Denise Werkheiser

Gallery

Ruffled Map Flowers

I participated in the Fatbook1project for Art & Soul Retreats in 2011.

Each participant created original pages that are 4" x 4" inches in size and embellishes them.

It is called a "fatbook" because of the embellishments that make the pages thick/lumpy. The small image above is an example of a Fatbook from a prior Art & Soul Retreat.

We made 40 pages and sent them in during March to the gal who organized the project; & she bound them together and gave them to us in April.

There were two themes available: "In the Garden" or "Art and Soul". I chose the garden theme - I love flowers!

My page designs (front/back) incorporate a variety of mixed/media techniques .

I designed/created a flower as the focal point of the front side of my page. This flower is three-dimensional and is created out of an old discarded map.

Here is the back and front of my finished page below; and the actual fatbood we got on the right.

Someone asked me how I made this . . . so I put together a collage of images, below, showing the steps.

Step 1: Using a 2" flower punch; punch out three flower petal shapes out of an old map you have.
Step 2 & 3: I used diluted watercolor paste to paint each; and then I used concentrated watercolor paste to darken some of the edges. (Try and leave one petal layer light and the others darker.) Let dry; then stack the petals.
Step 4: For the flower centers, I used an awl to punch 3 holes and then pushed thru 3 little silver-colored square brads.
Step 5: Push up and crinkle the top layer all to the center
Steps 6 & 7: Continue push up and crinkle each layer separately to the center
Step 8: Gently unfold each layer in reverse