Altered Book

I joined an Altered Book round robin. I haven't done one in a couple years and had been in the mood. This one came up and I jumped at the opportunity.

I had to pick a theme so I decided on Floriography: the language of flowers. It is believed (and used a lot during Victorian times) that each flower had a meaning. So a bouquet would reflect those meanings.

I have done 2 spreads in my book and it is now ready to mail.


First is White Roses. The meaning is "Charm and Innocence".


I coated the page first with gesso and then stamped roses with white paint. You really have look close and in person to see the stamping but I know it is there. :-)

Second is Begonias. The definition is "A Fanciful Nature".

Chinese New Year Parade

Yesterday was the Chinese New Year parade in Jacksonville Oregon.

We have attended the New Year celebrations before but never made it early enough for the parade. This year we made a point of arriving early. We were not disappointed.

It was pretty cold out. Our hands and feet were going numb from the cold but we stuck it out. We were rewarded with the presence of 2 wonderful dragons!

I adjusted this picture in Photoshop Elements 5.0. I put some movement into the background using a motion blur. Otherwise the dragon just got lost in the crowd on the sidewalk.

With this picture I also did some adjustments. I used a radial blur to change the background. The dragon was in shadow (as was I -- freezing my butt off!) while the background across the street was in full sun. I just couldn't get the picture to look the way I wanted so I completely distorted the background to lessen the impact of that bright background.

Tried Something New

My friend Pam prints on fabric with her home printer. I decided to give it a try. Talk about fun!

I have lots of vintage images on cds I have bought over the years.

I resized several of them and printed them up on a scrap of muslin.

I think I need to heat set them in the future.

I followed Pam's directions:

1. Iron a piece of freezer paper (8x10) onto your fabric.

2. Make sure to trim all loose threads from the fabric

3. Put into your printer and print!

I was surprised how clear the images came out. I actually had to blur my picture to post it on the internet because the grain of the fabric was showing up too much. Trust me, the image printed crystal clear.

I cut out one of the pictures and used it for a Vintage Valentine ATC.