ALTERED BOOK WORKSHOP.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP;
The workshop will focus on turning an old book ready to be recycled into a beautiful journal or keepsake item. Using all the pieces of collectable information, photos, antique findings and all the things you want to save in your new book.
The outcome will be a book that will bulge with color and texture and you will learn many new techniques to create artistic embellishments such as, edge treatments, collage, secret writing, pockets and flaps and much more.
the class cost is $25.00 with a $10 material fee.
the date; November 19th (Sat) at 11am. approx 4 to 5 hours.The place. Stamping &Scrapbooking fun store, 327 South Central Avenue Marshfield WI. 54449.

Please join me and make something different and unique as a gift for someone or a gift to yourself.

At the class we will change an old book and upcycle into a beautiful journal.

MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS in MARSHFIELD WI NOVEMBER 2011

Hello, I will be teaching a workshop on Saturday November 19th at 10am til around 2 pm.The class will held inside the ' Stamping and scrapbooking fun' store at 327 South Central Ave Marshfield WI 54449 email me @ iblues@charter.net for more info or any questions. The class will be focused on Altered/recycled books . photographs of my work are on this blog.
 In November I will have my books published in the new Interweave magazine called 'PAGES'

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION;
The workshop focuses on creating a new altered book from a book ready to be recycled using all your tidbits of information, old photos, kids artwork, new and old photos, family recipes, or any keepsakes that you would like to incorporate into your special book.
We will explore ways to turn the new blank pages ( called signatures) into a journal for your own use or to give as a gift for Christmas. Once you have learned the basics of the class the possibilities are endless.
We will make  a book within a book, put in pockets and decorated flaps, create edges and folds, it will be your own unique creation.

Some people hand these down from generation to generation but whatever  you decide it will be a fun filled day to make something handcrafted and learn a new skill. What better than to recieve something made specially for you ?
I recently attended my nephew's fiancee's wedding shower, the theme of the shower was 'recipes' so I made the redand white 'KISS THE COOK' altered book for her as my shower gift. Everyone brought their favorite recipes and the book was filled with pockets to store these treasures. The fact I had spent time making it for the couple was much appreciated.

About the instructor;
Irene Schreiber is a multi media artist. Mostly self taught, her work includes painting,collage, fiber arts and felting as well as art quilting and applique. Irene has studied altered books with Rachel Fox and encaustic art  in Bend Oregon, painting with many top artists and applique and quilting with Sue Spargo and Sue Sorensen.

sue spargo class

This was taken on my ride up to Bayfield WI.
Nature has a way of arranging  a perfect color scheme!
 scroll down for more pics.


if anyone has any comments or questions please feel free to ask.




This is the bunch of lavender I am embellishing, I used the beads and sea grass to embroider bullion stitches and fly stitches. The backing for the lavender piece was a wet felted piece I made before the class. More work to do on the lettering, i am using tiny seed beads .

One of Sue's completed wool wall hangings, isn't it gorgeous?

A view of the island from the ferry crossing.

Back home from Madeline island I am completing my travel quilt. I have changed the design and added and taken away. I changed one block which was previously a deep wine color to a more soft neutral green yellow background. I found it easier to sew and embellish on the smaller block too. I may try that next time.below is a picture of the classroom.As you can see the weather was amazing too.

Using felted wool is really easy to sew and applique. The vibrant colors and tighter weave help when cutting and planning the quilt them too. But my absolute favorite thing is to embroider and couch along with adding beads for beautiful effect.

beryl taylor

I met one of my favorite mixed media artists , Beryl Taylor while at 'Create' she is also from Yorkshire so it wasn't hard to guess that we would hit it off right away. We had so many laughs. Her creations are beautiful her book is 'mixed media embellishments' full of awesome creative ideas.

when I got home I decided to make some of her ideas using my own handmade paper I had preciously started to embroideembellish. Here are the results, I LOVE them!

new hand made books

After the classes at CREATE Chicago I made some new altered books. The first was a recipe book for my nephew's fiancee Jackie as the theme for her wedding shower was 'recipe's. So I decided to make a keepsake book to save all the recipes from the shower. here are pictures.

Madeline Island school of the Arts

I went to Sue Spargo's Folk art quilting class on beautiful Madeline Island WI. It was a 4 hour drive and a ferry ride from my home. What a wonderful setting for a class! The classroom was large and well lit and there were 12 of us in the class, perfect size for a teacher to give one on one instruction. Sue Spargo is a wonderful teacher, I learned 6 new embroidery stitches as well as my first time quilting with felted wool. On the first day we looked at Sue's work and made a plan for our folk art quilt which had a theme of 'TRAVEL'

I chose to quilt my watercolor journey to Provence which I made in 2009 with a group of artists from Bend Oregon. I sketched the themes, which were Van gogh's Sunflowers, the Farandole dancers, Lavender, a window with blue shutters, a field with lavander and sunflowers and of course the Poppies of Provence. From sketching we then assembled the quilt background, piecing the blocks of wool. Then the real fun began! Sue brought lots of beautiful silks, beads and embellishments along with gorgeous hand dyed velvets. I used these to applique my pieces.

On returning home I found a piece of foamboard insulation left over from Clyde's projects and pinned my quilt to the board so I could look at it. I decide to switch it around a bit, I removed the wine colored block and replaced it with a hand dyed pale green block which I appliqued with a huge sunflower and a background of a lavender field. Couched silks, embroidered by hand with sea grass and silks then beaded. One block took most of the day yesterday. I also changed the village scene to a bridge and house with a French barn.