Nov Bead Journal Project ~ Mom & Me ~ Finished!!!

You might want to start by reviewing the pictures in this post... which show the beginning steps to creating my Nov. BJP page.

During the first part of the month, I had a special week with my 91-year-old Mom, who lives in Minnesota, and decided to make November's journal page about her (and a little about me too). The page evolved into a book-like form with a butterfly wing for the cover.

Below is how the wing (plus half of the butterfly's body) looked when I finished beading it.


Then the big question was how to assemble the pages and the wing/cover to make it all function as a book and look good. That took a very long time under a thinking cap... and even then it took two tries to get it right.

I began by making the beaded wing into the cover for the book. I clipped away the excess fabric around the wing leaving about 3/4 inch seam allowance. To turn under the seam allowance, I sewed a little running stitch all around the edge and snugged it up evenly. Then, using a toothpick as an applicator and PVA glue (acid-free adhesive used for book binding), I fastened down the seam allowance (below).


Then I glued the inside page to the back side of the beaded wing using PVA glue and sitiched the pre-punched edges to the fabric of the wing with buttonhole stitch. There is no additional stiffener between the inside page and the bead embroidery, which I hope will be OK and survive over time. Here's how it looks.


All of the pages of the book and the liner for the cover are made the same way. I use Photoshop CS. Starting with a picture of the butterfly wing (dimmed by adding a layer of white at 40% opacity over the top), I added layers of images which I'd previously made into vignettes. After printing my collaged images on enhanced matte paper (the manufacturer of our printer, Epson, guarantees these prints to be good for 80-100 years), I cut them out, poked holes around the edges and embellished the edges with buttonhole stitch using two strands of embroidery floss.

Next, I needed to attach the book pages and cover to my BJP background fabric. I started by attaching the last page of the book to my BJP fabric using the buttonhole stitch. At first I thought I'd stitch the other pages onto the last page and then stitch the wing on top. I left the butterfly's body on each of the pages.


However, that proved to be too bulky and didn't look right. So I had to go to plan B, which was to cut the body away and stitch the pages to the fabric through the buttonhole edging (which first had to be continued around the part of the wing that attaches to the body. I also had to add more silk fabric to the beaded wing/cover between the liner and the edge so the stitches wouldn't show.

So in the end, here's how it looks, page by page! If you want to see the detail, you can click on any of the pictures to see an enlarged version.





Challenging and fun? Yes, indeed!!!

My Mom and I are alike in many ways. We've also had times when our tempers flared and even some screaming matches when I was a teenager. There have been disappointments and failures on both our parts. Yet, all-in-all, she's a wonderful Mom... I am so very fortunate because I love her and totally know that she loves me. Plus we are friends, have interests in common and share an abiding mutual respect. This November BJP is a testament to our cherished relationship!