Wk. 30: MOVED!

Dear Followers & Visitors,

I have moved my weekly blog to my website and invite you to join me there at

partlowart.com

I'll hold this blog site open as I figure out how the heck to upload all my previous blog posts to the website. If you know how to do this, PLEASE HOLLA AT A SISTA at nefnx@gmail.com. 

Thanks for your support and patronage over the years!!!

Wks. 16 - 29: 2018 Calendar Cards

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Scandalous! Maybe that's a bit dramatic. Being a busy, working, exhibiting artist is the better description and reason why it's been 14 weeks since I last posted in this blog. Still, I've been about my business of making art books: 146 total to date, of which 144 are calendar bards (book-cards). I've been seriously busy.

It's kind of magical how this simple idea has turned into a burgeoning little art product business. The real magic is that I have managed to push through all my resistances and self talk about doing all those business-related things that drain me as an artist and zap all my creative energies. The key has been working with a team of people who are committed to supporting me and my work. What a blessing.

Rather than give you all the details about the 2018 calendar cards, I invite you to check them out and buy a few on my website at partlowart.com.

Thanks!

Wk. 15, Book 15: Lotus's Gratitude Book

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Lotus saw Book 11, titled "The Women's Series Part III," and as is her way with my favorite keepsakes, including evening gowns, certain pieces of jewelry and purses, she wanted that book, too. However, because I'm not quite ready to hand it over to anyone, I proposed making a special keepsake just for her. 

Like Book 11, this was also a small spiral notepad, @ 4.50" x 3". I covered the front and back covers with a textured deco paper in one of her favorite colors, pink, and added sequence and cloth flowers. I also suggested that since she's moving back to Baltimore later this spring after living in southern California for a year, she could use

this little journal to record all the things she likes about her current community, which she claims she doesn't like so much. The idea is to get her to shift her internal conversation to a focus of gratitude, hence the title of this book.

For the inside covers, I used an embossed card stock with a floral pattern and added stick-on hearts, one of Lotus's favorite symbols. It was her idea to add the little applique at the bottom of each page in the book, which adds volume to the signatures. 

So now I'm thinking about buying a bunch of these little spiral note pads and redesigning them for various purposes. I'll let you know when they are available for sale via my website at partlowart.com. 

Wk. 14, Book 14: April Fool's Baby

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This is a way-overdue, drive by post dedicated to my granddaughter Lotus Marie Partlow on the occasion of her 9th birthday. 

I've had this little 2.80" x 2.80" tin box since February; it came filled with candy hearts. Once empty, I could see its potential as a mini box book. After Lotus's big birthday bash last Friday at the American Visionary Art Museum, I figured she should have a book chronicling her annual progression to the auspicious 9th cycle here on earth. That's when the content was born.

I created a 1.50" wide accordion signature beginning with a pic of a lotus flower and the

text, "the day you were born the angels laughed and sang," followed by  my favorite pics of her up to the party last week. The signature is made of postcard stock, and the tin box top opens, the signature pops out. Lotus got a kick out of that and a good laugh at her pics from age 1 to the present. 

Once again, it goes to show you can make a book out of almost anything.

Wk. 13, Book 13: The Women's Series, Part V

During my first book-a-week challenge in 2015, I converted a canvas index card carrier into a reframed photo book (Wk. 27, Book 27: Funky Little Photo Album). I’ve taken it a step further this week and re-reframed it into a 5.75” x 4” keepsake photo book of all the sheroes in my family for my granddaughter, Lotus. 

In place of index cards, I created photo cards with little stories about our ancestors on one side and their pictures on the other. I started with four—my mother Lucy, her mother Blanche, her sister Cynthia, and my great-grandmother Charlottie. And because the book expands, we can continue to add pictures and stories as Lotus grows up. 

What better way to conclude the Women’s Herstory Month series than by honoring the women in my life who made such unforgettable contributions to their family, friends, neighbors, and the planet, in their own special way.

Wk. 12, Book 12: The Women's Series Part IV

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I'm on a roll. After last week's  blog, I found yet another old calendar - a classic. Anyone out there remember this remarkable keepsake featuring photos of outstanding African American sheroes? I took out the photos of my favorite writers, singers and poets, and created what i'm calling an "inspiration journal." 

The finished size is 12" x 12". I stapled the calendar pages together, covered the seam with linen ribbon, and added class bubbles on the seam, front and back covers for accent. Lastly, I wrote bios and quotes from the calendar in silver ink on each sheroe's page. This journal works very well as a coffee table book, too.

Okay, your turn. 

Wk. 11, Book 11: The Women's Series Part III

Last week's book had a baby. 

If you have wondered what to do with all those old favorite postcards, calendars, magazine images, and pieces of text you've collected over the years—you know, those boxes of stuff that keep multiplying like Star Trek tribbles—here's your solution:

Create journals for personal use and gifts.  

For example, you can make journals with images from old calendars, similar to the one I made last week. Staple the pages together, cover the seam with ribbons or deco paper, and add embellishments (stones, appliques, etc.) wherever you like. If the opposite sides of your pages are blank, write or affix text. You can also add blank pages in the journal if pages have front/back images.

You can do the same with all those little give-away notepads we've amassed from banks, conferences, and promotional campaigns. For example, I've turned this week's 5" x 3" notepad into a repository of notable quotes from historic female figures. (As a teacher and lecturer, I like to have good quotes within easy, immediate reach.) The photos by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher are from one of my favorite calendars on African women. And as usual, I've added a little bling on the front cover. It's a nifty little piece of utilitarian art that you can make, too. Try it. 

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