piece by piece

my sweet bloggy friend kathy, aka paper pumpkin, has been creating some fabulous collaged journal pages......and in the process of sharing them with us at her blog, she's also been totally inspiring me! kathy has been taking kelly kilmer's "a life made by hand" class, and highly recommended it, so i decided to take the plunge and dive into the world of collage!

normally, my in-the-box-must-have-a-grid personality resists anything that has to do with collage......but kelly's easy going style makes this seem uncomplicated, even for someone like me. plus, if you get stuck, she offers "collage templates" and lots of journal prompts to get you started! and what i really like is the concept of spending just 15 minutes a day with it.....no over thinking, no over gluing.....just simple creative time!!

thanks kathy and kelly for helping me to think outside the box (even if it's for only 15 minutes a day....heeheehee)!

journal page finished using scrap papers, vellum quote, photo frame, stapler, and glue stick

scRappy journal cover finale

the scrappiness continues.....are you getting tired of orange and yellow, yet?!! to finish the inside covers of my new journal, i used the same acrylic paints as for the outside covers (i used golden quinacridone gold and quinacridone burnt orange). on the front inside cover, i decided to paint a circle right in the middle of the page.....

and when the paint was dry, i went back and turned the circle into a doodle-flower using my favorite white pen......i like the idea of adding a "custom bookplate" to this journal!

and for the inside back cover, i used the same paints, but this time i painted a rectangle down at the bottom of the paper.....

and added a little message using my white pen.

now to start working on all of those yummy pages inside!

i've had such a good time creating this little journal......thanks SO much for joining me in the process! and i always, always, always thank you for your very sweet and encouraging comments!!! xoxo

scrappy happiness, part two

i had so much fun creating my little orange and yellow scrappy journal, i decided to ride the inspiration wave and go ahead and finish the front and back covers. i tend to keep my artwork on the very simple side (sometimes almost painfully simple!), so i thought i'd keep my color palette to just two tubes of acrylic paints.....my favorite colors being quinacridone gold and quinacridone burnt orange. and boy, oh boy, does the fabriano artistico paper ever take the paint beautifully!

after the paint dried, i distressed the edges using a foam applicator and a "fired brick" distress ink pad.

next, i used a large heart shape that had been punched out of one of the decorative papers with a scalloped-edge paper punch.......and wrote the journal title using a micron pen.....and then punched a smaller heart next to the title. finally, i used a needle to poke small holes around the perimeter of the heart and did some stitching using one strand of cotton embroidery floss.

for the final touches, i glued the heart onto the front cover, used a white uniball signo pen to add some doodling to both covers, and shaded everything with a 4B pencil.

and now that the front and back covers are finished, it's time to add some sparkle to the inside covers.....more on that tomorrow!

inspiration monday

in the war of quantity versus quality, i would say that i've got it won on both counts where my paper stash is concerned. i've got a lot of it.....and i love it all! i love it so much, in fact, that my collection has grown to the point of no return. so yesterday i took a deep breath and did a nose dive right into my stash.....over on the deep end where all of the orange and yellow lovelies were hanging out......

and created this scrappy journal with them! i wasn't sure how i wanted the covers to look, so i used yummy 140lb. fabriano artistico cold press paper.....it's folded in half and glued together, making it super stiff and sturdy. this way i can go back when inspiration strikes and use acrylics, watercolors, pastels, or maybe collage.....or maybe all of these

things(?).....to make it really fun looking!

in the meantime, i can also start playing on the inside! i can tear some of those pages down a bit more.....or use some of my paper punches to make some neat patterns in the paper.....or maybe hand-sew some more paper bits to add a little texture.....or just start doodling.....or add some rub-ons from my ever-growing rub-on collection......

and when i want to jot down a few thoughts, there's lots of crisp white 70lb. paper tucked in there for some writing, too! the perfect place to put wonder into words, and playful inspiration into concrete ideas!

and now i'm wondering if the orange and yellow pretties in my stash have made me this happy, maybe i should take a dive into the blue and green section and see what happens......

journal finished using a variety of decorative papers, 70lb. writing paper, fabriano artistico 140lb. cold press paper, pva glue, waxed linen thread

scrappiness

here's what you get when you combine playful mary engelbreit fabric with a fabulous tutorial from rebecca sower......a happy, colorful, scrappy flower!! rebecca's tutorial comes with well-written instructions and wonderful photographs, making it really easy to finish one of these sweet flowers lickety-split! it's a super way to use up little scraps of fabric that have been living in your stash for a while......

and when you're finished, you can pin your new scrappiness to your winter jacket to help cheer on those warm days of spring that we're all longing for!!

click here for more information about rebecca's scrappy flower!