cat--a 4x5ish origami book

"You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats."  --Colonial Proverb

Yes, yes, it's another origami wallet fold book with stitched cover--this one is a little over 4 x 5 inches.  What can I say, those interior pockets are super for holding lots of tags, and this one has plenty, each with a quote about cats, of course.  Actually, each tag has two quotes, one on each side.  And I do like tags--my favorites are from the Altered Art Ephemera Pack at Altered Pages.

I painted each chipboard kitty to look like one our cats--this is Daisy;  she likes to eat moths.

All the chipboard cats are from Leaky Shed Studios--you can see more of the ones in my book at THIS POST, or if you want to see, ahem, "naked" kitties, you'll find them HERE.   I'm trying to work myself up to make a tutorial for this type of book . . . but don't hold your breath, I'll let you know . . . here are some of my other books made in this same manner:
I Am Free
one with Rogue Redhead Designs
one for my daughter and Hydrangea Hippo
another one--lots of different tags, travel theme

Have a great Saturday!  

wanna win a set of Pan Pastels?

It's as easy as leaving me a comment over at the Altered Pages Artsociates blog.  Today you'll find an easy Pan Pastel technique, along with a peek inside a Poe themed pop-up book I've been working on.

That raven is totally looking at you . . .

altered book layout--Collette in Paris

Do you have art projects you set aside and return to occasionally?  I've been working in several of the little books I've made, adding layouts here and there.  This one is actually in a full sized altered book, rather than one of the little books I've handmade.

 This is one of my favorite parts of it--there are always one or two favorite little areas I really like in a layout or project, and I dunno, in this one I think it's the orange and the washi tape holding down the "photograph."

I don't speak French, and relied on Google Translate, so the sentence may be totally off:  "Collette never revealed the real reason for her trip to Paris."  The chippy Eiffel Tower is from Leaky Shed Studios, it's very detailed.

The Souvenir folder is from an Altered Pages collage page:  I rubber stamped the postmark over a copy of  an old French postage stamp.  The folder is filled with little mementos of Collette's journey.

There she is, Collette herself, gazing up the street, or at one of the apartments?  The Souvenir Folder is attached to the page, but it's not terribly bulky.  I'm really trying to keep this altered book from "exploding," if you know what I mean.

Here are some of the supplies used for this LO:
Paris in the Past
Vintage Paris
Paris Papers
Eiffel Tower (chipboard)
Pan Pastels --white, black, yellow
Script Washi Tape
French Postmark Stamp

There are a few more photos at the Leaky Shed Studios blog today.  Also, through the month of September, I'm having an Extreme Clean and Simple challenge, with a buncha stamps from my stash going to two randomly drawn players--you'll find the info for that HERE.  Have a great weekend, everyone!  And PS, just in case you'd like to see, here is a link to the book's cover and some of the prior pages:  Orient Express Book Cover.

A little bit of Christmas . . .

I was delighted to receive some PanPastels to use in my Altered Pages posts this month; got the red, green, yellow, black, and white, perfect for starting some Christmas cards!

You can see more at this Altered Pages Artsociates post HERE--if you leave a comment, you are automatically entered in the September drawing for a set of PanPastels!  Have a great Thursday, and thank you for stopping by.  If you're in the mood for a little blog candy, you may want to try the EXTREME Clean And Simple Challenge, HERE.  

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge-- Make Your Own Background
Craft-room challenge-- Something Old, Something New--new PanPastels, everything else is old! :)

The whole house. What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday #

Yes, yes, I've been WOYWW missing most of the summer--still working on revamping the whole house.  Well, it's turning into the whole house, it was supposed to be just the first floor.  I'm trying to get everything painted so we can get carpet in before Thanksgiving.

Here are the dining room chairs I recovered (there are 2 teal, three grey, and 3 of the blond wood ones), the new curtains too--you can see the bare subfloors.  Let me tell you, painting is SO much easier when you don't have to worry about getting it on the floors!  You can see Daisy just down in the corner, she's a great "help" with all these projects, as you can imagine.

The chair in the middle--I stamped the fabric with the teal paint.

Here's my Unruly Paper Arts article for this month--EXTREME Clean and Simple.  If you've been to my blog before, you know full well I do not have a particularly clean style, so this was an interesting challenge for me.  If you're up to it, I've got an extreme challenge (with candy for you, of course), through September.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to laying floor tile in the bathroom.  ***sigh***

(Someone please tell me this is all going to be worth it . . . )

Happy What's On Your Workdesk, everyone, and thank you, Julia, for the snoopfest!

EXTREME Clean and Simple with Unruly Paper Arts. With some bloggy candy.

Do you do Clean and Simple?

How about EXTREME Clean and Simple?

This month the theme at the Unruly Paper Arts Blogozine is Gotta Dash--that is, quick makes, fast techniques, etc.  I'm not particularly adept at the CAS style, and challenged myself to go extreme.  You can see the results HERE.  Nothing fancy, no complicated techniques, but whoa, it truly made me appreciate the artistry of the stamps.

If you think you can handle it, here is a challenge, my bloggy friends:

ONE stamp,
stamped ONE time.
ONE color ink.
White paper.

Ready to give it a try?  The typical challenge guidelines apply--link to and mention this post, make sure to leave a direct link to your post that includes the challenge, please don't backlink.  Well of COURSE there's a prize--stamps, naturally, from my stampy stash.  Most are unmounted red rubber, a mix of this and that.  Two prizes, maybe more . . .we'll end the entries Sept 30th, so plenty of time to jump in!  :)

Just leave a linky in your comment, and I'll come and hunt you down.  Thank you for playing along, and be sure to check out the Reader's Art Quest at Unruly Paper Arts, as well--the creative prompt this month is "The Dark of Night," along with an appropriate color palette.  Here is a little art journal layout I did for the RAQ this month:

There is a randomly drawn prize for RAQ participants, as well--so lots of Unruly candy to be had this month!