Today, I embarked upon making a new art journal, specifically for the purpose of dealing with the recent loss of my sister, Carole.  Because I know that finished works often seem overwhelming, I took some pictures as I went along.

I started by making a mold of the wings of a little glass angel I bought for a remembrance, found at an antiques store yesterday.  I also worked with Michael to cut a ceramic doll in half so that I could mount it on the cover.

I cast the wings with Aves Apoxie Clay, and attached both pieces to the journal cover with the same compound.

I attached a piece of burlap from Canvas Corp. with E6000 as well as some metal findings by Tim Holtz for Advantus.  I created a collar with some Aves Apoxie Clay and attached some cotton thread bundles below to make a skirt.  I attached some self-adhesive pearls from Prima for a halo and to adorn the collar.  I attached two ceramic doll arms to the outside of the wings.

I put down a piece of collage antique ledger paper and covered the remainder of the journal cover with modeling paste.  I painted the angel and metal embellishments with a mixture of DaVinci Acrylic Paints Cobalt Blue and Titanium White to create a verdigris appearance.

I didn't like the spiral binding showing on the outside of the book, so I covered it with burlap, added a ribbon strip, and some metal hardware to dress it up.

Then added some Kroma Crackle to give it an antique appearance.

I finished the piece by layering several other washes of Davinci Acrylic paints, and a quote, "What will I remember most?". 

For a final touch I put graphite around the perimeter of the angel and smudged it with a bristle brush for contrast.

And now I have a finished cover.  I will look forward to filling this with memories of the sister I've lost. 

Memories of a loved one lost come hard but they are best worked through.

Good night.