While we're still on the topic of the Sketchbook Project, I must tell you that you HAVE to watch this 3.5 minute video just to check out the 2 fold out sketchbooks featured therein. The first one is at about 1:40 and the second at about 2:45.
Honestly, some people are just so darned creative!
Tell your mind to be prepared to be blown.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
SKP 2013 Done!
My little book for the Sketchbook Project is finally done.
I successfully added a spine yesterday (don't you just love the zebra duct tape?!) and bound the two signatures in place with an X pattern binding.
I finished not a moment too soon - according to the project rules, the books need to be postmarked by tomorrow, January 15th. I'll take it to the post office on my way to work. I could have mailed it today but I was hoping that the replacement label they are supposed to be sending me would arrive today but it didn't. So I took my sister's advice, printed out the photo of the label I had taken when the book first arrived and glued it on the back. Hopefully that will be enough for them to be able to identify it when it arrives at the Brooklyn headquarters and they can replace the label there.
So tomorrow I will be sending my little book out into the world, first to Brooklyn and from there, on to Austin, Atlanta, (back to) Toronto, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco and L.A. from March to September before returning to its permanent home in Brooklyn. I have a hankering to visit all those places - wouldn't it be fun to plan trips to coincide with when the SKP will be in town? Hmm, might have to give that some thought!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Work In Progress
Here's what my kitchen is looking like at the moment, as I count down the last 48 hours of the Sketchbook Project (books are to be postmarked January 15th):
And here's what happens when the kittens try to help!
As you can see, it's hard to use the paper cutter when there's a cat lying on top of it!
Everything was going smoothly until I realized the finished book was going to be too big for the required size of 5 x 7 inches. Luckily, we're allowed a 1 inch spine, so instead of one signature, I'll need to do two and add a 3/4 inch spine. Which wouldn't be a big deal except that now I just need to take a few pages apart as several of my spreads are a double page, which kind of throws things off now that I need to bind the book a different way. No worries, bookbinding skills learned from such masters as Diana Trout, Tracy Moore and Mary Ann Moss should get me through this! It's just going to take a little more time than I was expecting. Luckily, it's a very rainy Sunday out there and I had no plans other than to be working on getting my book finished, so it's all good!
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| Kitchen counter and stove top |
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| In front of the microwave |
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| Kitchen table top |
Everything was going smoothly until I realized the finished book was going to be too big for the required size of 5 x 7 inches. Luckily, we're allowed a 1 inch spine, so instead of one signature, I'll need to do two and add a 3/4 inch spine. Which wouldn't be a big deal except that now I just need to take a few pages apart as several of my spreads are a double page, which kind of throws things off now that I need to bind the book a different way. No worries, bookbinding skills learned from such masters as Diana Trout, Tracy Moore and Mary Ann Moss should get me through this! It's just going to take a little more time than I was expecting. Luckily, it's a very rainy Sunday out there and I had no plans other than to be working on getting my book finished, so it's all good!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Getting There
My Sketchbook Project is slowly coming together (did I mention it has to be in the mail by next Tuesday? And that I'm out of town all day tomorrow and won't be able to work on it again until Sunday?!).
I had an idea for the middle page, which turned out to be about love (because, really, love is at the centre of everything, isn't it?) this morning as I was having my breakfast - did I mention I've been doing most of the work on this project standing up at my kitchen counters so as to be out of reach of the kittens' paws?? - and quickly laid out the bits and pieces of my potential collage and took a photo before I had to leave for work.
When I came home, I started gluing everything into place (I say "gluing" but I've been attaching almost everything in the book with double-edge tape, just to be sure it will stay stuck for the long term). A little bit of rearrangement and one or two minor changes and voila, the finished spread.
I am especially excited to have included a photocopy of a portion of a love letter that I have in my collection of vintage ephemera. It dates back to 1931 and is one of a group of letters my friend Diane picked up for me at the Rose Bowl flea market in California last year. Imagine ending up with someone else's love letters from 80 years ago?!
I had an idea for the middle page, which turned out to be about love (because, really, love is at the centre of everything, isn't it?) this morning as I was having my breakfast - did I mention I've been doing most of the work on this project standing up at my kitchen counters so as to be out of reach of the kittens' paws?? - and quickly laid out the bits and pieces of my potential collage and took a photo before I had to leave for work.
When I came home, I started gluing everything into place (I say "gluing" but I've been attaching almost everything in the book with double-edge tape, just to be sure it will stay stuck for the long term). A little bit of rearrangement and one or two minor changes and voila, the finished spread.
I am especially excited to have included a photocopy of a portion of a love letter that I have in my collection of vintage ephemera. It dates back to 1931 and is one of a group of letters my friend Diane picked up for me at the Rose Bowl flea market in California last year. Imagine ending up with someone else's love letters from 80 years ago?!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Under the Stove
Every once in a while, one of the kittens will stretch a paw as far as they can under the stove as if they are trying to reach something that has accidentally rolled under there. Today I got the broom out and used the handle to sweep out that area. Here's what we found:
- the plastic protective cover from a paint brush;
- a bread closure tag (did you know there are other uses for these tags? Check out this blog for some ideas. FYI, I was already using them on my rolls of masking tape!);
- an emery board;
- a tape dispenser;
- a spool of thread;
- one or two dried up pieces of kibble (which Belle Cherie immediately ate!);
- a foam brush;
- a pen lid;
- various pieces of paper and plastic in various sizes;
- a spiral-shaped cat toy (not shown)(which both kittens pounced on and began chasing back and forth); and
- a pen.
I had no idea all this treasure was hidden under there, but the kittens certainly did!
So, what's under your stove??
- the plastic protective cover from a paint brush;
- a bread closure tag (did you know there are other uses for these tags? Check out this blog for some ideas. FYI, I was already using them on my rolls of masking tape!);
- an emery board;
- a tape dispenser;
- a spool of thread;
- one or two dried up pieces of kibble (which Belle Cherie immediately ate!);
- a foam brush;
- a pen lid;
- various pieces of paper and plastic in various sizes;
- a spiral-shaped cat toy (not shown)(which both kittens pounced on and began chasing back and forth); and
- a pen.
I had no idea all this treasure was hidden under there, but the kittens certainly did!
So, what's under your stove??
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Kitten Photos
Haven't posted any pictures of the kittens in a while, so I thought I'd share this one of Belle Cherie that I took the other day. She was napping with her arms crossed but opened her eyes as I crept near with my camera. I couldn't help myself, it was just so darned cute!!
She and her sister Belle Matisse are about 9 months old now. They've been staying with me for about six months, waiting to be adopted. They really are a very sweet pair, much calmer than they used to be now that they are a little older but still very playful and active, both with each other and with my cat Maggie. My other cat Katrina doesn't hiss at them any more but she doesn't play with them either, although she seems more playful herself lately - perhaps they are setting her a good example?!
Here's a recent photo of Belle Matisse (black cats are harder to photograph, I have discovered, which is too bad because she has the cutest face and adorable expressions that I haven't been able to capture well enough!)
Sometimes having four cats on a full time basis seems like a lot but most of the time, it's no problem. The kittens like to be picked up and cuddled - I do it a lot, just to be sure they stay used to it! The longer they stay with me, the harder it will be to let them go but knowing how much joy they will bring to someone else's life makes it easier. Until that time, I am enjoying having them stay with me.
She and her sister Belle Matisse are about 9 months old now. They've been staying with me for about six months, waiting to be adopted. They really are a very sweet pair, much calmer than they used to be now that they are a little older but still very playful and active, both with each other and with my cat Maggie. My other cat Katrina doesn't hiss at them any more but she doesn't play with them either, although she seems more playful herself lately - perhaps they are setting her a good example?!
Here's a recent photo of Belle Matisse (black cats are harder to photograph, I have discovered, which is too bad because she has the cutest face and adorable expressions that I haven't been able to capture well enough!)
Sometimes having four cats on a full time basis seems like a lot but most of the time, it's no problem. The kittens like to be picked up and cuddled - I do it a lot, just to be sure they stay used to it! The longer they stay with me, the harder it will be to let them go but knowing how much joy they will bring to someone else's life makes it easier. Until that time, I am enjoying having them stay with me.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Uh Oh
Did I mention that every sketchbook comes with a serial number on the back cover that you aren't supposed to cover up or alter? No problem, I thought. Except that when I glued this really funky paper onto the inside back cover, apparently the glue bled through the paper, made the ink on the label run and suddenly I had this big blob on my serial number:
Yikes! I emailed the support people at the Sketchbook Project last week immediately after it happened and asked them to send me a new label, hope it arrives in time before I have to mail in my book (all entries are to be postmarked by January 15th).
Luckily, I took a picture of it when I first got it so perhaps I could print out the photo and stick that on instead?
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