Kleas

The end of one journey...the beginning of another

The Paperbag Swag project has come to an end.  This round robin began well over a year ago.  My first post about it is here.  My book came back to me early in June, and I have been so busy with the house projects I didn't get a chance to really sit down and enjoy looking at the pages.  But finally, last week with my sister and mother, I did just that.  It was nice to look at all the wonderful handwork with them as they both can appreciate the artwork as much as I do.  Here is my book, page by page.

My cover, with the theme JOURNEY. 

Amy's pages.

 

Cathy's

 

who didn't stop at just one page, but created another.

Ellia's

who made four lovely cards for hanging. 

From Theresa, the swap hostess.

who also made a second page, with pop-up art.

And finally, Mimi's page

And tucked between each page was all the wonderful swag.

  

 

What a treasure this book is!  Such unique and thoughtful and beautiful pages. This was such a rewarding experience for me and was quite a personal journey in many ways.  I learned so much with the whole process and am grateful to have been a part of this project.  See all the pages I created for the others here. 

As for the beginning of another journey...in a few short hours, the boys and I are headed to the airport.  We're off to California to see a dear, dear friend. 

Paper bag swag-final round

I wasn't kidding in my last post.  It's just been busy, busy, busy.  Sunday morning I packed up Julen and we headed off to Milwaukee where I'm finishing my Lifeways training.  We had our first day of classes today and it felt great to see my classmates again.  We will graduate after this two week session, so I'm a little sad thinking I may not see some of them again. 

Before leaving town I managed to finish the last of my Paper-bag round robin.  Amy's theme was "balance".

 

I went with my now typical style and started with a quote I love.  This one by Patti Smith.

It reads "In art and dream may you proceed with abandon.  In life may you proceed with balance and stealth."  I love that.  And it fits Amy so well.  She is a talented artist.  One who has explored many creative avenues and always has amazing work to show for it.

 

Beginning with page two, and the second half of the quote, I went with three trees to symbolize her three children.  My idea was this was a very calm and balanced image...representing her calm and balanced home and family life.

This first page is supposed to appear more dreamlike and wild in imagination. I used felt, embroidery, needle felt, cotton fabric and vintage pearls.  This is the entire spread.

This was such a great experience working on this project.  I am thrilled to have been a part of it.  And I can't wait to show off my book once I get back home. 

I'm signing off for a while and chances are I won't get one line again until I get home.  I'm using the hotel's computer and it is just too, too slow.  I look forward to catching up with you all later this month when I get home.  For now, I need to concentrate on finishing my studies here.  Hope you are all well!! 

Paper bag swag, round five

What a whirlwind of a week.  I was desperate to get Cathy's pages for the paper bag swag mailed off to Amy - which I'm happy to say I finally did. 

We are winding this project down and have a final mailing date of June 2nd.  Less than one week from today.  I'm afraid I'm not giving Amy much time to work on her pages for Cathy.   

Cathy's theme for her book is INSPIRATION.  I started in my usual fashion and found quotes I love that fit with her theme and embroidered them.

   

In her book, Cathy left for us a long list of things that are inspiring to her.  I loved that.  It was very useful in getting started with her pages.  With her list in mind, I gathered up lots of ribbon and pink and green and turquoise and polka dots and a lock and key and buttons and images that fit things that are inspiring to her.  I wasn't able to incorporate all this into her pages as I had planned so they became part of her swag instead.

 

Cathy is inspired by nature, by trees and flowers...

and birds.

Page one

Page two

Everything is hand stitched using wool felt and embroidery floss in her favorite color scheme.  Here is the final spread.

It was not my intention, but I laughed when I saw that it looks quite similar to the pages I made for Mimi.  Next up is Amy's...I'd better get to the stitching.

Another project that kept me busy last week was Peanut turned four.  We had dinner for twenty on Sunday and I made his very favorite cake.  Chocolate.

It was delicious.

Day Eight-And Paper bag swag, round 4

Well, it's about time.

Ellia's paper bag swag book is on it's way to Amy.  This is a project that started well over a year ago.  If you're interested in reading more about it, look to previous posts here, here and here.

Some of us...or more accurately, I had some trouble moving forward with this project.  This is the most creative group project I have ever been involved with and somehow I just got stuck.  I became pregnant shortly after I got her book, and it was as if all my creating energy went to the baby.  Anyway, before I knew it...

...I had three of the books in my possession.  Clearly, that was not my intention.

Moving on...Ellia's theme for her book is TIME.  I started with a vintage calendar towel as my "canvas".

Next, I found some quotes on TIME that I liked and embroidered them onto the calendar swatches.

Then I filled in the areas with images that are symbolic of the different seasons.

Using my favorite mediums, I embroidered, needle-felted, embellished and appliqued.

Little did I know I would have her book through each of the four seasons.

Enough of the macro shots, here is the final spread.

Now, on to Cathy's book. 

Our Flickr group is private, but If you're interested in seeing more of the books, the individual Flickr sets can be seen here:

Amy's, Cathy's, Ellia's, Mimi's, Theresa's...and mine.

Paper bag swag book-round 3

Truly to sing, that is a different breath. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

This is one of the quotes that didn't make it into Theresa's spread for the paper bag swag round robin.  When I first sat down to draft some ideas of where I wanted to go with her pages, I went to some of my favorite quotes for inspiration.  It appears Theresa loves using quotes in her work as much as I do.     The theme of her book is "Follow your Heart".  I chose one single word to emphasize on the spread which is:

Theresa and I have recently spent more time getting to know one another (via email).  One of the things I learned about her is she is truly a kid at heart.  After all, she is a writer and illustrator of children's books.  "Believe" just seems to be a word full of magic, of hope...and despite some rough times, Theresa remains energetically optimistic.

Here is the full two page spread.

   All is hand stitched embroidery on felt and some paper, beads, sequins and brads.

Dreams are free, so free your dreams. ~Astrid Alauda

If you know Theresa, you will understand what HATU is, if you don't, read here.  It is what kind of connected us in the first place. 

The woman piece here started out as an ATC but it fit so well on this page, I used it as a pocket.  As with a children's book, I made pocket's and a flip page...I thought Theresa would like that.

(I'm writing the quotes here in case they are difficult to read and also because I didn't always include the author's name in my stitching.)

The only thing in my life that compatibly exists with this grand universe are the creative works of the human spirit.  ~Ansel Adams

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. ~Buddha

The writing in silver can hardly be read with this photograph.  It is a long time favorite of mine (and I believe one of Theresa's too).

In one of the stars I shall be living.  In one of them I shall be laughing.  And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing when you look at the sky at night. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry -The Little Prince

Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. ~Les Brown

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.  ~Confucious

Another quote I didn't use (but kind of wish I had as it fits her so well)...

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e.cummings

The book's side pocket is filled with lots of fun stuff...paper and trim and vintage cards, but I didn't photograph it wanting to leave some of this a surprise for her. 

It's on it's way to Amy, who has been waiting patiently for my book.  And yes, she just had a baby yet has managed to stay on time...as has the other new mama in the group, Ellia.  They are my heroes in time management.  Congratulations to both of them!!

One last thing...HAPPY MAY DAY!!!

Paper bag swag book-round 2

Mimi's spread is done.  Finally.  Late, but it's finished.  I had posted my sneak peek's at flickr, but got Mimi's permission to post the entire spread.  Mimi's theme for her book is identity.  Check out her beautiful pages here.  My first thought was to come up with some adjectives on how I would describe my dear friend.  There was quite an extensive list but I settled on these seven.

Next, I chose one of those adjectives and worked the rest of the spread with that theme in mind.  I decided on "gardener" because one of interests Mimi and I share is a love of gardening.  When we met last summer we even talked about composting.  I couldn't believe it!  A fellow city deweller who composts.  A rare find (where I live anyway).  Read through Mimi's archives and you will find beautiful photos of her garden.  Then I picked two of my favorite quotes to stitch into her book.  The first is by Ralph Waldo Emerson (sadly I didn't have room to add his name).

The next quote is by Alcott, and I changed it slightly making the "his Eden" to "her Eden".  Here in full are the two pages.

Also, I thought she needed a sewing machine to go with her scissors, so added this to her binding.

Finally, to complete the book, we fill one of the pages with lots of fun stuff.  I searched high and low for anything that made me think of Mimi.  Most of it has flowers on it.  And I thought I had remembered reading in one of her posts, she was looking for those little vintage cigarette labels.  Happily I was able to find some.  Here is a peek at some of the swag that went into her book.

Next up is Theresa's book which I received in a timely fashion from Mimi.  I need to squash that inner critic, because when I saw the beautiful spread she had done, I wanted to start my piece for her all over again.  I love her style so much!  I'm trying very hard to loosen up my stitch work, but it seems this is the way I work best.

On another note....thank you all so much for the beautiful comments you left on the previous post.  I was deeply touched by what you wrote there.  I'm still amazed at how many friendships have developed though this site, and I'm grateful for each and every one. 

journey

"A journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step." ~Lao-tzu

How appropriate that "journey" be the title of this, my 100th post.  I'm not really going to make a big deal of 100 as I'm closing in on my one year here with this blog which will really be something to celebrate.  But I am going to celebrate the completion of my paperbag swag.  This is a wonderful round robin project started by Theresa.  To understand more of what the project is about, read Theresa's post about it here.  I had fallen a bit behind the schedule, but am happy to finally have it in the mail.

Here is the cover...

...and the back of the book.

 

The library card shows where the book will go to before it comes back to me.

There are two inserts that fit into one of the books pockets.   The gold insert is where I wrote some information that tell the others more about me and talks a little about the theme of my book, which is "journey".  When I first found this community through blogging I wasn't quite sure where I was going.  But I've always believed it is the journey that gives my life meaning, not the destination.  So far, this has been quite an amazing journey.  This is the first insert where I

embroidered on each leaf a word that describes something I have gained on this blogging journey.  I have learned so much, I've found a community of like-minded creative souls who share ideas and give me limitless inspiration.  I have made new friends...some of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, others I've made a connection with and hope to meet one day.  This is a place that encourages me to create and I've found others who are interested in trading not only their ideas, but their art as well.  I feel quite fortunate to be a part of this community and am grateful to be included in a project such as this paperbag swag swap.

This is a wonderful place to be.