Scrapbooks and journals, oh my!

Besides my February table above, I wanted to show some pictures of the outstanding fabric journal my niece Abby, 13, made and sent to me. When I was at her house last fall, I noticed her busily sewing scraps of fabric together, and she showed me the darling journal cover she was making for one of the art journals I had given her.

Knowing my terrible sewing skills, which usually end up being solved by fabric glue, I asked her if she would make me a journal cover, and when she came to visit I sent her home with a bunch of flannel and other swatches.

A few days ago a fat package arrived, and in it was not only the wonderful journal cover above, but also the teeniest, tiniest one-inch journal with paper inside- perfect for my Blythes and their dollhouse! (I wonder what they'll write in it?!)

Meanwhile, I have been printing color photos of my Blythe dolls for about six months, fully intending to put them in a scrapbook, so I could remember the dolls I've bought and sold. I finally got that going this month. As you can see in the top photo, I had an interloper inspecting my work during the photo session. More pictures on my Blythe blog here.

Snow Days and Cat Play

The new ruler of the household, Tinkerbelle Louise, has prevented art or any other hobbies from occuring, just because of her darned cuteness! No time to read or paint! It's time to play with the cat, pet the cat, feed the cat, snuggle with the cat. And watch the snowstorm rage outside. In one day about 10 inches did more traffic damage than last year's 53 inches in one week. Never a dull moment.

A new journal for a new year

I hoard journals. I love all sizes and types, from purse-size Moleskine to hand-made and hand-bound journals, board books, bound pages, whatever. I treasure journals I have received as gifts. I have a gorgeous handmade one from Laurie Blau-Marshall. I have a beautifully-covered one from Michelle Geller. My great-niece just gave me a pretty one for my birthday. I just bought one on clearance at Pier 1.

So what is the problem, you ask? I don't ever seem to write in them. I have journals with watercolor paper, lined pages, blank pages, pages made from maps and cool ephemera. I love to look at them, and I love knowing I have them in case inspiration strikes. But I couldn't seem to make a mark.

I guess I felt I'd be ruining the beauty of the journal somehow, which I know is dumb, especially because I actually drool over examples of others' filled journals. Even my great-niece has a totally cool journal she writes and doodles in and add mementos. She even stitched herself a fabric cover for it. I bought her Dawn DeVries Sokol's Doodle Diary to keep her inspired.
And she did just that.

Meanwhile, I would buy Stampington's Art Journaling magazine. I would stare for hours on end at cool blogs, especially work by Pam Garrison and Pam Carriker. I even advanced to tearing out magazine pages and pieces of magazine pages that inspired me. In fact, I have baggies of paper bits just waiting for a place to call home.

Finally, I decided the new year and new month are a very good reason to start a journal. That, and the fact that I had been itching to paint, draw, make collages, doodle, draw zentangles, do Zettiology-like art, and what better place to do everything, than in a journal. When I mentally commited, I was so excited, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday and started right in preparing pages.

I am using a plain, 9" x 12" *ish* journal by Canson with watercolor paper pages. I collaged several pages with my paper stash. I was further inspired by a "supply swap" I had just done with Jade Adams, and could hardly wait to use the goodies she sent. I also have a ton of new rubber stamps from Unity and their kit-of-the-month club, as well as Unity Stamps by Suzi Blu, all of which I want to play with.

After I collaged a few pages, I realized I hadn't left myself any room for the "dreaded" writing down of thoughts. Intentional? Maybe. Or maybe just inexperience. So I painted the back side of the pages with watercolors, and ended up making color-theme spreads, each with a blank page for my thoughts.....if I happen to have any.