Life Book 2017 Hide & Seek: Revealing and Concealing Treasures€¦ · ©2017Melissa Dinwiddie • melissadinwiddie.com 3 everything I do. (I even wrote a book about it, The Creative

Life Book 2017Hide & Seek: Revealing and Concealing Treasures

©2017Melissa Dinwiddie • melissadinwiddie.com

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Hello! My name is Melissa Dinwiddie.

My superpower is instigating creativity and tapping untapped genius — like yours! Let’s play!

I’m Chief Instigator of Creative Sandbox Solutions, a creative consultancy that taps the untapped genius of leaders, teams, and organizations, in seriously fun workshops that make important work feel like PLAY.

In other words, I help businesses thrive through art and creativity.

And I help creative women thrive by unlocking the creative geniuses inside them, through the retreats I lead; my Creative Sandbox online community; my books; my podcast and blog.

But it wasn’t always that way. Before I became a creativity instigator I made my living as a freelance artist and calligrapher... but sadly, practically the only art I made was for my clients. I was so trapped by perfectionist paralysis that for a good decade I almost never made any art for me!

Hard as it may be to believe, before I became an artist, there were about fifteen years when I truly believed, deep down in my bones, that I was a non-creative person.

Oh, it was tragic.

That’s why I’m so passionate now about getting people creating. I’ve experienced the pain of being stuckstuckstuck. I’ve figured out how to get out of stuck, and I want to do whatever I can to help other people avoid going through what I went through.

Because it is so much better on the playful side of the fence!

The key, I’ve learned, is to think like a four-year-old. I call it “playing in the Creative Sandbox,” and the metaphor of the Creative Sandbox informs

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everything I do. (I even wrote a book about it, The Creative Sandbox Way, and you can click the title to download a free sample.)

True to my Creative Sandbox philosophy, my Life Book lesson is not a technique (though I do demonstrate techniques), nor is it a style for you to copy (though feel free to copy away if you wish). Yes, you’ll learn to make a basic book-like structure with one or more windows/doors that conceal and reveal a hidden treasure, but what I really want you to glean from this lesson is an approach.

A Creative Sandbox mindset.

This is the mindset of being a four-year-old child, exploring, experimenting, making messes, playing. It’s about the process, not the product, and there is no wrong. (See the bottom of page 15 for a colorful graphic of the ten Guideposts from The Creative Sandbox Way.)

It’s the mindset of intentional imperfectionism (which, by the way, is exactly the same thing as self-compassion).

With these seeds planted, here are a few specific notes about Hide & Seek: Revealing and Concealing Treasures.

Tips• Start large, end small.

I learned years ago that if I painted a big mess on a big sheet of paper, I could always find beautiful compositions within the mess! This is one of the reasons I love to start with a full or half sheet of paper. I guarantee you will find something interesting somewhere on your paper, even when you are not thinking about composition at all, or know nothing about it!

• When in doubt, stick with one window.

The more elements, the trickier the composition, and the more work you’re creating for yourself. (Plus smaller windows are harder to fold, especially if you use heavier stock.)

• The smaller the piece, the lighter the paper.

My piece is 12” x 16”, and 140 lb. paper was quite stiff for those folds. If you make a smaller piece, you may want to try using 90 lb. paper.




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Hide & Seek Supplies Your own favorite art supplies, plus...

2 sheets watercolor paper (any size and surface texture, as long as it’s larger than your final book page)

Translucent vellum or tracing paper (at least as large as you want your final page/piece to be)

Pencil & eraser

Repositionable tape

X-acto knife, craft knife, Snap-off knife, or other cutting blade

Cutting mat or surface you can cut paper on

Metal edge ruler or straight edge (longer than the longest edge of your page/piece; plus a shorter ruler is handy, too, if you have one)

Mat corners (you can mimic these with strips of paper)

Optional but handy: 90-degree triangle

Optional but handy: Transparent ruler

If Gluing: PVA (Lineco Neutral pH Adhesive, Elmer’s Glue, or similar)

Lots of large & small sheets of clean scrap paper

Water container

Clean brush or foam brush, dedicated for gluing

If Sewing: Linen thread, embroidery thread, or lightweight yarn

Darning needle or other large needle

Science probe, needle tool, awl, or darning needle

Bone folder or equivalent

Optional: Beeswax for coating thread

Optional but handy: Needle nose pliers for pulling needle through

Always: Gloves in a Bottle

(barrier cream)



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Hide & Seek My Supplies For reference only — these are the supplies I used in the videos, but I really want you to use YOUR OWN favorite art supplies!

Arches 140 lb. hot press & cold press watercolor paper (hot press for the inside sheet and cold press for the cover)

Canson Vidalon translucent vellum

NovaColor acrylics (127 Cerulean Blue Hue; 106 Indian Yellow)

Liquitex Soft Body Acrylic (Quinacridone Crimson)

Golden Regular Gel (Gloss)

Daniel Smith Watercolor Ground (I used an old credit card/hotel key card to apply)

Ziller Ink (Midnight Blue)

Derwent Sketching Pencils

Prismacolor Colored Pencil

Prismacolor Nupastel

SpectraFix pastel fixative

Sakura Pigma Micron markers

Silver Sharpie

Uni-ball Signo white gel pen

Various brushes (round, flat, soft, bristly, foam)

Technical pencil

Rubbing alcohol

Linen bookbinder’s thread

Beeswax

Always: Gloves in a Bottle

(barrier cream)



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Let’s Get Started!To end up with one or more windows/doors, you’ll need to start with two sheets of paper:

1. Your inside sheet — this will show through when the windows/doors are opened. (Decorating the back side of the inside sheet is optional.)

2. Your top sheet — decorate both sides of this sheet; the “front” of this this sheet will be seen when the windows/doors are closed, and the “reverse” side will also be seen when the the windows/doors are open.

General Overview1. Decorate one side (or optionally both sides) of your inside sheet and both sides of your cover.

2. Cut windows/doors in cover, to reveal some of the inside sheet below (the “hidden treasure”).

3. Attach top sheet to inside sheet, either by gluing the two sheets together, or binding one of the edges with thread.

4. (Optional) Decorate more!

5. Enjoy!



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Instructions

1. Make a mess, using whatever art supplies you have at hand, or the ones

you most want to experiment with.

Don’t worry about composition. The outcome is not important.

Just keep going...

Keep at it! The specific medium is not important. Layer, layer, layer. Think process, not product.

It will look crappy at first — this is normal!

Cool Tip: If you don’t like how your paper turns out, even if you’ve already taken it off the stretcher board, just re-stretch it! See instructions on next page...



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Re-Stretching Paper Get your paper wet again by soaking it in the shower, or lay the dry sheet on your board and press a wet sponge all over the paper suface to get just the top side wet.

Let the paper fully absorb the water for a good 10 minutes before you staple or tape the edges. This is called letting the paper relax.

Once your paper is re-stretched, you can cover it with a layer of watercolor ground or gesso, and voilá — it’s almost like starting fresh! But now with extra texture! Cool, huh?

Keep going until both sides of your cover sheet and at least one side of your inside sheet have some color and texture on them.

3. Use mat corners (or strips of paper) to find one or more “interesting places” on your inside sheet that will be revealed when a window/door in the cover is opened.

2. Determine the final outer dimensions of your page/piece, and use mat

corners (or strips of paper) to find a smaller section of each of your larger

sheets that you will cut out to form your final page/piece.



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4. With a pencil, trace outline of window(s) onto tracing paper or translucent vellum. (TIP: The fewer windows you have, the easier it will be. My model has 3 windows, and you could have a dozen or more windows, but 1 window will be easiest.)

6. Cut out! (You’re not cutting the windows/doors yet — just trim your inside sheet out of the larger sheet of paper.)

Set aside your inside sheet...

5. Trace your designated full page outline onto inside sheet, so it’s ready to

cut out.

7. Use the same mat corners, along with your tracing paper/vellum, to find the

section of your cover sheet you want to cut out.



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8. Cut out your cover sheet.

10. Flip your cover sheet over, then flip your tracing paper/vellum over, and tape it down to the back/inside of the cover sheet using repositionable tape. Now re-trace the window/door lines to transfer them to the back of your cover sheet.

9. On your tracing paper/vellum, trace back over your window/door lines

with a soft lead pencil. (Tip: To help prevent you from inadvertently cutting

all 4 sides of your window/door, make a dotted line to indicate the fold.)

11. Cut your windows/doors (and score along the fold line(s)).



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12. Turn cover sheet over and carefully put a crease in the window/door “hinge(s).”

13a. Be advised: the larger your piece, and the more windows you have, the more of a challenge it will be to go with this option! Have lots of clean scrap paper at the ready, and lots of water and rags available to wash your hands so you don’t get glue on the front of your art as you go.

Place paper under your cover sheet, and behind each door, and then with a dedicated glue brush, brush a light coat of glue away from the cut edges, in the direction of the arrows shown here (so glue doesn’t creep under to the other side).

Work quickly, as PVA dries fast!

Decision Time! Now it’s time to decide whether you want to glue your cover sheet down to your inside sheet, which will result in a single, thick page; or leave the two sheets loose and sew the edges, which will result in a two-page book.

Assembly Option A: Gluing



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14a. Quickly remove scratch sheets, and carefully place top sheet on top of inside sheet — keeping window(s)/door(s) open, so they don’t inadvertently get glued shut! Press down and rub hands over top sheet to remove bubbles. (TIP: Silicone release paper, empty sticker backing paper, freezer paper, or wax paper inside window(s)/door(s) can keep them from sticking shut. Then you can weight your piece/page down with a book or heavy object while it dries!)

13b. Use a ruler and a bone folder to score a line about a half inch in from the edge. This will be where your sewing stitches go. (TIP: It works best to use a straight edge that’s longer than your page, not shorter, as shown here! Doh! Transparent rulers are super helpful for this.)

15b. Thread your needle with 2 1/2 page lengths of thread. Then poke your needle through the third hole from one end, leaving a tail about 4” long.

14b. Use a needle tool to poke holes in your scored line. In traditional

bookbinding, holes are evenly spaced. In the spirit of improvisation and

intentional imperfectionism, my holes were randomly spaced. Do whatever

makes you happiest. :)

Assembly Option B: Sewing



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16b. Bring your needle back through the exact same hole, again up from the bottom to the top, making a loop around the edge of the piece.

18b. Next travel to the next hole over, this time taking your needle up from the bottom to the top again. Then bring your needle back through the exact same hole again, from the bottom to the top, making a loop around the edge.

17b. Now take your needle to the next hole over, this time down

from the top to the bottom. Then bring the needle back down through

the exact same hole a second time, making a loop around the edge

again.

19b. Continue in the same fashion all the way to the end, and go through

that last hole an additional time to make an extra loop around the

bottom edge.



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20b. Stitch in the opposite direction — in and out of holds to “fill in” the spaces that don’t have stitches — and when you get to the end, repeat the process that you did at the first end, to make a loop around the top edge.

22b. With the cover facing up, use a straight edge and your hand to crease along the score/stitch line.

21b. When you get back to the hole you started at, tie a square knot to

finish.

23b. Open the cover all the way and crease with your hands.



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24b. To add more decoration to the inside, lightly pencil the outline of the window/door opening(s) (this will show you what will be hidden/revealed when the main cover is closed/open).

Next Steps At this point, the structure is done. Perhaps your piece is done, too, or perhaps you’re just getting started!

What do you want to conceal? What treasures do you want to reveal?

Experiment, explore, play, and whatever you do, keep my 10 Guideposts (below) from my book, The Creative Sandbox Way, in mind.




Thank you!

I so appreciate your being a part of Life Book 2017! I’d love to connect more with you — reach out atWebsite • Podcast • Instagram • Facebook • Twitter

or [email protected]


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Documents

Life Book 2017 Hide & Seek: Revealing and Concealing Treasures€¦ · ©2017Melissa Dinwiddie • melissadinwiddie.com 3 everything I do. (I even wrote a book about it, The Creative