Welcome to the April 2003 issue of byhand!

We have a lot of new subscribers this month! Welcome and I hope you enjoy this issue.

Congratulations Bonnie!

And what does Bonnie win? She chose:

a grab bag of Quietfire Rubber Stamps!

Back in Stock!!

Rubbah!

I'm delighted that the following items are back in stock:

• The Longest Journey
• Dream with your eyes wide open
• Tiles

The byhand Products page
has a new item: the new Anywhere Punch with interchangeable bits. I love this punch!

The shopping cart is a PayPal shopping cart, but if you do not wish to use PayPal, the shopping cart list can be copied (highlight and copy) and pasted into an email to me.

Don't forget if you're proud of artwork that you have stamped with a Quietfire Rubber Stamp, please send me a copy and I'll be delighted to put in the Stamping Gallery.
There are some lovely new submissions there!

I have updated the links page with quite a few of the links I have included in past issues of byhand. Check them out again!

April Journal Challenge

For those of you who want to keep a journal and have trouble sticking to it, I have a challenge for you this month. It's pretty simple...
Using the grid we used for the Doodle Challenge last July and August, I want you to

• print out the grid
• number the boxes with the dates and
• in each box on the appropriate day, jot down 3 words that describe your day. The words can describe the weather, how you feel, what you were doing.
• When you're done, send me your grid and I will draw for a "grand" prize! (the address is at the bottom of the grid)

And for the seasoned journalers: can you distill your day down to just 3 words?

The deadline for receiving
the Journal Challenge is May 15, 2003

To subscribe: send me an email saying 'subscribe'!
To unsubscribe: send me an email saying 'unsubscribe'. I'll live....
To change your email address: send me an email with both your new and old address. Thanks!

Please feel free to browse through my website
Quietfire Design.
There is now a link from my website to this newsletter, but I suggest that you bookmark the
index page of this newsletter ,
so you can return here at any time.

Tag Book Swap

In December I proposed the Tag Book Swap, where artists were to design small books using shipping tags as some part of their books. If you want to read more about this challenge, click here! There were 25 artists involved and the first few books were shown last month. They will continue to be shown over the next couple of months. Stay tuned for some great, inspiring creations!

Here is this months collection with comments from the artists.

Donna Clement
Calgary, AB

Based on a study of beetles for my City and Guilds Design class. Made over 25 different stamps (4 used here) to get across the "essence" of bug.

  

Anne Atkinson
Saanich, BC

(ed. comments:) Here are the outsides of some of the books that Anne created. She got bored doing the same thing so redesigned a number of times. These books are absolutely full of quotations, collages and fibres. The coffee filter book has tag books in each of its pockets!

Lorna Long
Kamloops, BC

My idea was to use the Heart Theme but not necessarily restrict it to Valentine. Each page is intended for H words, E words, etc.
Process for 12 tags: Painted the tags with Varathane Diamond Color series, Burgundy. As I was using tags left from another project, some had fabric on them. Using cooking parchment paper as a base, I melted Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel and added copper, rose gold and some Pearlex pigments (Flamingo Pink, Blue Russet, Sparkle Gold - sorry, no formula). Just played with various combinations. I used my hot air gun to move the pigments around and also those neat wooden picks from Lee Valley. While it was still hot I imprinted the heart stamp then let it cool (with the stamp in place). Removed stamp carefully and lifted the result off the parchment (nothing sticks to parchment!). I used Crystal Lacquer which I get from a stamp shop to adhere the heart imprint to the book cover.

When I counted my 15 books, I discover I only had 12, hence the 3 others. They are covered with paper which I got at Island Blue Print years ago. Then made the copper hearts and applied them with - no other than Crystal Lacquer. I used a bit of the lacquer over the whole page to get the finish on a couple of them. The darts are copper book darts from Lee Valley.

(In her write-up Lorna said nothing about her Clipiola Garland or her Clipiola bindings! Great idea!)

Petty Pellot
Lemont, IL

Christiane Lenz
Victoria, BC

Tags were decorated using Speedball printing ink and brayer. Lettering is done in walnut ink on paper called Legion India "Coire" or "Wool" available from Opus. Even though it is considered decorative paper it does not tend to bleed. Threads got from the Beehive Shop at Douglas and Herald in Victoria - it's called Verikeri Muench yarns.

Kim Sickler
Bethel Springs, TN

Used a regular size shipping tag; made a stencil with another tag and used a punch to cut out the places where I wanted to use lavender chalk ink for a patch. Made a signature with 6 pieces of paper folded in half; pamphlet stitched the binding with fibers; Velcro for closure under flap; glued large gem over the brown on top of flap. Stamps are Penny Black for pen nib; Stampers Anonymous- key; Alias Smith & Rowe- tiny envelope template stamp inside front cover; not sure about the post card and the writing.

Marilyn Smitshoek Burnaby, BC

Well, you may have noticed that I borrowed a couple of ideas from your charmers classes for my books. I had collected some quotes about women for another project and since it seemed that all the participants were women (my apologies if there were any men), I thought that they would be fun to include. While at the scrap booking store looking for papers and stuff, I saw the stickers. I love hydrangeas, so I couldn't resist. I also wanted something special in the middle, so I thought of the flag book. When I did my prototype, I realised it didn't have quite the same effect because it didn't open the same way. But I decided to go with it anyway because I liked the contrasts of color and texture. (Besides, you can always pop them out to get the effect). I decided to also do the contrasting color along the edges to tie it all together. And the suede paper for the cover seemed again like a nice texture. I found the little flower buttons and figured they would be a great way to close the cover. So that was how it all came about. Another fun project.

Stolen Moments

Oil Pastel Rub

The focus on this technique was inspired by a project Charmaine Stack was working on (Charmaine was our featured Site Siting artist last month). She was taking simple, inexpensive oil pastels and blending them together to create lovely backgrounds.

Never having done much with oil pastels, but knowing I had some stashed away (!), I dragged them out to do some experimenting. I chose three colours, see below, and rubbed them onto a piece of cardstock....

A Bit about Oil Pastels They are a mix of raw pigments with an oil binder. They leave soft buttery strokes, like oil paint. They look like crayons. They are not like chalk (those are soft or chalk pastels). For even more technical information read on! (All my oil pastel blending was done using Pentel Oil Pastels.)
3 colours scribbled onto paper	In this picture I used my finger to blend the colours together. The result is vivid.
3 colours blended with turpentine In this experiment I wet a kleenex with turpentine and gently rubbed the surface mixing the colours. A lot of colour comes off on the Kleenex, and the blending is very soft.	On rough textured paper (you can see it's texture quite clearly in the middle of the blob) I used both finger and turp blending. With the finger blending, some of the paper texture still shows through.
Here, I used finger blending on pastels which had been heavily applied to the paper. Using a Mitchell Roundhand Nib, I lettered into the pastel, carving it as I made my letters.
The byhandartists had quite a bit of discussion over this technique and here are some of the results from our brainstorming! Thanks to all the byhandartists who contributed their artwork, experiences and knowledge!
Here is Charmaine's description of what she does: Oil Pastels Background by Charmaine Stack (Charmaine_Stack@excite.com) Supplies: Oil pastels (Not chalk pastels. Cheap dollar store pastels work fine with this technique.) Matte cardstock, pastel paper or watercolour paper Moving medium (optional)* Soft rag PearlEx (Micro Pearl or colour of your choice) Large fluffy brush Cotton ball *Suggested mediums: lacquer thinner, paint thinner, turpentine, turpenoid, Gamsol, lighter fluid, Goo Gone, essential oils, clear or neutral shoe polish. NOTE: Most of these are flammable and have fumes. If you use any, do so with good ventilation, read all labels and do not smoke. This is fun and simple. Scribble oil pastels over matte cardstock or any heavy paper with a bit of tooth. (If your paper is too flimsy, it will wrinkle from the rubbing.) Start with a patch of a lighter colour in the center, then surround it with a medium colour and then a darker colour. It doesn't have to be solid - some background showing through is okay. Next, take a soft rag and blend the pastels, rubbing from the middle outward in small circles. Friction heat melts the oil and spreads the colours. OPTIONAL: With rag or bit of paper toweling, smoosh and wipe a small amount of moving medium over the colours to blend and wash them. This takes less elbow grease than a dry rag. Let dry, which won't take long as it evaporates fast. Dust PearlEx over top with brush and buff with a cotton ball, which gives it a bit of pearly sheen, mutes the colours, and seals the oil pastels. Background is now ready to be stamped. I have stamped these with permanent ink, dye inks and also pigment inks. Black pops against the background nicely. Thanks Charmaine! Artwork by Charmaine Stack (stamp by Old Island Stamps Company)	Gail and Brenda both recommend: Turpenoid, a non-smelly turpentine for blending pastels, purchased in art supply stores. Turpenoid is a thin, colorless, refined turpentine substitute that has the same properties as mineral spirits without the characteristically strong odor. Alternative to turpentine solvents that might work to blend the pastels. I gather they work to varying degrees!: Paint Thinner Essential oils (i.e. lavender) Clear or neutral shoe polish Lighter fluid Goo Gone Mineral spirits Gamsol Citrus Paint Stripper Sealing Oil Pastels Tricia used Future Floor Finish to coat a pastel blended card she made and was very pleased with the results. She used Cray-Pas oil pastels. Zoe suggested: linseed oil would help in a small quantity (for blending) and then finishing with a wax to protect it and its surrounding. Sennelier makes an Oil Pastel Fixative. This totally transparent fixative leaves a clear and glossy film to protect oil pastels against dust and smearing. It is made from a vinyl resin and an alcohol base. (Available through Dick Blick) And another suggestion I have seen is to use a spray varnish such as those produced by Winsor Newton and Grumbacher. Pastel blending with turps on wood.
This is a pastel blend I did using paint thinner (and different colours) on unryu. The unryu cannot take a lot of rubbing, so a solvent was an important choice here. The turps worked far better than the paint thinner!	Pastel blending with turps on mulberry unryu
This letter is stamped on the piece of paper I had under the blend I did with the paint thinner on the unryu. I thought this was rather a nice effect, too!
On this example, I blended the pastels on the back of the vellum and lettered with a pigma pen on the front.
The two samples below are pastel rubs that have been topped with Pearlex. Unfortunately, you can't see the wonderful sheen the Pearlex gives the surface. The one on the left is finger blended and the one on the right is turpentine blended. In order to see the effect you have to photograph it at an oblique angle.... when I grow up, I want a digital camera!
One of the experiments I tried with the pastels was to heat them up and press a rubber stamp into the hot pastel. It didn't work at all. But, I recalled doing something like this in Karen Michel's class at last year's Artwerx. The only difference was that we layed the pastel over gesso. As you can see below left, the experiment was not entirely successful. The same experiment was done below right using Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels and was infinitely more successful! (again the pastel was over top of gesso) Don't get too excited all you Canadian subscribers - Portfolio Pastels are still not available in Canada. Crayola (their maker) won't even ship to Canada. I got mine from Dick Blick.
Altered Book background by Gail Holt: a spread for a Wicked Women round robin. The background is red and black craypas.
The following is some wonderful information on oil pastels, reproduced by kind permission of the author, Kristine Schulte. Thanks, Kristine! OIL PASTELS: Made by combining raw pigments with an oil binder instead of gum. Oil pastels make thick, buttery strokes and their color is more akin to oil paints. Because they incorporate oil, they are less prone to crumble than soft pastels. They can be dipped into turpentine and applied "wet" to blend color. Oil pastels can be mixed with oil paint and my favorite, Shiva Professional Oil Paint Sticks (remove film every day before using). Oil media SHOULD NOT be freely layered and mixed with acrylic media and soft pastels. The old rule governing the use of painting mediums and the sequence in which the paint should be applied is "fat over lean". This simply means that the color used first should have little or no oil content, and those rich in oil content should be applied last during the final stages of painting. This ensures that the oils will be drawn inward as the paint dries, instead of being drawn out toward the surface. So apply gesso and acrylics (if desired) first, then apply oils. If acrylics are applied on top of oils a crackle finish (popular in crafts) will result. Usually, oil pastels do not require a protective coat, however if it is going into an altered book, I suggest using a spray varnish such as those produced by Winsor Newton and Grumbacher. They are sold in the "fine art" aisle of most Michael stores and are about $8.00. (I would not recommend using Krylon spray acrylic finish as this will likely cause crackling, unless you want that). Usually oil paintings require 6-12 months drying time before varnish is applied. I have found my 5"x7" oil mixed media pieces are dry in about 4 months and ready to varnish, dry and be attached to my altered books. I hope this helps your creative endeavors, Kristine Schulte M.F.A.

I'd be delighted to receive your favourite tips and techniques for inclusion here - we can all learn from them and probably save someone - like me - frustrations!

A Passion for Copper - Part VI

Embossing

Lorna Long of Kamloops, BC sent me this wonderful embossed S, a copy of one she put on the front of a handbound book she make for another Suzanne. Although the foil is not pure copper, it is an excellent example of embossing with tooling metal. She has generously shared how she made it. Thanks Lorna!

I have Corel Print House, a simple little program that I use a lot. It has under clipart - ornate - several alphabets etc. That is where I found it. Listed as Clipart - Character Sets - Medieval 5. I viewed and printed it in Coloring Book. )

Anyhow I flipped it before printing it as it is glued to the back of the foil. ( I use glue sticks for that. ) Then I used my embossing tool with a magazine under it. I didn't like the way it looked at first so added my own thing and did a lot of rework from the front. When I made the one you have, I used my hot air gun and it started to discolor (not solid copper) and that is why I made another for the other Suzanne. I used hot air on the one you have before I sent it to balance out the effect (it was just in one corner and looked weird).

So that is the story of the S. Simplified: print letter backwards so it looks right the other side, glue on, emboss and finish. Use a book under it while embossing. I added transparent glass paint. I got the foil and the paint at Island Blueprint, Victoria.

Suzanne's Schedule 2003

Summer and Fall Schedule

Nontraditional Tools for Calligraphy

Glue Pen

Want something quick and easy? I was fooling around with my Zig Glue pen that I'd had hanging around for years. The one pictured here is the updated version of what I have, but it appears to do the same things.

The tip is chisel shaped and allows some semblance of broad-edged lettering. It's quite a fat chisel, about 1/4" wide, so the letters must be quite large and they are not going to be "fine lettering"! Here are a couple of samples I made with the glue pen.... You would probably want to seal the final product with a spray fixative. Kinda fun!

using tiny beads

using sand

Other items you might want to glue down are glitter, embossing powder and gold leaf.

*New* note about these items I have for sale.

For your convenience, I have created a the new
PayPal shopping cart
This Shopping Cart is in US Dollars* (but PayPal will convert them for you)
http://www.quietfiredesign.com/byhandproducts.html
as well as the printable byhand Products Order Form .

You may wish to email me to check for availability! Please feel free to email me your list and avoid delays!

If you are using the byhand Products order form, please make your cheques payable in Canadian or U$ funds to Suzanne Cannon. Your items will be shipped when the cheque has been received. It has been known to take 2 weeks for a cheque to get to me.... Go figure.
For much faster service, please use the PayPal shopping cart!
Suzanne Cannon, Quietfire Design, Box 1231, Port Alberni, B.C. V9Y 7M1 Canada
 Thanks!

*Prices subject to change without notice

Waxed Linen Thread

Samples from Left to Right: Black, Rust, Slate Grey (looks pink to me!), Sage, Royal Blue, Denim
Sorry but it's almost impossible for me to get true colour on the web!

4-ply Waxed Linen Thread

Prices: It is $0.50/yard Cdn ($0.35/yard U.S. funds).

For those of you who have taken the Coptic Stitched Class, it takes two yards of thread to complete the book as we made it.

For those of you who have taken the Criss Cross Coptic, you will require five yards per book.

The eyelets!

These are weeny cute little guys. They are 1/8" eyelets. There are regular and long neck eyelets. The long neck eyelets will go through a regular thickness of bookboard.
100 eyelets per package.

(the long and short Copper are real copper and the long neck brass are real brass)

This is just the best little eyelet setter! It's hard to mess up, in fact, since I began using this setter, I haven't messed up!
$8.50 each
$5.50 USD each

Subtle, but they make a statement!

These are washers for your 1/8" eyelets. What will they think of next???100/package

specify:

brass
silver
copper

$5.00 each
$3.50 USD each

The Envelopes
These cool fellas are perfect for altered books, journals and cards!

Anywhere punch with 6 bits This wonderful punch has 6 different bits allowing you to punch holes in the following sizes: 5/64, 3/32, 1/8, 9/64, 5/32 and 11/64 (or 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 and 5 mm) $14.00 Cnd ($9.50 US dollars)

I have put together some Book Cradles for sale as some of you have been asking for them. They are not things of great beauty, but really, really handy for when you have a lot of holes to pierce. The legs come off so they're perfect for going to classes. They are large enough for an 8.5" spine length and are $18Cdn (or $12US - to the States). I will try to bring these to classes so you can see them in person!
There is an additional $2.00 shipping charge for this item

Book Corners
Jazz up your book covers with metal corners!
I use them on the foredges of books, by applying a little glue and then crimping them, ever so lightly with a pair of pliers.They are all brass except the 3rd one down is Nickel or silver coloured.

They fit nicely on a bookboard of about 2.2mm thickness covered with decorative paper.

New!

Collage Packs - 40 different collage paper treasures - colour-coordinated Japanese papers. There is one colour scheme on the front and a different one on the back. For invitations, name tags, collage, card-making, bookmarks, drawing, painting, poetry, rubber-stamping, photo mats, calligraphy, place cards, book covers, gift wrapping. . .    Assorted colours, package size 8 1/2 x 11

$9.50 US dollars per pack  
$14.00 Cdn per pack

Book Boards - precut 9" x 6", perfect for Coptic Bound, Criss-Cross Coptic and Pipe Organ Bindings.

Give yourself a break! $1.50 Cdn per pair

$1.00 USD

To order any of the above items and the rubber stamps go to:
Printable byhand Products Order Form OR the PayPal shopping cart.

If there is any information you would like to see in this newsletter, let me know. Each month I will email you to let you know the new issue is published. If you know someone who would like to receive notice of byhand, just have them email me and I will put them on the list. Bye for now and thanks for visiting!

suzanne@quietfiredesign.com
(250) 723-0321 Quietfire Design

The original title lettering of byhand was done with a Mitchell's Roundhand Nib, size 0, and Higgins Eternal Ink. Quietfire Design Rubber stamps were used to create the other designs.