Rigid is rigid

I want to begin by saying how thoughtful the comments were on my post yesterday.  I used to have beautiful handwriting.  In fact, many of my friends would ask me to address their envelopes.  I'll have to dig out some of my old handwriting.   However, since my arthritis has flared so much (a condition I was born with, I might add), I can barely grip a pen. Add to that the hand I hurt is my writing hand, so the words that come out of my pen are shaky and ugly.  Trust me, because I remember how friends and coworkers used to think I had great penmanship.

Let's not dwell on that, though, and get right to the art I have for today.

I started this book cover using recycled book cover art back on November 19, although it looks nothing like the piece I created during 30 paintings in 30 days.  I had been gifted this translucent paper and was pleased when the background showed through.


This is what it looked like before I cut it into a smaller size and backed it with a page from a telephone book I painted using an acrylic craft paint called Lemondrop.


This is what it looks like today.

I cut the white background from a template my friend Kathy gave me from her die cutting machine.  Then I spritzed the paper with my shimmering mists and covered up any mistakes I made from the cutting by using black ink around the edges.

I included a strip of the cut translucent background paper minus the phone book, and sewed it to the dyed lace.  Then I added scrim on top of the paper and lace.

I chose a few buttons I had that sort of matched the background.  I got a bit carried away and once again photographed the piece before the glue I used on the buttons had completely dried.

I combined three colors of Staz-on reinkers with 91% alcohol in an attempt to match the background colors as well as the color of the little girl.

You can see the phone book background in this view.  I spent a lot of time trying to blend the dyed lace and scrim to the background.

When I first auditioned the button colors, I did so using my full spectrum OTT light.  I was shocked when I saw the photos that made the smaller button look very orange in the photo.

This is the back and I swear it looks dirty on the right side, but it really isn't.  I even checked it twice before I mailed it.

So why did I name this post "Rigid is rigid?"  This is a cautionary tale for those of you living in the United States who might be thinking of mailing a RIGID package through the USPS.  Somehow I thought that all I had to add was an extra $0.22 (USD) to have the post office hand stamp the envelope.  Instead, they told me there was a HUGE surcharge for RIGID things that could not bend at all, like license plates and my book covers.  The post offices rules are quite rigid, and I was shocked at how much extra I would have to pay.  If only I had turned this into a quiltlet, it would NOT have cost the extra surcharge.  This was a huge lesson learned as I sent two of these book covers through the mail on Tuesday.  As an aside, I learned the USPS no longer offers Happy Birthday stamps, something I fear they are misjudging how many of them they would sell.

By the time I got back to the car where my friend Sally was waiting, I was laughing, and joking about the rigidity of the post office, but at the time, it was a bit of a shock to learn how much I owed to send two book covers through the mail.  I'll show the other one next week, because the friend I mailed this one to doesn't read my blog, but the other one does.

Thanks for looking and thanks for your unconditional and continued support of my art.