The Book of Leaves

The thirteen month swap which was The Story of the Traveling Pages has resulted in some amazing books and I've just completed creating my own - The Book of Leaves with contributions from ten women in the USA, the UK, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Greece who interpreted my theme - leaves and created unique, one of a kind fabric pages.

This is the cover for the book which I embroidered.
The inside of the cover has the name of the person, the country they are from and the month they created the page for me. The first page is from Kath Walls in Greece.
The last page in the book is from Juliette Coates in the UK and the inside of the back cover has a pocket which contains the letters and smaller cards each one sent me detailing the method and techniques used in the creation of the page.
Thank you Ruth for putting together this fantastic swap and to all the lovely ladies who got involved, persisted and made those pages while dealing with life and the curve balls life threw each of us in the past year.. The book of leaves is a precious addition to my little collection of fabric books.

Any interesting fibre/fabric swaps and challenges happening in cyberspace? I'd like to get involved because I haven't taken up anything this year.

Oh there's been some changes taking place here.

Leaves from Juliette

This page made by Juliette came from the UK and takes the pages of my book of Leaves to nine.

Waiting for a couple more to take the count to twelve so I can start assembling the book.

Will start on the covers next week while waiting.

I've completed my end of the swap and will be posting three pages out to Germany, Greece and the UK tomorrow. There will be sneak peeks of the pages here but will have to wait for the recipients to actually receive them before I post pics of the three pages.

What have you planned for the weekend. My weekend started yesterday with a wonderful party for a close friend's 9th wedding anniversary.

Leaves - September

I was welcomed home with this beautiful creation by Elizabeth.

Elizabeth created all the fabrics she used to make this page except for a green batik. She's used a number of techniques too - rust dyeing, hand painting and sun printing. Thank you Elizabeth this page is going to make a beautiful addition to my book.

Story of the Traveling Pages Sent and Received

I'm back after a month of travel and living out of a travel bag. It feels so good to put up my feet, sip tea and settle into a familiar routine. Sigh, there's simply no place like home.

Other people have been busy too. Liz created this page for my book on Leaves.Its going to be a great addition, thanks Liz.
the page I made for Liz. The theme for her book is Doors.

OK this post was just a quick one to say hello.

More in the days to come about my scarves which have sold well at Plantation House, way beyond my expectations! 

Leaves - March

Ann made this page for me.She sketched the oak leaves in her garden and then quilted the page.

Ann has made three pages for me. Two got lost in transit and finally the third made it from Berlin to Bangalore.

The reverse of the page and the most exquisite little ATC with fabric origami flowers. Thank you Ann, I really appreciate the persistence and effort you've made to make a page for me three times over.

Autumn leaves

Ruth created this page for me for the month of May. She's represented autumn leaves which are her favourite. She has painted with fabric paints on muslin ,thread sketched and machine quilted the leaves.

Thread sketching is new to me. Never even heard of it. Must do some googling.

The Traveling pages for February

Pages for February have been sent and recieved.

Carmen chose Castle as her theme and this is my interpretation. It's turned out to be a mixed media collage of sorts. Taking a picture out of a magazine and mounting it on a piece of card and then stitching it on was a first for me but I think it works.The arched window has been appliqued and embroidered with metallic thread and sequins, the mango tree is embroidery and oil pastels and so also the sky.
This is the reverse of the page for Carmen. Sorry the picture is a bit blurry. Discovered that after the page was mailed to Carmen so another picture could not be taken. I'm in love with the plastic coated silver foil and I'm going to find ways to incorporate it in all the pages I create for this swap. It's going to be my singature of sorts on all the pages I create. Last month it was used to make the pocket on the back of the page. The oil pastels is becoming another favourite.
Here's the page Mandy made for me. She chose to interpret the vibrant colours of Autumn leaves. She's used opaque seta colours for painting the background, applique and reverse applique to create the leaves and machine embroidery.
The reverse of the page has a pocket into which I've tucked the note in which Mandy wrote about the techniques she's used and for a" bit of fun" she sent me a little packet of buttons shaped like leaves and acorns. That is so thoughtful of you Mandy, I do appreciate it. I'll be using them when I make up the book of leaves at the end of this swap. Thank you.

For March I'll be creating a page for Chris whose theme is Coastline. Need to get started this weekend.

Have a good weekend everyone.

The Traveling pages for January

I can now show you the pages sent and recieved for the Story of the Traveling Pages.

The first leaf in my Book of Leaves has been created by Kath in Greece. Lots of texture and embroidery. Don't miss the couched treatment along the edge of the page.Juliette, I'm relieved to say has recieved the page I made for her.I was keeping my fingers crossed it wouldn't go astray. The theme was The Seashore and I decided to depict The Shore temple at Mamallapuram. Must say I've started using unconventional material and really enjoyed it. Its got me thinking out of the box and the results are encouraging - crushed brown paper for the rocks, the cardboard for the catamarans and oil pastels to add colour to sea and sky.

To get a better look at the details click on the images to get an enlarged view.
Made a pocket on the back of the page with the plastic coated foil the muesli comes in. I found an article in a back issue of Jetwings on the rock sculptures of Mamallapuram and put that into the pocket along with a little note for Juliette.

For February I'm working on a page for Carmen and the theme is Castles.

Visit The Story of the Traveling Pages to see more pages participants in this swap have created.