Altered Book Class Coming! Especially for Beginners and Intermediates!

New Beginner/Intermediate Altered Book Class for New Year!

getting fancy on me!

Please click on the link below for a short video..

A small peek at the class business

Hello all! I am not going to go into a huge amount of Detail, heaven knows I could write a large novel about altered books if I ever really got going...The deal is this-

I am wanting to do a class for beginners, newcomers to altered books, and intermediate levels that just need a refresher course in an inexpensive (ridiculously cheap) format!

The class would not start until after the first of the year, most likely around the end of January if not the first part of February. I am going to pre-record all of the lessons just in case I get sick and have to go to the hospital with my heart...But you will be able to work at your own pace...I am going to make a special FB page just for the peeps in this class where we will explore questions and tips and techniques in detail

I think it will be a fun class to take, it is going to include very basic lettering, making and covering your book with your own fabric/paper...unique handmade embellishments, and found poetry of course! Found poetry is one of my favorite things to do! Also, I will most likely give out some of my famous tips and techniques, tried and true things that have worked great for me, and that no one else will tell you! So come join us, I will send out more reminders, AND I sincerely hope you join us and help me make this a special experience for all who have chosen to join!

handpainted and applied cover

handpainted and handcovered cover

my first fabric collage in a book

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A Dash of This, A Sprinkle of That.....

This is most likely my last post for 2016, and just to be honest, I am damn glad of it! This has been a challenging year to me, both personally and in my art world...maybe not bad, per se, but it has kept me on my toes, and really, isn't that what a good life does for you? Keeps you on your toes so that you always remain just a bit off balance, and therefore very aware and very Thankful for your actions at all times, just to keep yourself from falling in the abyss of just not giving a crap...I can't say that I have reached the mindset of not really caring...I care about my art when nothing else phases me...people can disappoint, jobs can bore and dismay, but my art will live forever in this alternate reality of my own creation, where even the leaves on the trees are any color but normal...

I have made some amazing changes during the last 12 months, several of which no one thought I could pull off...no smoking, no drinking, those are the two that no one thought I could quit, but quit I did, and cold turkey at that! Certainly no regrets to those choices, and if I can do it, so can any of you that are struggling with the same habits...it can be done!

Ok, on about my art life...I have never seen a year such as this past one for absolute quantity of production! I start out about 8am, and don't leave the studio until around 8pm, ever day! I have made some beautiful things, and other creations I am not so sure of...maybe an acquired taste...lol...Learned to make Folio Books (WIP)

I have made more tags this year than ever in my life, and have no place to go with them....they just keep stacking up!

Butterfly People

All of the tags i chose to include are at the top of this blog posting..I couldn't get them to come down here where they belonged!  Anyway, you can see from this little taste of artwork that this year has been a banner year in the way of production for me...I am so thankful that I have been allowed one more year to create and enjoy those that I love in my life!

2017 may be great, or it may be not so great, but whatever it turns out to be, I am going to be right in the midst of it all, doing the best I can and learning to be better at my art, as a person, and as a family member...love to all of my children and grandchildren, and special love for my Tony, He is the answer to so many prayers down through the years...God bless you all, and Happy Creating!

Laura Shelton