The Sea book is complete!

My book is now complete! This is a front view.



Here is the open book. My apologies for the photograph here. It looks a little odd sloping to one side, but that was my fault. The book was standing upright, you can just see the odd angle of the horizon. I have shown this photograph merely because it gives an indication of the wealth of textures there are amongst these lovely pages.



The inside of the front cover.



The inside of the back cover. Thanks everyone who sent me a page.



The book is designed to open right out, as you can see here, fanning the pages out and making them easier to display. The spine is woven and beaded. I used sticks as uprights and used blue, green, purple and grey-blue ribbon to weave in and out making the structure more solid.

My next challenge will be to get a shelf for my workroom so I can display all my three-dimensional pieces out of direct sunlight.

Thanks Ruth. I really loved taking part in this project.

The book of The Sea

My book cover is belatedly taking shape. The front and back covers will be the same - background fabric sewn directly onto a thick pelmet vilene base, then a zigzag stitch to give emphasis to the different fabrics used; the letters are bondawebbed in place; after this the fish buttons are sewn in place; textured threads added and couched in position; last of all, an experiment - the sheer fabric has been cut using a soldering iron giving a rather nice almost hard edge to the shapes.

It was so funny. A short while ago, my husband came into my workroom and stated "you have a soldering iron?" "Oh yes," said I, "for fabric."

Hopefully, this will mean that it will not be "borrowed" for an urgent task in the house............ I have just managed to reinforce the idea that my scissors (kept in the workroom) are only to be used for fabric........ I have carefully not mentioned my paper-use only scissors...................... Scissors for everyday use are kept in the kitchen.

Do I sound as if I have had a problem? Oh yes. Past tense, you will notice. My first pair of dressmaking shears got used for cutting wallpaper............ Then another pair got used for cutting some fine wire................

My own scissors now bear labels - "Fabric scissors - misuse at your peril."

So sorry I have been so late in getting my book put together. I shall post photos of the completed book in a day or so.

Finishing etc.

Hi everyone, did we ever get any comeback from the late senders? Cobi had promised me my page for this group and a second group we're both in, but haven't received. I've been away so want to check up as our post goes to the village kafeneo and I suppose could get lost. I've made my book so that pages can be attached.
Re the proposed magazine article, I did send in some pics of my book but wonder if more or better are needed?
Thanks to all for this wonderful group.

The Book of Leaves

My Book of Leaves is finally done.
Its a treasure. More details and photographs on my blog.

Page from Cobi

Cobi I'd almost given up on on your page but I'm happy to report it arrived on the weekend.

Now onto completing my book.

My Story of the Traveling Pages

Today I finished my story of the traveling Pages. The cover is made with felted wool. Inside I used a night sky. I think that looks good for a fairy tail book.

I am not 100% happy how I made the book pages together. But for my first book it is okay.

Here it is:

I am very happy that I could sew and swap with you. Thank you for your pages and for the nice words when you received a page of me. Every time when I now look into my fairytale I will remember the last year. I think it was a quite good one.

Thank you Ruth for the organisation. For all the work you had all the mails you wrote and the lists you made and the organisation of this blog. I had a lot of fun making the pages and showing the photos.

Completed Tree Book

I finished putting my book together! It turned out great and even though it was a bit fiddly putting it together, it worked out well.

You can see more photos and there's a bit of an explanation of how I put it together on my blog. How is everyone else coming along with book construction? I decided not to wait any longer for missing pages. I guess I can always add them later if I so choose.

Book Construction and Missing Pages

I just wrote a post on my blog about how I am constructing my book, if you want to take a look. I also thought that I would let everyone know that I have not heard a word from either Carmen or Debi. I think that at this point, that you should not count on getting any missing pages from them. I have sent several e-mails, posted here and on Stitchin' Fingers. If they were going to respond, I think we would have heard from them by now. My suggestion is to go ahead with the pages you have and begin book construction. Please do post a photo of your process, I'm sure everyone would like to see how others are doing their books.

Book cover

Hi, I have made covers for my book which will allow extra pages to be added. I made separate front and back covers, sewed loops on all the pages and holes in the covers then tied all together with machined cord.

Carmen and Debi???

Carmen and Debi - I have sent you e-mails about your missing pages and haven't heard back from either of you. Would you please let us know whether or not you have intentions of completing the missing pages? It is only fair that you let everyone know since they sent you pages in good faith. Please, I would appreciate a reply.

Missing Pages

We are drawing to a close on our swap. I have had numerous e-mails about missing pages so I thought the most simple method would be to list which pages are missing. Some of these pages may have arrived but have not been noted on the blog, some may have been lost in the mail and some may not have been sent yet. I would appreciate it if everyone would review the list and let me know either in the comments or by e-mail the status of the pages.

Pages that were mailed but have either not arrived or were not acknowledged on the blog:

Johoanna's goddess page made by Elizabeth
Carmen's castle page made by Elizabeth
Johoanna's goddess page made by Debi
Cobi's art nouveau page made by Gayle - Received
Elizabeth's window page made by Gayle - Received
Debi's shabby chic page made by Gayle
Debi's shabby chic page made by Ann
Johoanna's goddess page made by Mandy - Received
Ann's fairy tale page made by Maya - Received

Pages that have not been completed, mailed or acknowledged on the blog:

Johoanna's goddess page made by Cobi - mailed - not received
Mandy's sea page made by Cobi - received
Kath's flower page made by Cobi - still needs writing on the back
Maya's leaf page made by Cobi - mailed
Juliette's seashore page made by Cobi - received
Carmen's castle page made by Cobi - not started yet
Cobi's art nouveau page made by Elizabeth
Ann's fairy tale page made by Debi
Mandy's sea page made by Debi
Kath's flower page made by Debi
Maya's leaf page made by Debi
Juliette's seashore page made by Debi
Carmen's castle page made by Debi
Cobi's art nouveau page made by Debi
Elizabeth's window page made by Debi
Liz's door page made by Debi
Debi's shabby chic page made by Johoanna (I know this is complete but hasn't been mailed.)
Ruth's tree page made by Johoanna (in the works according to a recent post)
Liz's door page made by Carmen
Debi's shabby chic page made by Carmen
Gayle's "All Creatures" page made by Carmen
Ruth's tree page made by Carmen
Johoanna's goddess page made by Carmen
Ann's fairy tale page made by Carmen
Mandy's sea page made by Carmen
Kath's flower page made by Carmen
Maya's leaf page made by Carmen
Juliette's seashore page made by Carmen

If I have missed any of your pages that you don't have, please let me know. I will update this list as I hear from people so hopefully, everyone will receive their pages. I have heard from several people that they have e-mailed directly about a missing page but are not getting a response. Please, it is only fair that you let people know when to expect their page. If you aren't going to complete the pages, we would appreciate knowing that as well.

Perhaps this post seems a little harsh and I'm sorry to have to post this list. Hopefully, everyone will follow through on their obligations. Thanks to everyone that completed their pages. I really appreciate it!

art nouveau from Gayle

Some time ago I received this lovely page from Gayle. She found her inspiration in Louis Comfort Tiffany. I love everything Tiffany, great choice Gayle. I've never seen a red dragon fly in real life, lucky you. But I love any dragon fly anyway. Below the card that came with the page. Thank you Gayle.

The sea.

This is the delightful page which arrived this morning from Cobi.



Cobi told me in her accompanying letter that she found the topic hard. The page she has produced is a lovely interpretation of the sea. Full of texture, she has used velvet and satin as well as dyed scrim to portray the foam caused by waves.



This is the back of the page. A rather beautiful piece of what might hand-dyed fabric.

Inside the envelope, I found this lovely postcard of Leiden. The buildings on the bank of the canal are really interesting.

Thanks so much for my new page, Cobi.

sea shore for Juliette

This is the sea shore themed page I made for Juliette. The fabric for the beach was a gift from my friend Tonny. The big sea shell is padded with bright green felt, it shines through the cream color of the satin, giving it the color I was looking for.

Page Received

Hi Cobi today I had a nice surprise, a lovely page from you, I had totally forgotten about it. It is lovely ,Thank you so much. I cannot show it as I have no facility for this at the moment. Maybe you can show it if you still have a scan of it.

Working on My Book

I've been working on putting my book together and have made a cover/title page. . . sort of an introduction:

When you open that front door, you will see this:

I used Shiva Paintstiks to make the brown "wood" surface and the green inside is some of my "snow" fabric.  On the back of this page, I printed a brief explanation of the project and a list of the participants:

Very simple - because it is the lead-in for all those wonderful pages!

I have them temporarily strung together while I wait for information on missing pages and inspiration for a permanent binding.  How is everyone else coming?

A goddess for Johoanna

My page for Johoanna shows the goddess Terpsichore.



As my letter explained, she was one of the muses of Greek mythology.



The base fabric was first painted and then the pieces for the figure added. These were attached using bondaweb, being simply ironed in place. I overstitched everything to add texture.



The back was kept very simple and uses a piece of my favourite Fossil Ferns fabric.

The letter also bore this apology. My page was rather late in being completed and then sent off. It had been intended as my December page.

Mail Received

Hi all
Sorry for the delay in posting.  I have been really unwell with my bipolar.  I haven't done any art/sewing for nearly a month now.  I just haven't been able to.  It's a long story.

I received my page from Mandy just the other day.  Mandy, it's beautiful.  And so relevant to what I'm going through right now.  Can you post a pic for me please?  All my stuff is packed away, again... :(

I haven't received my page from Elizabeth yet.

I'm going to try and do some work on my last page over the next few days.  I'm so sorry it's so late.
Blessings
Johoanna

Cobi's reply

Hi all - I have heard from Cobi and she has still been completing pages. Please take a look at my prior post about missing pages to see the status of your pages. The only one I am uncertain about is Johoanna's page from Cobi. Johoanna, did you get a page from Cobi? I have not heard from either Debi or Carmen from the e-mail that I sent.

The binding

Last year Ati wrote on her Blog how she finished her fabric book. I think this article is very good. Look at it at "Ati's little world"

The princess of the pea from Maya

Over a week ago I received this lovely page but haven't shown it to you. Here it is.



Maya has sent me a page of the Princess and the Pea. I love the stitching on the pillows. The background of the room is painted on fabric and stitched. The carped is in a different material.

Thank you Maya for this nice page. My first exchanged fiber craft from India.

Full circle

Breathe again, Maya!! Your page has arrived in Crete!! It's so Indian with block printed fabrics and sewn beads and sequins. Thank you so much, Maya, as you say we've come full circle now as your first leaf page was from me. I too look forward to making up my book and will make the binding un-fastenable (wish I could speak English!!) so as to include any late-comers. Thanks to all, I really look forward to seeing this next step from everyone. I wonder if there are any 'peeks' ready yet???

The Book of Leaves

I've begun the covers for my book of Leaves and hope to have the book itself completed by next month so I can photograph it etc and send the necessary information to Ruth who plans to send out articles about the Story of the Traveling Pages to various publications.

I am waiting for three pages. Sorry to have to post this on the blog but I couldn't find email ids to contact Cobi, Chris and Carmen. Would really appreciate it if you could let me know if I can expect a page in the next couple of weeks so I can make provision for these pages to be included into the book in chronological order.

Last pages

Hello ladies some lovely pages are coming up , and it will be great to get the books put together. However I am still waiting on 2 more pages so I can finish mine and i would be grateful if the ladies in question could mail me to let me know when I can expect these. Thank you
Juliette

A sea page!

This is my January page from Kath. It is exquisite. The background is felt with some beading and stitching to add texture. It just speaks of the movement in the sea.



The signature on the back is simplicity itself.



A small detail for you to enjoy. I feel very privileged to have this gorgeous page in my collection. Thanks so much, Kath. Please could you respond and tell about the materials you have used in this piece?

Silver Saucer and Transparent apple by Mandy

Yesterday I found a soft envelope in my mailbox. It came from Mandy. She has sent me an Russian fairy: "The tale of the silver saucer and the transparent apple". I didn't know the tale but read it today. Mandy had sent it with the fabric book page to me. It is a wonderful tale and she made a wonderful page for me.

Look at the photo. You can see the the apple made with light blue fabric and painted with some silver so that it is glittering. On top and on bottom of the apple there are two some words out of the fairy which the princes spoke when she span the apple around in the silver saucer. When she did it she could look through the apple to all places of the world. In front of the apple are photos printed on Jacquard Extrav Oganza semi transparent silk sheets. The background of the page is made with a experiment printing fabric.



This is the backside of the page:



There were a lot of goodies with in the envelope. I show them on the next photo:



Thank you very much for the fabric book page, the story and all the nice things.

A Rare Creature

Johoanna's note tells it all. Opening the package with this page brought a smile to my face for sure. Thank you Johoanna! What a clever idea!

February Already!

It's hard to believe but we are at the end of our swap. I have really enjoyed exchanging pages with everyone and it has been so much fun to see all the pages that have been made. Isn't it amazing what different ideas people come up with based on the same themes?

As I have written to you all, I would appreciate it if everyone gets all their pages completed and mailed by the end of February. I know that some of you are still behind but please make every effort to catch up in this extra month. I know that everyone wants to start putting their pages together into a book so please make sure that you get any late pages sent so that can happen.

If you have good ideas on book construction, it would be wonderful if you posted your ideas. Or if you have questions about how to put your book together, do post and ask everyone. Maybe someone can help out with an idea on book making that you wouldn't have thought about.

If you haven't received a page from someone, please e-mail them to ask about when your page is expected to be complete. If you don't hear back, please let me know which pages you are missing. I appreciate every one's cooperation and hope that all pages will be completed as promised.

Signing off,

Your Swap Mom

Page Received

Well, I received my lovely page from Ann this morning.  Sorry for the bad scan.  I'm really not feeling like taking a photo.  It's been hotter than hades here today (38 degrees celcius).  And on top of that, my housemate had lifted up the door of the garage (it's a roller door) and didn't put it all the way up.  I ducked my head going in but forgot to duck it going out.  Subsequently I now have a headache and shall probably have a nice little bruise in the next few days.

Ann, it's a lovely page.  And you are right, the Goddess within is such a big subject.  At first I was worried that I had chosen something too difficult or too "weird" for some people.  But I have been very happy with each page that I have received so far.

Ruth, I'm sorry but I haven't even started your page yet.  I will get it done in the next couple of weeks and send it off to you.

Senior moment

Mandy, The good news is that I posted your sea page today; the bad news is that I forgot to scan it first so please will you show a picture on the site when you receive it! Thank you, I hope you like it

Doorway to the Napa Valley

Gayle's page arrived yesterday.

Isn't that the most scrumptious looking doorway?!!  She was inspired by a door she saw while visiting the Napa Valley.  I needed a reminder of what spring can bring, since it has started snowing here in Kansas.  Again!!!