Artful Readers Club - April Read

My book for April was The Brethren by John Grisham published in 2000.

I was totally sucked in to the narrative from the first page and found it difficult to put the book down!  For me, it contained all the elements of an expertly fashioned and totally believable crime story with a political sub-plot. In no way spoiling the plot, the main characters are two ex-high court judges and a disgraced Justice of the Peace who are serving lengthy sentences in a federal prison in Florida.  With the help of a bent lawyer, they place advertisements in a contact magazine and pose as young men wishing to become 'pen pals'  with older men.
At the same time they are busy writing their letters, a country is going to the polls to elect a new President.

A piece of American junk mail arrived fortuitously in the post box this week so I thought a collage would best depict this very enjoyable book.  The fingerprints, letter (written in block capitals), SWM (single white male) and postage stamps with election badges set the scene for a great read.

Thanks for stopping by and I do hope you will check out all the other reviews at Darcy's Art-and-Sole and thank you for your lovely comments.

Last Enchantment Altered Book Page - Dancing Unicorns

These pages are dedicated to the legend of the Moon Dancing unicorns as told by Meredith Ann Pierce in Birth of the Firebringer.  Each month the unicorns gathered at dusk to dance in a Circle under the full, dusky moon.

The unicorns are from Chocolate Baroque stamps and have been stamped in Black Archival Ink and then covered with Glossy Accents and glitter.  The foliage stamps are from Clarity and Lavinia Stamps.  The background has been made by masking and sponging with various Distress Inks.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate them all.

"Last Enchantment" Altered Book Page - Jack Frost

I think we have all seen enough of Jack Frost just lately and he also inhabits the enchanted forest.  As a child I found Jack Frost to be a bit of a scary character and yet, at the same time, very appealing.  The image of Jack is from Google and has been coloured with pencils.  The poem by C.E. Pike is the one most of us are familiar with "Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about!"

I have white gessoed the pages and then sprinkled Stampin Up's Dazzling Diamonds powder on whilst the pages were still wet.  The snow flakes have been stamped with Cobalt Blue Archival Ink.  The images have been attached with Golden Matt Gel and brushed over to seal them.  Snow crystals have been punched out of silver holographic card to add some shine.

Thank you for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment.  I appreciate every one.

Last Enchantment Altered Book Page - The Green Man

The image of the Green Man is a freebie from the very talented artist Jay's blog as drawing this would be way beyond my capabilities.  I have coloured the image with Derwent Inktense pencils and then used a crackle stamp from Sheena Douglass and a border stamp from Clarity Stamps to complete the design.  The poem on the opposite page is suitably creepy and called Green Man in the Garden by Charles Causley and has been coloured with Pan Pastels.  The pages have been coloured with Distress Stains and overstamped with green Archival ink with a flourish stamp from Fiskars.

Thank you for looking and do feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate every one.

"Last Enchantment" Altered Book Page - Fox

This has been a work in progress, altering  "The Last Enchantment" ex-library book for over 12 months now, only working on pages as and when the mood has taken me.  I am almost at the end of my imaginary journey within an enchanted wood.  I have recorded all the animals and fantasy creatures encountered, together with a snippet of information, mainly in the form of poetry, about each one.

This is the first page I have drawn and coloured from scratch.  Usually, I have relied on rubber stamping or print outs for the images. The inspiration for this layout was from a painting by Patrick Latimer, a South African artist.  I was impressed by the simplicity of his fox drawing and felt confident that I could draw one too.  The picture has been coloured with water soluble Caran D'Ache Neo II crayons and blended with a damp brush.  I am very impressed with these crayons, with their ease of use and the rich pigmentation.  Not having to use a wet brush to blend means that the page does not get wet and wrinkled when drying.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment, they are all very much appreciated.

Artful Readers Club - March Read

My March read for the Artful Readers Club over at Art-and-Sole is Small World by David Lodge.

I originally bought this book from a charity stand at our local health centre.  I chose it for the quality of the paper and, because it was a long book, I thought it was ideal for altering!  What I did not appreciate at the time was  by reading it, I was going to be introduced to the world of the professional literary academic conference goer and all their 'sad' little lives.

Small World is a satirical look at the pomposity and egocentric world of  professional jet-setting literary  academics who spend most of their working lives either delivering their high brow literary criticisms to their peers or being part of the vast audience of conference goers.  Their world is indeed small in more ways than one.  Attending conferences all over the world, usually meeting up with the same crowd of people at every venue, professional jealousy and marital infidelity are high on the agenda.  Small World was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1984 and serialized for TV by Granada.

I enjoyed reading about Professors Morris Zapp and  Phillip Swallow but my favourite character was
Persse McGarrigle MA. University College, Limerick.  I painted him in watercolours.

He saw a white, round, freckled face, snub nose, pale blue eyes, and a mop of red curly hair. "I wouldn't say you were handsome, exactly," he murmured, "But I've seen uglier mugs."

Thanks for stopping by and I do hope you will pop over to Art-and-Sole and see all the other book reviews and wonderful artwork.

Finished At Last!

Last year I had the pleasure of taking part in the lovely Darcy's Postcard Challenge .  It was a big  commitment  for me as it required me doing something regularly EVERY week (something I usually try to avoid!).  After 52 postcards and 52 double page book spreads and making up a story, I completed the challenge.  Phew!

Two same sized hardback books bought at charity shops were used to make the weekly double page spreads.  When completed, the books were glued together with Ranger Glossy Accents.  Despite removing about a third of each book to allow for inserts etc.  I have still ended up with a huge volume. With hindsight, I should have removed about a half of each book for it to close without gaping.  I have, however, found a snap together  belt that keeps it shut quite nicely.

The two glued together books were covered in some stiff handmade paper.  This was a long and difficult job and required lots of glue and bulldog clips and couldn't be rushed. I then covered the inside of the covers with more thick paper to tidy up the edges.

The title plaque was cut from chipboard using a Tim Holtz die and the letters from his Inside Out border die. The plaque was painted in antique gold acrylic paint and the letters cut in two colours.  I used Crackle Accents on the letters and around the edge of the plaque to add interest. Some of the colour from the card used for the letters has bled into the Crackle Accents but I think it adds to the interest.

This is one of the introduction pages, made in Craft Artist.  I was delighted to recently discover the All Aboard! range of washi tape from Papermania.  These have been used with gay abandon all around the edges of some of the scruffier pages to tidy them up. I love washi tape!
The globe in a frame on the cover of the book is also by Papermania from their Chronology range and was a free stamp with their Creative magazine.

I have learned a lot from taking part in this  Postcard Challenge.  I can now use Craft Artist2 in a reasonably competent way and have had a dabble at altering books.  Best of all, I have actually COMPLETED SOMETHING!!!

Thank you for visiting.  Your comments are most appreciated.