Christmas house book

Well here I am again, this is like talking to friends. Such a busy time of the year, what with classes, craft fairs and shopping I haven't got time to turn around
I am sharing with you a house book we have done in class, I showed you a page in a previous entry and have finally finished. The idea was taken from the lovely book 'In this house' by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn, and of course you will recognise the wonderful Nina Bagley techniques. Above is the front cover, for all the pages I have used old vintage Australian Christmas images and on the front is a wonderful image of a santa on a kangaroo. On the left side I have glued down scrunched up gauze and lightly applied Golden fluid acrylic in silver with a dry brush. on the right side a stamp of a tree trunk from Michelle Ward as well as the stamps of the birds stamped onto a black and white script paper and roughly cut around so you see the paper behind. white buttons have been added onto the branches. A poem about the Christmas Bush cut into strips and placed randomly down the page.

The second page has an old paint brush and white painted twigs ( a la Nina) tied on with gauze. A small square of cardboard roughed up and painted with gesso is held down with gauze glued across with PVA watered down sprinkles of silver micro beads (these are so cool, have been dyeing to use them, have had them in the shop for ages). Photo of my son, oh isnt he cute, bit different to the tattooed man he is today. mica cut with pinking shears and held on with Coffee Break Design silver boubs, dont you just love that word, sounds like boobs.

Page 3 has a cut out oval from the centre, a sweet image of a little girl in her sheepskin coat and muff is place in the centre and a large peice of mica split in two is held back and front of the page with long shank silver eyelets a strip of pink silk fabric glued on top with PVA and dictionary meaning of the word playmate glued on top. All the pages have had the Claudine Hellmuth peeled paint applied to the background.
Page 4 using similar techniques has a photo of my two girls that little dark haired one is Jo can you believe that little round face. On this page a silver and white scrolled paper napkin has had the two back papers removed then torn in pieces and glued down with watery PVA. A feather with round silver frame and acrylic insert covering some text.
yep thats me, just a little scrap back then in my little smocked dress. A lovely image of a vintage santa in lovely shades of apricot that matches the strip of silk fabric glued down over the painted cardboard, a sprinkle of silver micro beads around santa's boots, believe me they are there. A striped awning, some more white painted twigs with patches of micro beads and tied down with the threads that came off the edges of the silk and wella! finished, I am happy with the result think it will look nice on the old chippy paint mantlepiece at home. measurements 25 x 20 cm