Also thanks to all those who already came to visit me, because without you I never would have had the nerve to even approach Mary Ann. You all make this blogging experience a wonderful one through your continuous support. I love you, my blogsy people!
Now...let's get back to regular business, shall we, on to the artsy stuff!
If you have a very good memory you may remember that last year I spent some time trying to put together a square shaped journal in the Remains of the Day Style (if you don't know what that is just click on the label on the sidebar). I had it all figured out. I was going to decorate this entire journal and then put it together and use it just to add some writing. Well...that just didn't work out.
I started a few spreads and I even liked them, but it just didn't feel right to sort of complete the visual aspect of an entire journal before I started writing in it. The process wasn't what I had envisioned somehow. And when something doesn't feel right, well...it just gets puts aside and postponed, and that's exactly what happened with ROD Square. Yup, that's what I was going to call this gorgeous book I had planned: ROD Square.
So over the past months the paper pages I had made for this book just sort of lay about in either my studio or my sewing room staring at me with reproach and I just didn't know what to do with them.
Now it so happens that one of my goals for this new artistic year was to do some new things with fabric and fiber and such and what better way to start than with a journal cover? And that's when things just came together. I was going to use the base pages that I had intended for ROD Square to make a brand new journal with a special cover. I took out the pages I had already prepared (those will probably never be used for anything) and I got out some gorgeous fabrics, some ribbon and some beads. And today I'm showing you what happened next:
It's the Book Formerly Known As ROD Square! That's really what I'm calling it. Hey, if Prince can do it, so can I! The cover is made from taffeta and damask fabrics which are both just gorgeous. Between the fabrics is a layer of batting to give it a bit more oomph.
The spine of the book has a ribbon attached to it and the book closes with the same kind of ribbon as well. I appliqued circles of damask on the covers and went around the circles with another stitched circle to make the batting sit more tightly. I wanted to do this with a quilting foot, but I couldn't get the damn thing to work right, so I just did it with a regular foot. Oh well. I guess this free motion stitching will be another learning experience for the future.
To add some more luxury to the whole thing I surrounded the circles with beads. It was my first time beading to fabric ever! A huge learning experience as well and a test in patience. It's far from perfect, but I do like the final effect of the beads. And I have new found respect for all you beaders out there.
So here's the book standing up from both sides:
And here are some glimpses of the pages. The book has 120 pages (counting both sides) and consists fully of strips of double sided scrapbook paper that were machine stitched into signatures and then hand sewn into the cover. Aren't those patterns just gorgeous? It's all K&C paper, for those of you who care about that kind of stuff.
This last photo is to show you the inside cover, which is just damask. I didn't think it needed any more adding to it. The papers are dramatic enough.
And there you have it. That's how ROD Square was saved from eternal shame and became a rather chic book if I do say so myself. It will probably be a while before I use it, but it is definitely destined to become one of my future journals and I'm sure it will then be filled to the brim with good stuff after all. A happy ending for all concerned. ;-)
Wishing you all a wonderful and artsy day!