Slump Fest 2010

I can't believe it's been almost two months since I've created anything. I've been in a slump. I love my journals, but I'm still perplexed about parts of the process. Using handmade paper is fun, but it presents a few challenges in the signature binding process. I don't shy from a challenge, but the quality of my work is important to me, and when my journals aren't perfect, I won't put them up for sale. The more I tried to figure out the process, the more I became discouraged, which has led to this absence of creativity that I'm calling "Slump Fest 2010". I'm still not out of a downhill spin concerning the excitement of my journals, but I learned a long time ago, if I don't do SOMETHING creative, I'm not truly happy. So I dug through some old books, read a few articles on the paper making process and found a few creative ideas that have nothing to do with journals. The photos that follow are my newest creation and the oh-hum duldrums are slowing leaving.

This is a cute little keepsake box that you can store your most precious items. I collect all sorts of items, so this box was easy and inexpensive to assemble. I tore pieces of my handmade paper into tiny little squares and glue them to all sides of the box. The inside bottom of the box was a little rough so I jazzed it up with a zebra strip paper. (Maybe, I do have a wild side). Then I placed a thin coat of matte medium over the top of the paper to seal and protect. The trinkets on top are random findings from a scrapbooking drawer...final product-cute!

My other creation is a wall hanging.

I made several sheets of plain handmade paper and cut shapes into the wet sheets, with a bottle cap, a nail head and my fingers. After the paper dried, I cut the pages into several pieces, glued the sheets together in a pattern, layered it with reds, oranges, yellows, and blues acrylic paint and finished it with a coat of matte medium for protection.

There it is hanging in my living room.

I'm still perplexed about my handmade paper journals. But I'm not perplexed about the need to create... and next weekend, I'll try something new, again. Stay tuned for the next chapter....