Handmade from South Africa - First Entry

Back in 2008, a very close friend of mine living in South Africa sent me a package for my birthday.  It didn't arrive for many months as it got lost in the mail and also appeared to have been opened and re-taped.  To add insult to injury, the package was damaged by the time it finally arrived.

Inside, one of the items was this handmade book.  Some of the embellishments were broken into small pieces.  Nothing I could do to try to save them.  Even with that, the book is lovely and one I'll always treasure!!!

Besides a note on the inside, Rentia included one of her original paintings.  It's glued to the first page.

I've held off doing anything inside the book as I didn't want to mess it up.  Tonight I decided I was going to bring it out and jump in before I chickened out again.

Front Book Cover

Back Cover

Inside Cover and First Page

Painting by Rentia Pauley

And my first Entry - Pen & Ink - Noodler's Flex with Black Ink

I struggled with this one.  I normally stay clear of doing too much with architectural elements unless an old building where angles don't really matter (to me anyways).  The metal designs were a real challenge........especially trying to make the top and bottom match.

This was done with pen/ink only - no pencil using the Original Noodler's Flex pen and black ink.  Let me tell you..........I was so tempted a few times to grab my pencil to save me from royally messing up, but I hung in there and did this without reaching for the pencil.

I don't normally hesitate to use pencil guidelines but now and then I like to challenge myself to work on my observational skills.  

I really like how the paper handled the pen and ink.  It does bleed through to the back as the paper is rather thin.

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