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It's January and rather icky outside most of the time, so I've been cleaning up my studio where a twenty something stray kid had camped out for a few weeks. Now he's gone and I can reclaim my creative space. So what do I do in there? I make altered books, I create beaded brooches, I paint, I cut, I sew, I glitter. Whatever catches my fancy.
Two years ago a friend was diagnosed with cancer. I decided to make an altered book for her; making a few pages each week and sending them to her to insert in a customized binder I had made.
These pictures show a page that has a wheel in the center that displays the different seasons
The text on this page reads: "Ever notice how you can tell a lot about a person by what they have in their handbag? Is it schedules and parking stubs or fairy dust and theater tickets? I believe that our handbags manifest themselves in us- A really scary theory not yet substantiated by any well-known university. But a theory nonetheless.
What's in YOUR handbag? Here's a little one that you can write healing, happy thoughts in - so we can test our Theory of Handbag Manifestation."
I would always encourage my friend to be strong - Be a Woman Warrior.
Making a "ransom note" poem from the L. L. Bean catalog was great fun.
We both love Day of the Dead and I had to include this happy little dog skeleton
I don't remember how many pages I ended up making. But I had a great time doing it and she had a great time using it to keep her mind off her fear.
Do you have a space where you can get creative? Let me know what you have made.
