Art Technique Fat Book

As promised, here are a few photos of my Art Technique fat book trade. The only technique rule was to use recycled or cheap household items. Originally, there were 120 participants, but a couple people didn't follow through with the commitment. I was quite impressed, it's difficult to get 118 people to do anything!

Personally, I think there are way too many pages to be a traditional book, so I decided to punch two holes and use loose binder rings to hold them together. Somebody else in the group put her pages into a box.On the left, Pat Upton uses alcohol to do an inkjet transfer. On the right, Karen Swiech has a little book in a recycled net pocket that describes how to paint the surface and make the book.Theresa Ross shows different ways to use hardware store washers. They are really pretty and surprisingly heavy.

On the left, Kathy Swift shows how to dye and layer tissue paper that ends up looking like leather. On the right, Martha Rose Bonds demonstrates how to use aluminum cans for embellishment.

There are a wide variety of techniques ranging from Homemade Alcohol Inks to Recycled Wine Bottle Screwcap embellishments. Definitely something for everyone and a wonderful resource for years to come.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Just when you think you're done . . . SURPRISE . . . your main water line springs a leak! Fortunately, the leak was under the driveway, and you guessed it, under the newly planted garden. We had to dig up all the plants and dig a trench to the water valve, and decided to abandon the old water line. We dug a 60 foot trench that's 18 inches deep along the house, down the edge of the driveway, under the driveway, to the water valve and back up under the garden to the irrigation system. We discovered the leak on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it took 3 people six hours to dig the ditches. Thursday morning, the plumbers installed new pipes. Thursday evening we started refilling the ditches. I'm hoping that by Saturday, the plants will be back in the ground, the ditches will be filled and we'll be back to where we were a week ago. Sheesh!

Remember the Art Technique swap I told you about a couple of months ago? Well, I finally received my pages (if I remember correctly, 118 different techniques). They are amazing! I'm almost finished putting it together and will post some photos tomorrow.