Altered Bits Print Zine

The Altered Bits Mixed Media Art Zine #1 is available now!

If these images look familiar to you it's because I posted them as 'sneak peeks' waaaaaay back in November! I can't believe it's been that long!

Alicia has been a very busy bee and she's put together an AMAZING zine available in either print or as a download. What's inside? Wow! Where do I start?

There's an artist interview with Lisa Jurist whose art never fails to be completely inspiring!

AND

 There's art glorious, wonderful art, click here to see who the artists are.or preview the zine and you will find the contributors on page 3.

AND

There's a 3 page PULP REDUX spread!

AND

There's this.....

My contribution to the 'Letters and Symbols' section.

 A long time ago when only sailors got tattoos the humble sparrow was an important symbol. From what I have read the sparrow was tattooed onto a sailors as a talisman to keep them safe. The only time sailors saw sparrows while they were at sea was when they were close to land. The sight of a sparrow would tell a sailor that they were nearly at their destination and had survived their long and dangerous journey. Sighting a sparrow was a reason to celebrate!. The tattoo of a sparrow became a symbol of a sailors desire for safety, home and well being. Over time the use of sparrows became interchangeable with other birds such as swallows and bluebird.Another reason sailors chose sparrows was because of the belief that sparrows took the souls of people to safety (based on an ancient Egyptian belief) and that should they not make the voyage then at least the sparrows would take them home. This is thought to be how the tattoo of a small bird, such as a sparrow, carrying banners with a loved ones name originated, Incidentally, swallows in tattoos were originally used to commemorate the achievement of 5000 nautical miles at sea. If a sailor had 2 swallows it meant he had sailed 10,000 miles. Both swallows and sparrows were used to symbolise love and loyalty as both these birds mate for life.

Mixed Media: photography, thread, paint, found metal, rubber, beads, fabric, lace, re purposed book spine, paper scrap.

Special thanks to the wonderful Alicia  for all her amazing-ness! You rock Alicia!

3 things...

Thing 1:
Oh, I need a  picture of thing 1 and thing 2! Never mind! Thing 1 on my list is the giveaway!
Congrats to... ....drum rolll please.....JASMINE of Nature's Whispers! Jasmine won my Blog Action Day giveaway of a Water themed fabric collage. Congrats! It will be on it's way to you soon.

Water themed fabric collage from 99% recycled fabrics.

Thing 2:
I signed up for LaWendula's ephemera swap...and here's what I am sending her.

Fabric bits (lace, vintage lace flower, teeny-tiny daisies...) Paper bits ( hand made paper,nest lino print, vintage cigarette cards, bird book pages...) Odds and ends (Round discs from an old kids game, hero buttons, bottle cap, brads...) The butterflies are fabric and cut out from the print of an old pajama top. Too beautiful for the rag bag! I made the card (with the bird of course!)  from an old photo album page, cigarette card, fabric and papers all either recycled or gifted to me.This will all be on there way to Eliza from Druga Szesnascie very soon.

Thing 3:
It's PULP REDUX! I spent 5 blissful hours buried in the pages of Kim's book yesterday and my final page is not only 99% finished the whole lot is all glued into place in the book. Wahoo! This book is being posted to Debrina's .
Here's a sneak peek of what I did...

My representation of the British flag. I opshop trawled for months looking for the right image for Kim's book. I found souvenir tea towels, scarves and tablecloths from nearly every country but Britain! In the end I conceded and stitched something instead. You know what I will find now I now longer need it don't you? haha.

 

It's been very productive in the land of Pulp Redux lately. Alicia has finished her stunning pages in my book....

A small part of Alicia's contribution to my Labyrinth book.

Artwork and photo by Alicia Caudle.

Lisa Jurist has also been working on pages for Alicia's book "The museum of forgotten things." There are fabulous peeks on her blog and you can see all the work Alicia's done in my book here. It's a bit of a maze to find it all...Alicia decided to keep in with the theme when she posted!

Next post....The big reveal!

Pulpy Love

Yay! A long last it's time for a Pulp Redux post! My son got out of hospital 5 nights ago after a 3 week admission. Time sure goes a lot faster here on the 'outside' lol. I'm not sure how long he'll be home for but every day at home is a day to recharge and I fully intend on doing that! On the first full day home in forever I created...and then for a few hours last night... and a few more today...yay! I am happier already!

Here's how you last saw my "Battle of Gate Pa" page in Kim's book.

And how it looks now... 

 I love the addition of red to the page. I cut up an old silk scarf I found in the second handshop and also added a string to close the fabric door. It dosn't make a lot of difference visually but atleast the papers can't fall out now!  I'm really happy with the way this page has turned out.

Open the door...

The Maori warrior was a magnificent, brave and fierce fighter. Their strong spiritual ties to the land led them to fight with passion and vigour.

This is the story my pages are based on, The Battle of Gate Pa.

The Battle of "Gate Pa" is probably the battle which made the greatest impact in the history of the New Zealand Wars.

In an effort to cut off reinforcements and food supplies which where filtering through to the Maori rebels in the Waikato area, the British sent their troops to Tauranga, in order to attack the fortress. The word Pa means ‘fortified settlement.’

Around 200 warriors from the Ngai-te-Rangi tribe were in place one side of the Pa, and around 35 warriors, mainly from the Ngati Koheriki tribe, reinforced the other side.
On 29th April 1864, the 43rd British regiment attacked the Pa. 1700 soldiers armed with a strong artillery train : 8 mortars, 2 howitzers, 2 naval canon and 5 Armstrong guns. The soldiers opened fire on Gate Pa, and during a short time bombarded it heavily. The following day the troops bombarded again, for a longer period, and this time succeeding in breaking opening a large point of entry to the pa.  An elite Brittish assault force was sent to penetrate the breach opened up during the bombardment.

The British had thought their previous heavy bombardment had taken effect, owing to the fact that there had been little response fire from within the Pa. However, on entering via the breach, the British troops found themselves being fired on at very close range from Maori in hiding.

A reinforcement group of soldiers was sent to relieve the trapped assault force in the Pa. However, the reinforcements found themselves caught up in the retreat from the pa by the first assault force. From two separate areas of the pa, the Maori were firing on the two groups of troops, who were by this time caught up in the deadly crossfire....

Depsite being signficantly outnumbered and under-armed the Maori won the battle and caused the Brittish troops to rethink the battle plans for other parts of NZ. Never again was the threat of a fortified pa under-estimated.

The above close up is a sneak peak of the page I have planned for the Brittish soldiers.

The story has pretty much been told on the 'Maori' page in the pile of papers found bundled behind the door but the Brittish soliders left a lasting impact on Tauranga and that story is still to be told.

The 3rd part of this story is that of the missionary's who befriended both the Maori and Brittish troops. I've almost completed this page which is dedicated to Archdeacon Brown and his wife. It's not ready for it's reveal yet but here's a quick preview...

If your not all 'pulped out' yet then make sure you check out the Pulp Redux blog and see the utterly amazing work done by Kim on Lisa J's book (Roots- beneath the layers.)  My book ' Labyrinth' is currently in the very capable hands of Alicia Caudle and she posted a pic on her blog a side profile pic of my book on her blog. You can see it here- look how FAT it is! Bulging (litterly) with layers of lovely texture and fibre! Wahoo!

Now, my turn to surf! Can't wait to pop in on ya'll over the next few days!

 *See you soon.*

The Museum of Forgotten Things. Part 2

This part of my spread was originally going to be a diary for Hester. A secret book made from luscious velvet and filled with her darkest confessions. I ended up making a pocket at the back of Charlotte's 'blue page' for Hester's diary pages, the satin heart and a key.

The diary page says...

I've been saddened by the loss of my sweet Charlotte for more years than I can remember. She deserved a better life, so much more than I can offer her and that's why I sent her to live with my sister. We swore to keep the truth from Charlotte.  I felt it my duty to protect her from the dreadful truth that her own Mother had given her away. If you're reading this now I am gone sweet Charlotte please know it was because you deserved better than I could ever have given you in. A life of virtual solitude is not one for a child. It was a lesson hard learnt. A lesson carved from pain,  you see 3 years before I bore Charlotte to Han's I had a son. I didn't know it at the time of that dreadful fire but I was already with child. A son was born,

 who I name Thomas. He was the sunshine on my gloomy days but it was not to last...he was returned to heaven at just 3 years of age. I could scarcely breathe the day I had to let go of a second child, but sweet Charlotte it was for the best. You've grown up to be a fine girl, with honour and grace.....

Now that you know who the little boy was in this previous post I will show what I did do with the book.

                                                         First page of the book is the imperfect patch.

                           

The second page is a grid of buttons. I wanted the 'diary' to become a sewing book with buttons and bits of fabric. I wanted it to feel like it does when you inherit your Grandmothers or Mother's button jars and remnant of project. There's something very precious about inheriting your 'family buttons.'  They're from an era when everything was saved and reused. A time when we lived on the land and depended on very little of the outside world. A purist of course, will note that these items are not from the late 1800's early 1900's as Hester was but it's the best I could do!

                                                                                    So there it is! My part in Alicia's book completed! I apologise for the looong post, originally this was going to be 2 parts but my son was re-admitted to hospital again today with the same problems as before. I'm home at night because DH is on night shifts this week so thought I had better make the most of this time and post while I could! I will endeavor to visit on the nights I'm home if I'm not too exhausted. Needless to say I am really saddened and frustrated by this turn in events and I hope that his stay will not be a long one. Please keep you prayers and good thoughts coming our way!

PS: This time I've taken my sewing with me! I am working on a piece for Kim's book while at the hospital. I found my way back into my zone the other day, just as I promised myself I would and I'm planning on taking a bit of it with me!

Best wishes and warm fuzzies to you all!

The Museum of Forgotten Things part 1

Here it is! Part 1 of my final posting for Alicia Caudle's book "The Museum of Forgotten Things." I enjoyed getting it out of it's box today and seeing all the fabrics and beads again. It was like meeting up with a friend after a long time away...which is what it was if I consider the 'friend' to be my artist self, the 'friend' whose company has been sorely missed!

Things are still not improving for my son but I have decided that I really need to start reclaiming some of my art time back! It's not a lack of time that's prevented me, we've been home a lot, it's been the lack of head space. It's all doctors, sickness and housework lately. I realised today (while doing housework...) that I've been reluctant to sit myself in a corner and get into 'that space' because I know it won't be long until I get pulled back out of it again. I don't want to just visit 'that space' I really need to become lost in it. No interuptions, no distractions, nothing but creative flow and discovery! I also realised that if I wait for that time to come I am likely to be waiting a while...so tomorrow short of someone being hospitalised or a natural disaster I will find 'that space' and create something. I've no idea what yet but it's exciting to know the time is near!

Alicia's book is a mysterious story of love, secrecy, betrayal and passion so five hearts and better than one!I can't take the credit for this one, I found it at the second hand shop and repurposed it for the book. It's wonderfully old and just perfect for the pocket I made for Hester. I think it used to be a scent pillow that was hung in a cupboard to ward off the smell of moth balls once apon a time!

I made this heart and the one similar from a product like fimo. You may remeber the post although it was months ago!This one sits on the 'blue page' as a weight holding the pocket flap down.The heart below is similar to the heart above, both are made from recycled fabric and thread. The one above sits above Hester's pocket and the one below is from the 'imperfect patch' she made for Charlotte.

This heart and the one below are made from recycled fabrics and thread.They're fiddly but enjoyable to make so I think I will be making more of these!

The heart below is on the 'imperfect patch' Hester made for Charlotte.

Charlotte's pages are the 'blue pages.' I am not sure why I chose blue but I was really pleased I did when my son bought home the fabulous blue hair clip he found at school. It was just what my page needed!

For the life of me I can't get these photos to display in the correct order! I had great ideas about displaying these as the page opens but blogger has other ideas... this photo should be below the photo that has the cross.As this photo shows the cross on the pocket lifts up to reveal the crushed velvet bag containing treasures from Hester's past (military buttons left behind by a secret lover, dolphin teeth...) It is impossible for this pocket to sit flat and it distorts the material a bit. None of the 'pulpers' seem to be able to work flat!

The pocket seen in the first photo is also a door which lifts up to reveal Charlotte's face and the 2nd door/pocket with the heart to weight it down. That pocket holds Charlotte's diary notes.

The last photo shows Charlotte's blue page with both the upper and lower doors (with pockets) folded back to reveal  that  fabulous hairclip my son found at school. It's perfect for Charlotte!

Blogger gremlins certainly has been having a field day with this post so I hope your able to make sense of it. My next post will be the back of the 'blue page' and the second piece I did for Alicia's book, the piece I originally thought was going to be a diary is now something much different!

Pulp Redux Chapter #3 Alicia's book

I've been busy working on my blue 'Charlotte' page. When I last posted about this page I said it was unfinished and I needed to work out what it needed. I sensed it was somethingewhite..but it turns out it was white, blue and brown! Here's how it's looking now....

I created two fabric pockets that fold back like doors.

The cross lifts up to reveal a pocket which contains some 'exhibits' from Hesters life...and loves!

Exhibits: buttons left behind by a Military lover Hester gave shelter too, a pen nib, a piece of chain from a necklace given to Hester by the Military man sits along side the dolphin teeth (yes those are real dolphin teeth...strange but true!) he gave her.....who is that boy? That secret's still to be revealed!

The flap on the pocket lifts up to reveal some diary pages and the secrets they contain.

Both flaps fold back to reveal Charlotte who you no doubt remember as being Hester's secret daughter!

The following is an entry from Charlottes diary, whose just discovered her real identity. Charlotte's diary pages are kept in bottom pocket (visable in the 4th photo.)

Dear Diary, the reason for my lack of entries here is most unexpected. I recieved a telegram telling me of my Aunts passing. This however, was not a great surprise to me as she was old and some-what unwell.When I heared that Aunt Hester had passed on I set off to take care of her affairs. My own mother was poorly and unable to do so herself. I noticed her great reluctance for me to attend to the estate and I was left with the feeling that there was something I didn't know...as if for a moment she wanted to tell me but then pulled back and could not. I know now what it was she would have said had she found the courage to do so. I was in for a great shock. A surprise of the most confusing type. It was the most unexpected thing and I am still reeling from the shock of it! Oh, diary! What shall I do? I don't know who I am anymore! It would appear my life is a lie! What is it that could cause me such unrest? Oh diary, I write this through my tears for I've just foiund out that my Aunt Hester is not my Aunt, she is my mother! I was a secret child, born from an affair! The shame, dear diary! I cannot begin to describe. Me! Born out of wedlock and hidden away for a year! How could she? Oh faithful diary, if there's any hope that I cling too now it's that I will discover who I am through the exhibits left here, in the house that has become a museum  of forgotten things...

Next pulpy posting I will reveal the secret of the boy in the photo, as discovered by Charlotte. Watch this space!

There's a lot more pulpiness to come as we near the final weeks of round three. Debrina's ahead of all of us and has finished her spread in Lisa J's book. She even managed a video clip of it so we can all see how the pages fold and reveal and change and move...it's great! Please click on over to the Pulp Redux blog to check it out! Way to go Deb's! My book is now in her hot little hands but if you wondering what's been going on with it and didn't catch Kim's posting here it is! I can't wait to see this in 'the real!'

Pulp Redux Chapter #3 Alicia's book

Here it is! My promised Pulp Redux Update! Last posting was my freshly completed "Charlotte" page. Charlotte is the secret daughter of Hester. You can read more here if you missed it. The AB follows a storyline and it's be a lot of fun creating the story and setting the scene.

The Imperfect Patch.

When Hester was pregnant with Charlotte she created a patchwork quilt, loving crafted from scraps of fabric and an old cotton dress. One of the patches was imperfect and Hester decided that her unborn child would only have the very best and the patch was put aside. As fate would have it this impefect patch was to play a very important roll as it was to become one of the few momento's Hester would have of her daughter. Hester lived a life of self imposed seclusion, she rarely saw anyone which was why she was able to keep her daughter a secret. When Charlotte was one year old she realised that a life of seclusion was no way for a child to live and she made the heart breaking descion to send her beloved daughter to live with her sister. They made a pact that Charlotte would never know that Hettie was her mother, instead she grew up thinking her Aunt was her Mother and totally unaware that Aunt Hettie was actually her mother. After Hester's passing the old ladies secrets were revealed and this was just one of many...

Charlotte's Pocket.

Keeping safe in this pocket is the imperfect patch, a key to Hesters secrets box and some of Charlotte's diary pages. The pocket is attached to the blue page with Charlotte's photo on the other side and is made from coffee dyed fabric, op shop fabric's and op shop lace. I didn't embroider the rose, I cut it from an old cotten napkin also gotten from the op shop! The top embellishment is a heart I sewed from fabric scraps.

The next page in Alicia's book is Hester's Diary...

I colour photocopied a Thrush nest watercolour from a delightful old book called "A country diary of an Edwardian Lady" and the book is a month by month account of Edith Holden's life in 1906. Fabulous book! I sewed over the nest with coffee dyed thread (the nest is a loooong piece of thread stitched on top of the painted nest.) It took me forever but I think it was worth it!

The cover of Hester's diary. The pages are yet to be written though! The cover is made from velvet (from the opshop ofcourse and bargain of the year!) apricot lace and green stuff that I can't remember the name of! The beads that embellish the lace frame are from an old necklace gottem from...the op shop! This page is made from 99% recycled materials. You probably  guessed that by now!  The ribbon roses I made today, they don't show very well here. I havn't made ribbon roses in years but they were kinda fun to do!The only bummer for me here is the strap which will attach the book to the book. I wish I had spent more time on it and finished it a little better. Never mind! Live and learn (and keep on sewing!)

Coming soon...Take it and Run Update and a new collage series called "Four Weeks in Autumn."