Honeymoon in India

Yesterday you saw a brightly colored recycled collage.  Today I'm going in a very different direction.  There was a discussion a few days ago about what our artistic style is.  I have none, per se, and I believe this shows it.  All I know is, I don't sketch or draw.  My skills lie elsewhere.  I hope this entry proves it.

Today I'm recycling a book cover and another paper bag.  I've already cut the jagged end of the bag off.

Next, I wadded up the bag several times,

then spread white PVA glue on the inside of the cover using a faux credit card.  After attaching the paper bag to the cover, I let it sit overnight.

Somehow I managed to skip photographing a few steps.  First, I added gesso to the paper bag, then added a bit of the faux leather I made a few days ago.  Next, I colored part of the background with a wet tea bag and allowed it to dry.

That gave me time to wet and dry bits of paper from a travel book on India, and add a bit of old day planner to the page. 

I actually sewed all the pages together, except the top page, so they can be fanned or leafed through.  I like it when there is a bit of interaction in my mixed media.

I was actually looking for a piece of an old envelope, but when I couldn't find it, I ran across this bit of gold that referenced various parts of the world.

Since I couldn't find the envelope, I chose two British stamps gifted me by my friends in the UK.

You have to lift the pages slightly to get a good look at the stamps.

Next, I sanded the back of the book cover, although it never looked as "old" as I would have hoped.

If you look closely, you can see some of the marks I'm making.  For the first time in a LONG time, I used the flash because the room was so dark, I couldn't get a good view of the scratches I was making.  One thing for sure, the sanding block took the shine off the cover.

Now it was time to put my Crop-a-dile to the test.  I got it out as well as my handmade universal hole locater.

It's a bit hard to see the hole on the right, because I pulled the pages out of the way when I cut the hole. 

For the completed unit, I looked through my TH die cuts I bought recently and found something that looked like it might have been from the early 1920s, during the time India was still regarded as, and called, "The Jewel" in England's crown. 

Lots of tourists took advantage of British controlled India back then, and white British citizens visited during that time, or so I've read.  So it seemed right that this couple would choose to honeymoon in India.  Note I used several thicknesses of 3-D pop dots to extend the honeymooners.

For Day 17 of 22, I recycled an old hard bound book cover, a paper bag, a gold label from my stash, pages from a travel guide to India, and two postage stamps.  I also added a piece of "faux leather" I created and a piece of an old calendar from the 1960s my friend Sally gave me from her father's estate.  New items included a TH die cut and computer generated text swiped with a tea bag.  I still need to find some wire or ribbon so that this piece can hang properly.  None of my colorful deconstructed telephone cord wires work with this project.

Thank you for your continued support of my art, because I am so grateful when I read that you have found something useful I've made this month.