Hristos a inviat! (Christ has Risen!)

(pictura realizata in colaborare cu fiul meu, Iona. -  collaborative painting with my son, Iona)

Fara oua vopsite sau mancat in exces, sarbatorile acestea au fost cu adevarat un ragaz pentru suflet. Ma reintorc la munca cu forte proaspete.

I hope you had a great Easter day. I spent it caring for the soul. No excess eating, just putting my thoughts in order. I am really grateful for this time of peace and now I am back at work with fresh energy.

Art Journaling, A Love of Mine (Jurnalul de arta, una din placerile personale)

It is by now obvious that I like to mix materials textures, try out new mediums, products or techniques. Art journaling is one of the best ways I can do this.
I do have a private journal where I also write personal stuff, but normally I don't like to add words. These two pages are the last two I did for our "travelling sketchbooks" group, now on their way to Venice, Italy.

Jurnalele de arta sunt unul din cele mai bune moduri prin care imi pot manifesta placerea de combina materiale si texturi diverse, incercand totodata tehnici si produse noi.
Cu toate ca am un jurnal privat in care  scriu si anumite experiente personale, in general prefer sa nu adaug cuvinte in compozitie.
Acestea sunt ultimele doua pagini pe care le-am completat in cadrul grupului nostru de "caiete calatoare", acum in drum spre Venetia, Italia.

Guestbooks, Albums, Journals, Sketchbooks.... a Love for Bookbinding.

 I have always loved books. I loved to read them touch their pages, smell their old or new characteristic scent, arrange them in alphabetical order, keep an inventory list and recently making books.

Making a book requires a lot of time and inspiration if you want it to mean something, if you want to catch a part of your soul in it.
I don't really have time for that anymore and I definitely don't like making books as custom orders.
However, from time to time, especially when I know who the book is for, I manage to find that pleasure of creating freely with no time or design boundaries.

Here are a few of my past books:

Wedding Guestbook for Adrian & Mihaela
Starting with a design I used to love but later caused me a little sorrow.
In addition to her wedding colors the bride wanted something "vintage with little buttons".  I presented her with more options amongst witch she chose these cabochon doves. Doesn't look vintage at all too me and it turned our that at least the groom wanted something with a more luxury feel.

One week after delivering the book I decided I would never take any custom book order again from total strangers. I had put all my soul into it as it had been a long time since I didn't have time to make books. I stamped vintage corners on every single page and I remember how delighted I was with the final result. I never make things I am not totally happy with, yet I know tastes differ from one person to another and I am not taking the risk to be disappointed again. Sorry!

Floral Guestbook for Baby Ilinca
This guestbook was inspired by the floral paintings from Ilinca's nursery room. Her mother is one of the brides I worked with whose number didn't get erased from my phone. She made her own wedding invitations to save on the budget but I helped with the materials.

I loved the idea of having a book each person visiting the new baby could write in so in the hope that Ilinca would have lots of good will messages I made as many pages as I could without making the book too scarily big. My colleague, Raluca, hand stamped matching corners on each page. Everything about this guestbook is floral, even the paper I made the pages from. The paper is called "Flora" and has real floral inserts.

Trees Sketchbook for Anca
Some of my blog reader might remember the traveling sketchbooks project I initiated two years ago. For more posts about it you can click on this link.
Anca was the last person to join our traveling sketchbooks circle. Since the person inviting a new member has the honor of making that person's first sketchbook I got to make this one. Anca's theme is TREES and I added the word "love" because I can tell she really loves trees.

My little one is up now so I have to go. I hope you liked this post and will try to get back with more one day when time permits.

Boo Hooo Wondereland

I was writing about the Traveling Sketchbooks on Tuesday.
It is now time to show you my first art piece that went into Lolly's Sketchbook.
Her theme is "owls, butterflies and cupcakes" and I chose owls this time.

I really had fun making this.
The background is a collage from one of my husband's science fiction books that I totr and glued to the pages. I brushed some gesso over it to hide some some of the color. I wanted it to be more transparent but I wouldn't risk getting the pages too wet bya dding more color so next time I am trying some acrylic paint.

Added a cuttlebug snowflake, cut our some owls, glued them to the pages, added strings and voila, we are ready for Christmas.

I gave the book to Laura who is the next on the list.

Once the first circle is closed and each of us receives her own sketchbook back we can take in new participants, so if you are interested in joining us, just drop me a note.

Traveling Sketchbooks (Caietele calatoare)

Some time ago I invited my readers to join me in a "Traveling Sketchbooks" challenge.
In urma cu ceva timp am lansat cititorilor mei provocarea de a crea un fel de cerc al "Caietelor calatoare".

3 people responded and now we are ready to send our handmade books around the world to experience other artists' work.
Au raspuns 3 persoane, iar acum suntem gata sa trimitem caietele cusute manual in jurul lumii mentru a experimenta munca altor artisti.

Meet mine : "EARTH LOVE"

I borrowed the name from one of my favorite paper collections: Earth Love by Cosmo Cricket
L-am denumit dupa una din colectiile mele preferate de hartie: Earth Love de Cosmo Cricket




The cover features some patterned cardsstock I found in my stash that matches the theme. I think it's Basic Gray.
The label is from the Earth Love Craft Kit by Cosmo Cricket and sums up some of the things that could be added to this book.

Coperta e dintr-un carton asortat cu tema (cred ca e marca Basic Gray). Eticheta face parte din Earth Love Craft Kit de Cosmo Cricket si exemplifica cateva lucruri care pot fi reprezentate in caiet.



The inside pages... well.... they are a surprise and also a challenge for the participating artists. I didn't make them all the same size so there is room for a lot of creativity: one can add or cut from them, make multiple page interactive creations and... who knows? I am soooo looking forwasd to seeing what everyone comes up with!

Paginile interioare... am vrut sa fie deopotriva o surpriza si o provocare. De aceea nu le-am facut la fel. Ele pot fi folosite la dimensiunea lor, adaugate, taiate, se pot crea lucrari interactive intinse pe mai multe pagini... cine stie? Abia astept sa vad ce idei vor avea fetele!

The media:
Since everyone has different favorite medias, there's no limit to this. I made my book from a paper that supports everything from water to dry media.

Caietul e realizat dintr-o hartie care suporta atat medii umede cat si uscate, deci nu va exista nici o restrictie in privinta acesta.

"Les carnets baladeurs" or The "Travelling Sketchbooks" sau "Caietele Calatoare"

I was visiting one of my sidebar links when I came across the "Carnets baladeurs" concept.
So I thought about my sketchbook and how it would love to be filled with drawings from other artists.

What is "Carnets baladeurs"?

It's a way for artists to exchange artwork. Each artist has a sketch book that is sent around the word. The recipient will create a new piece of art in the book and send it to someone else and so on until it gets back to it's owner.

thumbnail sketches from my sketchbook

I am aware nor everyone draws or paints, but how about taking this "Traveling notebooks" concept further.

Here is what I have in mind:

* We start thematic sketch books. I would probably choose BIRDS
* We start the books with our own artwork and sent it further
* The participating artists are not required to use any special technique. It can be drawing, painting, collage, stamping etc.

floral doodles and oak leaf from my sketchbook

So who wants to join me? We need at least 3 persons to start.

Edit:
I will post the list of those who sign up here:

1. Adina (Italia)
2. Lolly (Romania)
3. Laura (India)