Monday 16 April 2012

Altered Book - Lesson 5

Elizabeth's last AB lesson was part one of the design principles.  Now I'm not usually one to follow 'rules' and my tendency is to move stuff about until it looks right to me then glue it down.  It works most times and I guess we have a bit of a natural eye for harmony, after all we are surrounded by it in nature. Anyway I read and re-read the principles before setting to on my page and tried to apply them, harmony, unity and balance to my work.


I used the page I had tested the glues on and chose colours to harmonise with the photos I had picked and with the theme.

The unity comes through the design (I hope) with feather stamps repeatedly across the double spread and the two birds face each other and into the centre of the page in the hope this provides balance. I did find it difficult to stamp on the slightly bumpy pages so some images are a little indistinct so I need to sort that one out for the next lesson.

So, that's my homework for lesson 5 and I have a few ideas for my next set of pages - am enjoying this workshop very much - thanks to Elizabeth and my classmates who share their work

20 comments:

BJ said...

Lovely spread Ann, love the soft colours and the feather stamp bringing it all together. How did you colour your background? BJ

Brenda Brown said...

You have hit the nail on the head with these pages Ann, they are brilliant. Just love the colours and images.
Have a great week.
hugs {brenda} xox

Lynne Moncrieff said...

Those colours are my favourite when teamed up with our feathery friends.
Lovely.
Wishes
Lynne

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Lovely spread, Ann. You are so smart and talented to combine 3 of the principles into one page. The birds, feathers and colors are soft and pretty! Thanks for sharing your AB!

Karen said...

This has all come together beautifully Anne, its a gorgeous page xxx

hazel said...

wonderful pages Ann, I love the birds and the lovely colours that you've used.
xxx Hazel.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Holy cow! Three principles in ONE. And a comment on glue, too. I am delighted you got so much out of the class. Much of what we do is intuitive, but IF you know the principles (and elements, which will come next lesson), you will have less failures, or spreads that don't seem to work for you.

Some of that glue is hard, hard, hard to stamp over. And gessoed pages are nearly impossible. That may be why I'm not really a stamper! It's also why I suggested NOT gluing pages together in your AB until or unless it was time to do so. Glad you brought the glue problem to everyone's attention, since we sometimes fail to use what we learned in past lessons as we progress through to the next lesson. Way to go!!

SandeeNC said...

I love your bird page Ann, very pretty and soft! I think you're right, we do use a lot of these principals on our own without thinking about them! waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)

elle said...

I, too, like the colouring and didn't know gesso doesn't stamp so well. The two birds facing keep the focus into the pages. good job.

Catherine said...

Lovely pages....

Cath Wilson said...

Love 'em, Ann and the 'iffy' stamping is part of the charm - it doesn't matter - it's an altered book and it looks good!

Unknown said...

I love the bird pages. Yes, they all go together well. You have sure done well with that class. Lazy me. quit writing in my journal. :<(

fairy thoughts said...

great pages and it all looks very harmonious and balanced to me. Keep up the good work
janet

Terrie said...

I'm loving the look of your pages and book. Nature is such an inspiring source for layouts! Love your birds. Isn't Elizabeth's class amazing? She sure shares lots of info!

Karen said...

I love these bird pages Ann, they are really gorgeous. Hugs, Karen xx

Helen said...

great pages, must get my lesson 5 done....

Jacqueline said...

Oh wow!! Those pages are stunning! I love those birds :)

Thanks for sharing.

Jackie x

Sherry said...

Fabulous pages Ann. Thanks for coming to look at mine. From the quick look I took at lessons 5 and 6 I did feel a bit daunted, but I like a challenge - just as well!!

What I do if I want to stamp on an uneven surface is rubber stamp onto tissue paper, then tear it roughly around the edges and then stick it onto the uneven surface with matte medium (I like Liquitex brand). The tissue paper will disappear into the background (almost!) xx

Anonymous said...

Hi Ann. Fabulous pages. Love the colours you have chosen. They are just perfect for your project.
Regards Florence x

Susan said...

Hi Ann,
Lovely page! I love your birds and the "colorschema".