Tunnel Book - "Into the Crypt"

Awe, the "Hunting and Gathering" stage of a new project .... my favorite part of a new Journal (But then again, I say that at every stage of a Journal). This is actually a journal I have been planning for months and months, but have spent time trying to tie up a bunch of loose ends. While I didn't get quite as far as I had hoped, I am just too excited about this book and just had to get a start on it. I still am gathering more imagery, but have enough to at least get a good start on this. It'll be a tunnel book, as you can see by it's meager beginnings and will have a very dark feel to it. I had initially planned it as a Halloween themed project minus the pumpkins and witches. What I have done differently this time (As compared to the Alice themed tunnel book) is to have all the imagery printed in black on buff colored paper. I love this look and that gives the option of leaving it basically a Black and White (Or actually buff colored) or the imagery can be colored in with water color pencils, which gives a very soft and haunting look to it. I can't decide which way I want to do this journal yet, but I'll probably end up doing a bit of both.

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This journal has wooden covers, will probably have an acetate page (not pictured), box board pages and will have a metal ring binding. The overall size is 8" X 8". More photos to follow as it progresses.

Upcoming workshops

Just a reminder that Create in California is coming up in a few short weeks.  I'll be teaching the following classes -

"Through the Rabbit Hole" - An Alice inspired tunnel book.

"The Ambrosia Journals" - A fun and easy binding!

"The Hand Book" - A Mehndi inspired Hand shaped book (See flip through video on the right hand side bar of this blog).

"The Bee Book" - A Bee shaped book.

AND ... I'll be teaching a private workshop "Under the Sea" - A Jules Vern inspired tunnel book on June 3rd in Fullerton, California.  There are a few seats left.  If you are interested please contact me directly.

Mini Journal finally finished !

There have been so many distractions and so many things to finish up lately. This is such a tiny book and I don't believe I have ever spent so much time working in one book. I have learned that a smaller size does not necessarily mean it is less work than a larger one.
I still haven't finished up the mini tunnel book that I started at the same time, but that will have to wait ... too many other things to take care of right now. I will be adding some new items to my ETSY store over the next few days, I seem to have let that slack off a bit lately. I am also running out of clay parts, so I have been working in clay for awhile.
Once I am all caught up with clay parts and ETSY, I will be back to the books. I'll be starting a new tunnel book, similar to "Through the Rabbit-Hole". The theme will be rather dark and titled "Into the Crypt". I have some amazing imagery to work with so I am really look forward to it.

Workshops in New York City

I have been invited to teach in New York at the "Little Bird Creations" studio August 24-26, 2012.

Please contact Michele Luxenberg for more details or join the group site for "Little Bird Creations". Hope you'll join us!

The Workshops being offered are as follows - 

"Through the Rabbit Hole" - You’ll delight in this journey into the realm of Alice that takes us through the Rabbit-Hole in tunnel book format. This sturdy book with wooden covers and boxboard pages is sure to hold up to the riggers of many adventurous journeys. All imagery to complete the book will be provided. An on-line tutorial is available to prepare pages prior to class, so that precious class time doesn’t need to be spent on a lot of prep work.

"De Corporis Humani Fabrica" - A delightfully creepy exploration into the world of vintage anatomical illustrations! Our main focus will be on completing a collage cover for this journal complete with “specimens” and glass slides. Then we’ll work on incorporating additional backgrounds and imagery into our journal pages. This journal will be made in the wildly popular chipboard binder format.

  

"Into the Crypt" - A slightly dark and mildly creepy tunnel book. Pages and pages of cleverly designed layouts using vintage imagery draw you in on to this basically black and white somewhat macabre journey. Imagery provided is black printed on buff paper, but color can easily be added if desired. Based on a late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one's station in life, the “Dance of Death” unites all. The Danse Macabre consists of the dead or personified Death summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave. Produced to remind people of the fragility of their lives and how vain were the glories of earthly life.

"Through the Rabbit Hole" Workshop in Michigan!

I am happy to announce that I will be teaching "Through the Rabbit Hole" an Alice inspired tunnel book at a new venue in Hastlett (just outside of Lansing), Michigan on September 17th 2011!

Workshop description-
You’ll delight in this journey into the realm of Alice that takes us through the Rabbit-Hole in tunnel book format. This sturdy book with wooden covers and boxboard pages is sure to hold up to the riggers of many adventurous journeys. All color imagery to complete the book will be provided. An on-line tutorial is available to prepare pages prior to class, so that precious class time doesn’t need to be spent on a lot of prep work.

Hope you'll join us at "Small but Mighty Art Studio". Registration will begin soon.

"Art and Soul Retreat" Portland Oregon, a Blog Hop

I'll be teaching at Art and Soul in Portland Oregon this Fall. The retreat is from September 28 thru October 3rd 2011. You can register here.

One of the classes I'll be teaching is "Over the Edge" where we’ll work on getting those pages to "pop" (no one likes dull flat pages) and make the edges of those pages sizzle (gilding on steroids). This class will help us break away from the traditional rectangular shaped page. We’ll explore ways of developing and making other shapes for pages giving our books more dimension and interest. The importance of the often neglected edges of pages will also be emphasized and worked with. Ingrid’s book "An Instructional Guide for Going Over the Edge" will be available for viewing many examples. It displays a plethora of possibilities using materials we all probably already have on hand.

You’ll delight in this journey into the realm of Alice that takes us through the Rabbit-Hole in tunnel book format. This sturdy book with wooden covers and boxboard pages is sure to hold up to the riggers of many adventurous journeys.

All imagery to complete the book will be provided. An on-line tutorial is available to prepare pages prior to class, so that precious class time doesn’t need to be spent on a lot of prep work.

This class will focus on SteamPunk imagery and elements that can be easily incorporated into our journals for uniquely different and often quirky results. Sometimes outright strange effects develop that we are sure to revel in. Of course we’ll include our favorite SteamPunk creature, the Octopus (just because we like them). Ingrid’s book "An Octopus’s Garden" will be available for viewing with examples of how to add a unique feel to our journals with just our regular journaling supplies, SteamPunk influenced and Octopus imagery, items we probably already have on hand and discarded box board.

Below I have included some of the other wildly talented instructors including a link to their blog or website, just click on their name. Please check them out, you will not be disappointed! Hope to see you in Portland this Fall!

Janne Robberstad

Stephanie Rubiano

Elizabeth Kettle

Marcia Schultz

Kari McKnight

Karen O’Brien
Glenny Moir

Jane Davies

"Into the Crypt" - Tunnel Book

I am still working on this Tunnel Book/Journal. I'm pleased with how it's coming along and look forward to having more time to work on it. There is an end in sight to finishing up with the major chore of revamping our kitchen. We have claimed this to be "The Year of the Major Appliance". Last time we had to replace all the major appliances in our home, we moved 5 months later ... ended up leaving most of them. Hope this isn't a repeat.

"Through the Rabbit-Hole" Tunnel Book in color

I just finished up this color version of the Alice inspired Tunnel Book "Through the Rabbit-Hole". I'm really not sure if I like this one or the other one in black and white best. As a result workshops will offer a choice of imagery in either black and white or in the more vintage colors.

"Under the Sea" A new tunnel book

Just a few photos right now of a new journal I am working on.

It's far from done, but I just couldn't wait to share a little.

This is "Under the Sea", part tunnel book with a strong SteamPunk influence. I am just beginning to add adapted illustrations from the original "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea".

I had far too much fun adding the bottles of "Specimens" from Captain Nemo's vast collection he has on board his underwater vessel.

This past year I have had such a busy teaching schedule that I have had so very little time to indulge in the making of many new journals. Next year I have decided to really cut back on the workshops so that I have more time to play.

In the meantime, I have only 3 more teaching engagements scheduled for the rest of this year. There is still time to sign up. Hope to see you there!

September 17th and 18th, 2011 - Small but Mighty Arts Studio - "Through the Rabbit Hole" and "The Wall" - Haslett, Michigan

Sept 27 - Oct 3, 2011 - Art and Soul - "Over the Edge", "Through the Rabbit Hole" and "An Octopus's Garden" - Portland, Oregon

October 26-30, 2011 - JournalFest - "Into the Crypt" and "The Ambrosia Journals" - Port Townsend, Washington

Update on classes in Haslett, Michigan

We have just added another class to the "Small but Mighty Arts" class offerings! "The Wall" is a graffiti inspired accordion book that will be on Sunday, September 18th, 2011. This is the first time this workshop has been offered anywhere (Scroll down to see earlier blog entries about this book with more photos). Registration is now up on the "Small but Mighty Arts" website.

"Through the Rabbit Hole" (An Alice inspired tunnel book) is also up for registration for Saturday, September 17th. Questions? email me or Kip. Hope you'll join us for one or both workshops!

"Into the Crypt" - class kit construction

I have have a few requests for more process oriented blog entrees with photos and I am happy to oblige. I have a workshop for the "Into the Crypt" tunnel book coming up in Grand Rapids soon. My husband, Bob, has been more than willing to help me with the construction of the wooden fronts and backs for these books. Here he is cutting out the 8" X 8" plywood pages.

The 3 holes needed for binding the books are done in a drill press so that they are nice and even. These wooden book covers will be included in a kit that will be provided for everyone attending the workshop. Also, all the imagery to complete 16 plus pages (front and back), along with other materials will be included.

The front page of the book has a cut out that is done on a small old Dremel jig saw that I have had for years. It's one of my favorite tools. This, a palm sander and an electric drill are the only power tools I feel comfortable using. Bob does the rest for me. Besides, he won't let me use his tools. We have "his" and "hers" tools.

And then there is our daughter Kiersten that you see in the background in a few of the above photos. She really has nothing to do with the construction process of these books, but we keep her around merely for entertainment purposes.

"De Corporis Humani Fabrica"

This journal "De Corporis Humani Fabrica" is a delightfully creepy exploration of vintage anatomical drawings. It's well underway, yet still has lots of room for additional journal entries that I'll share as they are completed.
This journal will be used for a workshop being offered At "Whispering Woodlands" in Verona Wisconsin, on the weekend of June 11/12/13, 2010. Also "Through the Rabbit-Hole", an Alice inspired Tunnel book will be offered that same weekend. I'm pretty sure sign ups for these work shops are beginning very soon.
This book is done in the wildly popular chip-board binder format with boxboard pages. I have gathered oodles of wonderful imagery, stencils, rubber stamps, inks, paper punches, cardboard slide mailers, glass slides and more, that will be available for use in the workshops.
The main focus will be on constructing the book cover (complete with glass slides) and incorporating imagery into our journaling. All photos enlarge to show detail.

Registration has begun!

Registration for "De Corporis Humani Fabrica" (a delightfully creepy exploration of vintage anatomical drawings) at Whispering Woodlands in beautiful Verona, Wisconsin, has gone live. I'll be teaching there June 11/12/13 2010. I have to admit I am quite excited for this workshop. Along with this class there will also be a 2 day workshop for "Through the Rabbit-Hole", an Alice inspired tunnel book. If you are interested in signing up for one class or both, I suggest that you do it sooner than later, as there is limited space and these classes tend to fill up quickly. By the way, I have had several people ask the meaning of "De Corporis Humani Fabrica" ... a human anatomy book written by Andreas Vesalius in 1543. From Latin, it translates to "The Fabric of the Human Body".

Another file folder journal

This file folder journal is entitled "A Reliable Collection of Oceanographic Data". It's made out of a couple of old vintage file folders (with wonderful metal tabs) and a variety of different papers.This journal will be donated to an auction at "Art Unraveled" in Phoenix, Arizona this July 30th thru August 7th, 2012. Proceeds will go to the "Youth Development Institute", a residential treatment center for at risk youth.I haven't done any journaling in this book, just got it all set up and ready for the new owner to journal in.50 pages to add more images and/or just journaling.I'm really enjoying this type of journal lately. So much so, that I bought out the remainder of the stock that was available. I am now the proud owner of about 800 of these nifty file folders with metal tabs.

I am just smitten with this fish page that I also used in my "Under the Sea" tunnel book.
This journal is 8" X 9 1/2" and a bit over 1 " thick.