Presto Change

 I've been working on a class in  Advanced Photo Editing over at Jessica Sprague for the last few weeks. After a number of lessons I'll never believe what I see in a magazine again! Below are some of the practice photo's we were given in class to edit.

Here is a before

And this is the after

Here is another one - Before

And after.
As I was getting ready to go out today and was putting some sun screen on I though it would be nice if I could use some of these Photoshop adjustments on my face. A few less "laugh lines" and spots would be nice.

Art Journal Caravan # 29

We have been at our cottage this week in northern Ontario. No air conditioning here and it's been HOT and Humid. I find it hard to get anything done in this kind of weather although I did pack a huge bag of supplies. I had hoped to finish a journal that I plan on using for a cruise next winter and start on another FTB journal. But all of those plans have been put on hold until I get back to our cool air conditioned home on Monday.


One thing I did get done was week # 29 challenge from The Art Journal Caravan. The verb  for #29 was SMELL.

Fox in the City - part 4

After an uproar from the neighbourhood  and also being told that it is illegal to trap wild life the Transit Commission has removed it's traps! Signs have been posted not to feed the foxes and all is well with Mama fox and her 5 offspring.

As well the Fox family now have a page on Facebook, as of yet no photo's have been posted but it's a bit of a giggle to read.

Thanks to Brian Carson for taking the photos and sharing them on our neighbourhood Facebook page.

Fox in the City - part 3

Great drama today, someone found a baited fox trap in the park! The neighbourhood rallied, letters sent off to our local councilor asking for help. Fox trap somehow disappears, removed by "an unknown" person. Local councilor writes letter in defense of OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD FOX, more letters sent to the Transit Commission who set the trap. Threats made to call in the OSPCA who say that trapping of wild animals and removing them are not permitted within the city. More to follow.......

And this little fellow is  having a big yawn through all of it.

Fox in the City - part 2

Looks like our resident fox has had a litter of pups who are now out of the den and playing.

If you look closely at this photo you can see the pup has a dogs kong in it's mouth.
The family lives in the railway yard and seems quite a home there.

Momma fox does venture out on a regular basis to search for food for her growing family.

While the pups wait at home to be fed. Won't be long now until they are foraging on their own.
Wonderful to think of all this wild life thriving in the center of a large city.
Photo's were taken by neighbours of mine and posted on our community web site.

Full Tilt Boogie - Book 3

I think I'm obsessed! I've been working non-stop making journals every spare minute for the past several days. And it's been so satisfying to have completed 3 journals now.
Journal # 3 was made from an old book with a title that jumped out at me when I found it in a second hand book shop near the cottage last weekend. It seem such an appropriate title for a journal.

As with the last Journal I carefully cut out the block of pages in the book and set them aside. I reinforced the binding and then used a lazy daisy stitch to sew the signatures to the binding. I highly recommend using waxed linen thread for binding and not unwaxed thread. Trust me unwaxed thread breaks at the most awkward times!

I use a Japanese Screw Punch which I bought here. It's a huge help drilling through pages and covers. A word of warning do not use this tool unless you have an appropriate base underneath! It will go through a Olfa mat!

I made 4 signatures of 6 pages each. With these pages I used the sewing machine rather than glue to attach papers and embellishments to the journal pages.

I found this add in a vintage magazine I bought at the Rose Bowl flea market when I was in LA.

Some free motion stitching on this page.

A bit of whimsy here.

Places to store things and to write on.

More pockets for tucking away found item and treasures.

Full Tilt Boogie - Continued

I've been on a roll making Journals and journal pages. Today was Journal 2 from FTB.
With some trepadation I used the vintage celuloid cabinet album for the cover this journal.

I very carefully cut away the inside and put the pages away to use later. Following the instructions I reinforced the spine and then assembled my signatures. I made 3 signatures of three pages each which gives me 36 pages to journal on. Again I used watercolour paper for some of the pages as well as  scrapbook paper and card stock. The signatures were sewn using the kettle stitch and then attached to the covers with good old Modge Podge.

I used some vintage postcards that I found in an antique store last weekend to embellish.

I had saved a program book from the ballet Alice in Wonderland and cut out some of the figures to glue onto the pages.

I also added a few of the pages from the original album. And of course I used Washi tape to decorate the pages.

Full Tilt Boogie - Book 1

I've been busily making Journals for the past week. Following the instructions and videos of Mary Ann Moss and the Full Tilt Boogie class. Our first Journal was made with the kettle stitch and had an open spine. I used the covers from a photo album that I found at Goodwill some months ago.

I covered the front cover with handmade paper and then a cloth photocopy of a old WW2 poster of Rosie the Riveter stitched on. The red polka-a-dot and gross grain ribbon was woven into the kettle stitch and is used to attach the signatures to the book

The 4 signatures were made up of scrapbook paper, photo pages from the original book and watercolour paper. I covered the outer fold of each signature with Washi tape to give the spine a uniform look.

I'm not sure what the Journal will be used for, maybe my next trip?