Finding Inspiration

Hi everyone, here is my latest project for Twiddleybitz in Australia.  I decided to make myself this inspirational book, just for those days when I am feeling a little uninspired.  It was also a good chance to play with a few ideas and colours and....well you will see. 

I made myself a few rules, look at every one's beliefs, different cultures, colours, thoughts, religions, poems, and ideas. I am not sure why I can look at a picture of a rose and decide to make a hot air balloon (oh is that what you have been working on Jo), it is just the way my brain works.  Having travelled around the world, I have met and talked to a lot of people, and I am always interested in what makes each person believe in what they believe, and what makes them happy and be able to lead their lives in the manner they wish.  So I have taken a lot of those things, found them on the Internet and then printed some pictures out, and then made up a page.  I have looked at all sorts of things from religion, to healing properties of stones, tarot cards, nature (plants and the moon), therapy of games (Sudoku mad) and the meaning of colours and the colour wheel, I headed to the dark side (ooh), and then into the land of fairy tales.       

I will not show all of the pages, but I will show the pages where I have used Twiddleybitz chipboard products.  I also set myself another challenge as I like to do, there is a clock and a key visible on every double page when the book is open, this was quite tricky as there is over 50 pages or inserts in this book. 

Okay here we go, for the cover I have used Steam punk clock frame, which I painted with distress stain, then I sprayed graphite glimmer mist. I sprayed muslin to get the fabric, and I used flowers for dimension and then my mother n law gave me this cat and mouse broach for the book.   

 The book was from a range called naked books, I started with the cover cardboard, I distressed it, inked it, and stained it.
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I embossed some metal, and coloured it with alcohol inks.  




 I put the Twiddleybitz chipboard on, then decided to paint the black strip around it, to make it stand out.
 This is my title

the flowers and some decoration.

the back of the book.


The side of the book, was a Christmas key, I cut out the centre and I wrote this saying on it,
Knowledge is a treasure but practice is the key to it.

It's ONLY imagination, I used this lovely skeleton tree large  on this page.

I sprayed the canvas with cogs
 to make this page on the right and then used the spray cogs on the left.

 The chipboard spider web and a Paris gate were used on this page above, and I also used some ferns, which I cut to fit.  

 I sprayed a piece of fabric tape with glimmer mist using this Twiddleybitz stand as a stencil

then sprayed it again to get the 2nd colour








I used the light bulb on the page on the left, and a left over frame on the right. 

For this page on the right I used the frame from the Xmas pack to make my tarot page.

and for the elements page I made the same frames into candles (down by the fish).   I also used square mini ornate frames on the tarot page. 

My love of cats had to be in this book somewhere, so I decided to make this page below

I looked for anything that caught my eye  

 

 I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had making this book.  It was a labour of love for me, and opened my eyes to how my brain works creatively.  I hope you get a chance to make one of these books, just do what ever you want, use up that stash of pictures or paper you have been hoarding, and those little odd bits and pieces that make you smile.   Have fun.