Sketchbook Project 2012-Chicago Trip!

You've Got Mail

I'm talking to you, Brooklyn Art Library!

Mom and I really pushed it to the last minute this year with our sketchbooks for The Sketchbook Project 2012!  We mailed them on the deadline day!!!! :/  And, in perfect "us" style, we documented the whole thing :)

Don't our covers look great?!  Here's a closer look at our books.

Let's start with Mom!  I'm SOOOOOOO proud of her book!!!  Since I was little, I remember her talking on the phone and doodling these beautiful little women all over her notes page. She recently began creating more expansive drawings of these woman, and I think she has really found her style!  Each page of her book screams her spirit, love of art, and attention to detail!  Here's her front cover:

 Mom chose the theme "Encyclopedia of..."  And her's is "Encyclopedia of Filet."  You'll have to read her sketchbook, but basically, "filet" is what our family calls the best of the best.  I believe a more common example would be "Cadilac."  Can you find her title in the books?! :)

 Wait, who's this fancy girl?! She seems so artsy, so cool, so...everything!  Oh, wait, that's me! ;)

 This is one of my favorite pages.  I can't believe she did all of that pen detail by hand on the left!

 This next picture is mom's fav.  This lady is so super cool!!!

 And, this is the Resort! If you look closely, there are so many details specific to The Resort!

 And, this is the back cover. 

 Great job, Mom!

Here is the inside cover of my sketchbook.  You can see the sewn collage through the leaves when the book is closed!  I chose the theme, "Folds and Stitches," but the full title of my book is "Holes and Folds and Stitches and Stuff." :)

 I feel like there's not a whole to explain about my pages.  There is just a wide variety of my mixed media and collaging. 

There are cut out leaves in the middle of these spreads with an orange netting in between them :)

 Ta-Da!  My book!

So, Tuesday morning, I met up with Mom to mail our packages.  She was super cute and did adorable drawings on her envelope!

 Mine was lame and super boring :/ :)
Anyways, we packaged them up,

 And headed to the post office!

 The guy ringing us up was extremely patient...especially when we struck up an extensive conversation with the sweet lady behind us, who was actually taking this picture!  She has 5 kids- 3 of which are triplets!  Anyways, back to the story :)

 We were SO excited to have sent our books in on time!  Truthfully, I was just thankful that I completed it in time!!!  (p.s. Zoom in on this picture.  My face is pretty hilarious!)

Thanks, Mom, for doing this project with me!  I love that we do this together, and I can't wait to go visit all of our books in years to come at the Brooklyn Art Library!!! :)

SBP 2012!

 One year ago today, Mom and I got together to celebrate the start of our first Sketchbook Project!  I was about 8 1/2 months pregnant with T-man, and couldn't wait to start this new project!  (Oh my, I have grand expectations!)  

 We're really big on traditions in our family, so, we met together today in Mom's new creative space to begin our 2012 project!  Mom chose the theme "Encyclopedia of" and I am tackling "Folds and Stitches."

 

We wore our t-shirts from our Chi-town trip, and added a little "get crafty" flair because, well, we're just cool like that ;)

 We gathered our supplies, and with the help of Elle, got to work on our books!

 I brought over my supplies in my grandpa's old tackle box.  When my Grandma passed away a few weeks ago, my dad brought this home for me.  I was so excited to use it because I knew Grandpa would love that I was using his box, and Grandma would love that I was filling it with art supplies!!!

 This year was a little different than last.  Last year, I jumped into this project with reckless abandon, painting pages, applying my cover-jabbering and giggling along the way.  Mom however, was a bit more hesitant.  She was nearly paralyzed by the looseness of the guidelines, and not sure of how to approach the blank pages.

As the project progressed, she warmed up and found her groove.  I slowed down as T-man got a little older, but we both finished with pride and excitement.

This year, Mom seemed to be a little more prepared :)  She had a clear idea for her first page, and dove right in!!!  Although all my ideas are in my mind, I seemed to only produce a random part of my to-do list! I painted my cover, a few pages, and made some bagels inspired by my lunch :)

 I also created a few pages with some stamps in preparation for journaling.  Feel free to upload these and use them for your own projects!!!

 It was a wonderful work day!  We listened to Adele, chatted about our ideas, and laughed!!!  Oh, it's so good to laugh!  I'll continue to update as pages progress!