Monday, July 27, 2009

Weekend in Ft. Wayne & Altered Books Find!

I enjoy getting away at times and Ft. Wayne is close. I love the Jefferson Pointe area for at least a couple of reasons. One reason is that there is a great Barnes & Noble bookstore there and with many choices of books about crafting. The other reason is that there is also a Michaels store there also. That is my wonderland...ha. Well, at the B & N store, I found a couple of books on altered books I really loved and purchased. One is called Altered Books Workshop by Bev Brazelton. That one is a step by step (with many examples) of how to create in many creative ways an altered book using popups, pockets, drawers, cover designing, and much more. Wonderful pictures that really inspire.

The other book is called Collaborative Art Journals & Shared Visions in Mixed Media by L.K. Ludwig. It also has inspirational work done in collaborative ways Many techniques are included in this one as well. Needless to say, I was "chomping at the bit" to get back home and try out many of the ideas.

On an earlier excursion up to Ft. Wayne, I purchased another book that compliments both of the above called The Decorated Page-Journals, Scrapbooks, & Albums Made Simply Beautiful by Gwen Diehn. The book is very descriptive and as with the others has many beautiful full-color examples of journal pages. So there you go...if you like altered books and haven't seen these yet, check them out.

I'm also contemplating taking my paper flowers ideas and transferring them to hats as in the Victorian era, where women wore those great hats with paper flowers. Anyone out there like that idea and think they might be interested in such a hat?

Well, I need to get busy..lots to do today. Have a good one and again, don't forget to checkout my store on Etsy! http://www.greggsgoodies.etsy.com

Gregarious

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wednesday, July 22, 2009-Showcase is Under Way






I have two showcases today; one being a vintage showcase and the other is for my mini-journaling books. I've added a slideshow of the types of art I do so viewers can get a better idea of my work. I love making shadowboxes and the one here in a black box is of my aunt Freda who was one of my favorite aunts. She passed on in June and so I was compelled to do two boxes of the same for her two boys, my cousins. They were thrilled to receive them. I can do the same for anyone who might want a memory type box or for someone living to honor them. If you go to my Etsy site at http://www.greggsgoodies.etsy.com you will find the memory box category to see what I have stated there.

I also have done memory "altered" box as here with the picture of a friend on the cover and many memories from the past. I did this one for her birthday. She loved it!

The cutouts are of the type done first in Germany, I believe, called Scherenschnitte, which means "scissor cuts". I have a way of creating the design and then transferring it to my Cricut Expressions machine. Otherwise, it would take too long to produce. But at least I am creating the design.

My other passion because I like flowers so much, I have learned to create paper flowers that do look fairly realistic. I was inspired by a segment on Martha Stewart's show where she was using her punches to create the flowers. It is detailed, but I love the final product.

Friday, July 17, 2009

I am now registered with Technorati- ndbv7fj8gm.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009


Thought I'd share a sample of one of my mini-journaling books with you. I start with recycled cardboard for the covers. Then choose a great textured paper for the cover. As I create the book cover, I embed ties and a place marker ribbon so that the book can be closed and also mark the place where stopping from journaling.

Then I copy pages that have the words, "My Journal" and the date with lines for writing. Those pages get cut in half and so become 4 x 5 1/2 inches per page. The pages are folded and sewn together in 4 sets or signatures. Then the signatures are glued together and finally are glued into the covers of the book. It is a wonderful thing to see the book take shape. I have many versions in my Etsy store under the title of "Greggs Goodies". Check them out.

Hello All! My First Etsy Blog!

I hope to make many new friends through blogging. And I also plan to keep you updated on what I'm doing with my art. I now have mini-journaling books, cutout cards, matted cutouts, and paper flowers in my bag of "goodies".

Many thanks to Northern Mama for providing the contest for giving away one of each of my art types. Hope to have another contest soon.

Right now I am perfecting a "summer bouquet" to put in my etsy store:

http://www.greggsgoodies.etsy.com

Hope you'll all come and visit. I do have some vintage items I plan to offer, too. Among those being a black flapper dress with jet beads, "paste" jewelry, and pages from an album from the late 1800's suitable for displaying your own photos. So look for some new things coming soon.