Building a New Journal

I spent the morning deconstructing an old hard bound discarded book, painting large pieces of paper for pages and then rebuilding the old book into a journal to better suit my needs.

This is a new workshop that has been designed exclusively for the "Rooted Women" group at THRIVE in Waterford, Michigan. We'll be taking an old hard bound book and we'll rebuild it, start to finish, into a very personal journal over the six week course of the program.

To learn more about this group and others offered by THRIVE, please see their website.

Ransom Style Lettering

Can't get enough of this ransom style lettering lately.  I love adding the extra little doodles to the letters .. helps make it more my own. This spread is done in "File Folder Journal #4". It's one of the workshops that I'll be teaching at Art and Soul in Portland, Oregon, which is coming up in just a few short weeks. For the workshop we will have use of a couple of portable sewing machines, but I sure would like to have a couple of full size ones for class use.  Anyone local to Portland that would be willing to help me out here as I can't bring them along from Michigan?  If you can let me borrow your old machine for a day (April 10th, 2014) please contact me Ingrid@IngridDijkers.com. 

Failed Wormholes

I have never been much of a joiner.  I tend to follow my own path.  However, I have been very intrigued with the new "Artstronauts Club" hosted by Tracy and Teesha Moore and have decided to join.  Among all the fabulous material available, there is an instructional video on making "wormholes".  After 4 failed attempts, I gave into the fact that I can not do it.  Each time they come out looking more like a messy version of bad dreadlocks.

Rather then continue to fight my inability to make nice looking wormholes, I have owned up to the fact that I am better off drawing dreadlocks. I can live with that.

This is the first spread I have done in a brand new journal tentatively titled "Bohemian Rhapsody".  The Journal is 8" X 10" and is made in an old, discarded hard bound book that has been deconstructed and rebound with new pages.

Cat and Mouse

The theme for this spread is "Cat and Mouse". I am pretty sure I am caught up on my Round Robin commitments to this point. However, there are only 2 spreads left to complete this obligation to it's entirety, so I think I will go ahead and get those out of the way. Throughout this I have learned that my life is far too unpredictable for me to commit to these long term collaborations. Even though I have truly enjoyed doing all these spreads, I don't think I will ever get involved in another collaborative of this sort again. I harbor far too much guilt when I am unable to deliver on time and it's so unfair to the other participants.

"Ideas are Like Rabbits"

Yet another contribution to the Hawaiian Round Robin I belong to. Bunny photo is courtesy of Tristan Robin Blakeman. The theme of the book that this spread is going into is "To Imagine is Everything".

"Paths and Parallel Universes"

Another contribution to the Hawaiian Round Robin. The theme for this spread is "Paths and Parallel Universes". I chose imagery of the labyrinth used as an aid for learning about the spiritual path, the journey to the center of oneself. More of my work from this Round Robin can be seen here.

"Moon Fairies"

Again, another contribution to the Round Robin I am involved with. The theme for this one is "Moonscapes: A Celebration of Lunar Astronomy, Magic, Legend and lore". It was requested that one side of the spread explain the technique that was used.

"Wings"

I am working on getting caught up on the Round Robin I belong to. The theme for this one was anything with wings. I have really been enjoying this new style I have been working with, so it may seem a bit repetitive. Putting circles (or parts of them) around the edges and then sewing on top of them is producing some very pleasing effects. I'm thinking I will continue to do this for awhile until I tire of it.

Featured on Russian website

I am honored to have my work featured on the website of Russian Artist Sveta Shved. Please stop by and check out the rest of her website as well!

Stacks

This is my contribution to Seth Apter's collaboration "The Stack Project" . My stacks kept falling down, so I had to make several smaller stacks. I do enjoy making my journals. Go to the "The Altered Page" to see more stacks!

Al-pha-bet-i-ca

I have been involved in a round robin with the Honolulu Book Arts group for quite awhile. I am terribly behind, but do what I can, when I can. The assigned theme for this one was Al-pha-bet-i-ca (a la Lynne Perrella). I am not so sure I captured her style, but I did have a lot of fun doing it. This is done on top of old dictionary pages (with words that begin with the letter "S") that I was provided. I mounted them to box-board and then did an image transfer of Henrietta Marie, Queen of England, 1638, by Sir Anthony Van Dyck.

The Mock Turtle

This is a tip in for a Round Robin that I am terribly behind in. The theme for this one was turtles. I struggled with the theme for several days and ended up coming up with this. The image transfer I used is an illustration by Tenniel of the Mock Turtle from "Alice in Wonderland".

"Earth Rhythms"

This is another contribution for the Hawaiian Round Round I am participating in. I think I am now all caught up on that ... hopefully I can get it there in time for the deadline. The assigned theme for this spread is "Earth Rhythms". The pages I was sent to work with are from a book titled "Murmurs of Earth ". The earth and seismograph imagery are photo transfers.

Playing "Catch-up"

I am involved in a monthly Round Robin based out of Hawaii. I worked ahead as I knew I would be getting busy, problem is I was not as far ahead as I thought. Now I am busy playing "catch-up". It is so unlike me to be late on these things, but it happened.

The theme of this particular page was "Three Wishes and the Magic Lamp". I have a plastic lamp trinket I wanted to dangle from the page, but was having issues with it being made of plastic. So, I'll just send it along with this page and perhaps it could be used as a bauble on the spine of the book or something.

I haven't done this type of embellishment in quite awhile and thought I would include a few detail shots.

As this page will be attached to a pre-existing page in a book, the back doesn't really matter, yet I wanted to share it, as I think it's rather interesting to see how the ribbon, buttons and beads were sewn on.

Fore-edge painting on books

Just wanted to share this -

Beginning in the 16th century "fore-edge painting" on books was introduced. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, fore-edge painting reached its height in England. This is how a fore-edge painting works. When the book is closed, you do not see the image because the gilding hides the painting. But, when you fan the pages to show the painting at its best and hold them between your fingers or in a display press, the colorful picture appears as if by magic. Info found at the Boston Public Library. Here are a couple of You-tube videos to demonstrate -

You have to admit, that is pretty wonderful!

"An Octopus's Garden"

These are a few pages from my "An Octopus's Garden" Journal. This is really a fun journal with a very strong Steam Punk influence.

I still had all my photography "stuff" in place from another project and decided to take a few more photos of this journal before putting everything away. I really struggle with taking photographs as my photography skills are somewhat lacking. When I have everything in place and it seems to be working well, I photograph a lot of different things.

This journal is in the Binder format which has become so popular. Working within these binders eliminates so many problems associated with working in other traditional journals. Pages can be taken out to be worked on and can be arranged differently at will. The pages are also very thick and strong. I like a stout journal that allows me to do many techniques that I couldn't normally do on standard paper.

This is one of the classes I will be teaching at "Ginny's Small Studio Productions" in Avon Ohio in a few short weeks. I am looking forward to it !

By the way ... that wonderful wooden page with the meters? It's is one that we'll be doing in the workshop ... SOOOO much fun!

Hawaiian Collaborative

This is my newest contribution to the Hawaiian Collaboration I am involved with. We are given a theme to follow and are to briefly explain the technique used on each entry. Admittedly, I am having difficulty with this collaborative and have not been very pleased with what I have done up to this point ... although I am rather pleased with this one. Perhaps I have too many other projects and commitments going on and just can't seem to focus well.

A Few Journal Pages

These are a few journal pages I did after a workshop in Grand Rapids, Michigan this past weekend. They are done in "An Octopus's Garden" Journal, which is almost full.

An Octopus's Garden

I finally found one of the finishing touches for the armature on top of this book. A little metal Octopus to go behind the magnifying glass.

I have to admit I am really pleased with this variation of the Zentangle, I like the idea of combining it with journaling. A few more pages to finish up and this journal will be filled to capacity. I still have far too many ideas that just aren't going to fit in here. I suppose I will have to come up with a second volume.

"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.