Another journal

As my current journal type scrapbook has ended up being rather large, I realise it's too big to take anywhere, so I made a smaller one to take to Dublin and London. I painted and distressed all the pages first and then bound it, gathered up my trusty pens and set off. The photos I put in afterward (obviously, doh)and I've been adding assorted scribble and bits of paper ever since. No such thing as a finished journal, right?
















I love this pic - I had it on my bedroom wall waaaaaay back in 1972. In fact I like all the really old pics - most of which I've only been able to find cos of t'internet - if only I'd had that when I was 14.






Didn't take these unfortunately, but they are so good I had to include them.















Damon was hanging around after the London gig, so I got him to sign my book. Steve Hunter and Chuck were also there, dunno why I didn't get them to sign it too.......next time. Hope there is a next time - PLEEEZ Alice, play some more small clubs






















Now this is one of my faves, bit blurry I know but it's all mine.......








Mine also.










The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
Stage booty















100 Club










If you click on the photos you get a sharper image - no idea why.

Oh No!!!!!

Terrible news - my scrapbook is full up. Not exactly finished, there's still a lot of scribbling to be done, but all the pages are covered in pics and ink and stuff, and the front cover is done.....what on earth am I going to do now? (in between washing/housework/cooking/ shopping/going to work/ironing ......) (Actually that last one is a LIE, I never do ironing if it can possibly be avoided, lol)
Well, obviously, I went straight out and bought another book and I will probably stick the covers together somehow to make one huge mega scrapbook. If this carries on, eventually it will be as wide as my hymnbook.....but I am having such fun doing it, there's no way I'm ready to stop now. And anyway, he'll be touring again soon(ish) so there'll be lots more photos to put in. Especially if I get my way and go to at least three concerts. .....(haven't told hubby that one yet, I think he might come to one with me, but will prob'ly think I'm bats cos I want to go again and again, lol.) I need to be nearer the front this time - that probably means standing in a queue for several hours, but it'll be worth it as I need to catch some freebie dollar bills and 'Dirty Diamonds' when he throws 'em out. I believe he even gives out some of his other props sometimes, like the canes he's always twirling, but I'll settle for a Billion Dollar Note - lets face it, no Alice scrapbook would be complete without one.


Some early group pictures - I think the one of the left was when they were still the Spiders or maybe it was the Nazz, and it was before they got into make up and girls clothes.... (anything to shock people.)

These are great pictures of Alice with snake (Kachina? Or maybe it was Eva Marie Snake...or Yvonne.....or Julius Squeezer..?) anyway, they were taken by David Bailey in about 1971. Alice lost a few snakes while on tour - Kachina disappeared one night and they had to leave without her. Eventually they got a call from one Charlie White, country singer, who found a snake in his hotel room, hiding in the bed springs. Nice.

The pythons had to be fed several rats before they went on stage so they would be sleepy and not strangle Alice during the show.

These pages have some of my all time favourite Alice pics - I had a few of these on my bedroom wall and spent entire evenings just staring at them. Obviously I couldn't've got a lot of homework in those days.

Thought I'd better put some photos of my hymbook in - dunno whether it'll last another 30 years, so I wanted to have a record of it. Also on these pages are a couple of pics of yours truly, in my favourite dressing up outfit. I actually used to go out looking like this quite a lot, on the Tube up to Harrow tech for the Friday night gigs. It helped that I was thin enough to wear a leotard! These were taken in my friends bedroom where I had to change , because I don't think my mother would've let me out of the house looking like Alice., she never could understand my obsession, bless her.

Tribute page to some of the 32 albums Alice has released over the years. I had a big problem with this page in that when I'd finished it, I realised that it was upside down - oh well, never mind, I never really liked perfection anyway.

Still deliberating on whether to take the ten year old to a concert or not. I can just imagine being in the middle of Billion Dollar Babies or Schools Out (heaven forbid!)when she decides A) it's too loud, B) she can't see and can I lift her up (whose gonna lift me up?) Or C) she wants the loo/a drink/food, and I have no way of explaining to her that, while she normally comes first in pretty much everything, I'm afraid that Alice is more important right now, so she'll have to find some one else amongst the heaving crowd of scarily made up weirdos to take her (what a terrible mother I am)....................... no, it's no good, she'll have to wait a few more years. Although he has just celebrated his 63rd birthday, I hope for her sake he's not planning to retire soon........ I think we're safe for a while - he's always said he won't give up whilst Mick Jagger is still touring., so I won't panic til Mick hangs up his mike.

This is the front cover. I love this pic of the group - I think it came on the front of the music score for Schools Out, and although I bought it, I've never been able to play a note. I just had to have ANYTHING with Alice on it in those days. And I always wanted a T shirt with Bitch Bitch Bitch on it......never did get one :))

I have millions of old press cutting in the hymnbook, but they're kind of difficult to read, so I was very happy to find these copies online - it's nice to be able to read them again.

I could go on and on, but if you've made it this far, you deserve a medal. Thanks for looking xx

Long time no see

Well, no blogging anyway.

This is almost entirely owing to the fact that I am still in my AliceCooper, 1972 fixated time warp (which I have to say I am enjoying immensely!)
Anyway, I managed to combine art with obsession, and have started a new journal/altered/replacement hymn-book. A while ago I went to a fabulous class at LB Crafts, where we did some journal background pages in an A4 book, so I though I would put these to good use.


This Top Ten double page spread was actually created out of ten pages - each one was torn down its length and painted and then stuck to the one beneath - each one being slightly bigger than the last. The torn edges were rubbed with gold paint, and the numbers one to ten added at the top (well, right hand side in this pic).
I decided to list my top ten Alice tracks - I'm loving rediscovering the old songs of my mispent and distant youth. The kids are getting fed up with me dancing round the kitchen singing, (or rather yelling) 'I'm Eighteen, EIGHTEEN and I LIKE IT' at the top of my voice. But it helps with the ironing.

This one has some of the pictures we took on the night of the concert, plus my ticket and VIP pass. Hey look! It's us with the man himself -all these years I waited to get my pic taken with him and then I look like an escapee from the Womens Institute AGM. (Carol, of course, looks great, but then she has Proper Hair)



















































I found a multitude of old pictures online - what fun I had searching t'internet for old pics, (saddo that I am, lol), and so much easier and cheaper than buying all those crappy 70's fan mags - some of these are in the original hymnbook but there's plenty more that I'd never seen before - this page is a collection of images of the original Alice Cooper Group, including the gorgeous, but sadly deceased Glen Buxton. They haven't done much as a group since Billion Dollar Babies, and Muscle of Love but did get together the other night in Phoenix for Alice's annual Christmas show. I said to John on Sat morning, I like to go to Phoenix tonight is that ok? He said, you'll be lucky if you can get out of the village , the car is buried under 2 foot of snow....

I drew a number of Alice pics over the years , but seem to have lost most of them - still have this one, but it is slightly faded. Time to get the pastels out again, I think.
More coming soon (ish.)Don't hold your breath, though:)

My first altered book

Since Hallowe'en, I have been immersing myself in all things Alice Cooper - looking at old drawings I did when I was 14, showing the kids vinyl (can we get a turntable, mum?), telling them how we swapped pictures at school, and also watching every Youtube video from the seventies I can find - this includes finally catching up with many events I read about but never saw, not having the internet in 1972, such as the The Chicken Incident, (contrary to rumour he didn't bite its head off and he really did think it would fly when he threw it back in to the audience), and Alice getting hanged onstage (Mum refused point blank to let me go to that concert, I cried for hours.)

Never did finish this pic - I was too afraid of getting the faces wrong and spoiling it, which is a joke really, when you look at all the stains on it, lol...


When I first saw an altered book about 6 years ago , I thought 'Aha, been there, done that' - because all those pictures of Alice I collected at school were stuck into my school hymnbook (to relieve the boredom of morning assembly). Then there was the Music Press - Melody Maker, NME, Sounds and Record Mirror (I think there was another one but it's name escapes me) Nearly every week during 1972 -1976 ish there was a review either of a concert Alice did, or a new album like Billion Dollar Babies, (I still have the banknote), and Schools Out (mine still has the paper knickers and is now signed *huge cheesy grin*,). And I cut out each and every review and stuck them into my hymnbook.

After not very long obviously, it became rather large and unwieldy, so I had to aquire another one for School Assembly purposes(I am really sorry to the poor first-year girl whose book I, er, borrowed, hope you didn't get into too much trouble).




















Half a mile of sellotape and a few years later, I had a book about 10 times fatter than it was designed to be, and it had to have it's own special box for transportation .......and I took it everywhere with me, parties, friends houses, and later on the pub. I think I was always hoping that I'd bump into him one day and be able to show it to him. The fact that he was Amercian and hardly likely to turn up in the Swan at Ruislip didn't seem to matter somehow.







Now, if only I could've found the wretched thing before Hallowe'en, I could've taken it with me and presented Alice with proof of my utter devotion for all those teenage years. But no, it got 'put away' somewhere during various house movings , and I couldn't find it in time, grrrrrrr.
EVENTUALLY I discovered it hidden in the loft, and it was with great excitement that I dragged it out from behind the box of 20 year old bank statements (WTF am I keeping them for?).

I opened the lid - and there it was in all its yellowed and faded glory. I eased it out of the box, and it promptly fell apart - selloptape does not last 35+ years. However, after some quick repairs and another mile of sellotape it can now stand up to gentle exercise, so I've been reading some of the reviews (including the spoof "Alice Cooper accidentally killed on stage when guillotine trick went wrong'), and looking at all the pictures (or what's left of them anyway) - and it is delightfully transporting me back to my little bedroom, where the walls and ceiling were completely plastered with pictures, photos, and anything else to do with Alice Cooper. Sigh.....I don't know why I wallow in nostalgia so much, but it makes me feel so...................well, tbh I'm not sure what it makes me feel, but I like it anyway :)))).............younger I suppose,lol.

So I think it's time I made another Alice book to celebrate actually meeting the guy at last - and this time it will be a lot more colourful and will possibly include the odd stamp.

Talking of Seventies videos this is a cracker....



Here's hoping that I will get to meet him again before we both drop dead - I think I'll need a suitcase next time to carry all the things I want him to sign.....

Another journal

I'm jetting off to Fuerteventura next Saturday for a week of R & R, (volcano permitting) so I made a special journal just for the trip.

 I painted lots of pages in pastel colours and used one of Tim's new dies to decorate a few edges. A few pages were embossed  with Cuttlebug folders and I added a few borders, but it's mostly blank, ready for lots of scribbling and stuff-sticking. All the coffee shops in Corralejo are bars as well, so I can see my doodling becoming more erratic, as I try to get round them all....

The pages are  all cut from watercolour paper and I've left a few blank for my feeble efforts at painting. My suitcase will be full of artystuff and books to read, good job it's warm I won't need too many clothes!

I sort of made the cover, but I'll probably add stuff to it later, depends what interesting things I find. Note that it includes some of my wobbly stitching - more practice needed, I think.........

 I'll blog some of it when I get back.

Roll on May 8th!!