{constant new beginnings; book art; and what's to come}

a state of becoming

If you follow me on Facebook, you've probably seen this image, but I just love it so so much!

Thank you ALL for the wonderful messages, emails, and comments! My holidays were spent mostly serving coffee and playing with my new Yudu machine! The above collage has words screen-printed over it. The thing is just TOO MUCH FUN, and I've printed all over the place. In fact, I'm writing this between images going on a tote I plan to embellish with buttons.

The whole process has really taught me to slow down. Getting the machine, I wanted to play with it right away, but learning to get the emulsion on right is a trying process, and by rushing, I ruined my first sheet. And then, what to print?

I knew I wanted my own art screen-printed. After playing around with the above ink words, I worked on transitioning a few pieces of my own into stencils.

LET ME TELL YOU: it was hard. YOU try taking a watercolor image and making it into a stencil! Three hours or work, and then I GOT IT. I can now take illustrations and make them ready to print very quickly now!

But that's not the only thing I've been working on. Say hello to the Wish journal.

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She came to me in a dream, and I finally made her real. The cover is a test print for my current screen on muslin, covered in vinyl. The binding is crocheted. And inside?

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Magic!

I love her so. Sixteen pages of pre-collaged pages to work off of, a fun binding, a protected cover, and imperfection. I consider her my first real piece of book art. The first journal I've made for the sake of making a journal and not the mean to which I will create something inside.

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And she only takes an hour to make! Perfect for a workshop (hint hint!).

I'm working on some other projects here behind the scenes, including a year-long one with my darling friend Roben-Marie that will premiere on January 15th.

And I'm so happy so many of you are enjoying my interview piece in Art Journaling! It's such a hoot to hear about others reading about me in a magazine. And the whole process earned me a new art friend. I have yet to go take dorky pictures in my local bookstore, but you'll be the first to see them, I'm sure!

Until then, keep creating! I'll be back tomorrow with some more artsy adventures!