Angel Scrapbook (Caiet de amintiri cu inger)

If nobody buys this at the fair I might as well keep it for myself and fill it with pictures and memories of Iona. I somehow resonates perfectly with my heart and I love the pages of alternate colors: a yummy cream and the lovely heather which calls for some white ink. The pages are made of high quality cardstock by Canson which is another thing I love a bout this book.

February Sketch Challenge: OPPOSITES

Thank you so much  for your feedback on yesterday's post. I really appreciate all the support I got from everyone. I definitely don't intend to stop sharing. On the contrary. However, I do think a lot what to say and what to leave out from my blog posts. I wish I could share my creative process, my space, my tools, my new shopping adventures, my newest designs, a few tutorials and so on. But how can I open the door when I know wolves are out there, ready to grab whatever comes out? (That is another episode. Today we are talking about opposites.)

If you remember my post from last month, I have decided to join the Sketchbook Challenge this year and I am happy to let you know I managed to do the February theme too. The theme is OPPOSITES. I thought about it for a while. For me, opposites are black and white, man and woman.... but none of these themes called for a sketch until one day it came to me: LEFT AND RIGHT.  When it comes to drawing, one of my greatest challenges is symmetry. I know I am a little obsessed with perfectionism and I used to take 9 hours for the same still life my colleagues in art school drew in 2.  But that is something I like about myself and although I will not accomplish as much and as fast in this lifetime as others I know I am enjoying every moment of it.

So what about this butterfly? This is the very first time I actually sat down and took the time to draw a proper butterfly. I was always scared of drawing them because I had to make the wings symmetric. So one night when I was too tired to do anything else I took a butterfly stamp, glued it to my sketchbook and used it as guide to exercise my symmetric drawing.

The Sketchbook Challenge - "Highly Prized"

I don't know how many of you have noticed that from the beginning of the year my blogroll has a new link in the "Challenges" section.
It's the Sketchbook Challenge blog. They have started a 1-year challenge to make sketches and share the process and I decided to join them.

For this purpose I made a new sketchbook with small pages and paper that can support wet media.
Small because I can't work fast and I tend to be intimidated by large canvases. Wet media, because I love watercolor and will probably use it on most sketches.



The theme for January is HIGHLY PRIZED".

For me greatly prized is the paper I work with (breaks my heart to throw away the tiniest bit and would love to recycle it all). That is why you will more often than not receive my invitations in reused packaging and my favorite way of making cards is by using scraps. Even this little book is made from cardstock that was left over from some of my invitation cards.

If there is anyone out there making paper by hand I would gladly send you paper scraps (free shipping).

I haven't drawn a stack of paper for the sketch challenge though. I have drawn a symbol of where paper comes from. A simple leaf. One of my favorite things on earth.

Friend in Jesus Sketchbook (Caiet de schite "Friend in Jesus")

I hope my friend will enjoy this handmade sketchbook. I filled it with heavy weight drawing paper in shades of cream and off white. Love that paper! I could hardly restrain from trying it myself.

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #54 - The Card Becomes Sketchbook (Felicitarea devine caiet de schite)

Hi everyone. I am glad I could keep my promise and show you my new sketchbook. I only went to bed after I finished it last night, but I needed good light to photograph it. Luckily the sun is back and I was home just in time to catch the last rays this afternoon.

Salut. Ma bucur ca am reusit sa va arat noul meu caiet de schite dupa cum am promis. Aseara nu am mers la culcare pana nu l-am terminat, insa imi trebuia lumina buna sa-l fotografiez. Din fericire s-a intors soarele si la noi, iar dupa-masa am ajuns acsa la timp sa prind ultimele raze.




This is the cover. As you can see, I changed it a bit: added the word "don't" very small before haunt, accented the word "art" with my Sakura glaze pen, added that beautiful fleur de lis glimmer glass from Tattered Angels, sanded the cuttlebug embossed fleur de lis and added just a little bit of extra glimmer mist (Tattered Angels).

Aceasta este coperta. Dupa cum observati, am facut cateva mici modificari: am adaugat cuvantul "don't" ('nu') deasupra lui "haunt" ('bantui'), am accentuat cuvantul "art" cu Sakura glaze pen, am adaugat o bucata de glimmer glass de la Tattered Angels, am slefuit fleur de lis de la cuttlebug si am mai adaugat putin glimmer mist (Tattered Angels).



Front cover detail: glimmer glass fleur de lis from Tattered Angels.

Detaliu coperta fata: glimmer glass fleur de lis de la Tattered Angels.



Front cover detail:cuttlebug embossed fleur de lis

Detaliu coperta fata: fleur de lis de la cuttlebug



Coptic stich for the spine. I really love this binding technique! It allows you to transform a book into a work of art. And to think it was invented 2n'd century AD...

Cusatura "coptic" care imi place foarte mult pentru ca poti face o asta din legarea cartii. Si cand te gandesti ca a fost inventata in secolul al II-lea d.Hr.



Hand torn pages. I asked my husband "Don't you find it weird that in a house with 2 paper trimmers someone would tear pages by hand?" Well, he was too busy taking apart a broken laptop to answer.

Pagini rupte cu mana. In timp ce lucram l-am intrebat pe sotul meu: "Nu ti se pare ciudat ca am doua ghilotine dar rup hartia cu mana?" Nu am primit raspuns pentru ca era prea ocupat sa faca bucati un laptop defect.



Inside pages are excellent quality Canson sketch paper (90 g/sm).

Paginile sunt hartie Canson pentru schite de o calitate excelenta (90 g/mp).



Back cover. I really love Tattered Angels craft paper packaging. Their designs are gorgeous so I hand cut this fleur de lis from the package and added it to my sketchbook. Click on the image to see larger. The wording really matches my book.

Copera spate. Mi-a placut foarte mult ambalajul de la Tattereed Angels si am decupat acest fleur de lis pe care l-am lipit pe dosul caietului. Textul care il insoteste se potriveste de minune cu caietul meu.

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Quick tip:

While making my sketchbook I had an idea: I have several cards that I received from friends. They all sit in a box and I look at them from time to time but not anymore because I am going to transform them into little books that I can use every day.

If you decide to use this tip please leave me a link so I can see what you have done.

In timp ce lucram la caietul meu de schite mi-a venit o idee: Am cateva felicitari la care tin mult primite de la prietene si care stau intr-o cutie. As putea sa le transform in carnetele pe care sa le folosesc toata ziua la scris sau la desenat.