Summer of Altered Books

I mentioned many months ago that a group of artistic and crafty friends were getting together to "improve" some old books.  I am happy to report that the plan worked - mostly... and the love of altering books has stuck!  Our final swap was just last week (or was it two weeks ago? - I cannot be expected to remember, my brain is full!) and I can now post pictures of the books I worked in - that is those books I remembered to photograph before handing off to the next artist in the swap. 

 The following pages are from Dawn's book, entitled "Dinner in Paris."  Now, I love Paris, but artists were instructed to take a journey, to explore the world, and to stop for a snack along the way.  In this book I travelled to Alaska, where I enjoyed a lovely meal of the Baked Alaska (the recipe is the red, pearl lined paper tucked behind the eskimos).

Enjoy the fresh, icy air, some skating and snow carving, or perhaps watch a dog sled race...

Just be ready to move cuz I am yelling "Mush!"

I have no idea why blogger insists on making all of my photos sideways, but alas, I cannot figure out how to change these settings - if anyone knows what I am doing wrong, HELP PLEASE!

I seem to have misplaced the digital files for the other books I have worked in... I will be on a search and return later with updates.

~Peace!

It's been much too long...

It has been much too long since I have updated my blog.  It is an unfortunate situation, but as November approaches, and NaNoWrimo begins, I hope to update my blog daily with art, writing, and life... I am not entirely sure how I got roped into doing NaNoWrimo - but apparently all of the "cool" kids do it, and I want to be "cool"... or something. 

Anyways, NaNoWrimo looks pretty exciting, and it is an excuse to write that book I have been wanting to write about my life... hmmm.... and with a 40 page capstone paper to insert randomly in the middle of my "novel", 40,000 words shouldn't be that hard to accomplish.

Ah, randomness, the story of my life.

I'm the (friend of) the Bride

New art to be shared!

It's not entirely new, just new-ish.  A friend of mine was semi-recently married, and I presented her with this shirt at her bachelorette party... "I'm the Bride - can I get your number?"

A Board, Some Stuff, and Me

So, a while back a friend of mine had this crazy idea to paint words onto a Scrabble board.  Good words, things she wanted to remember, and I wanted to do the same, although I was lacking in a Scrabble board for myself.  So, copycat that I am, I found an old game of Balderdash (one of my favourites, although the board is really quite pointless), and have beautified it somewhat.  Below are some pictures of the board (start, progress, and finished); explanations will follow later, because it's getting late and I really should have been in bed an hour ago... But what can I say?  I'm practising for those all-nighters that are bound to happen once September rolls around again...

Anyways, enjoy the pictures!

In the Beginning, there was a board of the Balderdash variety...

My camera refuses to rotate this photo, so here is the board once I started painting...  I improved the colours of the pathway, added my name, and some 3D shoes and filled in the paint bucket with more beautiful colours...

A closer look at the left side reveals:

And zooming in on the right side we see:

Again, my computer and camera are working against me and refusing to accept the orientation of this photo, but if you tilt your head dramatically to the left you can see the finished Balderdash Board: The Bluffing Game of Life!

Zooming in to look at the left side we have:

~ Faith, Hope, and Love - Three of the most important elements in a happy life.

* Sunshine - because the world would be dark and scary without Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun...

~ and, a Pocket of Art Cards.  Now, these cards all represent some aspect of my life (and are featured up close nearer the bottom of this post...)

The trees in the centre of the board also bring a special meaning to the board of life.  The other evening I was having a lovely campfire in my backyard with the young adults group from my church.  We roasted hot dogs, toasted (and burned) marshmallows for s'mores, became addicted pyromaniacs, and had a Bible study.  We looked at the Supremacy of Christ passage in Paul's letter to the Colossians, more specifically how that passage reminds us of the power of the cross and our need to focus on Jesus, and I got thinking...  It's easy to say that we want to remain focused on Christ, but there are so many things in life that distract us from God's truth.  As I was laying in the grass, looking up into the trees above, a metaphor for life came to mind.  Life is kind of like looking through the trees, trying to catch a glimpse of the sky.  We can get caught up in the leaves, that is, the little, somewhat insignificant things of life, or we can focus on the bigger picture, and see how the leaves interact with the light from the sky above.  The campfire casts a beautiful red-orange glow on the leaves, mesmerizing me.

Now, if, metaphorically speaking, God is the sky, the leaves are all of the things going on in life, and the fire is Satan trying to get my attention, it seems pretty clear what I should be focusing on... If only those flames didn't cast such a (seemingly) beautiful glow on life...

And looking to the left we find a bunch of words.  Good words.  Things I need to remember.  And, I am reminded specifically of a favourite song of mine by Mark Schultz, called "Broken and Beautiful."  Because no matter how much I screw up, or how broken I am or feel, God is with me, and you, ALWAYS.

SMILE!  Cuz Chicks Rule!

Starbucks, my new job.  So excited!

The end.  That's it.  There ain't no more, folks.  Hope you enjoyed this little explanation of my life on a board.  It's all about bluffing, pretending you know what you're doing and talking about, and hoping someone out there has the right answer in the end!

Christmas is in December, NOT July!

So, anyone who got to enjoy the pleasure of my company over the holiday season last year would know how much I truly hate what Christmas (and Easter for that matter) have become.  Christian holidays were meant to be about the Gospel and the saving Grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Christmas did not begin with some fat old man riding a reindeer drawn sleigh, and Easter is not meant to be about a giant pink rabbit. 

Last year was the first point at which I grew truly frustrated with the secularization of Christian holidays - beginning with Christmas.  I became what many people would refer to as a scrooge.  With the exception of a simple miniature nativity set and my usual display of tea lights, I did not decorate my room with typical Christmas decorations at all.  I was, unfortunately subjected to all of the garland, santas, bells, and so-called "Christmas" trees in the common areas of my house, because unlike me, my roomates were great "fans" of this whole "Christmas thing."

I tried to avoid the "holiday spirit" and "Christmas contagion" to the best of my abilities this past Christmas and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus. 

So, you might be wondering where this year-old Christmas rant is coming from, am I right?  Well.  It's July 26.  A day or two ago I was shopping in Michael's art and craft store needing some random art materials.  I walked past those little displays they always have in the entrance, featuring sale items or seasonal decorations and whatnot...  and you guessed it.  The second display I passed was CHRISTMAS!  There were reindeer patterns and snowmen, red and white fun foam, a pattern for some candy cane something or other, and all sorts of Christmas colored glitter.  I was disgusted!  I used to think playing Christmas music before December 1 was outrageious, but this is JULY!  Apparently the store manager missed the memo that Christmas is in December!  Oh, and perhaps I should also let them know that Santa doesn't exist and reindeer can't really fly.  And toys are manufactured by full-grown people operating large metal machines, not elves in ridiculous costumes.  I just had to share this little rant of mine.  Sorry for all of you "Christmas" fans, feel free to sing carols, eat too much baking, buy tons of presents, and sit in some chubby man's lap and have your picture taken - just let me be in my cave this December (and July, please!).