Ida Clare It's a Book Book

Dear Creative Friends,

Since I have been up to my elbows making handmade books, I thought I would share this video with you. This made me laugh out loud.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Have a creative day,

Ida Clare, It's the Last Chapter of Bookish

Dear Creative Friends,

Well here we are at week three-in-a-row of blog posts.  I have been enjoying the fall-ish weather we have been having and it couldn't come too soon.  At my home away from home (Hobby Lobby) there are faux pumpkins ever where there isn't a Christmas ornament or a manger set even though we're still wearing flip flops and cammo shorts to shop. (We may wear cammo shorts but they're tricked out with some flirty lace around the leg openings.  Calls attention to our butterfly tat tastefully alight on the Cross at Calvary that we got for celebrating the final graduation of Vacation Bible School.)

I don't have the energy to be indigent any more about Christmas decorations being in the aisles before the Spring Shop of yard art, bird cages and fairy garden decor went to 60% off.  I am just thankful that Big Thicket has a Hobby Lobby for me to get a dose of creative potential when mine is running low.

Speaking of fairy gardens, I have two in my yard right this minute that I finally finished.  I must say they were a hit - with the cats anyway.  Can't say much about the fairies reaction since the mosquitoes have been too pesky to sit out in the twilight to see if I can catch them jetting in from the hills and dales around here.  I guess they wouldn't "jet" in, they probably just flit in. Whatever it is they do.  Do they ride on the backs of cats?  They should.  My cats need an occupation other than the sleep-a-thon they seem to be running.

Anyway, here are some more photos from Bookish, the altered book I made for my brother.

I'm not sure why I didn't crop out the hand model's pudgy thumb and finger and I could do it now but I am lazier than I am vain.

This lady reminds me of my neighbor who is too busy having her nose in my business to have her nose in a good book.

"Never trust anyone who has not brought a book." -Lemony Snickett

"Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."  This is a tag I made of from the design of bookplates.  I drew the dragon myself and printed this version out of an old book page.

"She is fond of books and it has turned her brain."  I think this quote is from Jane Austin or Austin Powers, I can't remember which.

"Perhaps I will read until I feel better."  Well, duh.

"Ever feel like you spend too much time reading?"  And the other intelligent looking chick says, "Yeah, me neither."

 Just a burning question here, why is it that other people think they have to right to judge the amount of time you spend with your head in a book?  After all it is your head.  If you weren't intentionally cramming it with something good from a book, you'd have to fight to keep out the environmental debris and internal negative muckity muck.

I saw a similar painting on Pintrest so I copied it with my little watercolors and added the words.  I like this.

"In life we all come with baggage.  Mine just happens to be filled with books."

"At times, I think to myself,  'Drop the book and get stuff done!'  Then I laugh and turn the page."  I like the little envelope for keeping important stuff.

"A book a day keeps reality away."  This is the only flower in the whole dang book.  It was a challenge to make sure the book was masculine because I am so accustom to making my books girlie.  I can't help it.

"Now is the perfect time to develop the structural integrity of your book fort."  I don't have a book fort but I pretend I have one in the bathtub with the shower curtain pulled.  You have to be careful not to drop your book among the bubbles.  Books like water about as much as cats do.

"Sometimes I drive through the hood blasting an audiobook."  That's what I'm talkin' about.

This quote was written by a young person with a stunning case of optimism. 

"I tried everything to get to sleep last night.  Well, except closing the book and putting it on the nightstand.  Lets' not get too crazy."

"Here's to books, the cheapest vacation you can buy."  --It may be the only vacation I can buy 

"When I grow up I want to be a book."

"Each time you open a book and read it, a tree smiles knowing there is life after death." 

"My workout is reading in bed until my arms 

"Anyone who has time to clean is not reading nearly enough."

Bookplates ready to be used in my brother's library.

The End.

I hope you enjoyed looking at Bookish, the last chapter.  Oh ha ha!

Have a creative week,
TTFN

Ida Clare I'm Bookish

Dear Creative Friends,

As promised I want share with you photos of the altered book I made for my brother.  I have been waiting until his actual birthday came and went and he had the book in hand.  I wanted it to be a surprise.

Note to self:  If you ever start another blog, never tell family members, neighbors, friends, or anyone who might be the recipient of your blogged-about gift giving.  Especially if you change your mind about sending said gift.  I really wanted to keep this one.

Depending on your point of view, my brother and I were fortunate or unfortunate to grow up in the country where we had to entertain our selves.  Since our television got only one crummy channel and we hated going outside in the heat about as much as I do now, we chose to sweat inside the house in front of a box fan --- while reading a book.

Sadly he lives far away from me.  When we get together, after we exchange gossip, the conversation is about books.  So I thought an altered book about books and reading would be something he would appreciate.  There are a lot of photographs so I won’t bore you with all of them.  I will wait and bore you with the rest of them next week.

"Bookish" the title of an altered book about reading and books.

The original pages were removed and new signatures made and sewn together then glued into the old cover.  I kinda got carried away.  The book is about to pop out at the seams.

 

Front inside cover with one of the book plates I designed and drew and a dedication.  I need to design some for myself.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."  The tape on there is for privacy.

Most of the quotes I collected on Pintrest.  Have I mentioned my Pintrest addiction?

My printer was out of colored ink, so in the middle of the night when I was doing this it forced me to limit my printing to black only.  Kind of a happy accident because it kept the look uniform and vintage.

I love the look of black print on manilla paper, the kind of paper we used to color on in school.

"Run like you have to get to the library!"  The images are from Graphics Fairy, of course.  Figuring out how to get them printed on old book pages was tricky with my ancient printer.

There is lots of room for making book lists or writing book reports if my brother chooses.  Anybody have a bucket book list?

Some time I just got weary of fighting the printer and I would actually copy down a quote with my trusty black pen to make it feel guilty.  The printer didn't care.

Lemony Snicket is so wise beyond his years.  I wish I had a cool name like that.

"I like to party and by party I mean read books."  So true.  The octopus in the back ground must be a party animal. I sometimes wish for more hands to use while I am holding a heavy book, trying to eat a sandwich and managing to keep the cat away from both.  Let's party.

This is just another place to put tags or maybe a letter you don't want to throw away.  Who gets real letters any more other than from AARP?

Book marks to lose.  The one I never lose is toilet tissue.  I am always afraid I will return a book to the library with a toilet tissue book mark. Don't tell my I'm the only one.

This woman reminds me of my nosy neighbor.  I think she is too busy keeping her nose in people's business to keep it in a book.

 

This may be one of my favorite tags because it is so true.

"Between the pages of a book is a lovely place to be."  I am going to worm my way out of here and find a good book to read.

That is all my little attention span can do for one post. I will share the rest of the book next week. Thanks for your patience in looking at at these many photos.  I would love to hear what you think in the comments below.

Have a creative week,

Ida Clare I wrote a blog post

Greetings Friends,

Well today I looked at the blog and the last time any activity happened it was July 3rd and you can bet my little attention span is no better now than it was then.  At least back then, there were firecrackers.

The hot weather seems to affect my ability to slave over a hot computer.  Oh who am I kidding? Hot weather, a hang nail, a spider web on the ceiling; anything can distract me from writing a blog post.  Oh look, HGTV is showing an apartment to an annoying couple who have more money than sense. Never mind, that’s all they do, all day, every day except when the Property Brothers are remodeling a house for an annoying couple who have more money than sense. But I digress.

So today I have duct taped my feet to the rungs of my chair and I am determined that I am going to overcome my ADD and write something I feel inclined to post.

There doesn’t seem to be much worth mentioning.  My mother taught me that you don’t talk about politics or religion if you want to keep your friends and that you don’t talk about sex in mixed company.  I suppose “mixed” company means men and women.  I also found that “mixed” means Democrats and Republicans, Christians and non-Christians, so I just try to keep my mouth shut most of the time and hope nobody sees me roll my eyes when they slip up and mention an un-mentionable.

So what is a girl supposed to write about if she doesn’t talk about one of the big three?

According to Pintrest, it’s cats. The Internet world has gone nuts over photos and videos of the delightful and dangerously cute four-legged fur balls.  Since I seem to be running a cat ranch, I might have a little input.  Now before your dirty mind gets caught up in the idea that I might be running a cat house, let me dissuade you of that notion right away.  I could no more undertake such an enterprise because, it is an enterprise and I just don’t have the gumption to carry on with that kind of carrying-on right here in the Prayerful Pineywoods.

No I am talking about cats who hack up furballs, jump on your cabinet when you’re not looking and claim your favorite chair as their own.  Here are my cast of characters at CatLandia.  Schuester is the grimalkin or old female tuxedo cat, who according to cat lore, is the witches familiar and I’d confess to that.  She and I are way familiar with each other.  We fight over the heating pad in the winter (She wins.) and the margaritas in the summer. (I win because I know how to use a straw and she doesn’t like the salt around the rim of the glass.)

Prince Harry the adolescent cat I rescued from feral-dom is a ginger boy who rules his kingdom both indoors and out.  Right now he is sprawled full-length on the coffee table licking his paws getting groomed for a long nap after his evening snack.  Harry will remain a bachelor all his life since he made that fateful trip to the vets.  He doesn’t like to talk about that much so I won’t read this out loud to him.

These are the only two cats who have "foot of the bed" privileges.  There's the proverbial herd of cats outdoors that I won't force you to hear about them. Oh well, at least I should tell you their names least they find out I didn't talk about them at all:  GrayBaby, Twisted Sister, Tigger, Yoda, Gabby, Callie, and Hoolihan.

Through time, writers have used their animals as muse and mine as mews is no different.  Cat owners tend to be the only one who thinks what their cats do is interesting so I’ll stop here.  At least they helped me to get this blog post done.

Forgive me if you don’t give a rat’s rear about a cat. I’ll try to find a different topic next week.  I am sure Louie Gohmert will be up to no good by then.  I have some creative projects that I took really bad photos of and I’ll want to share those I’m sure.

Have a creative week,
Ida Clare