Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

‘I like’ Friday. The book making edition.

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I have been making my own books for a relatively short time, but now I have started I consider a book I can make for any occasion be it a journal or a watercolor project. I have sewn books on the sewing machine and I have hand sewn pamphlet books as well as adapting vintage book covers to make a new journal or sketchbook. I love to add all kinds of paper from heavy watercolor paper to atlas paper pulled from old books.  I have even used brown paper bags from the grocery store to make a book which I love!  See that one here . Here are some of the ways I have learnt and continue to learn about making books. Book making books I like are: How to Make Books by Esther K Smith Journal Your Way, Designing and Using Handmade Books by Gwen Diehn Make your own idea book by Arne and Carlos I mentioned that I like to make books using old book covers and I find those old books at the …

My Collections. Used postage stamps.

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I specify the used part because I am not bothered about brand new sets of stamps (although I did buy the eclipse stamps just to keep!). I like stamps which have traveled a little, seen the world and got some frank marks. I leave them on the corner of the envelops which I will tear off so I keep some of the frank marks and envelope intact. Some of my favorites are when more than one of the same stamp had to be used to ensure delivery. You see stamps less and less so I grab them when they land in the mailbox.   I seem to have picked most of the stamps from the Millennium collection which were issued in 2000 in the UK, I still lived in England and I am pleased I kept them. One of my favorites is the stamp with the Queen and Prince Philip from 1961 and the set of owls too. I do have lots of stamps from sales and thrift shops too, but I like these because …

Get Messy Art Journal Season of Fairytales. Week Three.

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Week three of the season of fairytales and I am still enjoying filling my little handmade journal.  What I have learnt is that I like to work bigger, this journal was dictated by the size of the book covers I chose, but every time I open it, I wish it was bigger.  We live and lean don’t we?! I did buy a big fat old book this weekend from the local YMCA book fair, which I want to make into a sketchbook full of watercolor paper, but that is another story which I will share when I make it. At the same book fair I also bought a couple of fairytale books which I am using for collage material.  I seem to have landed on The Frog Prince as my fairytale of choice so I am keeping all my book pages from that story. I have been following the daily prompts on Creative Bug this month and today’s was to make a poem from found words. So I pulled a couple of pages from The …

Art Marks 30 Day Summer Challenge.

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I finished this challenge a week ago and I really liked filling up my little paperback sketchbook which I made from a vintage paper back book cover and added different papers to the inside. This is the full mini sketchbook I used solely for this project.  The 30 Days of mark making challenge was hosted by Rae Missigman. Here is the second half of my 30 day journey, find the first half here. Day 12. Blotted. I don’t even know what prompt this was for, but I like it!! Day 13 Stippled. Day 14 Fluid. Day 15 Varied. Day 16 and 17 Mirrored and Dripped. Day 18 and 19 Many and Scattered. Day 20-21 Scratched and collaged. Day 22 Torn. Day 23 Lettered. Day 24 Remnants. Day 25 Found. Day 26, 27, 28 Tattered, collected and metallic (can you tell the end of the book was near!) Day 29 and 30 Stitched and closed, I stitched a ribbon around the whole book to close it. Are you participating in any challenges? Monthly? Yearly? Weekly? Do …

Weekly Photos 2017. 33/52

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  1. Eclipse Party planning with a vintage library sign! 2. My porch table in the summer is covered in cacti and succulents. 3. The tomatoes in my garden have been no great shakes this year but the ones I have picked have been delicious. 4. I like to see under mushrooms. 5. YMCA book fair, lots of bargains to be had! 6. Cabbages at the international market. 7. My haul from the book fair. Some will stay as they are and some will become sketchbooks.  I like the small but fat language books and flash cards are always a winner for me. I hope you had a fabulous week. Happy Tuesday x

Get Messy Art Journal Season of Fairy Tales. Week 2.

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I really got stuck into the season of fairy tales this week, and I have made a good start in my hand made journal as well as some off-shoot ideas in my giant Moleskine. Rather than follow any fairy tale in particular, I am making my pages with the general theme in mind and as a guide rather than a director. I have lots of golden circles reflecting the golden ball from The Frog Prince and this week I have painted castles and trees which I see more of in this journal as they were lovely to paint and sparked many more ideas as I created them. I made a falling triangle stencil and painted it in a bright opera pink on a vellum page in my journal.  I like this simple but striking page over the watery trees and inky castle. I may draw in some details to my castle but for now, I like it as it is. Castles and forests and golden balls. My week in fairy tale art journaling. Happy Thursday …

Happy New (school) Year!

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The beginning of the school year feels to me more like a new year than January 1st.  Without the resolutions and goal setting and navel gazing which is tradition in my January world! My August new year is more about getting on with stuff, more starting, less thinking. Even though I am now working part time at the library which is new from last year, I still make my plans. So far they have included – read my magazine stack, paint the gladioli I just bought from Trader Joes (especially to paint and draw!), go to the Art Museum to gather inspiration, watch classes at Creative Bug and Skillshare as well as all of the art journaling. So far I can report that the boys have been back at school for two days and my magazines are still in a stack and the gladioli are beautiful and full of flowers but unpainted, I have been nowhere and watched nothing! However I have had a very nice couple of days getting back into the routine and …

Weekly Photos 2017. 32/52

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1. My little garden is struggling this year, I am not sure whether it is a lack of rain or a lack of gardening skills, but this is one of the little sunflowers that made it. 2&3. One of the huge trees at the park keeled over this week, it wasn’t in a storm or anything but it was on the ground when I walked the dog on Monday. 4&5. Once the tree had been cut down, the trunk circles were a work of art. I think one looks like a sad raccoon face! 6. This drink machine doesn’t work, I wonder how long these drinks have been in it? I suppose pop doesn’t go off! Happy Monday x

My Collections. Found Marbles.

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I don’t always consciously ‘collect’ things, but when I watched Courtney Cerruti on Creative Bug talking about collections and how we are drawn to things over and over, I quickly realized that I have amassed a collection or three over the years. When I am at the thrift shop or an estate sale or antique shop, I do have things I look for. Like old buttons, ledgers – the more handwriting the better, postcards – again, the more writing the better, photographs, books, flash cards and old haberdashery. The thing I do conciously collect is marbles, but not just any marbles, I don’t look for marbles at any of the above locations and I am not interested in new marbles. All of my precious marbles are from the local creek and the woods and all of which I have found with my 12 year old son. We find them on the creek bed and in the mud and we love to dig them out!  Some are in half, some are chipped and some are sand …