'll even video that process too. :-) 

I'll be making a lot more of these. I really enjoyed it. I think I'll even teach a live workshop where I teach this process to others and we make art journal pages in one day. Sound fun???

I'm looking forward to next week, as always. Stay tuned! If you're watching the videos, I'm honored! If you're making the books, I'm intrigued, so please share here or on the Giving Hands Creative Community site. 

NaPoWriMo Poem 10

Erotic Bake Sale One Liners

once it is lined
with parchment
boil
combine
date

brandy
coffee
cocoa

let cool
occasionally press
wrap directly
reserve

dark-brown sugar
one at a time

alternating with the date
transfer to prepare
smooth top

inserted into center
comes out clean
let cool

run around edge of rack
turn right side up
let cool

glaze
light brown sugar
let cool

assemble trim
place on stand
spread date over top

drip down sides
remove the pit
make a short slit
use the tip
coax the pit

let
cool

Prompt: use a recipe to create a found poem

NaPoWriMo Poem 9

consumerism

without a receipt
product availability within
the last 90 days

identification will be required
discontinued or redeemable for cash

return tender
limit or decline
corporate issued check

not satisfied with your purchase?
merchandise exchange
full refund
clearance

we reserve the right to...


Prompt: look on the back of a receipt and read the return policy. Use the language from there to write a poem.

NaPoWriMo Poem 8

bento box

choose any two

rock & roll
curry avocado
alaskan yam
mixed ribs

choose any two

soy beans
seaweed pot sticker
diced egg rolls
poke sauce

choose two

deep fried salad
soda juice
hot & spicy beer

choose two

imported cheese ice cream
chocolate cheese
green cheese with tea

Prompt: create a poem using a menu of your choice

NaPoWriMo Poem 7

21 degrees

you are starting to see
the plan of the universe,
cardinal signs define direction,
points on the compass
sweep cobwebs from your life,
delete the people who are not supportive,
shape a new life

full moon lit
new revelations and shifts
an area of influence

turn your attention to your living
your physical space;
planets are heading to your fourth house
heavenly bodies will be in place,

entertain others
the new moon
rapid moving fire
followed by the Sun

keep your guard up
like pearls on a necklace.
a shimmering beam is positive.

an earth sign for your life.

Prompt: find your horoscope for today and write a poem using the language/text from it. I'm using the one for Capricorn over at http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/monthly/capricorn.php