8 Glorious Years!

Tomorrow will be our 8th anniversary.  We were married by the sea just up the coast in Cayucos, surrounded by friends and well-wishers. We had a lovely reception which included the sinfully delicious flourless chocolate cake above.  The cake was so heavy the bakers couldn't stack the layers, so they just spread them out all over the table.  Would I do it all over again?  In a heartbeat!  Thank you Margot for bringing such love, happiness and peace to my life. 

Life on the Coast

A beautiful spring time view from Hwy 46
across the green hills to Morro Bay.

Enjoy your weekend!

From the Bookshelf

I came across this book in the gift shop at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.  It's full of the chapbook illustrations of Jose Guadalupe Posada.  These were inexpensive, pulp-type little paperbacks, published in the first part of the last century, intended for the entertainment of the masses, sort of a combination of comic books/Harlequin Romances/True Stories. The book has a short history of the artist, his times and his work.  But most of the pages are devoted to his art.
The illustrations have become iconic to Mexican art and are instantly recognizable. And they are wonderful for inspiration in collage, assemblage and shrines.   Highly recommended!

Spring Journal Pages

A few spreads from my latest daily journal,

 I've enjoyed a springtime feel with this one; birds, flowers,

 vintage photos, Easter eggs, a few snippets of current and future projects,

 old etchings,and of course, my ubiquitous "To-Do" lists!

A Teeny-Tiny Score

 Usually when I go to the swap meet, whoever goes with me ends up helping me carry my finds - a type drawer, a vintage suitcase, an old wooden box that would be perfect for that assemblage I've been planning.

Well, this time daughter Jenny, who accompanied me didn't have to carry a thing.  I hardly had to carry a thing.  My Frida Kahlo mesh bag stayed folded under my arm and I carted away my "score" in a pocket of my jacket - and one of the smaller pockets at that!

To paraphrase Spencer Tracy in Pat & Mike -

 "...not much score at that swap meet, but what there was was cherce." 

And counting the $1.00 I paid to get in, I only spent $2.00!

Suitcase Saturday

A hatbox this time.  Gone are the days when ladies always traveled with several trunks and hatboxes - but they are still around - this one a decorative storage version from Ross.

It holds gloves, bowties and one lone net be-decked fascinator 

(just the thing for a royal wedding!)

Gathered from thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls and eBay - they often provide just the right finishing touch,

 An Evening at the Opera-Box #5

for an assemblage,

13 Journals Round Robin - The White Journal

or a journal page.

Caramba! Mexico!

 Caramba! Mexico! 

altered book using Nina Martinez's Caramba!

Over the years I've been creating altered books, I've often wondered what the authors of said books would say if they could see what their work looked like after its "alteration."Of course many of my altered books use, as their substrata, tomes whose authors are no longer with us.  But this one Caramba!  by Nina Martinez was written in 2004.  I first came across a copy at the library - read it, loved it and knew I wanted to alter it.

Publishers Weekly says about Caramba! ...draws on magical realism, kitschy humor and tongue-in-cheek clichés, but there's truth behind the zany humor. Martínez's soap opera-silly story belies serious truth telling about love and happiness in life and death. And as if the fabulously ludicrous plot weren't enough, Martínez illustrates her work with "artifacts," including Mexican Lotería cards, letters written  to an advice columnist and the classified ad Lulabell runs in the local paper, selling her soul to the highest bidder.

The illustrations and additions of ephemera made it semi-altered to begin with.  I purchased two copies - one to keep to read and one to alter.  I took it with me, in 2005, on a 10 day trip to Manzanilla in Jalisco, along with a small suitcase of art supplies and ephemera.  Using those, and things I picked up in the village, I spent a couple hours each day out on the patio overlooking the bay and altering away to my heart's content.

A couple of years ago I put  several of the spreads from the book, which I christened Caramba! Mexico!, on my new website.  Imagine my delight and surprise when I received this response in my e-mail,

  Hi, love what you did to my book. As I envisioned, I wanted a popup volcano in the middle, but alas, that would have been too expensive. Have you ever seen a book called "Terry's Guide to Mexico?" It's an old travel book .try to find yourself a copy. I think you would dig it. Good luck with all...Nina M

What a lovely feeling to have the author's approval and enthusiasm!  

 

New Project - Done!

 Journals waiting for date tags

Last week I showed you the beginnings of this project and promised you the end result this week.

 More waiting journals

And here it is.  I have journaled voraciously since junior high, but only art journaled since 2004.  These journals now are aligned on two bookshelves in my library.

Voila!  All tagged

I am always wanting to revert back to certain ones, but then can't remember which one is which month of which year without opening to the first page.  As you can imagine this can take some time - especially because then I get engrossed in each journal and start reading and ... you get the picture.

Easy to find

So I had one of those lightbulb moments and thought "AH!" I could put the dates on the outside of each book, but many of the spines aren't the right shape, wide enough or whatever to put the date right on the spine - so that's when I had the second brain storm and decided on tags!

And quite stylish 

(if I do say so myself!)

They're working out great - the starting month and year on one side, just the year on the other.  Tied on and visible.  Now I can find what I'm looking for quickly.  But I know I'll still find myself lingering now and then and delving into ones I wasn't looking for - just because it's fun!

Life on the Coast

Spotted on our morning harbour walk -
an egret and a great blue heron.

From the Bookshelf

I really enjoyed Tim's first book in this series when I came across it a couple of years ago. Not only a technique and step by step project book - but an in depth look at the products available in his line of mixed media ephemera, tools and "so much more." How to use them, how they work, how they work with each other.

And now there's Volume II, the new one which offers all the same descriptions, hows and whys on the new products in Tim's bag of ephemeral tricks! Both volumes are beautifully photographed, have a nice lay-flat spiral binding and enough eye candy to fill a long weekend. These two are just flat out a lot of fun - enjoy!