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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Finished botanical pages

I tied the finished pages together with an aqua organza ribbon.  I left long tails so I could pull the ribbon across to the scalloped flap and tied it in a bow.  (Of course, the owner of the album will bind the pages herself.  This will keep the pages I made together until she receives it back.)

I so enjoyed working in this book.  I have never made a book for myself that cataloged the bird community around our property.  I am so inspired to do so!

Botanical journal pages

 I received an old Victorian album that was in pieces.  My friend thought I could come up with some ideas of how to use the pages. I decided I should use some of it in her book for our art club's round robin this year.  So I removed this page from the album and added the photo of the English Oriole.  I added the eggs to the lower left corner and then added the lace and yellow washi tape to the left side.  Next I attached three of the craft flowers to the frame.  I wrote "fig. 7" in the corner of the photo and "Plate 21" to a tab and added it to the top of the frame.
 On the back of the frame I added this Birds and Nature page from a Catherine Moore collection.  The same friend mentioned above sent me the bias tape with "77" printed down the side.  I added that to the left side of the page.  I attached a birdcage die cut over the printed cage on the page.  I wrote "fig. 3" on a small label and added it just below the bird.  I wrote "For Sale" on another label and attached it to the die cut.  Next I tied a metal bird to a black thread and tied it to a tiny safety pin.  I adhered a strip of brown ric-rac across the top of the page and attached the tiny pin to it.  I wrote "fly" 3X on the page and attached a feather and a faux postage stamp to the page.  At the bottom of the page I added the three numbers.
The frame will be attached over this page and open up to reveal the pockets.  I cut out a bird on a limb and glued it to the upper left corner of this page.  I attached a blue floral washi tape across the top of the page.  I added five rubber stamped pockets to the page.  I added the names of some of the birds that I see on our property.  Next I printed out photos I took of those birds, trimmed them to fit the pockets and backed them with playing cards that had decorative birds on the backs.  I added tiny blue rhinestones to some of the pockets and placed the photo cards in them.  I attached a flower to one pocket and lace along the bottom of the page.  Then I glued a feather to the lace.  I attached a photo of an English Oriole to the top of the flap on the left and a page from an old book that gave some facts about the bird.  Then I cut the edge into scallops and hole-punched it to look like eyelet lace.  I adhered one of my photos of a bluebird to the bottom of the flap and wrote the date of the sighting on the photo.

 The next page I covered with another page from Catherine Moore's collection.  I tore a picture of Baltimore Orioles from an old bird book and adhered it to the lower right corner of the page.  I added six pockets to this page and repeated the process of rubber stamping, adding names of the birds and added some blue enameled dots to the pockets.  At the bottom of the page I wrote a little note of some of the bird sightings we've made on our property and along the river at the back of our property.
Next I pulled two photos out to show some examples of the birds I have sighted around my home.
 This is a page that my friend had sent along with her book.  Once again I added the pockets, rubber stamped on them, added some tiny red rhinestones and names of more birds.  I printed out more photos, backed them with the decorative playing cards and added them to the pockets.  In the center at the top I added the diagram of an Oriole.  I edged the torn piece with a brown marker and colored in the bird.  I also added the word "Guide" above the bird.  I cut the pink flowers and the green swirls from an envelope from another one our club members and glued it to the top of the page.  I added the tiny feather and some red enamel dots to the flowers and to the tree on the left side of the page.
Again I pulled out two of my bird photos and displayed them for everyone to see.













This is the back of the previous page.  First I printed out a page of various bird eggs.  I tore it and added some of it to the right side of the page.  Then I tore a page from a vintage pharmacy register that I purchased from the Etsy shop, The Little Art Studio, owner Rebecca Stewart.  I tore it in half and adhered it to the left side of this page.  I love this bluebird picture that I cut from one of my recycled calendars and glued it over the pharmacy page.  I glued gold paper over a chipboard letter "B: and added it to the bottom of the page.  Then I attached three buttons to the spine of the "B".  I used my calligraphy brush pen to finish
writing "Birds" across the page.  I attached three faux postage stamps, a feather, and four flowers to the page.  Finally I added a photo I took of a little Sparrow that had gathered materials for nest making in his mouth.  He was just outside my studio door.  I added this information just below the photo.