Saturday, January 5, 2013

Book of Days 2013, Volume 1...

I'm so excited to be starting my brand new Book of Days for 2013 - yeayyy!!! 

Here's what the book looks like...
This is my first time working with paper like this.  It's handmade and super thick and rough!

The first thing I did was paint the cover...
 

To give you an idea of how rough the paper is, here are a few pics of the process of creating my first background. I colored over the page with gelato crayons, and then blended them with water and gesso...
The pinks are my attempt at coloring. The yellow shows how it looked after adding water.  I discovered I can't use too much water right on the bare paper or it starts falling apart...

 Thankfully it took to blending well with gesso.


 and here's my first finished spread.  My word for 2013 is balance...

Thanks so much for visiting and for your kind words.  I wish you a wonderful weekend my friends!

11 comments:

phinner said...

coolness Michelle! did you make that book or purchase it? and what size is it? as a matter of fact, what is the size you like most to work with in terms of your art journals???

: .)

Unknown said...

Wow - that book looks amazing and very important somehow! I love what you did with the cover, and your word and spread for balance are just fantastic. Love those little legs and slippers flying off to the right, and your road to your happy life looks bright and beautiful! DOn't know if you saw my shout out to you in my 2012 recap -- http://jessicasporn.blogspot.com/2013/01/2012-recap-and-looking-ahead.html -- but you were an important person to me in 2012! xo

Michelle LaPoint Rydell said...

Phin the book is approximately 9 x 12 and that is my favorite size to work in. I bought it through either Amazon or Hobby Lobby online. Can't remember which, but they both sell it.

Jessica, I somehow missed that post! I will check it out right away!

Thank you both for your kind words! I appreciate both of you so much!

Marcia Beckett said...

Beautiful! My word last year was balance. Still trying to figure it out, lol. My word this year is "soul-affirming"

dawn said...

WOW WOW WOW!! Your cover is gorgeous, LOVE LOVE IT!!

WOWOWWOW your first pages are gorgeous too!! How awesome are those in the process photos, thanks so much for sharing them.

Everything looks great on it, happy and colorful!!

That is a big book and what kind of paper is that?

HAVE FUN!!

Michelle LaPoint Rydell said...

Marcia thanks for sharing your word! Soul-affirming is awesome. Balance is an ongoing challenge for me - I know I will be working on it all year!

Dawn - the paper in my journal is handmade watercolor paper.

Thanks so much Marcia and Dawn for your kind words!

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Loveeeeeeeeee this Michelle!! LOVING the colors on the cover and LOVING that tree on your first page! GORGEOUS!

Jane Wetzel said...

Love your book - the cover is delicious looking!

ArtZest said...

I have a book just like this. I keep it on my studio table and clean off my extra paints on pages to make backgrounds. I love the texture. I write quotes over the backgrounds. It's my quote book. You will enjoy it once you get the feel for it.

Sharon Fritchman said...

Love your book of days. the cover looks spectacular, and your first pages are awesome. I love the "get to your happy place" quote, Michelle. I need a little happy this morning - we just drove Katie back to Penn State yesterday for her second semester of college, and I am feeling a little sad! So off to my happy place I go . . . thanks!

Patricia Roebuck said...

Love this word!! The book looks amazing, Michelle! I love my gelatos too. Now I want to use them more!