A New Journal

I have been wanting to make a tall journal for quite awhile now and last night I made some time to make it.

This spread was inspired by a documentary I have become obsessed with, "Exit through the Gift Shop". A quirky and wonderful documentary by Banksy, a Graffiti Artist from England.

The above photo shows the cover of the journal as it stands right now. The cover has been constructed of Illustration Board and 1/4" plywood, which eventually will be covered with collage. The pages are made of box board. I like a good sturdy journal to work in. Not including the spiral binding the journal is 7" X 14".

It's been awhile since I have done a GPP Challenge and have to admit I have missed doing them. When I saw this one I just had to participate, the timing was perfect. Click here to go to the Challenge page.

A beautiful project

This is a beautiful project that I was invited to contribute to. This touching book has been complied to be presented to Michelle Ward on the anniversary of her sisters death. See Michelle Ward's blog for details and photos. Above is shown the final bound book (photo by Michelle Ward). Below is shown my contribution.

Cat got your tongue?

These are some of the lyrics to one of my favorites songs "Everyday is exactly the same" by Nine Inch Nails. It's on my i-pod and I listen to it most everyday while walking. I thought it time to incorporate it into a journal page.
This is my contribution to the GPP Crusade # 30 which has been done in a book for a Round Robin that I am participating in. There are multiple layers of text on these pages, although they do not show up well on the scans. The pages were first covered with hand written text that has several thin layers of a color wash to somewhat obscure the lettering. A subtle stamping of an Italian love poem in red is used and then my normal lettering is done on top of that and each letter outlined. Finally a "secret" message is written on a separate piece of paper, folded and then sewn to the page. I almost always use writing in my journal spreads, scroll down further to see other pages or see the galleries in my website WWW.IngridDijkers.com

I feel like a rock star !

Michelle Ward has wonderful challenges every month ... "Monthly Creative Crusades" as she calls them. I love to participate when I can as they are by far the best challenges I have ever come across. Crusade #24 was "Final Wishes" which I participated in and won. These are the wonderful items that came in my package today from Michelle. Have to admit, I am pretty excited and feel like a rock star. Do check out her blog for the Crusades-

http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/

and her website for amazing rubber stamps -
http://www.greenpepperpress.com/

My Final Wishes

This is a spread in my "Altered Notebook#2". This spread is my contribution to the GPP crusade #24. I actually do not have the card filled out with my final wishes yet. It's something I have never really given a great deal of thought about ... perhaps because I am not ready to deal with my own mortality. However, the card is ready and waiting in it's little envelope for when I can come to terms with it. The images are photo transfers done with Great White Photo imaging paper and Goldens heavy bodied Matte Gel Medium.

"Clean your plate - Clear your slate"

The above spread is my contribution to the "Clean your plate - Clear your slate" for this months challenge for the GPP Street Team. Michelle Ward has come up with some great challenges through out the months and as a result many people have come up with many interpretations of the theme. Make sure to check out all the other work. Go to GPP Street Team to bring you to a list of the Crusade participants.

An Altered Notebook

I will be giving an Altered Book dem- onstration at the Studio 1219 (The Blue Water Art Incubus) in Port Huron, Michigan September 13th and 14th. I'd like to have a variety of different types of Altered Books in various stages of completion. This is an old school loose leaf binder that I cut down by 2 inches and covered with various papers. I found some old leather and added a few snaps for a closure. It has also been filled with left over cardboard and page dividers for future collage and journaling pages. More will be added to the cover as it gets worked on, this is just the background starting point right now. The gear paper is a wax rubbing and resist that I wrote about on my blog June 6th for the GPP Street team Challenge, Crusade #21.

Wax Rubbings

This month's challenge for the GPP Street Team is wax rubbings and resist. I just love this one! Wish I had more time to explore it. Lately I have had a real passion for gears and cogs, so I thought I would work with that. I put a piece of thin paper over the pieces and rubbed a black crayon over the paper to get the rubbing. I then used a thin wash of acrylic paint over it. The wax pretty much resists the paint and only colored the white background paper. I will use these papers for future collage work in a visual journal or altered book.

I'd like to also share a couple of brass rubbings I have hanging in my home. We did them in England when they still allowed you to do it. For these we had used the old black cobblers wax and parchment paper to make the rubbings off the old brass grave plaques. Each framed piece is 12" X 29".

A simplistic stencil for the Exquisite Corpse

This is my third page for the Exquisite Corpse project that we are working on. This project is slowly drawing to a close and several of us seem to still be interested in exploring this concept further. So, It looks like there will be a second book made after this one is completed.

Crusade #19 for the GPP Street Team involves making a stencil or a mask this month. For this page I used a very simplistic mask of an arch just cut from paper. It was layed on my page and paint was sponged on and beyond the edge of the mask to achieve this effect. I have also used this mask on the front cover of the book. I think this shows that even the simplest of designs can be very effective.

Skull and Crossbones Carved Stamp

This Exquisite Corpse Project is well underway. I am really enjoying it and am looking forward to receiving the entries from other participants in the group. We are "decorating" the backs of the pages and including contact information. I thought a carved stamp of a Skull and Crossbones would be a nice addition for the backs of mine. It's nice how the white ink prints up a rather ghostly looking image on the black card stock. I am enjoying this project so much (as are several other players) that we are thinking of continuing after this book is completed. The possibilities are just endless and need to be explored well beyond just this one book.

"Where in the world?" - Crusade # 15

"Where in the world?" These journal pages are my contribution to Crusade # 15 for the GPP Street Team.

http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/

Crusade No. 10

Michelle Ward has posted an awesome challenge. I have decided that my sister, Tricia, shall be the recipient of this Mail Art.

http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that