Tuesday 25 September 2012

Tear, Sew, Paint

Recently a colleague of mine retired and I wanted to make him a keepsake that could hold photos and messages that he could remember people by. An altered book seemed an ideal choice so after much tearing (I hate that bit!) I made 'pages' by sewing about 5 book pages together. This makes them sturdy enough to take paint although it's still best not to make them too wet.
Here is my page, a tentative start, ideas seemed to develop more as I went on. I tried to build up layers with masks and stamps with of course a bit of doodling.
...an emergency elastic band. He's very keen on flicking elastic bands, you have to keep your wits about you. Between us all we managed to include many shared jokes and humorous moments.
I was lucky enough to find an old postcard of a local building which was part of a project he worked on. I was also lucky to find a treasure of a book page in a Plundered Pages pack that I had from Julie used for another keepsake. It referred to the exact area and raised a few smiles.

To finish I stitched a fabric cover. It featured a photo that I had printed onto photo canvas which I was able to then stitch into the design with a button closure to keep everything safe.

All in all I think everyone who contributed enjoyed adding their comments and I think my colleague was touched to receive it and I know he loved it which makes it all worthwhile.

 




7 comments:

ForgedinPaper said...

This is fab and I did notice the Plundered Page addition and thought it was perfect. Excellent stuff.

Sian said...

It's a perfect retirement present :)

Julie Kirk said...

What a thoughtful gift! A great idea and a lovely way to share your creativity in an 'accessible' way for others. Like 'scrapbooking in action' ... or something like that!

[And thank you for the link.] x

Alana said...

Beautiful and thoughtful gift Amanda. I'm sure he will be delighted with it:)

alexa said...

What a brilliant gift! Intrigued that you might be foraying into art journalling territory next. :)

Lou said...

what a super idea, i'm not surprised he loved it such a thoughtful gift x

Anonymous said...

Oh. Mand, this is so deliciously perfect. What a fabulous idea - and so beautiful too. Love it.