Taking Inventory

It's the first few days in December. I cannot believe that another year is almost over. I spent this first weekend of the month taking inventory. I happy to discover that I currently have 30 large journals.  And sadly discovered that not all of my journals are in excellent condition.

I pulled seven of the older journals from this inventory because I realized that my earlier journals are not as solid as my recent journals. The stitching is loose. I plan to cut out the old thread and re-stitch the journals with new thread coated in beeswax. I understand now the importance of the beeswax. It truly keeps the thread from stretching and holds the book together more securely.

Out of Chaos

I live and work and create in a world of chaos. No matter how hard I try to put order in my life, I always return to a chaotic atmosphere. To me, this is not a bad state of being. In fact, I thrive in chaos. I would like to think there is some order in my chaos, however, when you look at my desk, not too many people would think of there being any reasonable assembly of order.

Work has been chaotic since July 2011. I haven't had a full day off since July 4th. If I'm not working at the office, I'm working in the evening, at home. In an attempt to balance the work chaos, I chose to take four days off over the Thanksgiving holiday. Out of the chaos, I created three new journals, enhanced two small journals, worked in my art journal and baked four different kinds of cookies. Below you will see gingerbread people, peanut butter mice, pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing, and double chocolate peppermint biscotti.



The kitchen table is full of chaos. My favorite cookie is the peanut butter mice.

In the art room, the chaos resulted in three new journals. 

I made two small journals a few months ago. I like the look and the feel of these mins, however, I just felt like they needed something. I took old photos of flowers that I photographed several years ago at Red Butte Gardens and cut them down to fit inside the journal. I glued the photos back to back on certain pages, leaving numerous pages in between for writing surfaces.

Finally, I made a new entry into my art journal. The poem, by Joyce Kilmer, is one that I had memorized in grade school. It is been among my favorite ever since.

 

 

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is preset against the earth's sweet flowing breast. A tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray. A tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins in her hair. Upon whose bosom snow is lain, who intimately lives in rain. Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.

 

 

 

While my desk still looks like a mess, out of the chaos some good things can be found.

 



Mindless TV and Friends

My art journal is a combination of experimental art and favorite quotes. The reason the art is experimental is because I have little to no real artistic talent, so I experiment with watercolor, drawing, and collage.  I've never been afraid to try something, at least once and for this fact, the art journal is a great opportunity for me to try my hand at being an "artist".

While I don't want my art journal to be a collection of quotes that I find from other books, or from a list of quotes off the Internet, I am always looking and listening for attention grabbers.

I am a TV junkie. I will turn the TV on for background noise while I work. My TV watching habits are very odd, according to my husband. I have about a half dozen shows that are my favorite and I watch rerun after rerun. Although the story never changes, it never ceases to amaze me how many new details I pick up when I watch a rerun.

One of my favorite TV shows is Criminal Minds. Three guesses to my favorite character. Ah, but that is another topic for another blog. During one recent episode, there was a quote that really made an impression on me and I wanted to enter it into my book:

A house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman.

I made a trip to the library on Saturday and found a book on creative letters. I used the technique to write this quote on the page opposite to my collage house that I made a few weeks ago.

My friend, Christa sent me a quote that she said reminds her of me and my interaction with Christmas lights.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: A Rainy Day, Lost Luggage and Tangled Christmas Lights

I've also worked on several pages that will be background pages for other quotes. I know I've said it week after week, but this art journal is the best thing I've done to expand on my creative urges.

Whether it's mindless TV or friends supplying the quotes, my art book is something special and I would encourage everyone to unleash their creative mind. Let me know if you need a journal so you can start. I will be happy to make one for you.



Sping paper on a snowy day

My hate for winter, snow and cold weather were warmed this week by the purple paper that populated in my kitchen. The first snow fall was October 5, 2011, but it only lasted a day on the ground. The snow this weekend was wet and heavy. It weighed on the trees and on my spirits. Before starting my paper making project, we had to remove broken branches from our neighbor's garage. Did I mention that I hate snow?

In order to combat the start of winter, I spent Saturday afternoon making various shades of purple paper to remind me of Spring.

I ended up with 30 sheets of paper. Next weekend, I'll be able to make five handmade journals. I can't wait!

New Paper, New Books

I had to make a trip to Reuel's Art store in Salt Lake, on Saturday. I didn't have any more book board. The sole purpose of the trip was to buy ONLY book board. Forty dollars later, I came home with book board, bees wax and four new sheets of paper. Buying paper is a lot like my sister's obsession with shoes. I have to touch each sheet of paper. It's a texture thing-- thin paper doesn't always work well for covering the book board. Ok, that's my excuse, actually, I just love the feel of paper.

I made this book to give to a corporate VP for his wife's birthday. The VP is visiting in November and I'm excited to share my art with him. We've always been connected with work and as this is a special trip, I've created a special book for him to give to his wife.



I secured the book with a butterfly clasp and brown ribbon. The ribbon is threaded through the butterfly's wings and glue to the bookboard.

I placed envelopes on the front and back cover as well as on several  signature pages inside the book. 

The book is sewn with a Coptic stitch. I made my own wax thread using bees wax and embroidery thread.  The bees wax helps keep the thread from stretching over time.  Each of the signatures begins with a sheet of handmade paper.

The second book that I made this weekend is a garden book. The green paper reminds of of the green grass in Ohio. As we are heading into winter, I miss the green of Springtime that renews my spirit. I am not looking forward to the dreariness of winter.

This book also contains interior envelopes and handmade paper. It is secured with a Coptic stitch.

My final weekend project was to work in my art journal. I added three new background pages in color pencil. As I find song lyrics, or special quotes, I'll insert the quotes on these background pages.

I'm still practicing letters. I love my handwriting, but when I put it on a page, it almost seems flat. So, I've been researching methods of writing letters. It's funny, because when I'm at work, I doodle during phone calls. I need to bring my doodles home and insert them into my art journal, OR, I need to take my art journal to work and doodle in it during phone calls .

This page from the journal is my attempt to draw and use watercolors again. I like the primitive look. I think I need to do more of these pages. My art journal contains pages of watercolor paper, as well as drawing paper and writing paper. When I paint on the writing paper, it crinkles and gives a unique look.

As I look back over the weekend, I feel good. I spent Saturday working on art and baking cookies. I'm ready to start the work week again.... and anxiously awaiting my next art day.

Repurpose Art

I love to re-purpose an old item into something new. Most people wouldn't think twice about tossing an old, used cardboard box into trash. I'd rather save the old box and make it into something useful. Saving the planet from another piece of garbage in a landfill is only second to my reason for saving this box. I thought it had a unique character and feel to it. Today, instead of tossing an old box, I re-purposed it into a keepsake.

The entire box is covered with scraps of paper. To give the box and the paper durability, I covered it with two coats of matte medium. I added two Velcro strips to help secure the lid. The box can be used to store note cards, or keep sakes.

My second project this weekend involved note cards. During my bi-weekly trip to Michael's, I found a pack of 25 plain note cards (with envelopes) for $4.99. I also found some vintage scrapbook paper. I used stripes of hand-torn paper to enhance the plain note cards. I'm really happy with the outcome.

I love paper. Of course, its primary purpose is to use for communication, but when we use paper for embellishments the possibilities are endless. With just a little bit of paper, these plain note cards take on a new life with color. The box, above, goes from a piece of trash, to a piece you want sitting on your desk.

The third re-purposed project involved wire, a wooden bead, glass beads, and paper. I saw this project in a magazine. I've never attempted jewelry making, and after trying my hand at bead making, I remember why. My clumsy fingers and my lack of patience are two hindrance to working with small objects.

I like the idea of taking the wooden bead and covering it with paper and enhancing it with the glass beads and wire. I may try this again, sometime.
My art journal is filling up. I've been writing quotes/quips that I've heard from my colleagues, as well as continuing to add favorite movie clips and lyrics from special songs.  My favorite addition is a piece I drew by accident. I wasn't paying attention to the position of my book and actually drew the flowers the wrong direction on the page. When I realized that I was drawing upside down in the book, , I knew exactly which of my favorite quotes would work best with this mistake.

Worry Is The Misuse Of Your Imagination

Here are three other additions to my art journal. The vampire quote was overhead during a work meeting. The last entry is a quote from the series Twilight. And, for debate sake---I'm a fan of the books, not the movie.

I love my art journal. The release it gives me is keeping me sane in a very sanity deprived life. At first, I thought this book was something that I would not share. But as the book takes on a life of its own, I love sharing my pages. I was showing the book to a co-worker and telling her the origin of several pages. She said "I hope someday I say something that will make it into the book." 

My art journal is now re-purposed into a collection of sanity in an insane life.

Time for Me

Finding "me" time has been on my to-do list, unfortunately, I keep moving "me" time to the bottom of the list. Finally, I moved "me" time to the top of the list and spent some time in the art room, doing what I love to do; create!

I made three new journals with blue handmade paper. These three journals still need envelopes inside. I really like the journal that has hidden compartments for storing secrets and special memories.

I also worked more on my art journal. The idea of daily entries in any journal is too overwhelming for me. I don't care to be on a regiment or a schedule. When I feel like being creative, I make an entry.  The journal to this point has been a collection of quotes.

I've attempted drawing, but I am not an artist. The whole idea behind an art journal is that it can become an outlet to try new mediums.

I was skimming through a library book on creative ideas with photographs. The artist crinkled and torn a photograph and then puzzled it back in place. Here's my version:

I love writing my feelings, my thoughts and special stories. Often times, I find writer's block stopping the creative process. I wanted to put my thoughts on paper, but just couldn't find the right words. So, I took an old magazine and cut out words that floated through my head. I laid them on two sheets of the journal and the story came to life.



Any of my journal can be used for an art journal. I highly encourage you to let your creative mind flow on to a keepsake page. Whether you think you're an artist, or whether you think like me that you have no artist talent, use of an art journal is very gratifying. I still can't believe I chose psychedelic pink for my cover. I just know that I'm glad I took this weekend for some much needed "me" time.