But it is complete now! And it's wonderfully fat and full of art! (We'll see how many images this blog actually lets me load! LOL!)
This is the cover as I sent it out last January. I had thoughts of adding more 3-demensional embellishments to it, but honestly? It's grown on me, so I think I'm leaving it as is....;)
This is the sign-in page where the participating artists signed the library card as they "checked it out"....
And the participants themselves, in the order they worked in the book (blurred out for privacy issues, obviously), with their addresses for easy access to the next artist who needed to mail the book.
A calendar of possible holidays...I was going for a quilted look that a friend of mine had achieved so successfully once-upon-a-time. Not sure mine quite measures up to hers! LOL!
This was kind of a "bonus" page, for me anyway! LOL! I realized I hadn't included a letter of "hello" and instructions, and didn't want to just stuff it into the book, so, having just learned how to work with layered backgrounds a little more effectively, I pulled my paints out and went to work! Loved the way the background came out! :-) The paper pocket is homemade paper. :)
"Focus" was my Word of the Year, and thought it appropriate to include it in my book for the year. The serendipity squares were made especially for this spread. They were the most fun! :-)
This was a blank set of pages originally. One of my "fill-ins" as I worked through the book after it came home. After I did it, I halfway panicked! "Did I put the right half of the groundhog on the right half of the page???" LOL! A quick Google search and yup...I didn't get it mixed up. Even if I had, it was going to have to do! :)
Dr. Seuss's Birthday is another fill-in-the-blank spread that I did after the book came home. I'd been looking for an excuse to use this brightly bold paper I'd been hoarding!
For March, Karen C. painted this whimsical frog just hangin' out by a bold pink flower for St. Paddy's Day!
JoAnn G. crafted this fun little page for Easter in April. I love the puffy "Happy Easter" in robin's egg blue! :-)
Jackie S. made a perfect choice for May with Cinco de Mayo, as that was our theme for our neighborhood progressive dinner that month! The little donkey pinata is too cute!
I got to craft my own Memorial Day spread, which made me happy. The picture was taken when my kids were little. They are standing next to the flag which was draped on my father's casket, oh-so-many-years-ago, and now waves proudly on all National holidays. :-)
Lisa is the artist behind this lovely soft page for June, and the one immediately following it for Flag Day.
The 4th of July is always cause for celebration, and thanks to Pam, I have this great celebratory page in my book! :-)
For my friends (and some family), Friendship Day was a fun filler for me. Half the fun was finding the right pics to use! My face kind of got flashed out in that bottom picture, but everyone knows what I look like anyway....LOL!
"Birthdays" was a perfect choice for August, from Darya. Ava and I both have August birthdays. Love the birds and the little vintage girl with the happy little hat!
The left side of this page was blank, so I filled it in with complimentary paper to go with the start of September's spread by Kathy Mc.
I don't think I need to say how MUCH I love this particular spread! :-) Okay, I'll say it anyway...LOVE IT! :-)
Sweetest Day, this past October, was October 15th, but in 1975 (and now I am about to "date" myself...LOL), it was on October 18th, my wedding day, so yeah, I was happy to have a set of blank pages to include this sappy happy little holiday! LOL!
Once again, I added some paper to a blank page, to (hopefully) compliment the start of Angela's November pages.
Thomas and Thomasina look their very best! Not sure that's a wise move at this time of year for a turkey....:)
I thought I was done with the empty spaces in my book, and as I started gluing together the remaining blank pages, I realized I didn't have a Veterans Day in my book! And with a date like 11-11-11, well, I had to do it! Used a picture of Daddy in his uniform from WWII. :-)
And December was all mine. I had planned on doing only one spread for Christmas, but I had too many ideas. For this first one, I used several pieces I'd received in our Christmas Matchbox Swap, along with some tissue paper from our Christmas.
Being that my family is so photogenic, I used some leftover Christmas card pictures for this spread, along with some Christmas paper I'd bought originally for my Matchbox swap and then ended up not using anyway.
And this was a no-brainer. Had to have a Grammie and Ava Christmas page! What the heck, it's my book and I can do what I want! LOL! I really loved the silver foil and blue snowmen on a Christmas envelope we'd gotten this Christmas but really wanted to use the "I heart Santa" paper, which had no blue, so I took a chance and used both anyway! I think I got it pulled together, and if not? Eh, as I said, it's my book...:-)
The last pages of the book I left unembellished, for the most part. The "thumbnails" are images from spreads I'd done in everyone else's book throughout the year.
And this page, I just left as is...it was just too funny, and too fitting! LOL! It's the original end page in my book.
The inside cover, which, yeah, I know, looks incomplete as it is. Just didn't know what else to do with it, so it stays. Can't have perfection on EVERY page! :-)
And this is my book as you look at it from the top. WONDERFULLY full and FAT! It won't begin to close! Isn't that great?!? LOL!
And there you have it. Right now the book is sitting on my dining room table, because it makes me smile every time I walk by it, and that can be nothing but a good thing!
One final note: a HUGE thank you to all you gals for all the hard work you did in my book! I had a great time working in yours! And Kathy, you may be getting tired of all these "Thank You's" but thank you, seriously, for hosting this RR, and for coming up with the idea in the first place. Altered books was the vehicle that brought me back to art, so I feel like I've come full circle. Not that I'm done...oh no, I'll just keep going around the circle now that I've found my way back! :-)
