a drop of pulp: alicia's initial contributions to deb's book, through the eye glass

i'm being a bit intentionally obscure on my post because i want debs to be at least a little surprised when i'm finally finished. but, i haven't posted in awhile either so feel i should post something.

so, without further ado, here are some photos i posted on my blog yesterday, as well as a few more showing what i did last night.

this piece is not complete, obviously, but it's a vintage lace covered glass-like dish of sorts with a lid. next post you can see it's purpose, but the glassy front felt eye-glass-esque and befitting for the title of the book.

this is a handle of sorts that serves a purpose that will soon be revealed.

just a bit of detail -- some crystal beads.

detail of another part of a page (told ya i'm being obscure!):

more pretty little beads. these are from the 1940s and are ever so pretty and somewhat shiny.

replicas of late 1800s train tickets, proving that the lovely couple (see deb's previous posts if you don't know what i'm talking about) got out and about in the world.

part of a collection of mementos and trinkets collected along the way. this button is from one of her dresses. i got two of them from my mum years ago and they were actually from the late 1800s, right when the story takes place. i couldn't resist splitting the pair so deb could have one in her book.

another peek at some of the treasures...

if you can tell me what this is, i'll give you a buck (close up detail of something special).

part of a pocket. i am not in love with this yet so i will either add to it or recreate it. i keep vacillating about this piece.

i made this out of candle wax, an old chinese coin, copper paint and a baby wipe. it's part of a collection of goodies to go into the above pocket.

a glimpse of a portion of the front of what the above wax seal is on.

i'm not sure where yet, but i MUST use this eye-glass looking lens. it has a five on it which represents the five of us who are working on each others books. such a lovely old lens!


that was my previous obscure post from my blog. last night, i got lots more done... and will show things a little more "finished".

this is the camio shown above that fits into the round glass-like "box" shown above. okay, it's a petri dish. shhhh. i've aged vintage lace, ribbon and fabrics. around the edge, you will see little metal "bits". these are pins -- like the kinds used for sewing. i had to cut them in half with wire cutters as they were initially too long but i wanted some extra detail around the edges. i think i'll add more.

no project is complete (for me) without a wee bit o' crackle! you can see it WAY better in the enlarged version of this photo.

sometimes i get my heart set on something without thinking. i aged these old hinges for days in vinegar only to find (once they were perfect) that they were way too big. whoops! i'll use them in another project of course, and have already come up with an alternative idea for this.

this is a special little bottom part on the main page:

...it's the top of a compartment, hinged with leather from a vintage dress (it wasn't mine!) and old metal bits. i made this box out of foam core and lots of other things and part of the lid warped. it will be fixed and flat by the time i'm done, thus less "gappy".

the flap door opens up to reveal a pretty little black velvet lined compartment, but i'm not going to tell you what will be living in the compartment yet.

with any luck, i should have this completed within the next week or so and will have LOTS more photos and perhaps a video too -- debs is such an inspiration and had the most fantastic idea. it will help to reveal how things unfold, move, etc., i think.

Debrina's Finished Contribution to Roots Beneath the Layers

Debrina's latest update....Roots Beneath the Layers....

Heavenly....

Reality...

Before the chains of the well lead to ....

Hell

(note - since this photo, a skull has been added to the lower blue panel)

Lifting the shroud....

The tree....finished...pages turn to reveal the pages shown above...

Layers and...

layers...

Ok, lots of lovely photos, but I better fill you in now on my thought processes to date.  Last time I posted about this book, I talked a little about the Anglo Saxon belief in Yggdrasil - the World Tree.  This mythological construct comprised of three parts: Asgard - the Upperworld (Heaven), Misgard or Middle Earth (our subconscious existence) and Hel (Underworld) see my last posting for more detail on this.

When Rome invaded Britain, it also brought with it Christianity.  Christianity by-passed the Anglo Saxons for some time, however.  Then, during the early Dark Ages, it slowly began to break down the resistance of the upper echelons of society and many conversions took place. Incredibly, and maybe somewhat surprisingly, the Saxon belief system was not lost during the conversions; instead, it was assimilated and in a sense preserved.  In my pages (the first three you see) - I have tried to illustrate this assimilation and evolution.

These last photos, below, show how I have begun to look at these Anglo Saxon constructs in more detail...

So, the shroud photo to the left of the tree will develop more to reflect this....

Love Debs

Kim's final contribution to Lisa S. 'labyrinth' book

Or how to avoid importing a biohazard!

Further research into New Zealand's importation of living or once living items has caused me to reconsider my pages for Lisa's book.
On reflection I realised that in order for the book to continue on it's merry way without risk of rejection by customs I needed to rehash my piece in Lisa's book 'Labyrinth'. Determined to keep with my theme of exploration of natural labyrinths in nature, I opted for a little makeover and have finally finished it all!

Welcome to the labyrinth of the Tree.

A year in the life of a tree.

Spring and the unfurling of new leaves and the contrasting colour of new brown bark.




Of course the cabinet remains, but more of that later!



On to autumns golden decay and the inner structure of the leaf revealed.




Summers green dress...



the page spread.

Underneath...



the living tree


and a pocket to place items gathered from nature.




The bones of the tree revealed by winters cold breath.

and the page opened out.




But, then there's the cabinet door...

Where fossils have been created to display the wonderful natural labyrinths found in nature.




And you can still touch!


The full page spread as it appears in the book.

If you would like to read more about all the juicy creative details, jump on over to my blog.
I'd love to see you there.

Lisa J's Final Contribution to Deb's Book: Through the Eye Glass

These are my final additions to Deb's book which is

now in the very capable and creative hands of Alicia.

On this page I've created a Victorian mourning theme...

Tin type photo in an old watch glass mounted on a bit of book cover.

Part of the fun of working this page was finding the right combination
of blacks and charcoalsso as to create layers and depth.

Optical lense with a steampunk style assemblage built on top

 to resemble pocketwatch. Time waits for no man...

A pleated pocket created from black silk and lace.

Black lampwork heart (not my work) with nails driven through

and wire assembled nest..which is my creation.

You can see the cream lace from my first page peeking out around the sides...

A side view which shows my first page on the back side.

This is going to be one very thick book when it is finally

bound but...probably not a challenge for the brilliantly talented Debrina!

Visit my blog at http://mudhoundprimitives.blogspot.com/ 

for more details about the story behind the page.

Now it's my turn with Kim's book: Fragments, Vestiges and Remains so stay tuned.

alicia's final contributions to kim's book: fragments, vestiges & remains

i am pleased to say that i have completed my additions to kim's book, fragments, vestiges and remains and it is currently en route to lisa j. you can read more about it on my blog: http://alteredbits.wordpress.com.

around the glass door on page one (see this post for more details), i've added beeswax and acrylic to the copper tape edging i did to give it an aged look and make it a wee bit less coppery.

another view:

i LOVE how kim's glass bottles with scrolls in them work so well with my page too:

here is that page in its entirety:

it's not really this red in person, but i had a mishap with some red alcohol ink that i was using on a different project. as it turns out, i love it. phew!

the page was a bit top-heavy to i cut off the bottom and added a stitched and embroidered pieces of black linen to the top to even things out. i love the contrast in texture of the different fabrics:

at the very beginning, i wanted to find five elements that i could use one of each in everyone's book so there was that one, simple element that matched in each of my five book contributions. i found these elements in seth apter's etsy shop. thank you seth!

here is the whole completed second page in the book:

and the spread of both pages in the book, all ready to go:

i am just loving the side view of fragments, vestiges and remains!

i forgot to take photos of each of the books within the book: the diary pages behind the photo of della on the "white" page and the history of the portland underground under the trap door on the "black" page. maybe i can con one of the girls into taking some for me. assembling those were part of the most time consuming aspects of the book, but so much fun! the pages are aged with instant coffee and made to look very old. they look pretty darn cool if i do say so myself.

i now have deb's book and have already started in on it: though the eye glass. so check back soon as i'll have images to post.