Ocean Memories Accordion Book

I just finished my accordion book, which was inspired by one of the weekly 7 inch pieces I had done awhile back.  I did, however have to alter the book's cover so that I could put the title of the book on it.  The original 7 inch piece did not offer enough space in the wavy sections to write the words I wanted to add!  Here is the finished piece; scroll down to see each panel.

The book is assembled with bamboo sticks and turquoise jewelry wire.  And of course, the title of the book is "Ocean Memories".

 The first panel is a beach scene, raw edge applique.  The palm fronds are 3-D, stitched down where the spine of the frond would be.  I have added some glitter paint along the stitching of the waves, to simulate the sun on the water.  Plus I have added a couple of "shells" to the beach sand.

The next panel is an underwater scene, with fish, coral, fabric shells and some real shells that were gathered in FL, plus some beading to create bubbles from the fish and an added beaded "coral". 

  We are still underwater here, with some fabric "kelp", sea horses (the one on top is a real dried one), and jellyfish, made out of a glittery sheer.  Eyelash yarn is used for their tentacles. 

This last panel is the sailboat sailing away from the tropical island, with the setting sun in the distance.  And so ends the journey into my ocean memories.

I have entered this book into the FAO (Fiber Artists of Oklahoma) exhibit which will be at the IAO gallery in Oklahoma City from July 15th through September 3rd of this year.  I have entered three pieces and hope that at least one of them passes the juror's scrutiny!  I won't know until July 6th if I've been accepted, so it'll be an anxious month until then!