The final day! Remember to check here to see if you won a class kit! The links to all of the lessons will be added to the list on the right, so you can make your booklet anytime!

For the last page:
Page Four Topic:
Another sentence starter’ “By the end of 2009 I hope to feel _____________”

How I made my page:
Basic Grey “Cupcake” line, with red inked edges. Since this is not a double sided paper, I stamped the back with a pattern so it would look finished when the pages were flipped. I hand wrote my text on a variety of Fontwerks stickers.

The Tab:
I colored a rectangular piece of Grungeboard with red ink, and edged it with blue oil pastel. The rub-on arrow is from 7Gypsies.

For the back cover, you can use another large tag if you have one, or make your own from cardstock, as I did here.

The Back Cover:

Step One:

Glue torn strips of sheet music to the top and bottom of tag. Using Glossy Accents, Write your word in the center. Let dry COMPLETELY (I left mine over night).


Step Two:

Paint the tag with acrylics, and wipe some away with a damp paper towel or baby wipe.

Lightly rub the edges and word with an oil pastel, and blend with your finger or a paper towel. You could also use a crayon for a slightly different effect.

Rub a little Stickles or glitter glue over the sheet music for shine.

Assembling the book:

You can attach your pages using a large brad or eyelet, but if you have the MDW kit, you may want to try your hand at making a custom closure. You’ll need the small metal “frame” that was in the kit, alcohol ink, and number stickers or rub-ons.

Color the inside of the frame with alcohol ink (I just put a drop in the center). Add the year with rub-ons or stickers. Fill the center with Glossy Accents and let dry. When frame is dry, attach to the head of a large brad with a glue dot. Thread through the top hole of the tags and secure.


Your book is now complete! Keep it on your desk, scrap space, or wherever you’ll see it on a regular basis. Remember, your word is your focus for your year, so keep it in a prominent place!

I hope you enjoyed this little mini-class. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion for improvement. I am planning on running more online classes, through my blog and other sites, and your comments would be helpful. Thanks so much for playing along this week, and go CREATE!

Time for page three. If the interior papers you are using are not double sided, you might want to consider inking or stamping the blank side to add interest to the back of the page.



Page Three Topic:
What roadblocks are in your path? What might hinder your progress towards your word this year? List them here! Once you’ve identified them, you’ll be better prepared to handle them when they appear, or prevent them altogether.

How I made my page:
Another Cosmo Cricket “Hello Sunshine” paper, edged in blue ink. I used letter stickers for the title, and then wrote my roadblocks directly on the page.

Page Three Tab:

Step One:

Use Glossy Accents or gel medium to adhere old sheet music scrap to textured Grungeboard. Rub the paper a bit, so the texture of the grungeboard shows. Trim around the edge.


Step Two:

Use an ink applicator to apply ink lightly to Grungeboard, highlighting the texture pattern. Add additional ink to edges. Apply a sticker or rub-on to the center, and maybe a little “bling”, too!

Tomorrow we'll make the last page and add a fun technique to the back cover!

This was my favorite page to make. I was surprised at how the words seemed to flow perfectly, even though this was all free association. The key to this one is to quickly write down the words that come to mind - no pondering, no editing, just list!




Page Two Topic:
Choose a chipboard or Grungeboard number greater than two. Now, write down the first 8 (or whatever number you chose) words that come to mind when you hear your word for the year. This is a free association exercise, but you may be surprised at the insight you gain from it. Put these words on page two.

How I made my page:
The background is from Paper Trunk’s 1974 collection, edged with orange ink. I typed out my words on the computer and glued the strips on the page (I did ink the edges in black, first).

The Tab:
I colored the Grungeboard number with orange ink, then went over that with an orange glitter gel pen to give it a little sparkle.

Remember to check here to see if you won one of the class kits. The kits were from My Daughter's Wish, and each is slightly different - you may get a different number, or different grungeboard shapes, but all of the essential elements for the book are in there. For my blog winners, I'm also adding the paper for the pages. Again, each kit is slightly different, so some of the patterned paper may not be the same as the ones I used here. At the end of the week, I'll post a permanent link on the right side of the page to all of the lessons, so you can construct the book at your convenience.

Today we’ll start on the inside pages. There is a topic for each page, and instructions for making a tab. How you design your page is up to you. You could use journaling spots, scraps of lined paper, text strips, stickers, or simply write directly on the paper. These are BRIEF compositions (it is a tag book, after all). However, you could use the same topics in your journal/art journal if you'd like to expand on them.



Page One Topic:
Here’s your sentence starter, “I picked (your word)___ for 2009 because__________________.”

How I made my page:
I used a Cosmo Cricket “Hello Sunshine” paper for the page, and edged it with turquoise ink. The journal spot is a swatch of binder paper edged in the same ink.

The Tab:
Ink a small square of Grungeboard and edge it with an oil pastel (I used red for contrast). I chose a compass rub-on by 7Gypsies as my image, to indicate the “direction” I want to go in this year!

That's it! Tomorrow we'll be assembling page two. If you have any questions/comments, you can post them here or email me using the link on the right. Have fun!

Patience. Action. Peace. Believe. Faith. Inspire. Nurture. What is your word for the year? Many of us are familiar with the concept, through Ali Edward’s blog and others, of selecting a word for the year to provide focus, rather then a list of resolutions. Last year my word was Believe – believe I myself, my art, my creativity. With six publications for the year and this exciting adventure with Lavender Sky Studios, I’d say it served me well. What is your word? Take some time to dwell on it. What would you really like to focus on this year? Are you trying to simplify your life? Are you looking for a change? Are you trying to gain focus? Write down a few words, or maybe a whole page worth. What jumps out at you? Now, go get a cup of coffee. I’ll wait. You need a break at this point. Ten or fifteen minutes will do. Just a small break.

Okay, take a sip of that coffee and read your list again. Are you still drawn to the same word? If so, that’s the one! If not, write a few more down. Ali compiled a list of words for 2009 on her blog, if you need a little inspiration. Go get a snack. Come back to your list and repeat the process. Eventually, YOUR word will make itself known. Then, we can begin.

Supply List
Please note that this is just a suggested list. Use what you have on hand. Use what you love. If you purchased a kit from MDW (or received one in my last class – waving to my students out there!!), you will have the basic structure for the book.

Large Tag (mine is 6.25 in. by 3 in.)
Small Tag (mine is 3.25in. by 1.75 in.)
Assorted scrapbook papers (great use for scraps!)
Cardstock piece the size of your large tag
Transparency to fit as pocket for large tag
Assorted grungeboard or chipboard pieces, including a number
2 Ideaology Fragments
1 metal charm
Fibers and/or ribbon
Assorted stickers and rub-ons
Eyelets
Glossy Accents
Paint, ink, or other coloring medium
Optional: stamps, glitter, music/text pages, alcohol ink or permanent markers


Before we begin:
Prepare your inside pages and back cover by using the large tag as a template to trace 4 inside pages from your patterned paper scraps and one back cover from cardstock. Cut out all of the pages and punch a hole in the top, using your tag as a guide.

Step One:
Color your tag with ink, paint, colored pencils, whatever! Here I painted the tag, and while the paint was still wet, pressed a rubber stamp in it for texture. After the paint was dry, I rubbed an oil pastel lightly over the tag to bring out the wood grain texture. Don’t forget to paint the back side, too!



Step Two:
Trim a transparency scrap to fit as a pocket on your large tag. I used a Prima IOD paintables transparency, and used alcohol inks to color it. You can see a video of Josie from IOD demonstrating that technique here.

You could also use permanent markers, or of course, color transparencies. Attach your pocket to the front of your tag with eyelets, staples or brads.



Now it’s time to make the small tag that will sit in the front pocket. As with the large tag, begin by coloring your tag with ink or paint.
Step Three:
Your word for the year should be the focal point. Use large letter stickers, rub-ons, or write your word on the front. Embellish with stamps or rub-ons.
We’ll be using those clear fragments in your kit to make charms for our tag. If you don’t have fragments, you can use a piece of clear transparency or cover your images with glossy accents.



Step Four:
Select a few images that represent your word. These images don’t need to be literal representations; choose something that is meaningful to you. Smear a small amount of Glossy Accents on the back of the fragment, and press down over your image. When dry, use scissors or a craft knife the cut off the excess.



Step Five:
Thread assorted ribbons and/or fibers through the tag. Glue the charms to ribbon ends. I then covered the backs of each charm with patterned paper to finish them off.

That's it for the cover! Today's lesson was the longest. For the rest of the week, we'll add a page a day to the inside of the book. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section and I'll answer them there, or you can email me using the link on the right. Yesterday I posted the class kit winners, so check here to see if it was you! Happy Monday, and take a little time today to CREATE:)

The Spring issue arrived today!


My work was highlighted on the gallery cover page:


and both tanks were shown on page 142:


I couldn't be more thrilled! I've been dabbling with some fiber work, but these were some of the first clothing pieces I've done, and I loooooooovvvvvveeee clothes! Right now the machine is out because I'm appliquéing felt hearts on 18 t-shirts for Madeline's birthday party (I really wanted to avoid cheap plastic toys or candy as favors, and the t-shirts were on sale at Michael's for only $2!), but I have a whole list of projects to sew once those are done. The clothes pile in my closet is stacking up; not ones to wear, but to deconstruct. I pulled four sweaters out of my give-away pile this morning (shhh, don't tell Matt!) to do a little sweater surgery on. Well, maybe you can tell him - he gave me the book, after all! So hold on, Altered Couture, more is on the way!

We've run into a few technical difficulties with the new web site, so we've decided to post my Word For the Year class HERE! The posts will run daily, from February 2-6. Of course, they will still be here to view, so if you can't check in that week, you won't miss out. This little book is full of some cool techniques (you know I love the technique classes) and quick journaling prompts to focus your new year wishes. To make it an even sweeter deal, I'm giving away 7 class kits! No, you don't need a kit to make the book (you can use your own supplies), but wouldn't it be nice to win one? Just a reminder, we are going to make this:

All you need to do to enter the drawing is tell me, what is your word for the year? Don't have one? That's okay, too. We'll address that in class. You can just leave a little happiness instead! I'll pick a winner Feb. 1st!

Wow! One hundred posts! I can't believe it! What an interesting experiment it has been so far! It's a strange beast, this blog thing. I really feel as if I'm writing to myself most of the time, even though I'm aware that others will read it. I guess it's that delayed response that does make it feel more like a journal then a public posting. Then the comments come, and you realize that there are people out there reading it, from all over the world, and it morphs into an exchange rather than a recording. I remember the thrill I got when I read comments from international readers. It was, and still is, so amazing to think that someone is sitting at there computer on the other side of the earth, looking at your work. I think it does have the power to bring the world closer together.